GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley Pressures Trump To Explain Of Inspector General Firings

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that he will “place holds” on approving Trump administration nominees until he receives a satisfactory explanation about the firings of two federal watchdogs: Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

Im placing holds on 2 Trump Admin noms until I get reasons 4firing 2 agency watchdogs as required by law Not 1st time ive raised alarm when admins flout IG protection law Obama did same& got same earfull from me All I want is a reason 4 firing these ppl CHECKS&BALANCES

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 4, 2020

Atkinson was fired after alerting Congress to the whistleblower complaint pertaining to President Donald Trump‘s communications with Ukraine, which ultimately led to his impeachment in December. Linick was fired on May 15 at the behest of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom Linick was reportedly investigating.

In two follow-up tweets on Friday, Grassley continued to put pressure on Trump but called out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for never having an inspector general.

A little history/irony @realdonaldtrump Did u know Hillary Clinton didn’t want an inspector general so she didn’t have 1? Did u know it was a top priority for Kerry to get 1? That was Linick I found him 2b helpful when trying to get to bottom of email scandal Now he’s gone!

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 5, 2020

Canning a watchdog without good reason is bad Never even hiring one is outrageous Where were the complaints when Obamas state IG seat sat empty for FOUR YEARS??

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 5, 2020

“Canning a watchdog without good reason is bad… Never even hiring one is outrageous,” he wrote. “Where were the complaints when Obamas state IG seat sat empty for FOUR YEARS??”