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The removal of Fine last month from the accountability committee and the acting inspector general role has been seen as part of larger set of removals of inspectors general in a short time.Trump removes Obama-era IG from Covid-19 relief watchdog panel as Dems cry corruption
On Friday, House Democrats introduced legislation to protect inspectors general from retaliation after Trump fired five watchdogs within a few months.
Earlier this month, Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick upon Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's request after he began an investigation into allegations that Pompeo had an aide run personal errands for him. Pompeo told The Washington Post that he had asked Trump to fire him, but said that it was not a retaliatory move because he did not know about the probe beforehand.
Critics said the move was also to shield Pompeo from other potential political harm. The issue involving Pompeo included efforts to fast-track a Saudi arms deal along with using the staffer for personal errands, CNN, NBC News and USA Today reported.
After firing Linick, the Trump administration also ousted Mitchell Behm as acting Transportation Department inspector general the next day, prompting an investigation by House Democrats.
Also, this month, Trump moved to replace another watchdog in the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump removed Christi Grimm as principal inspector after her office issued a report in April, finding "severe shortages" of COVID-19 testing kits, frequent testing delays of seven days or longer, along with "widespread shortages" of proper protective equipment in hospitals.
Last month, Trump fired intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who told lawmakers about the whistleblower complaint that led to his impeachment inquiry. The House voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18, but the majority of the Senate voted to acquit him in February.
Comment: Now that it is well established that collusion was a fraud, one might think to look at the validity of 'Russian interference' since this narrative was created by the same movers and shakers. We won't be holding our breath.