Two Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. John CornynJohn CornynFalling investment revives attacks against Trump’s tax cuts GOP senators plan to tune out impeachment week The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Trump says Dems shouldn’t hold public hearings MORE (R-Texas) and Susan Collins
Susan Margaret CollinsThis week: House kicks off public phase of impeachment inquiry Senate panel clears controversial Trump court pick Republicans warn election results are ‘wake-up call’ for Trump MORE (R-Maine), are warning President Trump
Donald John TrumpFive landmark moments of testimony to Congress Lindsey Graham basks in the impeachment spotlight Democrats sharpen their message on impeachment MORE not to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.
The New York Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Trump has discussed firing Atkinson because the intelligence official found a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky credible and took action to advance it.
Atkinson raised the profile and impact of the complaint by classifying it as “an urgent concern,” which then required the Director of National Intelligence to review the complaint and share it with the congressional oversight committees.
Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday said firing Atkinson in response to his actions would not be a wise move.
Asked if Trump should fire Atkinson, Cornyn said “no” and added, “I think it would be counterproductive.”
Cornyn added that he had only heard that the president was thinking about firing Atkinson from reporters and he had not received any confirmation from sources in the administration.
Collins said she had “absolutely no idea” whether Trump in fact has considered firing Atkinson but warned it would be a mistake.
“It’s obviously something that I would oppose. I have a lot of regard for the inspector general and believe that he did what he thought was right,” she said.
Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerCentrist Democrats seize on state election wins to rail against Warren’s agenda Hillicon Valley: Facebook to remove mentions of potential whistleblower’s name | House Dems demand FCC action over leak of location data | Dem presses regulators to secure health care data Senator criticizes HHS for not investigating exposure of millions of medical images MORE (Va.), the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that firing Atkinson would be an “abuse of power.”
“It’s hard to imagine a clearer abuse of power than firing the Inspector General simply because he did his job and followed the law, instead of covering up accusations of wrongdoing against the President,” Warner tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
