When Lt. Col. Alex Vindman witnessed Putin puppet and election cheat Donald "Tovarich" Trump attempting to shake down the president of Ukraine by withholding military aid in exchange for manufactured dirt on Joe Biden's son, he blew the whistle. He reported the extortion attempt to the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, who deemed the information of "urgent concern" and forwarded it to Congress, as required by law. The information ultimately led to hearings and to Trump's impeachment by the House of Representatives.
Yesterday, as the nation was distracted with the COVID-19 pandemic, Atkinson received notice that he was being fired, and was put on leave immediately for 30 days. In a letter to Congress notifying them of the firing, Trump said he'd lost "confidence" in Atkinson, which is Trumpese for Atkinson was disloyal in not covering up for Trump's abuse of power.
Atkinson is the latest victim of Trump's purge of people who stood up, followed the law, and told the truth about the extortion scheme: Lt. Col. Vindman, Vindman's brother Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, Ambassador Marie Yovanovich, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, and Ambassador William Taylor being the most prominent. Atkinson won't be the last to be purged by a vengeful, lawless Trump, and with the country distracted, the firings will likely come sooner rather than later.
UPDATE: Emptywheel advises that the sacking of the intel Inspector General also plays into Trump's desire to cover his tracks when investigations begin about the many warnings he got from the intelligence community about COVID-19; he not only wants to avoid accountability for past failures, but wants this key position not to be able to oversee his current/ future mismanagement of the response.
