The president was right to fire Atkinson
President Donald Trump was well within his rights to fire Michael Atkinson, the Intelligence Community Inspector General. As ICIG, Atkinson was appointed by President Trump, and President Trump has the legal authority to remove him from office; in fact, according to the ICIG’s own website “only the President can remove the ICIG from office, with prior notification to Congress.”
Democrats and the media, predictably, went crazy, criticizing Trump for “retaliating” against Atkinson for Atkinson’s role in handing over to Congress the “whistleblower” complaint against Trump for things Trump was reported to have said in a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president — things that President Trump disputed.
Further, Atkinson released the letter to Congress even after the acting director of National Intelligence (his direct superior) and legal counsel at the Department of Justice determined that the complaint letter failed to meet the legal threshold required for it to be shared with Congress.
So Atkinson, in the president’s view, was wrong on two judgment calls — first, on whether or not the letter itself was “urgent and credible,” and, second, when Atkinson chose to ignore his superior’s judgment and the judgment of the Department of Justice counsel who considered the matter.
OUR VIEW: Donald Trump's relentless war on accountability
Presidents, like other executives, are responsible for the actions and decisions of the personnel they hire.
As one of only two elected officials in the executive branch (the other being the vice president), only the president can be held accountable by the people; he and he alone bears the burden of responsibility for the thousands of decisions made every day in his name.
Consequently, he has the right to insist that everyone who works under his authority and in his name satisfies his own qualifications, whatever they may be — and in this case, Atkinson simply failed to meet President Trump’s qualifications. So what’s the fuss about?
Jenny Beth Martin is honorary chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The president was right to fire Atkinson: Opposing view
