Not even the dystopian spectacle of dead bodies stacked in refrigerated trailers can deter Trump from his core mission of purging principled public servants.
Indeed, this is the perfect time to wreak revenge on those who’ve dared to hold him accountable. While we’re laser-focused on our sick and deceased fellow Americans, he’s free to run wild in his usual authoritarian fashion – and it barely makes the headlines.
For instance: In the dead of night on Friday, as the American death toll surpassed 9/11 and Iraq combined (thanks in part to his deadly negligence), Trump told Congress in a letter that he’s firing the intelligence community watchdog who helped trigger the impeachment probe. Inspector General Michael Atkinson is the guy who decided last summer that the whistleblower’s complaint – about Trump squeezing Ukraine for fake dirt on Joe Biden – was “credible” and “urgent.” So it’s goodbye, Michael Atkinson.
And yet, Trump’s revenge porn barely made yesterday’s home page of The Washington Post. Which is understandable, given the priority of life and death. Which is why the coronavirus affords him such a marvelous opportunity to punish Dear Leader disloyalty. If we weren’t numb to his serial abuses before, then tallying the dead will surely distract us.
Nevertheless, this particular post is an attempt to pay attention before the Atkinson purge plummets down the Orwellian memory hole. So, for the record: Atkinson was a Trump appointee. A 16-year veteran of the Justice Department, he was tapped in November 2017 to be the intelligence community’s inspector general – tasked with handling whistleblower complaints about suspected wrongdoing. But clearly Trump didn’t appreciate Atkinson’s thumbs-up handling of the Ukraine-Biden complaint; in Friday night’s written announcement, Trump said he had lost “confidence” in Atkinson.
That’s easy translated: Either you kiss Trump’s rump, or you lose your head.
Which I suppose will put Michael Horowitz in peril. He’s the Justice Department’s inspector general, and he chairs the group that represents all federal watchdogs. He’s so incensed by the Atkinson purge that he released this statement: “Atkinson is known throughout the Inspector General community for his integrity, professionalism, and commitment to the rule of law and independent oversight. That includes his actions in handling the Ukraine whistleblower complaint, which the (national intelligence director) said in congressional testimony was done ‘by the book’ and consistent with the law.”
By definition, an inspector general is supposed to be independent, free from presidential pressure. And if an inspector general deems a whistleblower’s complaint to be credible (as the Ukraine-Biden complaint proved to be), he is required by law to inform Congress. Which Atkinson sought to do.
But that’s not how Trump sees the job – because (a) Trump has no clue how government is supposed to work, and (b) Trump’s sole frame of reference is himself. So yesterday, when the Atkinson purge came up during Trump’s daily virus disinformation briefing (and kudos to the press for bringing it into the daylight), he soiled his office in his usual manner.
He said that Atkinson “did a terrible job, absolutely terrible. He took a fake report and he took it to Congress with an emergency, OK? Not a big Trump fan, that I can tell you.” (The report wasn’t “fake,” it was confirmed in sworn testimony. And IGs are not supposed to be “Trump fans.”) Trump also ranted that Atkinson “never came in to see me, never requested to see me. That man is a disgrace to IGs.” (IGs are supposed to exercise independent oversight.)
But Atkinson is merely the latest head on a pike. Last week (I bet you hadn’t heard this), Trump fired Russell Travers, a multi-decade intelligence veteran and acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, along with Travers’ deputy, as part of Trump’s persistent quest to root out those whom he calls disloyal “snakes.”
So if you’re wondering why everyone verbally sucks up to Trump during his virus briefings, hailing the snake oil salesman as a sun king, now you know the answer. Using a pandemic as cover to wreak revenge may be worse than despicable, but nobody on that stage wants to be next.