Michael Atkinson (inspector general)

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Michael Atkinson
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
In office
May 17, 2018 – May 3, 2020
On leave: April 3, 2020 – May 3, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byCharles McCullough
Succeeded byThomas Monheim
Personal details
Born
Michael Kevin Atkinson

(1964-05-16) May 16, 1964 (age 60)
Oswego, New York, U.S.
SpouseKathryn Cameron
EducationSyracuse University (BA)
Cornell University (JD)

Michael Kevin Atkinson (born May 16, 1964) is an American attorney. He worked for the United States Department of Justice for approximately 15 years, before becoming the second Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. He assumed office on May 17, 2018.

Atkinson is known for alerting Congress in September 2019 to a whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rival for the presidency Democrat Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden; the scandal eventually led to Trump's impeachment and acquittal.[1][2]

On April 3, 2020, President Trump dismissed Atkinson, saying he "no longer" had confidence in the Inspector General (Atkinson's actual deposition was dated to 30 days from April 3; he was placed on administrative leave and "effectively [fired]" on April 3). [3] A bipartisan group of senators demanded a more thorough explanation from Trump regarding the ousting.[4][5][6]

Early life

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Atkinson was born in Oswego, New York, and was raised in Pulaski, New York.[1][7] He graduated from Pulaski Academy and Central School in 1982[8] and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University in 1986 and his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1991.[7][1]

Career

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After graduating from law school, Atkinson was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar,[9] and joined the law firm of Winston & Strawn, where he worked for 11 years, first as an associate and then as a partner.[10]

After the September 11 attacks, Atkinson decided to enter public service, and worked for the U.S. Department of Justice for 15 years.[1] He was a trial attorney in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Fraud Section, from 2002 through 2006 and Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia from 2006 through 2016.[10] Atkinson then moved to the Justice Department's National Security Division where he advised the Assistant Attorney General.[10][11]

Major cases on which Atkinson worked while in the Justice Department included the prosecution of former U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson on corruption charges (of which Jefferson was convicted) and the campaign finance investigation into D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (which was closed in 2015 without charges being brought). Atkinson received the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service for his work on the Jefferson case.[12]

Inspector General of the Intelligence Community

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Further information: Trump–Ukraine scandal
Trump–Ukraine scandal
A request by U.S. President Donald Trump (right) to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) to investigate Joe Biden and his son sparked the scandal.
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Atkinson became Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG) in May 2018.[7] He was nominated to the position in November 2017 by President Donald Trump[13] and was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote on May 14, 2018.[14] At his confirmation hearings, Atkinson indicated that he would bring order to the troubled ICIG's office, which had a reputation for dysfunction, and pledged to revive a whistleblower program that had become virtually defunct under the previous Acting Inspector General,[15] saying that he would "encourage, operate, and enforce a program for authorized disclosures by whistleblowers within the intelligence community that validates moral courage without compromising national security and without retaliation."[10] Restoring the whistleblower program was a major priority among members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.[15]

In August 2019, Atkinson, as inspector general, received a formal complaint from a whistleblower within the Executive Office of the President of the United States who stated that they had learned, in the course of normal duties, that Trump had abused his power "to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election," specifically by pressuring a foreign government (Ukraine) to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.[16][17] The whistleblower, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer detailed to the White House National Security Council,[18] submitted the report to Atkinson under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA).[19]

Atkinson looked into the complaint, and interviewed several government officials whom the whistleblower identified as having information to substantiate his claims.[18] On August 26, having found the complaint to be both "credible" and "of urgent concern" (as defined by the ICWPA), Atkinson transmitted the complaint to Joseph Maguire, the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).[20] Under ICWPA, the DNI "shall" forward a complaint deemed credible and of urgent concern, within seven days of receipt, to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. The Trump administration, however, withheld the complaint from Congress; Steven Engel of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a determination saying that the acting DNI did not need to give the complaint to Congress because, in the opinion of the OLC, the complaint was not related to "an intelligence activity" under the acting DNI's authority.[21][22][23]

Clashing with Maguire,[11] Atkinson himself notified Congress about the existence of the whistleblower report.[24] In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee, Atkinson said that he and Maguire were "at an impasse"[11] and wrote that "As it now stands, my unresolved differences with the Acting DNI are affecting the execution of two of my most important duties and responsibilities" (to whistleblowers and to Congress).[15] The Trump administration eventually released the complaint[16][17] following demands for its release from the Senate[25] and House.[26] The complaint prompted the launch of a House impeachment inquiry against Trump.[27] The whistleblower complaint brought public attention to Atkinson, who previously was a little-known official.[11]

In mid-November, news reports revealed that the president was angry with the IG's perceived disloyalty and wanted to fire him.[28][29][30][31] He was placed on administrative leave by President Trump on April 3, 2020, who announced that he would dismiss Atkinson in 30 days (May 3, 2020).[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d wilber, Del Quentin (January 11, 2021). "He was told to be independent, and Trump fired him for it". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Bertrand, Natasha; Desiderio, Andrew (April 3, 2020). "Trump fires intelligence community inspector general who defied him on Ukraine". Politico. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "Trump Defends Firing 'Terrible' Intel Community Watchdog as Republicans Question Sacking". Politico. April 4, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  4. ^ "Senators demand more information from Trump on ousting of intel community inspector general". www.cbsnews.com. April 9, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Choi, Matthew (April 10, 2020). "Barr backs Trump on firing of intel IG, calls Russia investigation baseless". POLITICO. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Romboy, Dennis (April 9, 2020). "Mitt Romney, others demand Trump explain firing of intelligence inspector general". Deseret News. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "Response to Questionnaire for Completion by Presidential Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Weiner, Mark (September 27, 2019). "Inspector General who received Trump complaint is Pulaski native, Syracuse grad". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York.
  9. ^ "Find members". District of Columbia Bar. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d "Statement of Michael K. Atkinson, Nominee for Inspector General of the Intelligence Community before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence" (PDF). United States Senate. January 17, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Cohen, Zachary (September 23, 2019). "Whistleblower controversy thrusts little-known Trump appointee into the limelight". CNN.
  12. ^ Chalfant, Morgan (September 26, 2019). "Meet the Trump-appointed IG at center of whistleblower drama". The Hill.
  13. ^ Groom, Debra J. (November 12, 2017). "Trump nominates Pulaski grad to intelligence post". Watertown Daily Times.
  14. ^ "PN1252 — Michael K. Atkinson — Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 115th Congress (2017-2018)". Congress.gov. May 14, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c Bertrand, Natasha; Lippman, Daniel (September 23, 2019). "The intelligence watchdog at the center of Ukraine firestorm". Politico.
  16. ^ a b Barrett, Devlin (September 26, 2019). "Whistleblower claimed Trump abused his office and that White House officials tried to cover it up". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ a b Sullivan, Eileen (September 26, 2019). "Whistle-Blower's Complaint Says White House Tried to 'Lock Down' Ukraine Call Records". The New York Times.
  18. ^ a b Goldman, Adam; Schmidt, Michael S.; Barnes, Julian E. (September 26, 2019). "Whistle-Blower Is a C.I.A. Officer Who Was Detailed to the White House". The New York Times.
  19. ^ McClanahan, Kel (September 17, 2019). "Q&A on Whistleblower Complaint Being Withheld from Congressional Intelligence Committees". Just Security.
  20. ^ Taylor, Margaret (September 17, 2019). "The Mysterious Whistleblower Complaint: What Is Adam Schiff Talking About?". Lawfare.
  21. ^ Schulz, Jacob (September 25, 2019). "OLC Issues an Opinion About the "Urgent Concern" Determination on the Whistleblower Complaint by the DNI". Lawfare.
  22. ^ Zapotosky, Matt; Barrett, Devlin (September 25, 2019). "Justice Dept. rejected investigation of Trump phone call just weeks after it began examining the matter". The Washington Post.
  23. ^ Engle, Steven. ""Urgent Concern" Determination by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community". justice.gov. United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  24. ^ Bowden, John (September 21, 2019). "Timeline: The Trump whistleblower complaint". The Hill. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  25. ^ Stieb, Matt (September 24, 2019). "Senate Passes Unanimous Resolution to Hand Whistle-blower Complaint to Intel Committees". New York.
  26. ^ Buchman, Brandi (September 25, 2019). "House Demands Trump Release Whistleblower Complaint". Courthouse News Service.
  27. ^ Fandos, Nicholas; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (September 27, 2019). "House Democrats Issue First Subpoena in Impeachment Inquiry". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Sheth, Sonam (November 12, 2019). "Trump wants to fire the intelligence watchdog who told Congress about the whistleblower's complaint". Business Insider. Retrieved November 13, 2019 – via MSN.
  29. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (November 12, 2019). "Trump Has Considered Firing Intelligence Community Inspector General". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  30. ^ Zhao, Christina (November 12, 2019). "Two GOP senators warn Trump against firing Intel Committee Inspector General: "I would oppose"". Newsweek. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  31. ^ Brigham, Bob (November 12, 2019). "Trump trying to fire inspector general is a confession he 'did something criminal': Nicolle Wallace". The Raw Story. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
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