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Which inspectors general were fired by Trump?

Hint: there was more than one.

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Former President Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The 2024 presidential election is turning into a living nightmare. We have a choice between the clearly senile President Joe Biden and convicted felon Donald Trump: whoever wins, we lose.

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Following the disastrous first debate the choice between a walking corpse and a literal fascist leaves a lot to be desired. However, there is no denying that another Trump presidency would be beyond calamitous. While the US seemingly survived his first term, the choices Trump made were bordering on disastrous, and we were lucky we came out of it intact.

Trump made many controversial decisions, including a massive purge of 4 significant inspectors general. These are not military generals but internal government officials who are typically tasked with bringing accountability and oversight to different departments. Dismissing these officials brought criticism from both sides of the aisle. Though the president does have the power to dismiss inspectors general at will, Trump gave little notice for these firings or acceptable explanations.

Who did Trump fire?

Per ABC News, Trump fired many inspectors general in 2020 in quick succession. Steve Linick was the inspector for the State Department. His firing was so controversial that it opened an investigation into the reasoning behind the dismissal. The most obvious reason for this dismissal was an internal one. At the time, Linick was looking into the ethics of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as Trump giving weapons to Saudi Arabia. 

Glenn Fine was the Defense Department inspector who had been in the Justice Department for over a decade. Michael Atkinson was the first of these inspectors to be dismissed and was the inspector for the Intelligence Community. Christi Grimm was the final dismissal, the inspector general for Health and Human Services. As Trump is wont to do, he pushed responsibility on others in his cabinet. What else can you expect from an all-but-diagnosed narcissist?