President Trump is defending firing the inspector general who passed along the Ukraine whistleblower complaint to Congress. In case you missed it, community inspector general Michael Atkinson, was given his 30-day notice on Friday.
To review, Atkinson received the whistleblower complaint and did an initial investigation before notifying Congress of the report. On the flip side, the Justice Department and White House Counsel office delayed turning it over in a timely manner.
The President was defending the move during yesterday's coronavirus briefing. Among other things, he called Atkinson “a disgrace” and charged that someone should "sue his a** off." But before anyone even got there, Trump’s prepared remarks already showed that the media was in Trump’s crosshairs, too.
Before reporters even got to the questions about Atkinson, Trump slammed the media, which he accused of “spreading false rumors” about the coronavirus. “It’s therefore critical that certain media outlets stop spreading false rumors, creating fear and even panic” he noted in his remarks. “It’s so bad for our country. Get this over with, then go back to your fake news.” He declined to name who he was speaking about.
Source: White House