Donald Trump's relentless war on accountability

Americans have historically embraced fighting corruption, the reason why Donald Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" resonated so strongly in 2016.

And that's what makes it all the more shocking to see the president take a sledgehammer to government institutions designed by law to ruthlessly ferret out fraud and waste — the offices of inspectors general.

The IGs, as they are known, are independent watchdogs whose government careers transcend politics. They hold accountable Democratic and Republican administrations alike. This lends enormous credibility to their sensitive findings at a time partisanship is so pervasive.

So what has Trump done?

►On a Friday night in the midst of a pandemic, he announced plans to fire Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community and the latest victim of the president's post-impeachment purge. Atkinson — tapped to be a watchdog by Trump more than a year ago — was guilty only of following the law when he provided Congress with a whistleblower report that outlined Trump's malfeasance in pressuring Ukraine for political favors.

"This man is a disgrace to IGs," Trump said of Atkinson. In response, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who chairs the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, praised Atkinson for his "integrity, professionalism and commitment to the rule of law and independent oversight."

►The president publicly vilified a federal watchdog report and its author Monday after her survey of 46 hospitals nationwide showed severe and widespread shortages of medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. "Did I hear the word 'inspector general?' Really? It's wrong," said Trump, reactive to any evidence showing a failed response to the crisis.

OPPOSING VIEW: The president was right to fire Atkinson

Trump tweeted Tuesday that the author, Christi Grimm, principal deputy inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, was a President Barack Obama holdover and called her work "another fake dossier." He didn't mention that her career spanned four administrations — two of them Republican, two Democratic — and that she was tapped for her current leadership post in January.

►In what may be his most audacious move against accountability, Trump removed the chairman of a watchdog panel commissioned with overseeing how the administration dispenses money from the largest bailout fund in American history: $2 trillion intended to offset the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

To guard against improprieties, Congress passed the bailout package with layers of oversight that included a Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. To run that committee, a panel of inspectors general chose Glenn Fine, acting inspector general for the Defense Department.

Fine served as a government watchdog through the last four presidential administrations, earning a reputation for aggressive oversight of FBI surveillance efforts when he was inspector general of the Justice Department. But citing vague "reports of bias," Trump demoted Fine, making him ineligible to serve as chairman of the bailout oversight panel.

The president's war on accountability doesn't end there.

The rescue package includes a $500 billion coronavirus relief fund for corporations. But the president issued a signing statement suggesting he could limit information an inspector general for the fund could share with Congress. Then he nominated for that watchdog post a White House lawyer who has been critical of congressional oversight.

Trump's contempt for the office of inspector general and the accountability it provides to Congress and the American people has been on full display. It raises an obvious question: Why does he want to muzzle the watchdogs?

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump tries to muzzle government's independent watchdogs: Our view