CNN’s State of the Union host Jake Tapper accused President Trump and his allies of deteriorating governmental checks and balances to benefit the administration.
Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on Friday after he reportedly opened an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Linick is the fourth inspector general ousted by Trump, who also removed acting Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm after she released a report in April saying hospitals were in severe need of coronavirus testing supplies and personal protective equipment.
Former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who handled the whistleblower complaint that sparked Trump’s impeachment trial, was also removed, and Trump additionally fired Pentagon Inspector General Glenn Fine prior to his oversight on the administration’s spending of $2 trillion from the CARES Act.
The trend has Tapper worried, and he expressed his thoughts on Sunday during his weekly show.
“Inspectors general are there during Democratic and Republican administrations,” he said. “They’re there to protect your money, and to make sure your government is operating efficiently, and free of corruption. The president does not want them there.”
Tapper also expressed concern over speculation that the firings may have been retaliation efforts and pointed to the ousting of others, such as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who spoke during the president’s impeachment trial, and Dr. Rick Bright, the top vaccine official who raised questions about the administration’s plan and timeline for coming up with a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus.
It’s unlikely these oversight positions will return even when a new administration comes in, argued Tapper.
“When one party destroys a norm, it seldom comes back,” he said. “When the other party comes to control, which inevitably happens, that party takes advantage of the new power. They usually push it even further.”
Tapper knocked public officials and media figures who have not spoken out on Trump’s action. He also praised Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who called Trump’s firings a “threat to accountable democracy.”
“While Republicans in Congress sit back cowardly and don’t raise a peep, keep in mind, this is not just about President Trump’s unprecedented war on accountability, this is about the kind of nation we will have after President Trump leaves office whether in January or 2025,” Tapper said.
“It will be a world where watchdogs are replaced by lap dogs. It already is becoming that world,” he continued. “And that doesn’t serve anyone except whoever is in power. And you will have only President Trump and the people in Congress and the media who sold you out so as to curry favor with him to blame.”
The host also took to Twitter to discuss his thoughts on Trump’s actions, saying they are distracting from the ongoing pandemic.
“President Trump and his team are launching an unprecedented smear campaign against rivals, leveling wild and false allegations against critics in the media and politics, ranging from bizarre conspiracy theories to spreading lies about pedophilia and even murder,” he wrote after the show.
2/ These smear campaigns are unmoored from reality. They’re deranged and indecent and seem designed at least in part to distract us from the horrific death, health, and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The pandemic, which impacts you, is what we will continue to focus on.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 17, 2020
“These smear campaigns are unmoored from reality,” he added. “They’re deranged and indecent and seem designed at least in part to distract us from the horrific death, health, and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The pandemic, which impacts you, is what we will continue to focus on.”
