“I thought he did a terrible job. Absolutely terrible,” Trump said. “That man is a disgrace to IGs.”

Last September, Atkinson alerted Congress to an “urgent” and “credible” whistleblower complaint he’d received against Trump that accused the president of asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call to open an investigation into former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

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Leading congressional Democrats expressed deep concern over Trump’s decision to fire Atkinson, especially with the nation in the throes of the coronavirus outbreak.

“This latest act of reprisal against the Intelligence Community threatens to have a chilling effect against all willing to speak truth to power,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “The President must immediately cease his attacks on those who sacrifice to keep America safe, particularly during this time of national emergency.”

On Saturday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence named Thomas A. Monheim as the acting inspector general of the intelligence community. Monheim, currently the general counsel of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and a retired Air Force officer, is widely respected within the intelligence community.

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Atkinson was placed on administrative leave immediately after he was informed Friday night that he was being removed.

The president’s ousting of Atkinson comes as the nation is in the grip of a global pandemic that has upended Americans’ lives. And some Democrats accused Trump of taking a divisive action while the country is distracted by the public health crisis.

“President Trump is using a global pandemic as cover to exact political revenge against the Intelligence Community Inspector General who revealed his misconduct. Firing IG Atkinson is corruption, and it threatens our national security during a global crisis,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted Saturday morning.

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Others described the timing of Atkinson’s termination in foreboding terms.

“Weakening our national security institutions is bad enough during a time of global calm; during the current instability we’re faced with, it’s particularly dangerous,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) similarly said, “At a time when our country is dealing with a national emergency and needs people in the intelligence community to speak truth to power, the president’s dead of night decision puts our country and national security at even greater risk.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a vocal Trump advocate during the impeachment probe, mocked Schiff for being upset about Atkinson’s firing, calling him Schiff’s “key impeachment enabler.” Republicans slammed Schiff, who led the House’s impeachment investigation, for refusing to make public a transcript of a closed-door interview with Atkinson.

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Other Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and House Intelligence Committee ranking Republican Devin Nunes (Calif.), made no public comment on Trump’s decision.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) issued a statement Saturday afternoon that praised Atkinson for his “professionalism and responsiveness.”

“Like any political appointee, the Inspector General serves at the behest of the Executive. However, in order to be effective, the IG must be allowed to conduct his or her work independent of internal or external pressure,” Burr said. “It is my hope the next nominee for the role of ICIG will uphold the same important standards laid out by Congress when we created this role.”