WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump will nominate a new inspector general for the intelligence community _ a successor to the watchdog who triggered his impeachment earlier this year.
Trump's prospective nominee is Allen Robert Souza, who serves as principal deputy senior director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council and is a former aide to Congressman Devin Nunes of California, the ranking Republican of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a Trump ally.
The president fired the previous inspector general, Michael Atkinson in April. It was Atkinson who raised the alarm over a whistleblower's complaint that led ultimately to Trump's impeachment. "It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general," Trump wrote at the time of Atkinson's dismissal.
Trump later defended the move, saying Atkinson was "not a big Trump fan." Atkinson had alerted lawmakers about the complaint regarding Trump's demand that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. He later testified in the House impeachment inquiry.
