Ex-inspector general on Trump firings: 'We’re looking at what amounts to a threat to democracy'

Hannibal “Mike” Ware, the former inspector general (IG) for the Small Business Administration, said he and others are looking into whether actions taken by President Trump amount to a threat to democracy.

Ware, along with other inspectors general, were fired by Trump on Friday. The late-night firings may be in violation of federal law that states the president must give Congress a 30-day notice of his intent to remove an inspector general, and they have also raised concerns for what it means for the government to go without the independent internal watchdogs.

“We’re looking at what amounts to a threat to democracy, a threat to independent oversight and a threat to transparency in government,” Ware said Monday on MSNBC.

Ware, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, said the 30-day notice to Congress is a “key protection” of the independence afforded to inspectors general. He highlighted the 1978 Inspector General Act and its protections for the watchdogs.

“You can’t decide I’m not going to follow that part of the IG Act, but oh, I’m going to follow the part that allows IGs to have full and unfettered access to all agencies, records and personnel,” he said, later adding that “we might as well not have an Inspector General Act at all.”

Ware argued that the president removed people who were not aligned with his mission.

U.S. Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who works under the Justice Department, was spared from the firings.

“For years, we have been viewed as nonpartisan, nonpolitical,” Ware said. “What’s happening right now is historic in that this has never happened before.”

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