Two intelligence watchdogs resign after Trump’s win

The inspector generals for the Central Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence resigned from their oversight roles after former President Donald Trump's re-election victory.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Thomas Monheim and the CIA's Robin Ashton are the two IGs who resigned.

Monheim and Ashton were nominated by President Biden in 2021 and confirmed by the Senate.

“After more than 38 years of public service, I am retiring from the federal government at the end of this year. It has been the pinnacle of my rewarding career to serve alongside the dedicated officers at CIA for the last three and a half years as the CIA Inspector General,” Ashton said in a statement provided through a CIA spokesperson, according to a report from the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). “I have every confidence that the exceptional work of the Office of the Inspector General will continue to have positive impact on behalf of the American people.”

Monheim began his tenure after Trump fired his predecessor, Michael Atkinson, who transmitted to Congress the whistleblower complaint about Trump's conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The complaint served as the basis for Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. Trump was ultimately acquitted. He was fired in the spring of 2020. 

“Serving as the IC IG has been a tremendous privilege and the pinnacle of my more than 30 years of military and civilian service spanning seven different Presidents,” Monheim said in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of the IC IG team’s tireless and selfless efforts to conduct independent, objective, and nonpartisan oversight of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and across the Intelligence Community (IC). As a result, the ODNI and the IC are better, and the Nation is safer.”

Trump has announced former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat turned Republican, as his nominee for director of National Intelligence. Trump named former Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, as his nominee for CIA director. He was the director of National Intelligence in Trump's first administration.