Long-delayed reports about Trump administration misconduct are set to drop in the coming months after Trump officials fought tooth and nail to avoid accountability.
The Washington Post reports that “across the government, at least nine key oversight investigations were impeded by clashes with the White House or political appointees,” as “hostility to oversight reached unprecedented levels during his time in office.”
Among the many long-delayed probes that may soon come to light include two ethics inquiries into former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, an audit into a $400 million border wall contract that was awarded to a politically connected construction firm, and a major probe into the Trump administration’s handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump was infamously hostile to inspectors general, and he fired five different government watchdogs in the span of two months.
Trump officials also denied inspectors general access to witnesses unless agency counsel was present at interviews, which one official described as an “improper and unwarranted intrusion into OIG operations” that created a “chilling effect” on investigators’ efforts.