Blumenthal Statement on Trump Removal of Glenn Fine as Acting DOD IG

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement after President Trump removed Glenn Fine from his position as Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense in order to prevent him from leading the newly created Pandemic Response Accountability Committee:

“This blatant cover-up scheme is outrageous. It has no purpose except to derail and defang oversight. To my Republican colleagues who have built careers on advocating spending oversight: you must take a stand now as the President sidelines serious scrutiny over the largest relief funding bill in American history. Lawmakers who fail to speak up now will be forever remembered as accomplices in Donald Trump’s calculated campaign to evade accountability.”

On Friday, Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) led a group of seventeen senators calling on then-Acting Inspector General Fine to conduct a formal investigation into troubling reports about the USS Theodore Roosevelt COVID-19 outbreak and decision to relieve CAPT Brett Crozier of his command of the ship. Blumenthal has since called for the resignation of Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly for his role in removing CAPT Crozier and remarks made afterwards to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

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