According to a Washington Examiner evaluation, at least six of the investigators public recently fired by President Donald Trump had a history of making donations to Democrat political boards.
Loren Sciurba, who served as the inspector general at the Treasury Department, for example, gave around$ 2, 300 to former Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic activities during the 2024 vote period. Sciurba’s donations to Democrats date back to 2014, but the majority of his roughly$ 3, 000 in life contributions were made during the most recent poll period, according to the FEC.
Conservative opposition scholar Tom Jones advised the incoming administration clear over ideologically motivated inspectors public to prevent “witch hunts” and choose fresh officials who did “ensure that waste, fraud, and abuse is rooted out,” according to a video from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 political appointee training module. On the campaign trail, the president made a public break from Project 2025.
Other inspector generals who received Democratic donations included John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, Robert Storch of the Defense Department, Michael Missal of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Krista Boyd of the Office of Personnel Management, and Christi Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In addition to supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, Sopko has given thousands of dollars to Democratic political organizations over the course of his lifetime, and Storch and Missal both gave money to former president Barack Obama.
Storch, despite donating$ 1, 500 to Obama and the Democratic National Committee, was sharply critical of former President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. In remarks given to the House Oversight Committee, Storch said the American-supported Afghani army was not” self-sufficient and resilient” prior to the U. S. withdrawal in early 2021.
Overall, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General found that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces “became overreliant on U. S. and coalition forces to execute essential functions, such as training, logistics, maintenance, and support”, Storch said. Senior U.S. leaders acknowledged that the ANDSF remained excessively dependent on American and international support. Additionally, corruption within Afghan security institutions was a contributing factor in the collapse of the Afghan government, according to DoD officials”.
In addition, Sopko, who worked for the Office of the SIGAR, admitted in 2024 that taxpayer-funded aid had been poured into the hands of the Taliban, and that he was willing to release information that would harm the Biden administration.
A few inspector generals that Trump fired had a history of giving to Republicans.
Meanwhile, Mark Greenblatt, who Trump previously appointed as the Interior Department inspector general and was a part of the most recent round of firings, warned in an interview with the New York Times that the president risks starting” a never-ending cycle of politicization” by encouraging future Democratic presidents to fire his appointees.
Greenblatt, who worked as a Senate Republican staffer in the 2000s, donated$ 850 to Republican political campaigns between 2006 and 2007, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid, according to FEC records.
In addition, environmental protection agency inspectors general SeanO’Donnell and Eric Soskin of the Transportation Department have previously given gifts to Republicans. WhileO’Donnell’s only contributions were to former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whom Trump publicly dislikes, Soskin gave roughly$ 100 to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Soskin also gave over$ 1, 000 to Romney’s 2012 campaign.
There is some proof that Trump may have retained inspectors general to give him favorable coverage.
Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general, survived Trump’s wave of Friday night firings. The president has previously praised his efforts.
” Michael Horowitz, we’re keeping”, Trump said Saturday. ” I thought his report on]former FBI Director James ] Comey was incredible, actually. Such an accurate, well-done report”.
The president made reference to a Horowitz report that criticized Comey’s investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign. After he questioned how the FBI was handling the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Horowitz also criticized the FBI for forpressing an agent to take unpaid leave for years.
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As some claim that the dismissals were unlawful, the impact of Trump’s inspector general firings is still up in the air. One of the fired employees, State Department Inspector General Cardell Richardson, even told his staff to show up for work in protest of the president.
The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
