Ethics and Integrity Under Fire

On February 15, 2022, the GW Law National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program, the Government Procurement Law Program, the National Security Law Association, and the Anti-Corruption & Compliance Association hosted a webinar featuring Michael K. Atkinson, former Inspector General of the United States’ 18 intelligence agencies. In 2019, the world first learned about a whistleblower complaint alleging that then-President Donald Trump had abused the Office of the President by soliciting foreign electoral interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The complaint triggered a formal investigation, which ultimately led to the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump.The high-profile investigation, led by then-Inspector General for the U.S. Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, placed an international spotlight on the whistleblower protections afforded to employees of the intelligence community, the critical role of inspectors general, and the challenges of navigating a high-profile investigation in the midst of a political firestorm. We discussed these issues and more during the webinar, moderated by Kathleen Kedian, GW Law Professorial Lecturer in Law.