rferl--2020-04-04--Trump Fires Intelligence Official Involved In Impeachment Probe

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired the intelligence official who handled the whistle-blower complaint involving aid to Ukraine that triggered Trump 's impeachment .
Trump informed the Senate Intelligence Committee late on April 3 of his decision to fire Michael Atkinson .
Atkinson served as inspector-general of the intelligence community and was the first to inform Congress about an anonymous whistle-blower complaint last year that described Trump 's pressure on Ukraine to investigate former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son .
Atkinson , a Trump appointee , told lawmakers he believed the complaint was `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The whistle-blower complaint , which was eventually released publicly , revealed that Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July phone call to investigate the Bidens .
The complaint prompted a House investigation that ultimately resulted in Trump 's impeachment .
The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump in February .
Trump said in the letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was `` vital '' that he has confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors-general , and `` that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector-general . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ say that `` it is extremely important that we promote the economy , efficiency , and effectiveness of federal programs and activities , '' and that an inspector-general is critical to those goals .
The letter was addressed to Representative Adam Schiff ( Democrat-California ) , the head of the House Intelligence Committee , and Devin Nunes ( Republican-California ) , the top Republican on the committee .
Schiff called the firing a `` blatant attempt to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country and national security at even greater risk , '' he said on Twitter .
Trump wrote that he planned to nominate an individual `` who has my full confidence '' to replace Atkinson at a later date .
With reporting by AP and dpa

The top U.S. federal watchdog has vowed to continue conducting what he called "aggressive" independent oversight of government agencies, a day after President Donald Trump fired the inspector-general of the U.S. intelligence community.
The vow came on April 4 from Michael Horowitz, chair of an independent agency within the executive branch called the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).
Trump informed the Senate Intelligence Committee late on April 3 that he had fired Michael Atkinson -- the intelligence official who handled the whistle-blower complaint involving aid to Ukraine that triggered Trump's impeachment.
Atkinson was the first to inform Congress about an anonymous whistle-blower complaint in 2019 that described Trump's pressure on Ukraine to investigate former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.
Horowitz, who has also been the inspector-general of the U.S. Department of Justice since 2012, said on April 4 that Atkinson was known for his "integrity, professionalism, and commitment to the rule of law and independent oversight."
He said the inspector-general community in the United States "will continue to conduct aggressive, independent oversight of the agencies" it oversees.
He said that includes the work of CIGIE's Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, which was recently tasked with broad surveillance of the government's response to the coronavirus -- including a $2.3 trillion financial package aimed at mitigating its economic impact.
Horowitz said the committee would work "on behalf of U.S. taxpayers, families, businesses, patients, and health-care providers to ensure that more than $2 trillion in emergency federal spending is being used consistently with the law's mandate."
Democrats have expressed concerns about how the fiscal package will be disbursed by the U.S. Treasury, headed by Steven Mnuchin.
"We're not here to create a slush fund for Donald Trump and his family, or a slush fund for the Treasury Department to be able to hand out to their friends," said Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat-Massachusetts).
The whistle-blower complaint handled by Atkinson, which was eventually released publicly, revealed that Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July phone call to investigate the Bidens.
The complaint prompted a House investigation that ultimately resulted in Trump's impeachment. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump in February.
Trump said in the letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was "vital" that he has confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors-general, and "that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector-general."
He did not elaborate, except to say that "it is extremely important that we promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of federal programs and activities," and that an inspector-general is critical to those goals.
The letter was addressed to Representative Adam Schiff (Democrat-California), the head of the House Intelligence Committee, and Devin Nunes (Republican-California), the top Republican on the committee.
Schiff called the firing a "blatant attempt to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing."
"It puts our country and national security at even greater risk," he said on Twitter.
Trump wrote that he planned to nominate an individual "who has my full confidence" to replace Atkinson at a later date.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa


rferl--2020-04-04--Saudis Lash Out Over Russia's Claim That Kingdom Withdrew From Output Deal

Saudi Arabia 's energy minister has rejected Russia 's allegation that the kingdom withdrew last month from a deal to cut oil production .
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was quoted early on April 4 by Saudi state news agency SPA responding to comments made the day before by his Russian counterpart .
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud also commented on the ongoing dispute with Russia , saying that a statement attributed to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the kingdom 's withdrawal from the OPEC+ deal was not correct , and that Russia was the one that withdrew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arabia have been at odds since failing last month to agree on a deal to curb output as the coronavirus pandemic spread around the globe .
The pandemic has worsened since , freezing economic activity worldwide and sending oil prices into a steep decline .
The world 's oil-producing countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) and allies such as Russia have been discussing a deal to cut production in hopes of reversing the crash .
Prices have dropped to about $ 34 a barrel , down from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of 2019 .
A deal to cut production , however , would require participation from countries outside the OPEC+ group and from ones that do not exert state control over output , including the United States .
U.S. President Donald Trump on April 3 pledged help for the U.S. industry during a White House meeting with oil company and industry executives , but there was no commitment to cutting output .
He said he did not make any concessions to Saudi Arabia and Russia , such as agreeing to a U.S. domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violate U.S. antitrust laws .
Trump was asked during a White House briefing about the meeting and the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia .
He said both countries were being `` hurt unbelievably badly '' by the crash in the price of oil , but he added , `` I think they are going to settle their dispute very quickly . ''
He also said the dispute was hurting the rest of the world , and that `` Ultimately the market is going to get them to stop . ''
Trump said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and claimed to have brokered a deal on cutting production , but no specifics emerged .
A meeting of OPEC+ has been scheduled for April 6 .
The alliance includes OPEC members , Russia and other producers , but excludes oil-producing countries such as the United States , Canada , Norway , and Brazil .
The head of the International Energy Agency told Reuters that a deep cut in production would not be enough to prevent a huge buildup of global crude inventories in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ production cut of as much as 10 million barrels per day that might be discussed at the April 6 meeting would still result in a 15 million-barrel daily buildup in the second quarter .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Saudi Arabia's energy minister has rejected Russia's allegation that the kingdom withdrew last month from a deal to cut oil production.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was quoted early on April 4 by Saudi state news agency SPA responding to comments made the day before by his Russian counterpart.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud also commented on the ongoing dispute with Russia, saying that a statement attributed to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the kingdom's withdrawal from the OPEC+ deal was not correct, and that Russia was the one that withdrew, SPA reported.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since failing last month to agree on a deal to curb output as the coronavirus pandemic spread around the globe. The pandemic has worsened since, freezing economic activity worldwide and sending oil prices into a steep decline.
The world's oil-producing countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia have been discussing a deal to cut production in hopes of reversing the crash.
Prices have dropped to about $34 a barrel, down from about $65 a barrel at the end of 2019.
A deal to cut production, however, would require participation from countries outside the OPEC+ group and from ones that do not exert state control over output, including the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump on April 3 pledged help for the U.S. industry during a White House meeting with oil company and industry executives, but there was no commitment to cutting output.
He said he did not make any concessions to Saudi Arabia and Russia, such as agreeing to a U.S. domestic production cut, a move that would violate U.S. antitrust laws.
Trump was asked during a White House briefing about the meeting and the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
He said both countries were being "hurt unbelievably badly" by the crash in the price of oil, but he added, "I think they are going to settle their dispute very quickly."
He also said the dispute was hurting the rest of the world, and that "Ultimately the market is going to get them to stop."
Trump said on April 2 he spoke with both Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and claimed to have brokered a deal on cutting production, but no specifics emerged.
A meeting of OPEC+ has been scheduled for April 6. The alliance includes OPEC members, Russia and other producers, but excludes oil-producing countries such as the United States, Canada, Norway, and Brazil.
The head of the International Energy Agency told Reuters that a deep cut in production would not be enough to prevent a huge buildup of global crude inventories in the second quarter.
Fatih Birol said a production cut of as much as 10 million barrels per day that might be discussed at the April 6 meeting would still result in a 15 million-barrel daily buildup in the second quarter.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP