Article snippet: President Trump has discussed dismissing the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson, because Atkinson reported a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine to Congress after concluding it was credible, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Trump first expressed his dismay about Atkinson around the time the whistleblower’s complaint became public in September. In recent weeks, he has continued to raise with aides the possibility of firing him, one of the people said. The president has said he does not understand why Atkinson shared the complaint, which outlined how Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Trump’s political rivals at the same time he was withholding military aid from the country. He has said he believes Atkinson, whom he appointed in 2017, has been disloyal, one of the people said. Trump’s private complaints about Atkinson have come as he has publicly questioned his integrity and accused him of working with the Democrats to sabotage his presidency. It is unclear how far Trump’s discussions about removing Atkinson have progressed. Two people familiar with what took place said they thought that Trump was just venting, and insisted that Atkinson’s dismissal was never under serious consideration. But the mixture of public attacks and private discussions about a possible dismissal is a familiar way Trump has undermined investigators who have examined his conduct or that of people ... Link to the full article to read more