The ousted special advisor's office (OSC) principal said his removal by President Trump was one of a series of firings that robbed the wrecking ball to surveillance of his administration.
Hampton Dillinger, a special advisor who has no connection to the office that investigated Trump, said:CBS NewsAfter finishing his legal battle to stay in his job.
“I don't think there's a watchdog agency anymore. There's no more inspector generals. The head of the Government Ethics Bureau is gone. I'm gone. The independent watchdogs working on behalf of military veterans on behalf of American taxpayers, they've been pushed out,” he said, appearing in “60 minutes,” noting that Trump had removed 18 inspector generals.
“A safe place for independence, accountability, whistleblowers of federal government employees to come and know that they are respected and protected. It's gone.”
Dellinger was fired last month by Trump in a two-letter email, citing the president's executive branch.
Dellinger sued, noting that he was appointed for a five-year term and could only be fired on performance issues.
The judge temporarily returned him to his post, but the appeals court later overturned the decision. Dellinger ended his legal battle and said that his job was “fully watched by the President” in the months that required a case to reach the Supreme Court.
The special advisor's office is another pathway for whistleblowers to report misconduct, especially if they are afraid of blowback within their institutions. The OSC is tasked with protecting federal workers from “prohibited personnel practices” including whistleblower retaliation. The office will also review Hatch Act violations.
A few weeks before his job, Dellinger determined that FEMA employees violated the Hatch Act by avoiding the home they signed with Trump and fought to bring the numerous workers fired by Trump back to their jobs.
Dellinger discovered that a trial employee was fired – employees hired or promoted within the last year or two years were inappropriately removed by Trump as they must be fired for a cause. The special adviser said the Trump administration inappropriately excluded employees to carry out layoffs.
“You're losing so much. You're losing talent. You're losing experience. You're losing tens of thousands of military veterans who have returned in uniform to our country, risking their lives for America, enjoying the federal civilian workforce,” he said.
“But aside from all the losses, at the end of the day, it must be done the right way. If you are firing a federal employee, you must do it legally. And that's my concern: these mass shootings aren't necessarily following the law.”
Dellinger recorded the first victory for probation workers, and the Merit Systems Protection Board agreed to his finding that six workers had been inappropriately terminated, ordered their temporary returns, and ordered a temporary recovery for nearly 6,000 probation workers at the USDA.
“My job was not partisan, and my track record stands as someone who played it in the book. I'm not trying to promote or block the president's agenda. I'm just trying to make sure I'm following the law,” he told CBS.
