Former Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch, whose office was behind the report on the department’s response to assistance requests before and on January 6, 2021, was one of the 17 inspectors general Trump fired on Friday.
Trump also fired a longtime inspector general who was first appointed under the Clinton administration and another who he sidelined in his first administration, but President Joe Biden reappointed in 2022.
Ex-DOD Inspector General Storch’s office released the report titled “Review of the DoD’s Role, Responsibilities, and Actions to Prepare for and Respond to the Protest and its Aftermath at the U.S. Capitol Campus on January 6, 2021.”
In a November 2024 letter, Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) penned a letter to Storch stating the committee “discovered numerous flaws and inaccuracies in the report that your office has yet to appropriately address.”
The committee, which investigated the intelligence and security failures that led to the Capitol riot, “concluded that the Department of Defense intentionally delayed the deployment of the DCNG [District of Columbia National Guard] to the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Loudermilk wrote.
Moreover, the probe indicates that Storch covered up the scope of the delay.
“Furthermore, the Subcommittee also maintains that the DoD IG knowingly concealed the extent of the delay in constructing a narrative that is favorable to DoD and Pentagon leadership,” Loudermilk added.
He added that the report contradicts the philosophy an inspector general is expected to abide by:
A report that includes biased and incomplete statements to favor the DoD and U.S. Army while disparaging the DCNG fails to represent the DoD IG’s philosophy and practice of producing unbiased, objective, impartial, and independent reviews as well as recommendations grounded in evidence and free from external influence.
Federal Election Commission records show that Storch is also a Democrat donor. Between 2008 and 2012, he contributed $750 to former President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Two others who were fired include former Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm and former Department of Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis Fong.
Trump sidelined Grimm in 2020 after she provided what then-HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said was an outdated survey on shortages in coronavirus testing. Biden reinstalled her in 2022.
Fong has been an inspector general for more than 25 years. Former President Bill Clinton nominated her as the inspector general for the Small Business Administration in 1999, and she has been the inspector general of the Department of Agriculture since 2002.
In a letter to Director of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor on Friday, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency Chairperson Hannibal “Mike” Ware stated the council does “not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.”
The letter advised Gor to consult with the White House Council.