Leaked Project 2025 video urged IG firings to avoid ‘witch hunts’ 

By Robin Bravender | 01/27/2025 01:39 PM EST

The training video made a case for a conservative administration to fire inspectors general. 

EPA Office of Inspector General.

A sign on the door of EPA's Office of Inspector General, as photographed Feb. 4, 2020. Francis Chung/E&E News

Ahead of the Trump administration’s late-night move Friday to purge independent watchdogs from federal agencies, a training video produced by a conservative think tank made the case for ousting inspectors general.

That video, obtained by ProPublica and Documented and posted online ahead of the presidential election, urged the next administration to oust agencies’ independent inspectors general and replace them with their own picks. The leaked video was part of a series of private training sessions prepared for incoming political appointees.

“I’m confident the next administration can select among a large pool of competent investigators that ensure that waste, fraud and abuse is rooted out, but also that there’s not witch hunts to really target political adversaries, which I think is a concern with some of the the IGs that have been around for a little bit too long,” said Tom Jones, the head of the conservative opposition research group American Accountability Foundation, in that video.

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The conservative push for removing inspectors general from office is getting renewed attention in the wake of Trump’s blockbuster move Friday to dismiss at least a dozen inspectors general at powerful agencies including the departments of the Interior and Energy and EPA.

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