The U.S. Department of Agriculture responded on Wednesday to reports claiming the agency’s former inspector general was forcibly removed from her office after resisting her dismissal from the Trump administration.

Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran, said the Trump administration had not followed proper protocols, according to Reuters sources.

In 2022, the inspector general’s office launched an investigation of Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink, which remains ongoing, sources said. In recent years, the office has also taken on animal abuse at dog breeders for research labs and the listeria outbreak at Boar’s Head, among other issues.