The National Security Agency (NSA) made a former Republican political agent its main advocate just days before President Trump
Donald TrumpFacebook temporarily bans ads for weapon accessories after the riots at Sasse Capitol, in a burning opinion article, says QAnon is destroying GOP Section 230 worked on after the insurrection, but not before: How to regulate social media MORE leaves office, allegedly following an order from acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
An NSA spokesman confirmed that the agency was installing National Security Council (NSC) member Michael Ellis as general counsel.
The Washington Post reported that Miller instructed NSA director Paul Nakasone to raise Ellis as general counsel to do so by 6:00 pm Saturday.
“Mr. Ellis accepted his final job offer yesterday afternoon,” an NSA spokesman told The Hill in a statement on Sunday. “The NSA is moving forward with its job.”
Pentagon general counsel Paul Ney announced in November that Ellis would become the general counsel for the NSA, but had not yet started work due to administrative procedures.
Ellis, a former chief adviser to Rep. Devin Nunes
Devin Gerald NunesCIA, head of the CIA, threatened to resign due to pressure to install loyal Trump as a deputy: Bill Belichick report refuses Trump’s Medal of Freedom Trump gives Medal of Freedom to ally Jim Jordan MORE (R-Calif.) Who later joined the White House, will start on paper on Tuesday, a known source told CNN.
The installation comes days before the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenMissouri wife seen with Pelosi sign accused of connection to Capitol riots. Facebook temporarily bans ads for weapon accessories after the riots at Capitol Sasse, in a fiery article, says QAnon is destroying GOP MOREThe tenure of its occupant will complicate the potential efforts of the new government to replace him immediately, since the position of career civil servant makes it difficult to resign his occupant. But the next administration could transfer him to another position, The New York Times noted.
Sources told the Times and the Post that Nakasone did not support Ellis’ appointment in relation to other career employees at the agency.
The NSA director and others feared that the White House would try to “bury” Ellis at work against a policy that prevents a government from inserting a political agent into civilian career positions before a transfer of power.
But a US official told the Post that the Office of Personnel Management told Nakasone that the policy did not apply to officials in the intelligence community.
A Defense Department spokesman said the department’s general council operates as “the only selection position” for the NSA general council.
“The NSA Director does not select or approve candidates for the position of NSA General Counsel,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“Once a candidate is selected through the merit system, receives an offer and meets the requirements to be admitted to the position, if such entry does not happen, it exposes the Department, Agency and senior leadership to complaints for violation of the principles of the system of merit and processes that are designed to protect participants in such selections, ”added the statement.
“To be clear, the interest of Congress or the media in a particular hiring action is not a justification under the principles and processes of the merit system to delay the placement of a selected qualified individual in a position,” he concluded.
When contacted by phone, Ellis told the Post: “I don’t speak to the press, thank you” and hung up.
Ellis, who joined the White House in 2017 and became a lawyer for the NSC in 2019, overturned an official’s decision to dismiss the former National Security Adviser John Bolton
John BoltonAfter the Uprising: The Implications for National Security McConnell will not repeat the role of chief defender Trump of the cyber czar to harness the new powers of the defense projectfor publishing the book, according to the Times.