Michael Ellis, the newly installed general counsel for the National Security Agency, was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday because his appointment is now being investigated by the Department of Defense’s Inspector General, according to two sources familiar with the matter. There is also a separate claim that he treated classified information badly.
Last week, acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered Ellis to fill the position, a last-minute move that quickly drew criticism from Democrats.
“I think it is very clear that this is part of the government’s effort to incorporate into the public service people who are political actors and supporters who do not belong to them,” said Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, atFace the Nation” on Sunday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday denounced hiring in a letter to Christopher Miller, former President Trump’s acting defense secretary. Pelosi cited reports that Ellis was involved in an effort to “launder intelligence information” and also “shield information” about Trump’s connection with the president of Ukraine, which eventually led to his impeachment.
“Efforts to install it or ‘bury it’ in a highly sensitive intelligence position 72 hours before the start of a new government manifest a disturbing disregard for our national security,” wrote Pelosi.
Ellis declined to comment. An NSA spokesman said, “It is not our policy to comment on personnel issues.”
People close to Ellis, a former lead attorney for Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, defend him as a career intelligence professional and one of the key officials who compiled the 2016 Intelligence Committee bipartisan report on the Snowden leaks.
Additional reporting by David Martin.