Pelosi has sent a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller.
Why?
She is attempting to block the installation of a new NSA Counsel candidate appointed by President Trump.
It is well known that the NSA’s new top lawyer is a Trump loyalist.
Is that why Pelosi is worried?
Specifically, she claims that the move is “highly suspect” since there are apparently only 2 days left in President Trump’s time in the White House.
More details, including Pelosi’s panicked letter, below.
The attempt to install an unqualified Trump loyalist as NSA General Counsel just 72 hours prior to the start of a new Administration is highly irregular and highly suspect. This placement should not move forward.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 18, 2021
Inbox: Speaker Pelosi sent a letter late yesterday to Acting Defense Secretary Miller demanding an immediate halt to "the improper process of installing unqualified Trump-loyalist Michael Ellis" as the new NSA General Counsel 72 hours prior to the beginning of the new admin.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 18, 2021
Pelosi to the head of the Pentagon: “I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel…. I am also requesting an [IG] investigation into the circumstances of the NSA General Counsel selection process.” pic.twitter.com/W8OCXhcXcM
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 18, 2021
Pelosi claims that this move “is highly irregular and highly suspect.”
Ummm… like impeaching an outgoing President just days before his term ends?
Pelosi published the text of her letter through the Speaker.Gov page:
Dear Acting Secretary Miller:
I am writing to follow up on my phone conversation with you earlier today, during which I expressed my deep concern about the irregularities involved in the selection of the General Counsel of the National Security Agency (NSA). I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel. Additionally, with a copy of this letter to the Acting Inspector General, I am also requesting an investigation into the circumstances of the NSA General Counsel selection process. I have serious concerns about your statement that this process was free from political interference.
Public reporting indicates that Mr. Ellis, a relatively recent law school graduate with a limited resume, was selected due to interference by the White House, and was chosen over much more qualified candidates. Moreover, Mr. Ellis has been reportedly involved in highly questionable activities that are disqualifying – including the infamous 2017 “midnight run” to launder intelligence information through Rep. Devin Nunes and with efforts to shield information about President Trump’s July 2019 call with the President of Ukraine.
The NSA General Counsel, which involves supervising many intelligence community attorneys and interacting with intelligence agencies, is a highly sensitive career position for which candidates are selected, based on merit and free from political influence. If Mr. Ellis did go through the traditional civil service hiring process, I request a detailed account of that process, to understand how someone with his credentials was chosen over other qualified candidates. The circumstances and timing – immediately after President Trump’s defeat in the election – of the selection of Mr. Ellis, and this eleventh-hour effort to push this placement in the last three days of this Administration are highly suspect. Further, the efforts to install him or “burrow” him into a highly sensitive intelligence position 72 hours prior to the beginning of a new Administration manifest a disturbing disregard for our national security. Therefore, this placement should not move forward.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
best regards,
NANCY PELOSI
Speaker of the House
cc: Department of Defense Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is raising alarms about Michael Ellis, a former GOP operative and Trump loyalist, being installed as the top lawyer at the National Security Agency (NSA).
Pelosi sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller demanding that the former White House official not be put in the position of general counsel at the NSA.
The Speaker blasted Ellis in a tweet on Monday, saying “the attempt to install an unqualified Trump loyalist as NSA General Counsel just 72 hours prior to the start of a new Administration is highly irregular and highly suspect. This placement should not move forward.”
“I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel,” wrote Pelosi in her letter, which was dated Sunday and released Monday.
Pelosi said she had “serious concerns” regarding the selection process and whether it was free of political interference. She also argued that Ellis’s last-minute appointment showed a “disturbing disregard for our national security.”
“Public reporting indicates that Mr. Ellis, a relatively recent law school graduate with a limited resume, was selected due to interference by the White House, and was chosen over much more qualified candidates,” Pelosi added.
“Moreover, Mr. Ellis has been reportedly involved in highly questionable activities that are disqualifying – including the infamous 2017 ‘midnight run’ to launder intelligence information through Rep. Devin Nunes and with efforts to shield information about President Trump’s July 2019 call with the President of Ukraine.”
An NSA spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that Ellis would be installed as general counsel for the agency less than a week before President Trump leaves office.
In case Nancy Pelosi has misplaced her calendar, we would like to gently remind her that Donald Trump is still president until at least 11:59 am on January 20th.
Just because she wants to make him a lame duck President, it doesn’t mean that he actually is.
Sorry, Nancy!
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