How Did a Trump Loyalist Come to Be Named NSA General Counsel
“Michael Ellis a former staffer for Rep. Devin Nunes and current National Security Council (NSC) official—has been selected as general counsel of the National Security Agency. This set off alarm bells among commentators and those familiar with the agency, in part because it comes in the same week in which the top civilian leadership of the Department of Defense and installed loyalists,” reports Susan Hennessey in Lawfare Blog.
“The circumstances of Ellis’s selection, however, point to something different and in some respects worse than the developments at the Pentagon. The firings at the Defense Department involve political appointees, nearly all of whom will be gone as of Jan. 20. By contrast, selecting Ellis as NSA general counsel appears to be an attempt to improperly politicize an important career position.”
