“The circumstances and timing – immediately after the defeat of President (Donald) Trump in the election – of the election of Mr. Ellis, and this eleventh-hour attempt to push for this placement in the last three days of this government, are very suspicious, “read the letter.
“Furthermore, the attempts to install him or to put him ‘in a very sensitive intelligence position 72 hours before the start of a new administration’ show a disturbing disregard for our national security. Therefore, this post should not move forward. . “
Ellis, who worked for Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California, one of Trump’s strongest supporters, before joining the National Security Council, already has opposition from the Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Jack Reed faced. The two also investigated the agency’s selection process within days of Ellis being selected for the job in November last year.
The choice of Ellis’s agency is important because the role of chief executive officer at the country’s largest intelligence agency is a civil service position, not a political role, meaning it could be difficult for Biden’s government to remove Ellis. .
Pelosi, who wrote that there were “irregularities” in the selection process, noted in her letter that Ellis’ is a relatively recent law graduate with a limited resume, was selected due to interference by the White House and was selected from many more qualified candidates. ‘
‘As mnr. Ellis has gone through the traditional hiring process for public service, I ask for a detailed version of the process to understand how someone was chosen with his credentials over other qualified candidates, ‘writes Pelosi.
“The General Council of the Department of Defense is the sole selection authority for the position of the General Council of the National Security Agency – as well as all other senior careers in the DoD Council,” according to a Sunday statement from the Department of Defense. “The director of the NSA does not select or select candidates for the post of NSA chief executive officer.”
“To be clear, the interest of Congress or the media in a particular rental action is not a justification under the merit system principles and the process of placing a chosen qualified person in a position,” the statement said.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb, Oren Liebermann and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.