[Julian E. Barnes]-NSA Installs Trump Loyalist as Top Lawyer Days Before Biden Takes Office

WASHINGTON - The National Security Agency is moving forward with the Trump administration’s hiring of a loyalist, the agency said Sunday, after the acting secretary of defense ordered him to become the agency’s chief attorney.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher S. Miller gave the director of the spy agency, General Paul M. Nakasone, until 6 o'clock. Saturday to install Michael Ellis as his chief adviser.

When the time came, the National Security Agency sat in silence. But the agency said in a statement on Sunday that "Ellis accepted the last job offer yesterday afternoon. The NSA is moving forward with its employment. ” He has not been officially sworn in and it is unknown when this will happen. 

Although Nakasone did not like the fact that Ellis was chosen to replace senior officials in the National Security Agency, he did not actively block the process of installing Ellis, according to two people familiar with the matter. However, he insisted that all procedures be followed and that all approvals be given in writing.

At the Pentagon, Miller was outraged by the agency's gradual expansion over several months, despite the fact that Ellis was hired and elected to office, a senior U.S. official said. So Miller ordered the agency to swear in Ellis, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

In a statement, the Pentagon defended Ellis's employment, saying he was chosen correctly by the Department of Defense's attorney general. "In particular, the interest of Congress or the media in mercenary activities is not justified by the principles of the merit system and the process of delaying the appointment of a qualified person," the statement said.

Ellis is considered a wise lawyer. However, the demand to appoint him to a permanent government position surprised some. Former officials say he could enter the chief consultant's office with great suspicion and struggle to gain Nakasone's trust.

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Ellis was charged with another controversial legal decision by the Trump administration: former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who tried to stop him from publishing a book that cursed the president.

Ellis's associates pushed her to run for president before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Although it is difficult for Ellis to resign under civil service rules, the Biden administration may appoint her to another, less important position.

Biden's transition group declined to comment.

Ellis, a senior National Security Council official and former Republican attorney on the House Intelligence Committee, applied a few months ago to become the National Security Agency's chief adviser.

According to people familiar with the recruitment process, he was one of three finalists, although he did not receive the highest score from the group that evaluated the candidates. However, White House staffers told the Pentagon chief that the administration preferred Ellis to the position.

The appointment of a political appointee to the civil service is a resourse here complex procedure that requires various approvals in order to avoid attractiveness in the recruitment process. With Ellis, the HR Board finally found that the Chief Consultant had been relieved of a policy that required special approval, but those discussions slowed the process. Ellis also had to look for a new security clearance.