Pelosi Urges Pentagon Head to Halt Installing New NSA General Counsel

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 15, 2021. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 18 sent a letter to the acting Department of Defense secretary demanding that he halt the hiring of former Republican political operative Michael Ellis as the top lawyer at the NSA.

“I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel,” Pelosi wrote in the letter. “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.”