Pelosi urges Pentagon to block 'Trump loyalist' from national security role before Biden's inauguration

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the acting defense secretary to "immediately cease" plans to install so-called "Trump loyalist" Michael Ellis as the new general counsel for the National Security Agency (NSA) just days before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated, describing the decision as "highly suspect" and a threat to the national security of the country. 

"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," Pelosi wrote. "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." Pelosi also raised concerns that Ellis had reportedly been "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."