White House fires three NSC staffers after president meets with far-right activist Laura Loomer
CNN
The White House has fired at least three National Security Council staffers, three sources familiar with the move told CNN.
The White House has fired at least three National Security Council staffers, three sources familiar with the move told CNN. The firings came after Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who once claimed 9/11 was an inside job, urged President Donald Trump during a Wednesday meeting to get rid of several members of his National Security Council staff, including his principal deputy national security adviser, claiming that they are disloyal. One of the sources said the firings were a direct result of the meeting with Loomer. It was not immediately apparent on Thursday whether Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong was among those who had been dismissed. One of the sources speculated that National Security Adviser Michael Waltz may have been reluctant to fire him because he has been embroiled in the controversy surrounding the leak of controversial Signal messages related to military strikes on Yemen that Waltz and his team have been under fire for initiating. The three officials include Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence and a former top staffer for now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Senate Intelligence Committee; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs who previously served as Waltz’s legislative director in Congress; and David Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security who served in the State Department during Trump’s first administration. “NSC doesn’t comment on personnel matters,” NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement to CNN. Waltz had been in the Oval Office for other meetings when Loomer arrived Wednesday for an audience with Trump and stayed as the president met with Loomer. One of the people she specifically targeted was Wong. Loomer has publicly questioned his loyalty to Trump and criticized him privately as a “Never Trumper.”
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