Ezra Cohen-Watnick Fired From National Security Council
By Nathan Guttman August 2, 2017
Days after Gen. John Kelly took over as White House chief of staff and immediately fired communication director Anthony Scaramucci, National Security Adviser Gen. H. R. McMaster is asserting his own authority with the firing of Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the National Security Council’s senior director for intelligence.
“General McMaster appreciates the good work accomplished in the NSC’s Intelligence directorate under Ezra Cohen’s leadership,” a White House official said in a statement Wednesday evening. “He has determined that, at this time, a different set of experiences is best-suited to carrying that work forward. General McMaster is confident that Ezra will make many further significant contributions to national security in another position in the administration.”
McMaster had sought to oust Cohen-Watnick, a 31-year-old rising star who was close to former NSC director Michael Flynn, from the moment he took over as national security adviser, but strong backing from Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon helped the top staffer keep his job.
Cohen-Watnick made headlines back in March after he reportedly provided intelligence information to Devin Nunes, the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman*
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
