Ezra Cohen-Watnick To Join DOJ As National Security Adviser To Sessions

By Josh Marshall and Tierney Sneed | April 11, 2018 10:52 am

Former Trump National Security Council official Ezra Cohen-Watnick is joining the Department of Justice as a national security adviser to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a source familiar with the matter told TPM Wednesday.

Since his departure from the NSC last August, the 31-year-old Cohen-Watnick has worked at the tech company Oracle. The move to the Justice Department has been in the works for months, and Cohen-Watnick will start next week, the source said.

The Justice Department did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment.

During his time at the NSC as the senior director for intelligence programs, Cohen-Watnick was a source of controversy. His ascent to the NSC, after just a few years at the Defense Intelligence Agency, surprised outside observers. His name emerged in the strange episode involving House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who made bombastic allegations of improper “unmasking” of Trump associates by the Obama administration, though the exact role Cohen-Watnick played in the controversy remains unclear.

Cohen-Watnick was removed from the NSC by then-National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster in August. McMaster was replaced by National Security Advisor John Bolton, who started at the post this week.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/ezra-cohen-watnick-justice-department-sessions