Barr reportedly removes national security official,deputy assistant attorney general Brad Wiegmann, ahead of elections
The move comes after John Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist, told Congress his office would no longer give verbal briefings on election security.
The US attorney general, William Barr, has reportedly removed the head of a section of the justice department entrusted with ensuring the legality of federal counterterrorism and counterintelligence activities.
The removal of deputy assistant attorney general Brad Wiegmann, first reported by ABC News, has not been explained, but it comes amid rising Democratic concerns that Barr and his justice department will seek to influence the conduct of the November elections in Donald Trump’s favour.
It comes less than three days after the director of national intelligence, another Trump loyalist, John Ratcliffe, told Congress his office would no longer provide legislators with verbal briefings on election security, only a written report without the opportunity to follow up with questions.
Wiegmann, 54, a 23-year public service veteran, ran the office of law and policy in the national security section of the justice department, until he was reassigned two weeks ago.
He is being replaced by a 36-year old cyber-crimes prosecutor, Kellen Dwyer with very little relevant experience, whose name made the news in November 2018 when he accidentally revealed that the US had charged Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.
The justice department did not immediately return a request for comment.
“It’s a very odd choice and it’s odd timing and it’s really difficult to explain,” said Katrina Mulligan, who worked in the law and policy office in the Trump administration and in a number of national security roles in the Obama administration. “This office is really charged with a very specific responsibility, which is to represent the department of justice interest in the national security policymaking process.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/31/william-barr-us-justice-department-elections