A career National Security Council staffer under President Donald J. Trump who was ousted from her position after she refused to go along with an attempt to use federal government powers to silence one of Mr Trump’s top critics has been convicted. rehired by President Biden, two people briefed on the matter said Wednesday.
Ellen Knight’s employee told a federal judge in 2020 that she was pressured by senior White House lawyers to falsely claim that former Trump national security adviser John R. Bolton’s book contained classified information in order to keep its contents from becoming public.
Ms. Knight, a government classification expert, told the judge that after refusing to comply, she was transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration, despite earlier expectations that she would move to a permanent position on the National Security Council.
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council confirmed that Ms. Knight had been rehired.
“Ellen Knight is a dedicated public servant,” spokeswoman Emily Horne said. “We are grateful for her return to the National Security Council as Senior Director of Records Management, Access and Information Security and to benefit from her extensive experience in the management of classified information.”
A slew of federal officials, from the FBI director to climate scientists, have been fired or reassigned during the Trump presidency as part of an effort to punish or silence them, they allege. Only a few, especially high-ranking officials such as Ms. Knight, have regained their positions.
Peter Strzok, lead FBI agent investigating Trump’s ties to Russia and Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email account, is suing the federal government to get his job back at the FBI as chief counterintelligence investigator. At the time of Mr. Strzok’s firing, Trump administration officials said he was fired for sending text messages showing political bias.
Ms. Knight’s disclosure of how the Trump White House handled Mr. Bolton’s book came to light in a long letter sent in September 2020 to the judge who oversaw a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department seeking to recover profits from Mr. Bolton’s book. Bolton. “The room where it happened.”
Her letter supported claims by Mr. Bolton’s lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, that the criminal investigation against Mr. Bolton and the lawsuit brought against him by the Department of Justice were politically motivated. Ultimately, her disclosure helped Biden’s Justice Department close both cases against Bolton.
An attempt to use Mr Trump’s classificatory powers to silence Mr Bolton was made during Mr Trump’s first impeachment, Ms Knight told a federal judge. Shortly before Mr. Bolton’s book, which depicts Mr. Trump as corrupt and incompetent, was due to be released, Ms. Knight said she was pressured by White House lawyers to reverse her decision to that the manuscript of Mr. Bolton’s book contains no classified information. and could be published.
Among those Ms. Knight said pressured her were National Security Council chief lawyer John Eisenberg and White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin, who is now a partner at the law firm Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey LLP.
Mr. Bolton praised the decision in a written statement.
“Trump’s ignominious dismissal of Ms. Knight is yet another stain on his presidency,” Bolton said. “Those in the National Security Council and White House Counsel’s office who tried to intimidate Ms. Knight and then carried out Trump’s personal vendetta must be held accountable.”