Thread by @weareoversight

This week, the Trump administration shook up the Pentagon, firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installing White House loyalists to high-ranking posts.

We’ve been investigating three of the newly promoted: Kash Patel, Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Anthony Tata.

#FOIAFriday

Kash Patel—a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes—will serve as new acting Secretary Chris Miller’s chief of staff. We’ve previously investigated Patel in connection with the politicization of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Patel was a senior adviser to Ric Grenell, who served as acting DNI from February to May 2020, during which time Trump fired the intelligence community’s internal watchdog. In July, we sued for ODNI records to investigate this firing.

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1278741895825539072?s=20

We’ve also previously filed Freedom of Information Act requests for Patel’s communications with Congress and his calendars.
americanoversight.org/document/foia-…

americanoversight.org/document/foia-…

Next, Anthony Tata. Following James Anderson’s resignation on Tuesday, Tata will now perform the duties of the undersecretary for policy.

Trump had earlier tried to install Tata as undersecretary, but his nomination was derailed by reporting on his past offensive comments.
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

The controversial Trump DOD appointee reportedly attended official meetings while unconfirmed. After the Senate canceled his confirmation hearing, he was given a job as “official performing the duties of the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.”

We previously FOIA’d DOD for Tata’s communications with the Presidential Personnel Office, the assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, or the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, as well as his external communications and calendars.

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1290756018234970112?s=20

Finally, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who will replace Joseph Kernan, the former undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who also left Tuesday.

In early 2017, Cohen-Watnick, an ally of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, was involved in providing intelligence materials to Nunes about the federal investigation of the Trump campaign.
nytimes.com/2020/11/11/bus…

In July, we FOIA’d the Department of Defense seeking Ezra Cohen-Watnick’s external communications, his communications with Kash Patel, Stephen Miller, and Rep. Nunes and his staff, and his calendars.
americanoversight.org/document/foia-…

Learn more about President Trump’s efforts to purge the government of anybody considered insufficiently loyal to him, and the rapid series of resignations and troubling appointments:
americanoversight.org/news-roundup-t…