Several news publications reported overnight Friday that the Trump administration has fired Timothy Haugh, head of the NSA and Cyber Command.
Haugh, a professional military official who heads the National Security Agency, the leading U.S. wiretapping and intelligence-gathering agency, was appointed for more than a year in February 2024 after his predecessor retired. Haugh also oversees a military unit that conducts offensive cyber operations against our opponents.
Washington Postfirst reported the news, The New York TimesThe hit rate came after right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who was a member of the Oval Office during a meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday, advocated Haugh to fire with several other national security officials during a meeting with Donald Trump at the Oval Office on Thursday.
Wendy Noble, deputy director of the National Security Agency (NSA), was also liberated. According to the report.
It is unclear who is currently supervising the NSA and Cyber Command after Haugh’s shooting.
A White House spokesman did not immediately comment on the reason for Hoy’s removal.
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NSA spokesman Eddie Bennett delayed comments to the Department of Defense, which owns the NSA.
A spokesman for the Defense Department did not provide their names, told TechCrunch that the group “sees the report, but has not provided it for now” and that it will “provide more information when it is available.”
The move to expel one of the country’s top intelligence officials seemed to surprise senior lawmakers.
Mark Warner, a Democratic Senator from Virginia and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Haugh’s dismissal “stunning” in a statement.
“General Hauge has served our country for more than 30 years with honor and outstanding achievements,” Warner said. “At a time when the United States faces unprecedented cyber threats, as China’s Salt Typhoon cyberattacks have so clearly emphasized, how can fire him make Americans safer?” A series of long-standing Chinese-led hacking attacks against American telephone and internet giants Found it last year.
Warner also criticized the Trump administration’s firing while “still not hold any member of his team responsible” to share Yemen’s confidential information in a signal message group chat with several other senior cabinet-level officials Unintentional reporters include.
Jim Himes, a Democratic Congressman who heads the House Intelligence Committee, said in his remarks that he was “deeply upset” about the decision to remove Haugh.
In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk Head of the Trump administration’s Department of Efficiencymeet Haugh at the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. The NSA said at the time that the meeting was to ensure that its priorities were aligned with the Trump administration.
Musk had previously called for a “overhaul” in spy agencies, but did not provide specific details.