The White House fired several members of a Pentagon advisory board and has, in their place, hired Corey Lewandowski and others.
The Department of Defense announced Friday that nine members of the Defense Business Board were being terminated. Eleven appointments were announced to be taking their slots.
Among those replacements were President Trump’s former campaign and deputy campaign managers, Lewandowski and David Bossie.
“These individuals have a proven record of achievement within their respective fields and have demonstrated leadership that will serve our Department, and our nation well,” said acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller in a statement.
The Defense Business Board is a group of industry leaders and academics that helps provide advice to leadership within the Pentagon.
The department noted that some of those who would be leaving the board had expired terms, while others had their terms ended. It is unclear how many of those members had their stints on the council ended prematurely. The Washington Examiner asked the Defense Department for clarification on the matter, but the department declined to give it.
“A number of board members have been terminated with a form letter,” Michael Bayer, the now-former chairman of the board, told Politico. “In my experience, I was very surprised that the White House would, at the eleventh hour, adjust an advisory board that for 19 years has had a record of nonpartisan support with the department.”
“The DBB is a workhorse board and not a show horse board,” another former member told the outlet.
When asked by the Washington Examiner if either the Defense Department or the White House had a response to these accusations of partisanship, neither commented.
Multiple outlets reported in late November that several members of the Defense Policy Board were fired by the White House, including high-profile members such as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright.
Besides Lewandowski and Bossie, the other appointments include Henry Dreifus, Robert McMahon, Cory Mills, Bill Bruner, Christopher Shank, Joseph Schmidt, Keary Miller, Alan Weh, and Earl Matthews.
