March 23, 2021

General Paul Nakasone

Director
National Security Agency
Ft. George G. Meade, MD 20755

Dear General Nakasone:

I was suaprised and disappointed by the decision on the aftemoon of January 20, 2021 , tO
Place me on administrative leave as General Counsel ofthe National Security Agency (NSA).
No one has put forward any evidence of impropriety or a11eged that I did anything wrong in the
PrOCeSS that led to my selection, yet I remain in that status today. I am ready to work with you to
resoIve any concems you may have so I can draw on my significant national security experience
and long nonpartisan track record to advance NSA’s critical mission・ I an happy to meet with

you in person to discuss my understanding ofthe process that resulted in my selection and my
qualifications for the position. I hope you wi11 reconsider the decision and a11ow me to serve.

The decision to place me on administrative leave was based on two grounds: a Pending
Department of Defeuse (DoD) Inspector General (IG) evaluation ofmy selection and hiring and
an NSA security inquiry into the handling of classified information.

Taking these grounds in tun, all publicly available facts suggest that the process that
resulted in my selection was rlgOrOuS and fair. I applied to be General Counsel血ough an open

and competitive vacancy amouncement listed on the NSA website in January 2020. It is my
understanding that a panel of career lavyers screened the pooI of applicants before any noncareer
empIoyee was invoIved in the process. This career panel detemined which candidates were
qua聞ed for the position, and I was one ofthree candidates who advanced to the interview stage
Ofthe selection process・ I interviewed multiple times with career o綿cials, including with Eliana

Davidson, the then-Deputy General Counsel for Intelligence of DoD. Prior to her retirement last
year, Ms. Davidson had served for nearly 30 years as a career govemment lawyer. In August
2020, I interviewed with you, and in November 2020, the DoD General Counsel offered me the
POSition.

No one has alleged that I behaved inappropriately or put forward evidence ofimproper
POlitical pressure on the selection process・ Furthemore, nO One has ever asked me to perfom
my duties as General Counsel ofNSA based on politics・ Ifanyone had made such a request, I
WOuld have rejected it. Any DoD IG evaluation ofthe selection process does not invoIve my
COnduct, and there is no reason that an evaluation ofthe conduct of others should preclude me
from carrymg Out the duties of General Counsel ofNSA.

I have never imagined that my political views would have any bearing on how I would do
my job as a nonpartisan intelligence professional. Over the course ofmy career, I have taken an
Oath l O times to support and defend the Constitution ofthe United States, Starting with my
COmmissioning in 2007 as an intelligence o綿cer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. I have served

honorably in all three branches of goverment, advising judges, members of Congress, and
Cabinet o触cials on the law and critical national security matters. In some ofthese positions, I

SerVed as a noncareer employee; in others, I was a nonpartisan professional who carried out my
duty without regard to politics. Throughout my service, I have understood the appropriate
functions of career and noncareer empIoyees, and the distinct roles both play in the effective
OPeration of the goverrment.

Over the past eight years, I worked cIosely with the Inte11igence Community (IC),
including with NSA-a mOre Substantial record ofwork with the IC than either ofthe two
General Counsels who immediately preceded me. As the senior lawyer for the House Pemanent
Select Committee on Inte11igence, I drafted and reviewed legislation related to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act言ncluding the USA FREEDOM Act, amual intelligence
authorization act, and cybersecurity, including the Cybersecurity Act of201 5. I led multiple
COngreSSional investigations, including the Committee’s bipartisan review of unauthorized

discIosures of a former NSA contractor and a bipartisan investigation of a joint NSA-National

Recomaissance O綿ce program.

During my nearly four years ofservice at the White House, I routinely worked with NSA
intelligence professionals and lawyers on a wide variety of issues. NSA Deputy Director George
Bames and I spoke regularly, SOmetimes multiple times a day, and developed a strong working
relationship built on professionalism, reSPeCt, and a shared commitment to mission. When a
Critical cybersecurity matter arose, I chaired an interagency steering group to carry on the work
that you had started, WOrking hand in glove with NSA’s experts. When a book by a fomer U.S.
Govemment o純cial contained classified infomation, I signed a declaration in support ofthe

Goverrment’s attempt to protect the infomation from discIosure-and you agreed with my

COnClusion, Stating that infomation in the book “could result in the pemanent loss ofa valuable

SIGINT source and cause irreparable damage to the U.S. SIGINT system.” When vital NSA

PrOgramS faced budget cuts, I worked inside the Executive Branch and with Congress to attempt
to restore the funding and even add more funds to address a potential shortfall. I helped
Safeguard NSA’s most sensitive intelligence within the White House, enSuring the timely

delivery of intelligence to senior o綿cials while always protecting NSA’s sensitive sources and

methods.

The past eight years also made me uniquely qualified to be NSA’s General Counsel

because I worked with the IC while remammg OutSide of it. Much ofthe experience ofNSA’s

Civilian workforce comes from inside ofthe agency, frequently from professionals who have
SPent their entire careers inside ofFort Meade. The General Counsel can bring an outsider,s
fresh-eyed perspective to NSA, enSuring that the agency always carries out its mission in
accordance with the law even if doing so is onerous or burdensome. The General Counsel must
also regularly interact with other senior o餌cials in the executive and legislative branches, a

responsibility that draws directly on my experience at the National Security Council (NSC)
COOrdinating legal and policy decisions and my experience working for a congressional
intelligence committee.

Given the lengthy and rigorous process that led to my selection as General Counsel,
including the determination by a panel of career lawyers that I was a qualified applicant, I
became concemed by certain procedural irregularities that began after November 2020. My
SeCurity and administrative in-PrOCeSSmg requlrementS Were finished in early December 2020,
but I was infomed by NSA’s human resources staffthat I could not begin work until the O能ce
Of Persomel Management (OPM) completed an “anti-burrowing’’review of my appointment.

Several weeks passed while the necessary paperwork for this review was assembled, Only for
OPM to respond that it could not, by law, COnduct an “anti-burrowmg reView’’for a position

Within the IC. This conclusion might have been reached quickly from a review ofthe persomel
files ofthe prior two General Counsels, both ofwhom had previously served as noncareer
appointees and did not go through an OPM “anti-burrowing” review. Even after OPM’s

response, I understand that NSA sought additional w正ten approvals from DoD leadership that it

did not request for prior General Counsel appointments. Ultimately, NSA did not move forward
With my onboarding until ordered to do so by the then-Acting Secretary of Defense.

These procedural irregularities continued when NSA infomed me of a security inquiry as

the second reason I was placed on administrative leave. This inquiry was first discIosed to me on
the aftemoon of January 20, 202l , Without any additional detail or explanation. In the prior
months言ncluding on my last day at the NSC on January 8, 2021, Senior NSA o触cials provided
me access to the agency’s most sensitive classified infomation on a daily basis without any

mention ofa security inquiry or concem. On January 19, 2021, NSA career security o範cials re-

indoctrinated me into Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Infomation (SCI), including

multiple SCI compartments. At my SCI re-indoctrination, there was no mention by NSA’s

Career SeCurity o縦cers of any security inquiry or concem about the handling of class描ed
information. Yet on the aftemoon of January 20, 2021 , NSA informed me that it had initiated a
SeCurity inquiry・ On January 21 , 2021 , my attOmey requeSted infomation about this inquiry so I

COuld help address any concem or resoIve any misunderstanding. NSA has yet to respond to that
request.

I stand ready to meet with you to address any concems about my selection or the
handling ofclassified infomation so I can resume work as NSA’s General Counsel. It would be

a great honor to help carry out NSA’s important mission alongside the agency’s other career

PrOfessionals. I remain ready to discharge my duties without regard to politics or party, and I
Iook forward to the opportunity to serve alongside you in defense of our Nation.

Sincerely,

細り・q・
Michael J. Ellis
General Counsel
National Security Agency