William Evanina will officially be allowed to serve as the National Counterintelligence and Security Center director.
The former FBI agent was first appointed to the NCSC directorship in 2014, but was never confirmed to the role by Senate subsequently.
Sen. Chuck Grassley blocked Evanina’s nomination in June 2018. On Monday, the Republican from Iowa announced his hold out has ended, Politico reports.
Grassley blocked President Donald Trump’s choice for the counterintelligence chief because he wanted the Justice Department to hand over documents about the Trump campaign and its connection to Moscow. Grassley questioned why Evanina's name appeared in text messages between rogue FBI employees.
His hold on Evanina’s confirmation had been in place ever since. Evanina received bipartisan support to lead the counterintelligence agency. Trump nominated him for the job twice.
Grassley said he “did not question Mr. Evanina’s credentials in any way” and decided to end the blockage after he received the information he asked for. In his statement, he thanked Attorney General William Barr and acting DNI Richard Grenell.
“If their predecessors had simply respected legitimate congressional oversight and their agreements with me and the Judiciary Committee from the beginning, Mr. Evanina would have been confirmed long ago,” Grassley said. “Let this also be a reminder that when it comes to congressional oversight, I will use all the tools at my disposal to get to the truth of the matter and get access to the records that I believe are necessary to advance my investigations.”
Virgina Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was happy about Grassley’s move.
“This is great news for our country’s counterintelligence efforts,” he said in a statement.
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