JUST IN: Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie Tapped as Last-Minute Hires for Pentagon Advisory Board After Purge

You may remember last month that several Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper, were fired in what was being described as a purge. Well, something similar appears to be happening at a DOD advisory board.

News broke Friday that members of the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board were fired in a surprise move. Per Politico:

Members of the board received a brief email from Joshua Whitehouse, the White House liaison to the Department of Defense, that simply said, “if you are receiving this e-mail, your membership on the Defense Business Board has expired or is coming to an end.”

The three board members who spoke to POLITICO said their tours were not close to ending.

“A number of board members have been terminated with a form letter. 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,” Michael Bayer, who until today was board chair, told POLITICO.

The Defense Business Board is made up of prominent individuals in the private sector providing business advice to the Pentagon.

Among the new appointees announced Friday were two close Trump allies: Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie. Yes, really.

You gotta be fucking kidding me pic.twitter.com/aoPKOTNTOQ

— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) December 4, 2020

It’s unclear at this point why members of the board were fired and replaced. Michael Bayer told Politico, “This kind of a move really will weigh heavily on people on the future and their willingness to serve on these outside advisory boards if they’re going to be subjected to political loyalty tests. It’s unprecedented. I’m just saddened.”

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