PURGING

Trump Admin Dumps Pentagon Advisers, Installs Corey Lewandowski and Other Loyalists

President Trump appears to be removing Pentagon officials and advisers en masse with just weeks left in office.

The White House fired nine members of a Pentagon business advisory board on Friday, replacing them with Trump loyalists like former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy campaign manager David Bossie. Members of the Defense Business Board received form letters telling them that their term on the board was coming to an end, according to 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,” Michael Bayer, now the former chair of the board told Politico. Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper via tweet just weeks ago, prompting some senior Pentagon officials to quit. Members of a second Pentagon advisory board were terminated last week, Foreign Policy reported, a group that included former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.