Grassley Credits Barr, Grenell for Lifting 2-Year Hold on Trump Counterintel Director Nominee Evanina

Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley lifted his hold on President Trump’s pick to be the nation’s counterintelligence director, ending an objection that began nearly two years ago.

In February 2018, Trump had formally nominated William Evanina to be the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a position he’s held since 2014 without Senate confirmation.

Evanina would be the first Senate-confirmed NCSC director. Congress elevated the position to require Senate confirmation in 2015, after Evanina was already acting as NCSC director.

Grassley had said he would hold up Evanina because the intelligence community had not responded to congressional inquiries in a timely matter.

His objection was “not intended to question the credentials of Mr. Evanina in any way. However, the executive branch must recognize that it has an ongoing obligation to respond to congressional inquiries in a timely and reasonable manner.”

In a statement submitted for the record today he said his reversal came after he received the documents he requested, praising Attorney General William Barr and acting DNI Richard Grenell.

According to Grassley, “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.”

He continued, “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.”

The executive branch “must recognize that it has an ongoing obligation to respond to congressional inquiries in a timely and reasonable manner,” he added.

It had been speculated that Grassley’s opposition was due to long-standing bad blood between him and then-Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, a former GOP senator from Indiana. Coats stepped down as DNI in August.