President Trump on Tuesday tapped Christopher Miller to serve as his next director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), a move that will fill a key role in the intelligence community.
Miller, who currently serves as the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for special operations and combating terrorism, will take over the role previously held by Joseph Maguire. Maguire previously led the NCTC before he was tapped to serve as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, a role he resigned from in February on shaky terms with the president.
Miller is set to work on policy guidance focused on the nation’s counterterrorism efforts.
“In this role, Mr. Miller develops policy guidance and oversees the implementation of all Department of Defense policies, strategies, and plans related to special operations and combating terrorism,” reads a White House press release.
The NCTC, which was formed in the wake of 9/11, is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that works to unify “counterterrorism intelligence for the homeland and abroad” while also “driving whole-of-government action” to protect the nation from attacks, according to the NCTC website.
Prior to this appointment, Miller has held a range of intelligence positions, including serving as special assistant to the president for counterterrorism on the National Security Council and as an intelligence oversight official. Miller also previously served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for three decades, during which time he received multiple awards for his service, including the Legion of Merit award and three Bronze Stars.
Miller’s predecessor, Maguire, resigned after Trump reportedly grew infuriated that an intelligence official held a 2020 election security briefing with the House Intelligence Committee, during which the briefer shared the belief that Russia has a preference toward Trump.
Republicans on the panel pressed the briefer to provide underlying data to support the claim, but the briefer described it as an assessment. The pushback would later be relayed to Trump by his GOP ally on the panel, according to reports.
The intelligence community previously concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump and hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning.