CNN legal analyst joins DOJ’s national security division

A CNN legal analyst and outspoken critic of the Trump administration is joining the Justice Department’s national security division.

Susan Hennessey, the executive editor of the widely read Lawfare site and a former attorney with the National Security Agency, announced the move on Twitter Monday morning.

Hennessey, who’s also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a frequent guest on CNN, has written extensively about the Trump administration, criticizing the Department of Justice under former Attorney General William Barr and former President Trump’s conduct throughout the special counsel investigation and congressional impeachment inquiries.

I’m very honored to be joining the extraordinary team at the Department of Justice in the National Security Division. Thank you for all the kind words. (And a huge thanks to the folks at WH PPO, agency WH liaisons and HRs who are working night and day to staff this government.)

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) May 10, 2021

According to Politico, which first reported the move, Hennessey will be serving as senior counsel for the department’s national security wing.

A spokesman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

As the top editor at Lawfare, Hennessey helped grow the site from a “wonky national-security blog,” in the words of a New York Times profile, to a widely read destination for legal analysis from high-profile professors and former government officials.

The site was started in 2010 by Benjamin Wittes, a former editorial writer for The Washington Post; Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor and former George W. Bush administration lawyer; and University of Texas law professor Robert Chesney.