Thomas Bossert

• Trump named Thomas Bossert as an adviser on matters of homeland security and counterterrorism. “Starting the post-Christmas phase of his transition, President-elect Donald Trump made appointments Tuesday devoted to national security -- particularly cyberdefense -- and to international trade and diplomacy. Thomas Bossert, who worked in George W. Bush's administration, will be the White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser. […] Bossert ‘brings enormous depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to protecting the homeland to our senior White House team,’ Trump said in a statement.” (USA Today, December 28, 2016)
• Bossert was a homeland security adviser under George W. Bush and founded a private security consultancy during the Obama Administration. “Bossert served in the White House previously as the deputy homeland security adviser to President Bush. In that capacity, he supported and advised the president on matters of homeland and national security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and continuity of operations, Trump's transition office said. […] Since leaving the Bush administration, Bossert has run a homeland and national security consulting business and served as a senior cybersecurity fellow at the U.S. Atlantic Council.” (Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2016)
• Bossert’s role was anticipated to entail the responsibility of directly briefing Trump in the event of a terrorist attack and coordinating counterterrorism strategy with foreign governments. “President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has appointed Thomas Bossert, a veteran of the George W. Bush administration, as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. The position is a crucial White House post within the National Security Council. In the past, the aide has often been the first person to brief the president when a terrorist attack takes place within the United States and served as a key liaison between the administration and foreign governments in the fight against terrorism.” (Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2016)
• Trump’s transition team contemplated that Bossert’s position would be promoted to a level of authority equal to the post given to Michael Flynn. “Trump's transition office said that the position would be elevated to be equal in status to that of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, whom Trump previously named as his national security adviser. Under President Barack Obama, the job Bossert is taking over has been considered a deputy national security adviser. The transition team said Bossert would focus on domestic and transnational security issues while Flynn focuses on international security challenges.” (Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2016)
• Bossert had been a critic of the Obama Administration’s “PreCheck” security clearance process. “President-elect Donald Trump has chosen a former aide to President George W. Bush as his top homeland security adviser -- and the choice could have implications for a service that allows some travelers to go through expedited security lines at airports. […] In an interview last year with the New York Times, Bossert expressed concern that people's personal information could be compromised as the agency pushed to make it easier for travelers to sign up for PreCheck. And in a piece written earlier this year for the Washington Times, Bossert said the TSA ‘is not an intelligence agency. It is historically a consumer of intelligence gathered and analyzed by others.’ He added that it does not appear that the TSA is coordinating with the FBI as it moves toward ‘domestic intelligence collection and analysis.’” (Palm Beach Daily News, December 30, 2016)