Ex-Biden cyber director Jen Easterly says her West Point appointment was "unfortunately" rescinded
Easterly referred CBS News to a LinkedIn post she wrote on Thursday: "Unfortunately, the opportunity to serve again at my alma mater was rescinded —a casualty of casually manufactured outrage that drowned out the quiet labor of truth and the steady pulse of integrity."
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on Wednesday rescinded an agreement for Easterly to be a chair in West Point's social sciences department after pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer posted on social media about the hire.
Easterly was named the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the Department of Social Sciences in an X post, now deleted, by the dean of West Point, who referred to her appointment as a "homecoming worth celebrating."
Loomer pointed to the post, saying Biden administration holdovers were "undermining the Trump administration."
The next day, Driscoll shared on X his memo directing West Point to rescind its agreement with Easterly, pause outside groups from hiring faculty and request the United States Military Academy Board of Visitors conduct a top-down vetting process of its hiring.
Earlier this year, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, Gen. Timothy Haugh was also dismissed after Loomer publicly called for his termination.
A spokesperson for West Point referred questions to the Secretary of the Army, and an Army spokesperson said in a statement, "ahead of the upcoming academic year, we are crafting a deliberate approach to ensure that our future officers are best prepared to meet the demands of the modern battlefield," without answering why Easterly's appointment was revoked.
Easterly was accused of "censorship" by Loomer for her work as CISA director during the Biden administration to counter disinformation after the 2020 election.
"We're not turning cadets into censorship activists. We're turning them into warriors and leaders," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.
According to her Army service record, Easterly served as an intelligence officer, including in the 25th Military Intelligence Battalion in Hawaii, the 319th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Bragg, the 704th Military Brigade and 744th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Meade.
She had deployments to Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Easterly said in her post, "To those cadets I had looked forward to teaching: know that your purpose is not defined by titles or accolades. It is defined by character. The world needs your strength, your courage, your warrior spirit, your will to win. But it also needs your empathy, your intellect, your humility, your integrity."
Both the Biden administration and Trump administration made changes to the board of visitors for the United States Military Academy upon entering office. The Board of Visitors is a federal advisory committee that "inquires into the state of morale and discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the Academy that the Board decides to consider," according to its website.
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