Trump fires National Security Agency director Haugh, sources say

Trump fires NSA director Haugh, sparking backlash from Democrats over removal of nonpartisan official from top security post.

U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.

General Haugh, an Air Force general who is also head of U.S. Cyber Command, was dismissed along with Wendy Noble, his deputy at the NSA.

"General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats, as the Salt Typhoon cyberattack from China has so clearly underscored, how does firing him make Americans any safer?" Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

Salt Typhoon was a major Chinese hacking incident that lawmakers have called the largest telecommunications hack in U.S. history.

Media outlets including The Washington Post had reported the firing on Thursday night, citing current and former U.S. officials, who said they did not know the reason for General Haugh’s dismissal or Noble’s reassignment.

Noble was reassigned to a job within the Pentagon's office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Post said. The NSA is part of the U.S. Defense Department.

U.S. Cyber Command deputy William Hartmann was named acting NSA director and Sheila Thomas, who was the executive director at the NSA, was named acting deputy, the newspaper said.