White House Removes Spokeswoman at Agency Responding to SolarWinds Hack
Source: WSJ
WASHINGTON—The White House dismissed the top spokeswoman at the agency responsible for responding to a suspected Russian hack of government computer systems, amid disagreements over how the government is handling the breach.
Sara Sendek, the director of public affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the White House’s personnel office informed her Monday evening that her services were no longer needed and instructed her not to come to work after Tuesday.
The White House and CISA declined to comment. Ms. Sendek said she wasn’t given a reason for her dismissal, which was first reported by CyberScoop, a cybersecurity news site.
Her removal is the latest in a raft of dismissals of senior cybersecurity officials and comes as the Trump administration grapples with the SolarWinds hack. The breach was discovered last month and has compromised at least a half dozen cabinet departments and an unknown number of private companies.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-removes-spokeswoman-at-agency-responding-to-solarwinds-hack-11609877635
Link to tweet
The White House has told @sarasendek, the longtime head of public affairs for @CISAgov, that her services are no longer needed, Sara tells me. Today is her last day on the job.
As a political appointee, Sendek would have left government service by Jan. 20. But she was still actively helping run CISA's response to the #SolarWinds hack as well as the agency's work in support of the Georgia runoffs.
Sendek said she had planned to stay on the job in the coming days and that she was surprised to be asked to leave by the White House.
She said she was not given a reason for her dismissal.
(To be clear, there are other public affairs professionals who will stay on at @CISAgov. So there is still a comms shop.)
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