Pentagon Hires Elias Irizarry, Convicted in Jan. 6 Case, for Counterterrorism Role
The Defense Department said Irizarry was a qualified, patriotic young professional as officials questioned hiring a Jan. 6 rioter for a sensitive role.
- On Tuesday, the Trump administration hired Elias Irizarry for a role in Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, despite his guilty plea for entering the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
- Irizarry entered the Capitol Building through a broken window during the "Stop the Steal" rally, later pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges and serving 14 days in jail for disorderly conduct.
- Four officials questioned the hiring of individuals linked to the January 6 attack for sensitive Pentagon roles, suggesting standard vetting processes may have been bypassed or overridden.
- Joel Valdez, acting Pentagon press secretary, defended the appointment, calling Irizarry a "qualified, patriotic young professional" while criticizing the Washington Post for reporting on the hiring.
- The appointment triggers scrutiny regarding vetting of political appointees with criminal records, as the Pentagon maintains its defensive posture amid external criticism of personnel decisions in sensitive security roles.
76 Articles
76 Articles
In the middle of the Trump administration’s armchair dance, which has not hesitated in recent months to purge those who have found it opportune and replace them at their whim with someone more ‘convenient’, the Pentagon has now hired Elias Irizarry, one of the participants in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The U.S. president has chosen him to work in a Pentagon office that manages highly classified military operations. According …
Man convicted in Jan 6 riot at US Capitol has job at Pentagon
The Trump administration has given a man convicted in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol a job in the Pentagon’s policy office, according to officials and internal records. “Mr. Elias Irizarry is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said in a social media post this week. Irizarry, whose appointment was first reported by The Washingt…
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