Merrick Garland’s Powerful Right-Hand Woman, Lisa Monaco, Becomes Target of Trump’s Wrath as He Aims at Her Lucrative New Job

President Trump’s demand that Microsoft fire a top official in the Biden Justice Department, Lisa Monaco, puts into sharp relief his focus on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s deputy, whom he views as an architect of the weaponization of government and what he reckons was an unelected cabal’s control of a mentally infirm president. Ms. Monaco is now president of global affairs for Microsoft, a lucrative post-government job where she is effectively the head of its lobbying efforts in Washington and worldwide.Mr. Trump’s demand of Microsoft, made in a Truth Social posting, has been given teeth in recent days by the firing of two senior prosecutors at the Department of Justice — Michael Ben’Ary and Maya Song, who once worked for Ms. Monaco, whom the president calls “corrupt and total Trump deranged.” Both Mr. Ben’Ary and Ms. Song worked at the Eastern District of Virginia, where Mr. Ben’Ary led the national security unit. Mr. Ben’Ary’s firing came after a conservative commentator, Julie Kelly, ventured on X that he “was a big part of the internal resistance” to charging the former director of the FBI, James Comey. Charges were eventually handed up on two counts — lying to Congress and obstruction — by a grand jury in Virginia.Mr. Ben’Ary on Friday scotch-taped a note to his door declaring that “The leadership is more concerned with punishing the President’s perceived enemies than they are with protecting our national security.” He decried “political interference” and argued that “Justice for Americans killed and injured by our enemies should not be contingent on what someone in the Department of Justice sees in their social media feed that day.” Last month, Mr. Trump fired the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District, Erik Siebert, citing the support Mr. Siebert had received from Virginia’s two Democratic senators. Mr. Siebert had also been resisting charging Mr. Comey, according to a report from ABC News. In the capstone of her many years in government, she served during the Biden Administration as deputy attorney general under Mr. Garland. That put her in charge of running day to day operations at the DOJ, sometimes described as the world’s largest law firm. Under Mr. Garland, Ms. Monaco, and Special Counsel Jack Smith, Mr. Trump was prosecuted for election interference and for storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.Mr. Trump has brought her up Ms. Monaco’s name repeatedly in press availabilities in the Oval Office and elsewhere since his return to power. On more than one occasion, he has said that she controlled the autopen used by President Biden to sign pardons. As far back as November of 2023 Mr. Trump reckoned that “Deranged Jack Smith, Andrew Weissmann, Lisa Monaco, the ‘team of losers and misfits’ from CREW, and all the rest of the Radical Left Zealots and Thugs who have been working illegally for years to ‘take me down,’ will end up, because of their suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed.”In March, Mr. Trump revoked Ms. Monaco’s security clearance, along with those of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Senator Richard Durbin, who pushed her nomination for deputy attorney general, called her “arguably the most qualified individual ever nominated to this position.”Now Mr. Trump declares on Truth Social that Ms. Monaco herself has become a threat to national security: “Monaco has been shockingly hired as the President of Global Affairs for Microsoft, in a very senior role with access to Highly Sensitive Information. Monaco’s having that kind of access is unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to stand. She is a menace to U.S. National Security, especially given the major contracts that Microsoft has with the United States Government.” Both Microsoft and Ms. Monaco have declined to comment.Ms. Monaco’s LinkedIn page explains that at the technology giant she aims to “bring together expertise across national security, cybersecurity, international government affairs and global institutions. Our focus is clear: Help global governments and communities navigate digital transformation safely, protect people from emerging threats, and promote responsible innovation, including in AI.” Ms. Monaco, who graduated from Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School, also served in the Clinton administration as counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno. She was also chief of staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In January of 2022 Ms. Monaco announced on CNN that the DOJ would be investigating Mr. Trump for his deployment of so-called “alternate electors” in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. She also played a role in supervising the work of Mr. Smith, whose cases against the 47th president ended in dismissal.Ms. Monaco has parlayed extensive government service into what appears to be a lucrative new chapter in the private sphere. She has worked as a national security analyst on CNN, served as a partner at the O’Melveny & Meyers law firm, and advised clients like Exxon Mobil and Apple. It is possible that Mr. Trump’s broadside against Ms. Monaco followed an X post on Monday by Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo. She reposted word of Ms. Monaco’s hiring by Microsoft, commenting “interesting new job.” If it were up to Mr. Trump, that job would be a thing of the past — he is of the opinion that “Microsoft should immediately terminate the employment of Lisa Monaco.”Mr. Trump’s reference to Microsoft’s government contracts is a not-so-subtle reference that his demand for Ms. Monaco’s firing has teeth. Microsoft has enormous government contracts — including a hard-won deal to provide cloud computing — which are a major part of its business.

Merrick Garland’s Powerful Right-Hand Woman, Lisa Monaco, Becomes Target of Trump’s Wrath as He Aims at Her Lucrative New Job

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