from rogue CIA and State Department intelligence analysts. From 2006 to 2011, Fleitz was a senior staff member with House Intelligence Committee and a senior adviser to committee ranking member Peter Hoekstra. Post-Government Career In 2011, Fleitz was hired by the organization Newsmax Media to found the Langley Intelligence Group Network (LIGNET), an online international analysis and forecasting service. He served as the LIGNET Director until 2013 when he was named a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy, run by Frank Gaffney, an anti-Muslim activist and conspiracy theorist. In February 2015, Fleitz became senior vice president for policy and programs. In his writings for the Center, Fleitz claimed that major American Muslim organizations and mosques were secretly working to advance a jihadist agenda, that such groups should not be trusted when they claim to "eschew violence" and that they should be "neutralized as political forces." He has been described as part of the counter-jihad movement. Media Fleitz has appeared on the Fox News Channel and other media outlets. Fleitz opposed the Iran nuclear agreement. According to Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and Washington Post columnist Max Boot, Fleitz "has a record of trafficking in virulent Muslim hatred." In his columns, Fleitz frequently defended fringe anti-Muslim, far-right activists such as Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller. Trump administration In April 2018, John R. Bolton was appointed National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump. Fleitz had previously served as Bolton's Chief of Staff at the State Department during the Presidency of George W. Bush. Bolton selected Fleitz to serve as his NSC Chief of Staff, replacing Keith Kellogg. He left his position on October 31 of that year to rejoin the Center for Security Policy and was succeeded by Joan Virginia O'Hara. After Fleitz left the National Security Council, President Trump considered him for two cabinet level national security posts. According to press reports, Fleitz was a top candidate in 2019 to be Director of National Intelligence. In September 2019, Fleitz was among five finalists to succeed John Bolton as National Security Adviser. References 1962 births Analysts of the Defense Intelligence Agency American critics of Islam Counter-jihad activists Living people George W. Bush administration personnel People of the Central Intelligence Agency Trump administration personnel Saint Joseph's University alumni Fordham University alumni