Biden nominated the man who framed Trump for Russiagate to be deputy secretary of defense and deputy assistant to his national security adviser, Barack Obama.

2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced Wednesday, Dec. 30, that he has nominated three former senior Obama administration officials to key positions at the Pentagon and has been praised by foreign policymakers.

In a statement, the Biden transition team said (Wednesday), “Today, President-elect Biden announced the nomination of Dr. Kathleen Hicks to be Deputy Secretary of Defense and Dr. Colin Kahl to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.”

Biden said Dr. Hicks and Dr. Kahl have the experience and crisis-tested judgment to help us meet the litany of challenges we face today, and all the challenges we may face tomorrow. He added, “They will be trusted partners to me, the vice president-elect, Secretary of State-designate Lloyd Austin, and our dedicated civilian and military teams as we work to restore America to its leadership role on the world stage.”

The Biden transition team’s statement listed the challenges facing the armed forces:

-Maintaining national security.

-Playing a key role in executing the logistics associated with the distribution of the Chinese Communist Virus (COVID-19) vaccine.

-Restoring our allies.

-Supporting and equipping our service members and keeping them and their families cared for.

-Addressing the growing security threats posed by the climate crisis.

-Modernizing our forces to prepare for future conflicts and to win the strategic competition of the 21st century.

Hicks is currently senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She previously served as principal deputy secretary of defense for policy, strategy, plans and forces during the former Obama administration. If confirmed, she would become the first female deputy secretary of defense.

Carr is currently co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISC), a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a professor of political science at Stanford University. He served as deputy assistant to Obama and national security adviser to Biden from 2014 to 2017, and as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East affairs from 2009 to 2011.

Biden also announced the nomination of another former Obama administration official, Kelly Magsamen, as the new chief of staff of the Defense Department.

While the Biden transition team praised the two top Defense Department officials nominated by Biden, conservative media reporters, including Chuck Ross, pointed out that it was Carr, a key Pentagon candidate, who drove the “Russiagate scam. Carr tweeted in 2017 that “Steele built a pretty good Trump-Russia dossier.”