did you miss this? "**Miller's order, issued days before the Biden administration began, raised eyebrows and further alarmed critics who said Ellis's appointment represented the politicization of a career job at the highest levels of the nation's largest spy agency.** **Critics feared an effort to "burrow in" or embed a political appointee in a career civil service position** as one administration gave way to another. Ellis's placement on administrative leave was first reported by CBS News. **Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., now chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee as of Wednesday, in November asked the Pentagon acting inspector general to investigate Ellis's selection.** They raised concerns of "improper political influence" and worried that Ellis was picked over other more-qualified candidates. **Concerns with Ellis are linked to his relationship with Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.**, a Trump loyalist whom Ellis helped gain access to intelligence documents in early 2017 to buttress President Donald Trump's political attacks against Democrats. Ellis served as chief counsel to Nunes when Nunes chaired the House Intelligence Committee. **Ellis also was caught up in the controversy surrounding the prepublication review of former national security adviser John Bolton's book**. According to Ellen Knight, a former career White House official in charge of the review, Ellis tried to prevent the release of a portion of the manuscript that dealt with Ukraine and that presumably would be damaging to Trump were it to come out during his 2020 impeachment trial in the Senate. "