Overview
- This week multiple outlets confirmed Elias Irizarry is working in the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict policy office on the irregular warfare and counterterrorism team.
- Irizarry pleaded guilty in 2022 to entering and remaining in a restricted building, was sentenced to 14 days in jail in 2023, and received a presidential pardon on January 20, 2025.
- A defense official and the acting Pentagon press secretary publicly defended Irizarry as a political appointee and said he holds a top‑secret security clearance, but the Pentagon has declined to disclose who approved the appointment or the precise duties he performs.
- Current and former Pentagon staff and some lawmakers have raised alarm about placing a young, pardoned Jan. 6 participant into work tied to embassy security, personnel recovery and hostage rescue, saying the move may erode trust and raise operational risks for special operators.
- The hire fits a growing pattern of pardoned Jan. 6 defendants obtaining government roles and is likely to prompt further congressional scrutiny of vetting, clearance practices and who the administration places in sensitive national security posts.