Bush Homeland Security Adviser to Join Trump White House

WASHINGTON (CN) - Thomas Bossert, an adviser to former President George W. Bush on homeland security issues, will serve much the same role in the White House of President-elect Donald Trump.

Bossert served in the Bush White House as the deputy homeland security advisor and will fill a similar role for Trump, advising him on homeland security and counterterrorism, the president-elect's transition team said Tuesday morning.

Bossert helped write the Bush administration's "lessons learned report" following Hurricane Katrina and helped put together the government's approach to cybersecurity, according to the press release.

He also wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Times last year that in part defended the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq, a move Trump criticized throughout his campaign.

Bossert now runs a homeland security consulting company and is a fellow at the U.S. Atlantic Council.

"Tom brings enormous depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to protecting the homeland to our senior White House team," Trump said in a statement. "He has a handle on the complexity of homeland security, counterterrorism and cybersecurity challenges. He will be an invaluable asset to our administration."

Bossert's role will be to focus on domestic security, while Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's national security advisor, will handle international issues. According to the transition team, Bossert's job description roughly matches what a deputy national security advisor does in the Obama White House, though Bossert will now have "independent status" with Flynn.

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