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Trump names attorney Robert O'Brien national security adviser

By Clyde Hughes
Attorney Robert O'Brien was named the new national security adviser by President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Photo by Michael Gross/U.S. Department of State
Attorney Robert O'Brien was named the new national security adviser by President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Photo by Michael Gross/U.S. Department of State

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday named attorney Robert C. O'Brien as national security adviser, succeeding John Bolton.

Trump announced the appointment of O'Brien, who was serving as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department under Secretary Mike Pompeo, on Twitter. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

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"I have worked long and hard with Robert," Trump said. "He will do a great job."

O'Brien, Trump's fourth national security adviser since taking office, replaces the hawkish Bolton, a harsh Iran critic who had a rocky relationship with other Cabinet members before leaving the job last week.

O'Brien served as the U.S. alternate representative to the United Nations General Assembly under President George W. Bush in 2005-06. He was the founding co-chair of the Department of State Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2011 under Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.

He worked as a senior legal officer for the U.N. Security Council in Geneva from 1996 to 1998, where he addressed claims against Iraq that came out of the first Gulf War. O'Brien served as a major in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps.

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