Cohen-Watnick was brought into the United States National Security Council by Michael T. Flynn, the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and President Donald Trump's first National Security Advisor. He was named the NSC's Senior Director for Intelligence Programs.[6] This directorship was intermittently held by detailed CIA officers. Like Cohen-Watnick, the immediate preceding Senior Director from the Obama Administration was a political appointee.[7][8] Some viewed Cohen-Watnick's appointment as a sign of Trump's mistrust of the CIA.[9] Following Flynn's resignation in February 2017, the new National Security Advisor, H. R. McMaster, attempted to remove Cohen-Watnick, but he was overruled by Trump.[4] McMaster attempted to replace Cohen-Watnick with CIA official Linda Weissgold, the author of the infamous Benghazi talking points and member of the "Benghazi dream team", a group of intelligence community analysts assembled to counter the Congressional investigation into the Benghazi Affair.[10]
