USA: Counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Fran Townsend resigns after four and a half years with the Bush administration

Record ID: 677383

  • Title: USA: Counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Fran Townsend resigns after four and a half years with the Bush administration
  • Date: 20th November 2007
  • Summary: (BN12)WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE) (POOL) FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES WALKS INTO NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 5th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAMIU1L7WV8Q6RWT9XTTE7KY3Y
  • Story Text: U.S. President George W. Bush's White House adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security,Fran Townsend announced his resignation on Monday (November 19), with 14 months left of his presidency.
    Bush said in a statement that Fran Townsend "has always provided wise counsel on how to best protect the American people from the threat of terrorism."

    "She has been a steady leader in the effort to prevent and disrupt attacks and to better respond to natural disasters," the president said.
    He gave no reason for her departure.
    Townsend, who served for four and a half years in a post created after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, had also been a prosecutor in New York and deputy national security adviser.
    Her resignation is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the administration in recent months.
    Senior Bush adviser Karl Rove left in August, White House press secretary Tony Snow resigned in September and White House counsellor Dan Bartlett stepped down in June. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, another member of Bush's inner circle, resigned under pressure in August.
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