President Trump on Friday demanded that Microsoft hearth Lisa Monaco — the previous Biden-era deputy legal professional common now serving because the tech large's president of world affairs — calling her “a menace to U.S. Nationwide Safety” with entry to “Extremely Delicate Info.”
Trump, in a Fact Social publish, urged the software giant to “instantly terminate the employment of Lisa Monaco,” warning that her function overseeing Microsoft's world coverage poses dangers given the agency's huge US authorities contracts.
Trump additionally claimed Monaco had her federal safety clearances revoked earlier this yr and was barred from authorities amenities over unspecified “wrongful acts.”
Monaco, 57, served as deputy legal professional common underneath former President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025, overseeing prosecutions and nationwide safety instances because the Justice Division's second-in-command.
She is claimed to have had a outstanding function in overseeing high-profile and politically delicate instances such because the division's prosecution of Trump in addition to instances involving Jan. 6 defendants.
She additionally served within the Obama administration as White Home homeland safety and counterterrorism adviser from 2013 to 2017, coordinating the federal government's response to terrorism and cyber threats.
Earlier than that, Monaco led the Justice Division's Nationwide Safety Division as assistant legal professional common from 2011 to 2013, after serving as principal affiliate deputy legal professional common and as chief of employees to FBI Director Robert Mueller.
The Biden Justice Division pursued a number of legal and civil instances towards Trump, together with indictments led by Particular Counsel Jack Smith over election interference and labeled paperwork.
The Biden DOJ was additionally accused of expediting prosecutions with a view to inflict injury on Trump's candidacy. Biden and then-Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland insisted choices had been made independently.
Smith is underneath investigation by the Workplace of Particular Counsel after GOP Sen. Tom Cotton alleged his prosecutions of Trump had been politically motivated and tried to have an effect on the 2024 presidential election.
Smith has denied the allegations.
Trump's demand that Microsoft oust Monaco comes at a delicate time for the tech behemoth.
Microsoft is underneath an intensive antitrust investigation by the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) — a probe which started through the Biden administration underneath Lina Khan and has intensified underneath Trump's FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson.
Each Democratic and Republican officers have expressed concern about Microsoft's market dominance in cloud computing, synthetic intelligence and productiveness software program.
The FTC investigation targets Microsoft's follow of bundling Workplace productiveness, cloud and cybersecurity companies, particularly for profitable authorities contracts, doubtlessly locking in federal companies and stifling competitors.
Microsoft has denied wrongdoing.
On Thursday, Trump's DOJ charged former FBI Director James Comey with perjury and obstruction of justice.
The costs stem from Comey's testimony to a Congressional committee in 2020 throughout which he denied authorizing leaks to the press associated to FBI investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump marketing campaign and Russia in 2015-16.
Comey has denied the claims made within the indictment.
The Submit has sought remark from Microsoft and the White Home.
