Ms. Monaco quickly instituted a change, according to Matthew Olsen, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Most had lost faith in the government, and she sought them out to ensure that a new hostage policy was fair and credible. After Ms. Monaco’s team completed its review, the administration adopted a policy that included advising families of all their options and refraining from threats of prosecution. Mr. Obama acknowledged that the government should have treated them as “trusted partners.”Now Ms. Monaco, 53, a veteran of national security roles, is poised to become the deputy attorney general — the Justice Department’s No. 2 official — where her ability to broker consensus on politically charged issues will quickly be tested.

Source: New York Times April 17, 2021 15:45 UTC