The Department of Homeland Security’s top public affairs official and spokesman, Andrew Meehan, is leaving the Trump administration next month after roughly four months on the job, according to three officials.
Meehan was brought to DHS headquarters to serve as acting assistant secretary of public affairs after Kevin McAleenan, his former boss at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was promoted to acting secretary in April.
Meehan was axed because of his messaging and strategy in rolling out policy changes, including this week’s new rule in response to the 2015 Flores settlement agreement, according to Axios.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McAleenan and one senior aide are at the center of a federal investigation into a leak of information that compromised an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in late June.
McAleenan and Meehan were on a government plane with the reporter who broke the story a day later. Five officials told the Washington Examiner at the time they believe McAleenan, a long-time Democratic donor, had an aide leak the raids so that they could not proceed.
McAleenan had disagreed in meetings for months about the enforcement actions, but the White House refused to stand down on the operation.
Under McAleenan and Meehan, the department also brought up Jose “Lu” Maheda from Border Patrol. Maheda is temporary press secretary in a deputy assistant secretary position that is meant to be filled with a political appointee.
He was revealed by several Border Patrol officials as having staged a break-in to his government vehicle when he thought his gun was stolen in the 1990s.
