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Former Maine Secretary Of State Charlie Summers Will Be Pentagon's New Top Spokesperson

Joel Page
/
AP Photo

Former Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers has been named the top spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The move comes during the staff shuffle at the Pentagon, following the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

As the top spokesperson for the DOD, Summers will brief Pentagon reporters on behalf of the Defense Secretary. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has announced that Summers will replace Dana White, who had a sometimes-testy relationship with reporters covering the Pentagon. 

In addition to serving a term as Maine’s Secretary of State, Summers served several terms in the State Senate and ran for Congress several times, and he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012, losing to independent Senator Angus King. He has been a U.S. Navy reservist since 1995 and holds the rank of captain.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.