Trump gives allies Devin Nunes, Richard Grenell key roles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named his social media platform CEO Devin Nunes to lead an intelligence advisory panel and said his former intelligence chief Richard Grenell would run "special missions" in places such as U.S. adversaries Venezuela and North Korea.

"Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Ric will continue to fight for Peace through Strength, and always put AMERICA FIRST."

Trump did not name any other specific countries such as Iran in his post naming Grenell as the "Presidential Envoy for Special Missions."

Grenell previously served as acting director of national intelligence during Trump's 2017-2021 term and was Trump's ambassador to Germany and a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations.

Nunes, a former U.S. lawmaker who runs Trump's Truth Social platform, will serve as chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, which offers independent assessments of intelligence agencies' effectiveness and planning.

A longtime Trump defender who led the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during part of Trump's first White House term, Nunes will remain CEO while also serving on the White House panel, Trump said in a separate post on Truth Social, which is part of Trump Media & Technology Group.

As committee chair, Nunes alleged that the FBI had conspired against Trump during its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections in which Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

"Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities," Trump wrote.

Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, served as an aide to Nunes in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A 2017 U.S. intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin had directed a sophisticated influence campaign to denigrate Clinton and support Trump in the 2016 election campaign. The Kremlin denied meddling and Trump denied any collusion with Russia.

Trump has vowed to pursue political adversaries and officials who investigated him when he begins his second term on Jan. 20.

Trump on Saturday also named IBM executive and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security official Troy Edgar to serve as the department's deputy secretary. He also said he would nominate businessmen Bill White and Edward Walsh to serve as U.S. ambassadors to Belgium and Ireland, respectively.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doug Gillison and Michael Martina; Editing by David Gregorio)