Maryland Commissioner Who Served on Trump's National Security Council Resigns Without Explanation

Derek Harvey, who helped shape intelligence strategy during Mr. Trump's first term, cited "business opportunities" in stepping down from the Washington County board

On Feb. 10, the Washington County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to declare its “full support” for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As the final vote was cast, protesters inside and outside the hearing room jeered and blew whistles. Commission President John F. Barr called for the room to be cleared. “Off air, off air,” he said, and the livestream cut off.

The resolution had five sponsors. One of them was not present for the vote.

Derek Harvey, a Republican commissioner with deep ties to the Trump administration’s national security apparatus, had been absent. He would not return. On Tuesday, Feb. 24 — the deadline for candidates to file for re-election, a deadline he did not meet — his resignation from the board took effect. The county announced it this morning.

In a statement issued on Mr. Harvey’s behalf, the county said he had left to pursue “new business opportunities that better align with the needs of his family and long-term professional goals.” Mr. Harvey did not make a public statement. He did not respond to a request for comment. It is not clear what business opportunities lie ahead.

The resignation came as Washington County finds itself at the center of one of the more volatile immigration protests in the mid-Atlantic region. In January, DHS purchased a 54-acre warehouse in Williamsport for $102.4 million, intending to convert it into a detention center for up to 1,500 people. The building was designed for cargo — despite covering over 825 thousand square feet, it has four toilets and only two water fountains. Williamsport has just over 2,000 residents. County officials said they received no notice from DHS until two days before the deed was recorded.

The purchase drew immediate opposition. Gov. Wes Moore demanded answers from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and pledged to sign legislation prohibiting local cooperation with ICE. On Feb. 23, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed suit against DHS and ICE in federal court, arguing the federal government had failed to conduct a required environmental assessment and asking a judge to void the purchase and block further development of the property.

The Board of County Commissioners did not answer questions about when its members first learned of the transaction or what role, if any, county officials played in facilitating it. A public relations officer directed inquiries to a county statement asserting there was nothing local government could do about the purchase; when pressed further, the office declined to comment.

According to YouTube videos of the proceedings reviewed by the Herald-Mail, Mr. Harvey had been absent from commissioner meetings on Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Feb. 10 and Feb. 24. The last meeting he attended was Dec. 16, 2025.

He is not a peripheral figure in the world from which the warehouse purchase originated. Mr. Harvey spent years embedded in the national security infrastructure of Mr. Trump’s first administration — an administration whose personnel, priorities and methods are now driving federal immigration enforcement in its second. That the commissioner who sponsored a resolution backing ICE, then vanished from public duties and resigned citing vague “business opportunities,” is that same person invites questions neither he nor the county has addressed.

Before winning a Washington County commissioner seat in 2022, Mr. Harvey served on the White House National Security Council during Mr. Trump’s first administration, focusing on Middle East policy. He was fired from that role in July 2017 by national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who had repeatedly clashed with him. He had been brought onto the council by Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and was known as an ally of White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon.

Following his departure from the NSC, Mr. Harvey became lead investigator for Representative Devin Nunes of California on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — a role that placed him at the center of one of the most contentious episodes of Mr. Trump’s first term. Mr. Harvey was among the principal architects of what became known as the Nunes memo, a four-page document released by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 2, 2018, alleging that the F.B.I. and Justice Department had abused surveillance authorities in obtaining a warrant against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. Mr. Nunes and his allies argued the memo represented necessary oversight of a politically compromised investigation. The minority members of the committee called it a shameful effort to discredit law enforcement institutions, undermine the special counsel’s ongoing investigation and suppress the full truth. Mr. Trump declassified and released it over the objections of the Justice Department and F.B.I. Director Christopher A. Wray.

His wife, Beth Zentmeyer Harvey, a Boonsboro native, has her own considerable record in Washington. She served as an adviser to the Speaker of the House, directed legislative strategy in the White House under President George W. Bush, completed three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and served as chief of staff of the Iraq desk at the State Department. She is currently president of the Washington County Commission for Women.

The Washington County Republican Central Committee has been notified of the vacancy and will submit a replacement recommendation to Mr. Moore, a Democrat, who will make the official appointment to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. All five commissioner seats are on the November ballot.