President Joe Biden has appointed lawyer Maher Bitar to be the National Security Council’s senior director for intelligence programs. Bitar served as general counsel to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and as a top legal adviser to its chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) since 2017. “I am thrilled to see him in his new post, though we will certainly miss him on the committee,” Schiff told Politico. “I can’t think of anyone more suited to the role than Maher.” In 2020, Bitar played a major role during then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, serving as a senior member in the Democrats’ House impeachment team. The Senate ultimately voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment. Bitar’s latest appointment by Biden marks his return to the NSC. He previously served as the NSC director for Israeli and Palestinian affairs during the presidency of Barack Obama. Before that, he was a deputy to Samantha Power …