Trump Staff Picks, Co-Conspirators and the Revolving Door of Departures

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

More appalling was Kelly's immediate and throaty defense of Porter, both before and after he resigned.....although I suspect that Kelly slaps his women around too.

Uh oh. The knives are out for Kelly (and rumor has it, for Hope Hicks).

Unwelcome Attention for John Kelly, the Man Enlisted to Bring Calm [NYT]

Mr. Kelly has previously played down accusations against someone he believed served a greater goal. He appeared as a character witness in a 2016 court-martial of a Marine colonel accused of sexually harassing two female subordinates. Mr. Kelly praised the colonel as a “superb Marine officer".

The same Marine colonel was later arrested for child molestation.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

And another resignation for spousal abuse....

Second White House official departs amid abuse allegations, which he denies [WaPo]

A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage — allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him.

The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen.

Sorensen's wife alleges that "he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine’s coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life."

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

At least this one wasn't beating his wife... that we know of.

Top official departs ‘rudderless’ railroad safety agency [Politico]

02/10/2018 01:09 PM EST
A top official charged with overseeing the safety of the nation's railroads has resigned "effective immediately," the Department of Transportation said Saturday after POLITICO raised questions about whether he was simultaneously working as a public relations consultant in Mississippi.

The news comes at a time of strain for the Federal Railroad Administration, which hasn’t had a permanent leader for more than a year while it investigates a string of fatal train crashes and deals with a rising trend of rail-related deaths.

Heath Hall became the Federal Railroad Administration's acting chief after being appointed deputy administrator in June. But he subsequently appeared at least twice in local media reports last summer as a sheriff's department spokesman in Madison County, Mississippi, where he has long run a public relations and political consulting firm.

Mr Hall was the owner of a public relations firm. He had no expertise in railroads, safety or transportation. At press time, it was unclear whether he had owned toy choo-choo trains as a child.

So, while the railroad industry has been struggling with an increasing number of accidents and accidental deaths, the guy that the Trump administration appointed to investigate the accidents has been working two jobs and has no experience in railroads?

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

I regret not putting a counter on these posts.

Controversial professor withdraws from consideration for top Census job [Politico]

02/12/2018 06:09 PM EST
Thomas Brunell, a Texas professor with no government experience who testified on behalf of Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts, has withdrawn from consideration for the top operational job at the U.S. Census Bureau, according to two people familiar with his plans...
Brunell is the author of a 2008 book titled “Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America.” If he had become deputy director of the Census Bureau, it would have broken with a long tradition of nonpolitical government officials taking the job, which does not require Senate confirmation.

The head of the Census bureau will be responsible for planning of the 2020 census that will determine the Congressional redistricting for elections between 2020 and 2029.

It's undoubtedly just a coincidence that that that the Trump administration nominated someone to head the US Census bureau who is a political science professor who is a subject matter expert on gerrymandering Congressional and State legislative districts.

He can be found at the 35min mark:

 

[frankfrank]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

^ FILL AND STOCK the swamp!!

So, while the railroad industry has been struggling with an increasing number of accidents and accidental deaths, the guy that the Trump administration appointed to investigate the accidents has been working two jobs and has no experience in railroads?

An even more sinister possibility enters my mind...that they are HOPING for more and more fatal AMTRAK accidents, so that people will be afraid to ride and they'll be "justified" to defund that service and shut it down as they've been trying to do for at least 30 years.

If I knew how to do it, I'd take a cartoon of Agent Orange talking about "shithole countries" and add a thought balloon over his head that says "I'll be so happy when the USA is on the list, and I'm helping to make it happen."

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

I could post this on Trump This...but I'll leave it right here.

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

And

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

And

The "revolving door" in politics used to be used about politicians and lobbyists.

These days, it seems to mean that White House staffers walk in the door, circle in the revolving door and then exit back out again.

 

[gsdx]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

More appalling was Kelly's immediate and throaty defense of Porter, both before and after he resigned.....

Apparently the White House knew of the abuse last year:

WASHINGTON ― The White House’s attempts to explain why it allowed a top aide accused of domestic violence by both of his ex-wives to keep his job took another hit on Tuesday, this time from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

President Donald Trump’s other top aides have been claiming that they did not know about the domestic violence allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter until recently and that they did not appreciate the full extent of the accusations until photographs of one woman’s injuries were published by news outlets.

But Wray, who was named to that job by Trump, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI had given the White House a preliminary report on Porter nearly a year ago.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fbi-chief-disputes-white-house-173807031.html

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

It's so awkward when you're under oath.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

What happens when a former subprime mortgage lender becomes Secretary of the Treasury.

 

[cocksucker4use]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

Our "Populist" POTUS is here to drain the swamp. Does anyone feel that the swamp is doing anything but expanding exponentially with this crew of miscreants....starting with the misogynistic, income tax hiding, abuser protecting, Russia denying, compulsively lying, self-enriching, whoremongering Swamp Monster in charge?

 

[gsdx]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

Our "Populist" POTUS is here to drain the swamp.

Here's a thought. Perhaps his 'swamp' is the American taxpayers' bank accounts. He's been doing a good job of draining those.

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

So seems like H. R. McMaster's job is getting shaky again. Obviously this is being purposefully leaked out of the West Wing.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/politics/hr-mcmaster-future-trump-white-house/index.html

Increasingly, Trump may come unchained. God help us.

 

[Kulindahr]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

This is what happens when political parties are subjected to the government so that whatever crazy comes along can claim to be a Republican or a Democrat but the party has no control at all. Once whoever got elected president got elected, the party would have a list of vetted competent people all lined up to fill posts.

This way of doing things is like a bizarre form of Russian Roulette.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

So seems like H. R. McMaster's job is getting shaky again. Obviously this is being purposefully leaked out of the West Wing.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/politics/hr-mcmaster-future-trump-white-house/index.html

Increasingly, Trump may come unchained. God help us.

There's a discussion of McMaster in the Wolff book. Basically, Wolff says that Trump had a choice between John Bolton and HR McMaster. McMaster showed up in military uniform and reviewed details of international affairs and national security. Trump was impatient, bored and uninterested in any of the details. McMaster showed up for a second interview in an ill-fitting civilian suit which Trump did not like.

The book also talks extensively about Trump's inability to listen, focus, comprehend and read anything beyond a paragraph or two. Trump has been quoted as saying that McMaster is boring and gives too much detail about national security issues.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

A defection from Team Jarvanka:

Top White House aide linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner is leaving [CNN]

Josh Raffel, who was recruited to the White House by Kushner, has primarily served as a spokesman for Ivanka Trump and Kushner's White House initiatives, including the Office of American Innovation and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A White House official said in an email that Raffel had been quietly promoted to deputy communications director in the fall of 2017...

The official said Raffel will leave within the next two months.

 

[ballcaphair]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

Staff hiring interview:

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

Staff hiring interview:

You're assuming that they did interviews?

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

A defection from Team Jarvanka:

Top White House aide linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner is leaving [CNN]

I suspect that his ouster is in retaliation by team Kelly/McMaster for team Jarvanka putting it out that Kelly was toast because Jared's security clearnace was going to be downgraded.....which it now has been......