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

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Another one of Trump's 'Only the best people'.

I am beginning to sense a theme to these staff departures.

Now, if only Mr and Mrs McConnell would get run out of town.

Spotlight on Elaine Chao after public appearances with family members [CNN]
Chao sells off stock as attention on corruption allegations grows [MSNBC]
Chao created special path for McConnell’s favored projects [Politico]
Dem-affiliated group wants to know if McConnell’s state got a sweetheart deal [McClatchy]
House to investigate Secretary Elaine Chao corruption allegations [MSNBC]

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Kelly Craft is Trump's latest nominee for UN Ambassador. Her extensive diplomatic resume includes a $2 million donation to Trump's 2016 campaign and her (third) marriage to Joseph Craft III, the president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States. In 2017, Mrs Craft was appointed to be the Ambassador to Canada, a position she has viewed as a "commuter job", apparently.

Mrs Craft is a resident of Kentucky, graduate of the University of Kentucky and close friend of the Senator from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell.


Trump’s U.N. nominee was ‘absent’ ambassador: FAA records raise questions about the extent of Kelly Craft’s travels while serving as the top U.S. diplomat in Ottawa [Politico]

President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations — current U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft — was frequently absent from her post in Ottawa, raising questions about her level of engagement with the job, according to officials in the United States and Canada....

Federal Aviation Administration records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by POLITICO show that a private jet registered to Craft’s husband and used by the ambassador made 128 flights between the United States and Canada during a 15-month span of her tenure in Ottawa, the equivalent of a round trip once a week.

Some of the trips correspond with dates of events Craft attended in her home state of Kentucky — such as the Kentucky Derby and a media interview at a University of Kentucky basketball facility named for her husband, Joe Craft, a coal billionaire — but neither of the Crafts, through their spokespeople, would confirm how many of the flights involved her travel...

Ambassadors are required to spend no more than 26 work days a year away from their posts on personal leave without first obtaining special State Department approval, according to the department’s Foreign Affairs manual. Though Craft’s absences from the embassy on work days are recorded on her schedule, neither the embassy nor the State Department officials would provide records of how many days she was present in Ottawa.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

^ I never laid a hand on the bitch. I swear it was just a baseball bat.

Shit. There goes my nomination.

Buh bye.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/actin...nJU0P5DnPgJ-Za3Bl2mal75O3L2Wti_nUIgbU0S6CJ3DA

Another one of Trump's 'Only the best people'.

The details that are coming out about this incident are bad. They're an embarrassment to Mr Shanahan and his family.

It does beg the question... Mr Shanahan was able to be the Acting Secretary of Defense for the past 6 months because he was an Assistant Secretary of Defense- a Senate confirmed position. These kind of things are supposed to be found in FBI background checks and are supposed to be disclosed to Congress, not because it's germane to the appointed position but because this kind of information could be used for blackmail.

None of this came out during his Senate confirmation hearing, although the White House is saying that Sen McCain was aware of the incident. The question is a) was this found in the FBI background check back in 2017, b) was the Trump Administration aware of these domestic violence incidents, c) was this information made available to the Senate committee before they voted to confirm Mr Shanahan?

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Theoretically, the White House suppressed the information......it is sad. And embarrassing for his family to have this all thrown out in the public eye.

I really don't understand how men with abuse in their past think that somehow it can be hidden away from view and that there are no long lasting consequences...they still seem to keep pushing ahead with their ambitions.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Theoretically, the White House suppressed the information......it is sad. And embarrassing for his family to have this all thrown out in the public eye.

I really don't understand how men with abuse in their past think that somehow it can be hidden away from view and that there are no long lasting consequences...they still seem to keep pushing ahead with their ambitions.

The press accounts that I read had past complaints of Mr and Mrs Shanahan accusing each other of slapping each other in the face before they divorced. It's not clear whose story was accurate- spousal abuse can be in either direction- and there is evidence that Mrs Shanahan was physically abusive. The Shanahans divorced. The wife and kids moved to Florida. Mr Shanahan remained in Seattle.

The baseball bat story that came out yesterday was that the Shanahan's son assaulted his mother in 2011 at the home in Florida. The mother had confronted the son with allegations that he was having an affair with a woman who was over twice his age. The son then attacked the mother with a baseball bat, unplugged the land line in the house and left his mother on the floor beaten. The mother was hospitalized with fairly severe injuries, including a skull fracture.

It sounds like this happened after Mr and Mrs Shanahan were no longer living together, as the son called his father and Mr Shanahan flew to Florida. Mr Shanahan initially defended his son and he kept the son in a hotel while Mr Shanahan hired a defense attorney for the son. According to Mr Shanahan's statements to the Press, it sounds like once he found out the severity of the injuries Mrs Shanahan had sustained, Mr Shanahan no longer defended his son's actions.

The son was initially charged with two felonies, aggravated battery and tampering with a victim. He faced up to 15 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge.

Currently, Mr Shanahan's three sons are no longer in contact with their mother. Mrs Shanahan lost custody of the youngest son in 2014.

To be fair- this situation is one that plays out in a lot of families of divorce. Mr Shanahan was just one member of a family with a complicated history of violence upon each other.

Thanks to the White House's inept handling of this nomination, now we all know about the Shanahan's dirty laundry.

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Kelly Craft is Trump's latest nominee for UN Ambassador. Her extensive diplomatic resume includes a $2 million donation to Trump's 2016 campaign and her (third) marriage to Joseph Craft III, the president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States. In 2017, Mrs Craft was appointed to be the Ambassador to Canada, a position she has viewed as a "commuter job", apparently.

Mrs Craft is a resident of Kentucky, graduate of the University of Kentucky and close friend of the Senator from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell.


Trump’s U.N. nominee was ‘absent’ ambassador: FAA records raise questions about the extent of Kelly Craft’s travels while serving as the top U.S. diplomat in Ottawa [Politico]

To be honest, we haven't missed her. She has been of no real value during her time here. She offered nothing during the renegotiation of NAFTA and it was likely just as well that she treated the job as a joke.

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

The press accounts that I read had past complaints of Mr and Mrs Shanahan accusing each other of slapping each other in the face before they divorced. It's not clear whose story was accurate- spousal abuse can be in either direction- and there is evidence that Mrs Shanahan was physically abusive. The Shanahans divorced. The wife and kids moved to Florida. Mr Shanahan remained in Seattle.

The baseball bat story that came out yesterday was that the Shanahan's son assaulted his mother in 2011 at the home in Florida. The mother had confronted the son with allegations that he was having an affair with a woman who was over twice his age. The son then attacked the mother with a baseball bat, unplugged the land line in the house and left his mother on the floor beaten. The mother was hospitalized with fairly severe injuries, including a skull fracture.

It sounds like this happened after Mr and Mrs Shanahan were no longer living together, as the son called his father and Mr Shanahan flew to Florida. Mr Shanahan initially defended his son and he kept the son in a hotel while Mr Shanahan hired a defense attorney for the son. According to Mr Shanahan's statements to the Press, it sounds like once he found out the severity of the injuries Mrs Shanahan had sustained, Mr Shanahan no longer defended his son's actions.

The son was initially charged with two felonies, aggravated battery and tampering with a victim. He faced up to 15 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge.

Currently, Mr Shanahan's three sons are no longer in contact with their mother. Mrs Shanahan lost custody of the youngest son in 2014.

To be fair- this situation is one that plays out in a lot of families of divorce. Mr Shanahan was just one member of a family with a complicated history of violence upon each other.

Thanks to the White House's inept handling of this nomination, now we all know about the Shanahan's dirty laundry.

I am suspecting that the son may have experienced the violence between his parents and perhaps even from them...although he may have been just a violent boy with mental health issues. I am suspecting though, that Shanahan was not pure in all of this.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

To be honest, we haven't missed her. She has been of no real value during her time here. She offered nothing during the renegotiation of NAFTA and it was likely just as well that she treated the job as a joke.

I loved the long discussion in the video about whether they'll have good Southern food at the big July 4th party that the embassy throws every year. These ambassadors to close allies are always patronage jobs but in the past, they usually had some connection to the country they were Ambassador for.


This nomination has Bolton's fingerprints on it- he's notorious for his disdain for the UN. I wonder if the UN is asking whether she'll bring Kentucky Friend Chicken to their parties?

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

It's a bit murky- whether the "gaping holes" refers to the officials in the Trump Administrations or the unfilled positions. ;-)

Why Trump can't fill the gaping holes in his government [CNN]

A difficult boss

Many see Trump's embrace of temporary staffers in top Cabinet roles as an effort to subvert the Senate's Constitutional role of "advice and consent" in who runs government agencies. And there's probably something to that; he's loathe to let his secretaries testify before Congress.

But Trump has also embraced it for roles that don't require Senate confirmation. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has been acting in that role since December of 2018.

"Acting gives you much greater flexibility. A lot easier to do things. So that's the way it is," Trump said when asked about the situation.

Over two years into the Trump Administration, large numbers of positions remained unfilled:

• Nearly 40 percent of key Senate-confirmable positions identified by the Partnership for Public Service are currently vacant.
• State Department: 61 vacant positions out of 202
• Defense Department: 12 vacant positions out of 56
• Justice Department: 15 vacant positions out of 29
• Homeland Security: 12 of the 24 top-level roles listed on the DHS website are either acting or vacant.
• Overall, there are 260 vacant positions out of 713 total

[URL="https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/"]Brookings just released a report detailing the turnover problem[/URL] in the Trump Administration. It includes the statement: "President Trump’s 'A Team' turnover is 71% as of June 19, 2019".

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

^ His idea of government is that it should run like a private family business. Literally

 

[gsdx]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Why should we be surprised that he prefers acting secretaries? He's an acting president.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Why should we be surprised that he prefers acting secretaries? He's an acting president.

One really big problem now is, with Jim Mattis gone and only acting secretaries, Pompeo is now trying to run the Defense Department and State. With Trump blithely stepping into ant beds in North Korea and the Middle East, it's a dangerous situation.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Oopsie. Someone leaked the Trump Administration vetting documents for Trump's staff picks (aka "the best people") to Axios. Axios appears to have the entire package that was prepared by the second vetting team (the first team was headed by Chris Christie, who was forced out of the position because of Jared Kushner's ill feelings against Christie).

Axios interviewed Chris Christie (video below). It appears that these vetting documents were NOT the vetting documents that were prepared by Chris Christie's original vetting team since Christie is asked to read some of the documents and he does not appear to recognize the documents. Christie later mentions that he had prepared a "30 volume set" of vetting documents. which from earlier accounts was completely discarded when the second vetting team headed by Mike Pence prepared the documents that Axios obtained copies of.

Exclusive: Leaked Trump vetting docs [Axios]
Some highlights:

• Scott Pruitt, who ultimately lost his job as EPA Administrator because of serial ethical abuses and clubbiness with lobbyists, had a section in his vetting form titled "allegations of coziness with big energy companies."
• Tom Price, who ultimately resigned as Health and Human Services Secretary after Trump lost confidence in him in part for stories about his use of chartered flights, had sections in his dossier flagging "criticisms of management ability" and "Dysfunction And Division Has Haunted Price's Leadership Of The House Budget Committee."
• Mick Mulvaney, who became Trump's Budget Director and is now his acting chief of staff, has a striking assortment of "red flags," including his assessment that Trump "is not a very good person."
• Rudy Giuliani, The Trump transition team was so worried about Rudy Giuliani, in line for Secretary of State, that they created a separate 25-page document titled "Rudy Giuliani Business Ties Research Dossier" with copious accounting of his "foreign entanglements."
• David Petraeus, One red flag for Gen. David Petraeus, who was under consideration for Secretary of State and National Security Adviser: "Petraeus Is Opposed to Torture."
• Rex Tillerson The first red flag for Rex Tillerson, who became Trump’s first Secretary of State, was about Russia. "Tillerson's Russia ties go deep," it read.
• Laura Ingraham One red flag for Fox News host Laura Ingraham, considered for White House press secretary: "Ingraham said people should wear diapers instead of sharing bathrooms with transgender people."
• Kris Kobach One heading in the document about Kris Kobach, in the running for Homeland Security Secretary, listed "white supremacy" as a vulnerability. It cited accusations from past political opponents that he had ties to white supremacist groups.
• Gary Cohn Vetters had unique concerns about Gary Cohn. "Some Say Cohn Has An Abrasive, Curt, And Intimidating Style," they wrote, citing a Bloomberg piece. "He Would Sometimes Hike Up One Leg And Plant His Foot On A Trader's Desk, His Thigh Close To The Employee's Face, And Ask How Markets Were Doing."

More reading:
Behind the scenes: How Trump's team staffed the U.S. government
The consequences of the Trump presidential transition

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

The worst part about all this leaked info?

We all already knew it.

Because they just do it all out in the open and have no shame about their cupidity or ignorance or ineptitude.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

The worst part about all this leaked info?

We all already knew it.

Because they just do it all out in the open and have no shame about their cupidity or ignorance or ineptitude.

It's true that fragments of the vetting process had leaked out. Christie was miffed when he was booted out of the transition team. Christie said that Bannon told him that Jared was responsible for the booting of Christie. Christie had also said that Pence and Jared threw out the 75 binders of vetting materials that Christie had prepared, after which they started from scratch.

Until now, the suspicion was that Kushner and Pence were just inept. Now it seems that they relied upon the Reagan philosophy of self-fulfilling prophecy: if you claim that government is the problem, then you appoint the most inept people possible to head it up, so that you can say it's government that is inept, and not your appointees.

The vetting documents show the smarmy nature of the candidates that were later nominated. The conflicts of interest and the problematic history of the nominees is all spelled out in the documents.

Apparently in their search for inept people, they were willing to ignore the swampy, in spite of the Orange Abomination's claims that he would be draining the swamp. Nah, he just installed a new swampier, unapologetic swamp.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Another one bites the dust...

Acting US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders to leave [CNN]

Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders is resigning, he said in a message sent to agency employees Tuesday, amid the dramatic increase in the number of undocumented migrants crossing the border and a fight over how to address it.

His resignation is effective July 5.

Sanders assumed the post after Kevin McAleenan, the former commissioner, moved up to fill the role of acting Department of Homeland Security secretary in the wake of Kirstjen Nielsen's ouster this spring. In his role, Sanders has overseen the agency charged with protecting the nation's border at a time when illegal crossings have hit record levels.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Enter Stephanie. And Stephanie. And Stephanie...

Trump taps Melania Trump's spokeswoman as next White House press secretary [CNN]

Melania Trump's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham will get a major new role as both White House press secretary and communications director, the first lady tweeted Tuesday...

Trump has tweaked the job duties before handing the reins to Grisham, whose purview will include a larger scope of responsibility than that of her predecessor Sarah Sanders, and one as yet unprecedented in this administration. Trump has appointed Grisham both White House director of communications as well as press secretary, a senior White House official tells CNN. Grisham will be assuming the roles formerly held by Bill Shine, who departed as White House communications director in March, and Sanders, who has said her last day will be this Friday.

If Stephanie follows in Huckabee-Sanders' pattern of not holding daily press briefings, then perhaps she will be able to do the work formerly done by two press secretaries and the director of communications. No word on Ms Grisham's skills as a chronic and blatant liar, although a few weeks working in the Trump Administration should help hone her prevarication skills.

 

[rareboy]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

I'll bet she can't handle it.

I suspect the role is largely symbolic anyway by this point.

TrumpCo. are not going to return to press conferences where their attempts to control the [STRIKE]message[/STRIKE] lies is now under direct assault from a fed up press corps.

Trump has become his own press manager...anyone else just gets in the way.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

Ah, the Ken Mehlman of the Trump Administration.


This Trump Spokesperson Is Gay — And He Doesn’t Care If That Makes The Left Mad [BuzzFeed]

A few Saturdays ago at the Washington, DC, pride parade, Judd Deere was just one of the gays. In khaki shorts and a pastel shirt, he linked arms with his boyfriend to pose in front of a rainbow flag...

Had other Pride-goers known who Deere is, he might have been booed himself. Deere is not only a gay Republican but also a prominent West Wing aide to the president of the United States. Since January, he has served as Trump’s deputy press secretary, speaking regularly for the president on domestic matters — including LGBTQ issues — from his desk, steps from the Oval Offic...

Deere had previously served as a spokesperson in the Arkansas attorney general’s office when it asked courts to block same-sex parents from listing both of their names on a child’s birth certificate and to strike down Fayetteville’s LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance. After he came out at the age of 26, he was still welcomed by Republican politicos...

Deere’s defense of Trump on LGBTQ rights — like many gay Republicans’ — rests on a vivid conviction: None of the president’s stances are actually discriminatory....

 

[gsdx]

Re: Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

"None of the president’s stances are actually discriminatory.... "