Trump Denies Seeking Clearances For Children As NBC News Says Trump Seeking Clearance For Son-In-Law
NBC News reports that Trump is seeking a security clearance for son-in-law Jared Kushner, who played an influential role in Trump’s campaign:
Donald Trump has taken the unprecedented step of requesting his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, receive top-secret clearance to join him for his Presidential Daily Briefings, which began Tuesday.
Multiple sources tell NBC News Trump received his first briefing on Tuesday and designated both Kushner and Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn as his staff-level companions for the briefings going forward.
While Flynn has the necessary security clearance, Kushner does not, and it could take weeks — or even longer — for him to receive it.
Meanwhile, Trump has denied the story that he is seeking a top secret clearance for his kids:
I am not trying to get "top level security clearance" for my children. This was a typically false news story.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016
Note that he did not say “son-in-law.”
That story about Trump seeking a clearance for the kiddos was first reported by CBS News based on anonymous sources, and then denied by an anonymous official with the transition team. Then the transition team (through an anonymous “top aide”) admitted that the request had been, but blamed an anonymous “low-level staffer” who was supposedly no longer with the team . . . although we don’t know who it was.
If your head is spinning, I don’t blame you.
Kushner is married to Ivanka, who will participate in running Trump’s businesses. Like the kids, he cannot be appointed to official positions due to an anti-nepotism law. (He still could be an unpaid adviser.) The kids have said they won’t be involved in government in any way, but Kushner has not made that promise, that I can tell — despite the fact that he stands to benefit financially if the Trump Organization does well:
Trump is already facing questions about how he will avoid conflicts with his vast business interests. The billionaire has said he plans to fully turn his companies over to his adult children — Ivanka, as well as sons Don Jr. and Eric — but the arrangement he’s described does not appear to legally wall him off from information regarding the operations.
Kushner is directly tied to Trump’s business interests through Ivanka, who oversees domestic and global expansion of the Trump Organization’s real estate interests. And Kushner also has deep business ties of his own, serving as CEO of his family’s New York-based real estate company and publisher of the New York Observer, a Manhattan-based newspaper read largely for its high society and real estate coverage.
It is worth noting that even the NBC report is based on anonymous sources. The only name we have on the record is Trump’s himself.
If Donald Trump denied it happened, you can take that to the bank.
Of course, if the bank is familiar with Trump’s reputation for veracity, they probably won’t accept it.
[Cross-posted at RedState.]
If Hill had been elected and she wanted a security clearance for Bill, would any of us be complaining? No, we’d be relieved.
In an age in which political appointments and access to the President are bought and paid for, old fashioned nepotism seems a healthy alternative.
Finally, if you worry about Trump’s emotional stability, as I do, wouldn’t you imagine that his children would provide a valuable psychological anchor?
Could we move on to something more substantive?
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:08 amIf the debt in the Trump Organization is held by non- US lenders the conflicts of interest will be mind boggling.
NC Mountain Girl (e1d82c) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:24 amDeutscheBank disagrees.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:25 amH8ers gonna H8.
Colonel Haiku (32652f) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:27 amhe is so good
happyfeet (2b1bfa) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:28 amHe may be an SOB, but, like it or not, he is now our SOB.
Piling on the left’s anti-Trump meme du jour is not in our interest.
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:38 amNot an actual confiemation, so it could more rizzotto tray carrying
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:42 amIs THIS the best they can do?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:45 am“Is THIS the best they can do?”
Pretty much. I’d like to see reporting on Trump booting lobbyists from the transition but the propagandists may have some trouble fitting it into the meme du jour.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:57 amI assume the anti-nepotism law wasn’t in place when JFK picked his AG.
Mattsky (8597ba) — 11/16/2016 @ 11:01 amThe Democrats in the govt apparatus begin their anti-Trump war.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/16/2016 @ 11:40 am@10 — I believe the law was created directly in response to JFK making RFK his AG.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 11/16/2016 @ 11:42 amPresident-elect Hillary seeking clearance for housekeeper
There’s one headline we’ll never have to read! (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/16/2016 @ 11:44 amEven if true, what is the big deal? Hillary communicated with her daughter in top secret information and Hillary also gave access to the information to her maid. I think it would be a smart move.
AZ Bob (f7a491) — 11/16/2016 @ 11:46 amI have discussed the potential conflicts of interest in past posts linked in this one. This is not analogous to Bill getting a clearance unless Bill is running Hillary’s companies or married to someone who is. As for pointing to Hillary’s sharing of information, are we saying we now approve of that, or that doing wrong things is now right if Hillary did it? Surely not.
As for Trump’s being “our” SOB, that is a choice for everyone to make. I am not siding with him on any issue because I feel he is on my “team” and he is on mine. My support for him must be earned on every issue, and when he is staring conflicts of interest in the face, I will dissent.
I”m not the one keeping this story alive.
Patterico (bd44cc) — 11/16/2016 @ 12:53 pm@Patterico: This is not analogous to Bill getting a clearance
Bill Clinton had that clearance at one time. If Hillary had been elected, it would have seemed very strange for Bill NOT to have that clearance. I assume Michelle Obama has, and if not I wonder why not. If anyone in immediate family plays a trusted, confidential advisory role I should think it were quite appropriate. Huma Abedin had that clearance. The issue with any of the Clintons is not that they had clearance, but that they abused it.
I really don’t see why, if Jared Kushner or Ivana has that role for Trump, that they shouldn’t have clearance. Clearance, as SWC pointed out to you, is not the same as “access” and there is still the need-to-know requirement.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:08 pmFurthermore, no one here is saying “The Clintons and their people abused their access and so Trump should get to”. No one.
People who have clearance are still expected to behave ethically and responsibly with it. Clearance is not a blank check for people to do whatever they want.
Abusus non tollit usum. Trump gets to have advisers. They can be his relatives if he wants. It is not inherently wrong for them to have clearance. It is only wrong if having the clearance, they abuse it–and we have no evidence that this is the case. We have plenty for the Clintons, but it was not wrong to give them clearance in the first place and their abuse of it does not mean it is wrong for Trump’s advisers to have it.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:12 pm@16- If memory serves, HRC stated she didn’t discuss the Osama raid w/Bubba when she was SoS. Don’t recall idf Obama shared it w/Michelle.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:13 pmFor those that want to move on dot org from all of Trump’s dishonest and corrupt activity, I’m sure Trumpbart would love to have you as loyal lemmings. You are not required to visit Patterico’s Pontifications. You can move on dot org any time you want to.
John Hitchcock (29d9e2) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:13 pm@DCSCA:If memory serves, HRC stated she didn’t discuss the Osama raid w/Bubba when she was SoS.
Good on her then. But she was serving Obama, who didn’t invite Bill to serve. If she had been elected President, and wanted him to be her adviser, how on earth that could be unreasonable is beyond me.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:15 pm2. NC Mountain Girl (e1d82c) — 11/16/2016 @ 10:24 am
Not unless they can call the loan, or their agreement is needed to renew or increase the loan or reduce the debt or interest rate or something.
Otherwise the person who has the upper hand, is the person who borrowed the money. Even in cases where their agreement is needed.
Sammy Finkelman (db3b66) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:16 pm@Hitchcok: I’m sure Trumpbart would love to have you as loyal lemmings.
You want an echo chamber, you can start your own blog and invite only the people you like to it, create a “safe space” as it were.
If Patterico wants an echo chamber he can kick everyone out, or set up something invitation only. Until then you may have to be troubled by people who don’t agree with what you have to say.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:17 pm@6 ‘Course the view from the Tower may be just the opposite:
You may be an SOB, but, like it or not, you are now his SOB.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:17 pm@Sammy Finkelman:Otherwise the person who has the upper hand, is the person who borrowed the money
One of the many, many things that is true for the rich but not the rest of us.
I don’t see how foreign ownership of debt is any more of a conflict of interest than domestic ownership.
This novel idea that no possible conflict of interest should be allowed to a President is freaking insane. Presidents will always have conflicts of interest. They are expected to do the ethical thing; they are not expected to be so hamstrung that the possibility is closed off.
The arguments here are getting perilously close to “politics should only be for professional politicians”.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:22 pmGabriel, you have me confused with someone else. Some clown fool wants Patterico to move on dot org from Trump’s corruption, lack of ethics, and absolute dishonesty. That’s not going to happen. That clown fool can move on dot org himself, over to the lemming-filled Trumpbart. And as far as “safe spaces” are concerned, it’s the clown fool Trump lemmings that want Patterico’s Pontifications to become a “‘safe space’ as it were”.
John Hitchcock (29d9e2) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:23 pm@20– Well, she did say she wanted to put Bubba in charge of the economy.
You know, another crutch. She had lots of them.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:26 pm#NeverTrump will eventually tire of being herded over a cliff.
Colonel Haiku (32652f) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:27 pm@John Hitchcock: it’s the clown fool Trump lemmings that want Patterico’s Pontifications to become a “‘safe space’ as it were”.
They’re not the ones calling for bannings, or for others to leave.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:30 pmI did not call for him to leave. I said if he wants to move on dot org, he can move on dot org.
John Hitchcock (29d9e2) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:34 pm@Hitchcock: I said if he wants to move on dot org, he can move on dot org.
My mistake.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:34 pmMy support for him must be earned on every issue, and when he is staring conflicts of interest in the face, I will dissent.
Which is virtually an echo of what soon-to-be- Senate Democratic Minority leader Chuck Schumer said today.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:36 pmSome of our #NeverTrump friends are having difficulty switching gears now that the election is over.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:37 pmIt’s like being at a high school dance and watching the punk rocker hyperactively slam-dancing while everyone else is slowly dancing with their partner to Moon River.
It’s been only a week- and the Trump Mantre is beginning surface: ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way.’
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:39 pmI was far more concerned about Hill sharing top secrets with fully credentialed Huma than I was with her sharing those same secrets on the sly with husband Bill or daughter Chelsea (or the maid, for that matter). Weren’t you? Rules are imperfect.
If he’s wise, there is a perfectly legal Trump Foundation in our future. Serious political grifting requires a non-profit – there just aren’t enough rooms at the Trump Palace to launder really big money.
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:40 pmOn 60 Minutes he asked Stahl what the salary was as President, probably feigning he didn’t really know, then stated he’ll be a ‘dollar-a-year-man’ because he can’t ‘pass the buck’ by law.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:45 pmI don’t know how many people here have to do conflict-of-interest paperwork yearly; anyone who works for government I imagine must and so do a lot of people in the private sector.
Maybe others’ forms differ from mine, but I am required to declare conflicts of interest and I am expected to behave ethically when they arise. I am not expected to never have them.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:45 pmWe are all aware of who Jared Kushner is and what he does. He’s a public figure in his own right. I am far less concerned about widely known relationships, such as Kushner’s, than I am about hidden relationships. Transparency and disclosure are critical, but even that’s not enough. Just because there is no current conflict of interest, with the revolving door between Washington and those looking to purchase government largesse, the potential future conflict is enormous for anyone participating at the highest levels of our government.
I can’t imagine anyone with a greater vested interest in the success of a Trump presidency than the president’s own children. Those children, like no one else, will have to live with the legacy of their father’s term(s) in office. I see no incentive that causes me worry – incentives are the key.
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 2:08 pmThe whole family needs to be given a clearance, so if they see something they probably don’t need to, they know to keep their trap shut. Getting a clearance, doesn’t mean you are going to be getting briefings on top secret squirrel stuff, it means you’ve been read the riot act and can be punished for violations. I know people who have or had clearances, and they were not seeing any secrets, but they were in a position to possibly learn some. Most all of them who heard the “Trump getting his kids clearance” all felt it made prefect sense and said they hope the 0bama girls had gotten them as well.
JP Kalishek (70437e) — 11/16/2016 @ 3:21 pm“People elected Donald Trump. Personally I don’t understand why, but they did.” – Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer prize winning reporter/pundit, ‘Hardball’ MSNBC, 11/16/16
A week after the election, some remain in denial and still don’t get it–and may never.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 4:12 pmnow he may have exaggerated, guiliani for instance is one, but only when needs must
The Trump transition team is not imploding, folks. It is getting set to kick ass. What the media is trying to tell you, apparently there was some movement. Trump decided to get rid of some people, the Chris Christie team, apparently, in the process of putting together a national security team, and Mike Rogers was part of this, and Christie made a mistake, he went out and he was recruiting some lobbyists. Trump has made it plain and been very clear about it, that there aren’t gonna be any lobbyists. He’s not going to have the traditional Washington trappings to his administration….
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 4:38 pmThat appears to anger the right people, narciso.
Colonel Haiku (32652f) — 11/16/2016 @ 4:45 pmI’ve liked almost everything I’ve heard about the transition, including the jettisoning of Christie and the lobbyists.
Who is running this show? Pence? Bannon? Gingrich? Kudos to them.
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:15 pmTo whom are you explaining this? It’s not responsive to any of the concerns I have expressed.
Patterico (115b1f) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:20 pmprobably a collaboration between the three, thor, this is why all the squirrel!
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:21 pm“If your head is spinning, I don’t blame you.”
I do. I also say that if it is, you have too much time on your hands and may need a hobby, at the very least.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:24 pmMight temper Giuliani flag-wavers to revisit his popularity in NYC as out-going mayor… on September 10, 2001.
“What a diff’rence a day made; Twenty-four little hours…” Dinah Washington, 1958
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:31 pmI do not understand this comment. It’s obviously a shot at me, but I do not know what it means. My best guess is “stop writing about what you think may be a conflict of interest on the part of Mr. Trump.” If I have misinterpreted please advise.
Patterico (115b1f) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:37 pmI’ll go on to say what really disturbs me is the ongoing nonsense, violence perpetrated against people who are brave enough to wear a hat or clothing that indicates a possible vote for Trump and the ongoing attempts to delegitimize the election. These folks have truly chosen the form of their Destructor.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:38 pmthe point is, he brought the big apple, from the brink, and no good deed goes unpunished,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:39 pmTo whom are you explaining this? It’s not responsive to any of the concerns I have expressed.
And I am still unconvinced that any of those concerns have merit. Every President has advisors who have business interests. These advisors have clearances.
Is there a problem if they use those clearances to get information that furthers their business interests? Of course. This is why they pass ethics laws, for all the good they do.
But to single out people who are already trusted advisors and have been for years, just because they are related to the President-elect, seems as if you are applying a special set of standards in this one particular case.
The slim reed you grasp — that the kids are also running the firms that manage Trump’s assets — is meaningless unless you assume that Trump will be intentionally feeding them information that impacts those assets. Again, they don’t get to just use some mythical “TS-Google.”
At the end, your entire argument rests on: “I think Trump is a crook.”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:39 pmNarciso,
I doubt it’s an actual collaboration. Trump’s experience in assembling project management teams probably provides the model outline. I don’t know if his model is scalable to the task but it’s going to be more vertical than horizontal in nature.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:42 pmFrankly, the more likely unethical connection will be the state and local pols who roll over for the Trump Organization (no matter who runs it) in hope of favor from the feds. No clearances needed for this.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:43 pmIt’s not a veiled shot at you. It’s a shot at ANYONE who displays impatience or umbrage barely 8 days after the guy has been elected. Why the EFF should heads be spinning!?!? Seriously.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:43 pmJaysus.
Pantsuited Hillary speech on CNN and MSNBC. She looks hangdog beaten. Maybe ill.
Cookies always bring a smile, dear.
Bake some.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:45 pmnow, there is somewhat of a potential conflict between guiliani’s contacts with Doha, some Russian oligarch, and other parties, but had the press showed interest re hagel’s manifold atlantic council ties, they would have room to complain,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 5:51 pmI love the violence, most of which is directed against the bluest of blue targets. Such behavior is disgusting to almost everybody, including sane Democrats. The more Democrats can do to marginalize themselves the better. I say “Burn, baby, burn!”
ThOR (c9324e) — 11/16/2016 @ 7:16 pmIt is so terribly difficult these days to reconcile with Trump’s unexpected victory, and look for opportunities that would otherwise not exist, while having to studiously ignore the continued insanity and ugliness of some of this original supporters.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/16/2016 @ 7:21 pmIndeed. It was enacted in 1967. Not only that, but the author said he had not intended it to apply to cabinet appointments; what he had in mind was small post offices, which postmasters would often treat as full employment programs for their families. Of course we can’t know what all the legislators who passed it intended. There’s also an argument that it’s unconstitutional as applied to presidential nominations.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/16/2016 @ 9:31 pmNo, it wasn’t. The author expressly denied it.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/16/2016 @ 9:40 pmThere was no story, just strawmen. Meanwhile they are going at sessions with the trash that podesta and Schultz made their career. In.
narciso (d1f714) — 11/16/2016 @ 9:51 pmSammy Finkelman: Otherwise the person who has the upper hand, is the person who borrowed the money
24. Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/16/2016 @ 1:22 pm
There’s a famous quote – I don’t know exactly how famous it is, but it comes with several variations, particlarly about the amount of money.
“If you owe the bank $100 that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.”
– J. Paul Getty
Here is an investigation into its origin:
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_you_owe_a_bank_thousands_you_have_a_problem_if_you_owe_a_bank_millions_t
Barty Popik says TIME magazine attribited aversion of this to John Maynard Keynes in 1947.
Sammy Finkelman (eb0eea) — 11/17/2016 @ 3:18 am@10 — I believe the law was created directly in response to JFK making RFK his AG.
No, it wasn’t. The author expressly denied it.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/16/2016 @ 9:40 pm
Sometimes right, more frequently mistaken, but NEVER in doubt.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:08 amYou have some rocket surgeons in Illinois, take mike quigley , please.
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:00 amAccording to Sonny from Bronx Tale, if someone owes you 20 dollars, they’ll never bother you again, it’s better if they stay owing that 20 dollars.
urbanleftbehind (22ae0a) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:15 amMike Quigley might be ready to “deal”…I still say Rahm, Rauner and the gang are first to depart their sanctuary comrades.
urbanleftbehind (22ae0a) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:17 amTo those who complain Trump is not getting support from “his” side:
IMO the best thing about the GOP is its willingness to let, and even encourage, its members to think for themselves. When the GOP has united behind party discipline and populist policies, things didn’t turn out so well. Maybe a few questioning voices aren’t that bad.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:51 amI hope Trump won’t make the same mistakes with the economy. I also hope he understands suggestions and criticism aren’t personal. We all want a successful society.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/17/2016 @ 7:09 amall of us together we’re gonna make it after all
happyfeet (a037ad) — 11/17/2016 @ 7:46 amI’m looking forward to that paid maternity leave.
nk (dbc370) — 11/17/2016 @ 8:05 amMr happyfeet, it’s going to be a great Christmas knowing that Mr Donald will be living in the White House instead of that corrupt old hag.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/17/2016 @ 8:06 ambestest one ever
you know dasher and dancer and donner and blitzen
they’re not pigs!
they’re reindeer!
lol!
NO PIG ZONE
happyfeet (a037ad) — 11/17/2016 @ 8:08 amG.T.H.O.T. James “The Muslim Brotherhood is largely secular” Clapper
(That’s ‘Get The Hell Outta Town,’ by the way)
Icy (213a5a) — 11/17/2016 @ 8:13 amR.I.P. Melvin R. Laird, former Secretary of Defense, 1969-1973, and mentor of Rumsfeld and Cheney.
Sammy Finkelman (3997eb) — 11/17/2016 @ 8:23 amTrump met with Henry Kissinger, and he’s going to meet with him again. Kissinger said he asks good quesitons. Maybe by now, after he’s talked to people. During the campaign season Kissinger said he thought Trump had identified problems, but he didn’t have good solutions – one shots wouldn’t work.
Kissinger November 10:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/the-lessons-of-henry-kissinger/505868/
Kissinger had thought Hillary would win.
No word on whether Trump will contact George Shultz. He really hshould, but he may not be aware of him, or that he’s still around.
Nikki Haley also rumored for Secretary of State. Giuliani has a lot of business interests, and some problematical ones, at least in the past. John Bolton is not much in the news now.
Sammy Finkelman (3997eb) — 11/17/2016 @ 9:05 amGo **** yourself. I’m frequently in doubt, but when I am I keep my mouth shut. When I do post it’s because I know what I’m talking about, and have usually looked it up to verify it, and am therefore very rarely mistaken. When I am it’s usually because my sources misled me, not because I took a wild guess and came out wrong, because I don’t do that.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/17/2016 @ 12:42 pmI did read that statement that this was done because of the example of RFK, but just hearing the claim that the author said that that was not the motivation, leads me to believe that might be correct. Just the fact it was said. My “knowledge” that this was because of RFK comes without any details beyond the fact that it was enacted in 1967.
This is something I would like to check. Who was the author? [Rep Neal Smith R-Iowa]
Milhouse is not denying this idea was around and in fact a source he attempts to cites says many incorrectly believe that. In the footnote is says it is unlikely. Milhouse says the author denied it, and indeed his source says he did in an interview. It is also unlikely because of the bill it was in, but the legislative langiage does include the president. But it might have originally been conceived with regard to ordinary jobs that did not require senate confirmation and somebody decided to go broad.
The second link at 58 doesn’t work, because it combined a correct URL with this one. the corerect URL is http://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/congressional-interference-with-the-presidents-power-to-appoint-24-3.pdf
This article says in Note 20 that it is not true that this was enacted in response to THE APPOINTMENT of RFK, but notes that
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 3:18 pmMitt Romney and David Petraeus now being considered for Secretary of State. Giuliani must be almost out and John Bolton maybe also not looking so good to Mike Pence.
Mitt Romney sounds more like someone under consideration for Ambassador to Japan.
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 3:21 pm@Sammy:David Petraeus now being considered for Secretary of State
But he was so careless with classified information…
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/17/2016 @ 3:26 pmI’ve heard Dana Rohrbacher for SOS also, though Chuck DeVore would be a better OC’er.
urbanleftbehind (6e1f6f) — 11/17/2016 @ 3:31 pm75… back atcha, cupcake.
Colonel Haiku (b209d4) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:00 pmHe wasn’t really. It was trivial.
The moles at the CIA got him before he could fire them, so I would be glad to se ehim back in. I think they found out about the affair (everything coming out of CIA HQ is monitored but not for this kind of purpose) and cooked up an investigation with false allegations whereby it could get discovered. He resigned because of that, not the classified information issue.
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:30 pmNewt Gingrich has taken himself out of ye running for any Cabinet position.
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:30 pmNew York Times ran an article this morning about Jeff Sessions – he was not confirmed as a federal judge in 1986 because of allegations of making racially tinged or even racist comments.
Sessions says some of it is not true, some could be similar to what he said and another thing (about his thinking the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he discovered they smoked pot) was a joke – he was prosecuting them at the time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/us/politics/specter-of-race-shadows-jeff-sessions-potential-trump-nominee-for-cabinet.html
In my opinion, Sessions would have been a segregationist in another era, but a high class one.
he appears headed toward a Cabinet appointment anyway:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/us/politics/donald-trump-transition.html?_r=0
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:39 pmThe New York Times editorialized this morning that Donald Trump should sell all of his businesses.
They said Jimmy Carter made a blind trust in which the trustee could have sold his peanut farm and warehouse
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:40 pmthis is the trash podesta and Schultz, turned up, 30 years ago, when they worked for leahy and kennedy,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 4:44 pmA blind trust doesn’t remove conflicts of interest. It certainly didn’t stop anyone from saying Cheney tricked Bush into war with Iraq to line the pockets of Halliburton.
So tired of the media trying to get everyone to dance to their tune.
Gabriel Hanna (4f5ff1) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:14 pmyes, Gabriel, the press is suitably lacking in context or historical memory, accident or enemy action?
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:17 pmTo clarify: what I’m actually tired of is media and progressives inventing new rules on the spot that only apply to their political opponents. And I’m also tired of anyone giving any serious consideration to them. Those people have only one principle: to get their way <a href="http://www.bamn.com/"By Any Means Necessary.
Gabriel Hanna (4f5ff1) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:18 pmAgh no edit button.
To clarify: what I’m actually tired of is media and progressives inventing new rules on the spot that only apply to their political opponents. And I’m also tired of anyone giving any serious consideration to them. Those people have only one principle: to get their way By Any Means Necessary.
Gabriel Hanna (4f5ff1) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:19 pmWhoever up above is advocating for Trumps adult children to be given security clearances, all of them< I'm with you on that.
Having his trusted family advisers close will help with the excessive flattery by phonies problem.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:34 pmthere is no evidence of this claim, papertiger, it’s even more ephemeral than the two former oss veterans, now pinned in the latest jfk plot,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:42 pm86. Gabriel Hanna (4f5ff1) — 11/17/2016 @ 5:14 pm
Cheney didn’t own Haliburton. He was the CEO, and and he;d only become involved after leaving his position a Secretary of Defense.
He divested himself of everything and converted his severance into fixed payments to remove conflicts of interest. This didn’t stop people from saying that he was doing things to benefit Haliburton becuase most people didn’t understand what was going on.
But Cheney had done everything he could to remove conflicts of interest. It didn’t stop people from saying ther was one and that the conflict of interest consisted in the promotion of the maximum amount of oil drilling all over the world that a U.S. based commpany could get involved in.
Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:15 pmpowell wasn’t nominated till December 18th, mind you this was after the 37 day hiatus, Rumsfeld till the 20th,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:19 pm@Sammy: It didn’t stop people from saying ther was one and that the conflict of interest consisted in the promotion of the maximum amount of oil drilling all over the world that a U.S. based commpany could get involved in.
Exactly, and it won’t help Trump either.
Gabriel Hanna (4f5ff1) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:39 pmKiddies ! (#75 and #80) Now, just play nice !
Actually, the idea of Petraeus as Secretary of State, to unleash the State Department’s Inspector General on the past 8 years of State Department actions has a nice ring to it !
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:54 pmbtw, Kissinger’s responses to Goldberg were ahistorical, he didn’t think to ask the good doctor of the parallels between now and 1968,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/17/2016 @ 6:56 pm