Tag: John Kelly

John Bolton and John Kelly finally turn on the boss — and Trump loyalists respond with fury

AlterNet logoMany people wondered what exactly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was thinking when she decided to delay delivery of the articles of impeachment against President Trump until after the holiday recess. That question has never been adequately answered, but if it was because Pelosi had a feeling — or perhaps knew for sure — that more evidence of Trump’s abuse of power would trickle out almost daily, she was absolutely right.

From White House emails revealed through the Freedom of Information Act to Rudy Giuliani’s “associate” Lev Parnas passing on documents and tapes it’s been a steady drip, drip, drip ever since the middle of December. But none of it is as important or as incriminating as the potential testimony of former national security adviser John Bolton. Keeping him from testifying in the impeachment trial has been Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s singular focus from the very beginning. This week we found out why.

As I wrote on Monday, the New York Times’ reporting about Bolton’s book has upended what was to be an open-and-shut trial with no testimony or evidence. The plan was to feature some dull arguments by the House managers and the president’s lawyers, followed by a few questions from senators and a quick vote before the Super Bowl, where Trump is slated to have a “yuge” victory interview with Sean Hannity. Basically, it was to be a constitutional wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Continue reading.

Nikki Haley’s real disclosure: Concerns about Trump’s dangerousness went right to the top

Washington Post logoEver since September 2018, we’ve been trying to figure out who the “senior administration official” was who wrote that anonymous New York Times op-ed. This official described a “resistance” from inside the Trump administration that has worked to “frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.” The author now has a book coming out.

So when Nikki Haley tells us that the president’s former chief of staff and secretary of state spearheaded just such an effort, maybe the story isn’t that she said no?

Haley has a new book of her own, which describes her being approached by John Kelly and Rex Tillerson to, in her words, “undermine” the president. The details of that approach are somewhat in dispute. But here’s the gist of how Haley describes it, via The Washington Post’s Anne Gearan:

View the complete November 11 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Trump hits out at former chief of staff John Kelly’s warning about impeachment

Kelly’s remarks come as testimony resumes in the impeachment inquiry, which the president has called a ‘scam’

Donald Trump has hit back at his former chief of staff, John Kelly, after Kelly said he had warned the president about impeachment.

Kelly said he “felt bad” for having left Trump’s side, because his advice was not followed and the president therefore faced impeachment.

Speaking at the Sea Island Summit, an event in Georgia organised by the conservative Washington Examiner, Kelly said that on leaving, he had said: “Whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man’ – someone who won’t tell you the truth.”

View the complete October 26 article by Martin Pengelly on The Guardian website here.

‘My Dad’s Not a Racist’: Book Describes Ivanka Trump’s Defense After Charlottesville

WASHINGTON — When Gary D. Cohn was considering resigning as the top White House economic adviser after President Trump blamed “both sides” in a deadly white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va., his first stop was a meeting with Mr. Trump’s children.

In a conversation in August 2017 with Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter and senior adviser, Mr. Cohn was shocked by her reaction to his concerns, according to a new book about Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.

“My dad’s not a racist; he didn’t mean any of it,” Ms. Trump said of the president’s refusal to condemn white nationalists outright. Appearing to channel her father, she added, “That’s not what he said.”

View the complete March 11 article by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman on The New York Times website here.

John Kelly, former DHS secretaries call on Trump, Congress to end shutdown

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly and four other former Homeland Security secretaries are calling on President Trump and Congress to end the ongoing partial government shutdown and “fund the critical mission of DHS.”

The letter says that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees have been leaving the department because they cannot continue to work unpaid as the shutdown drags on, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

“DHS employees who protect the traveling public, investigate and counter terrorism, and protect critical infrastructure should not have to rely on the charitable generosity of others for assistance in feeding their families and paying their bills while they steadfastly focus on the mission at hand,” the letter reads. “This is unconscionable.”

View the complete January 23 articl by Avery Anapol on The Hill website here.

John F. Kelly says his tenure as Trump’s chief of staff is best measured by what the president did not do

In an exclusive interview with The Times, outgoing White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly argued that his tenure is best measured by what President Trump did not do when Kelly was at his side. Credit: Jabin Botsford, Washington Post

In August 2017, shortly after John F. Kelly became White House chief of staff, he convened crucial meetings on Afghanistan at President Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J.

Top officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, the director of national intelligence, diplomats and lawmakers huddled with Trump as Kelly and others urged him not to give up in Afghanistan.

“When I first took over, he was inclined to want to withdraw from Afghanistan,” Kelly recounted during an exclusive two-hour interview with the Los Angeles Times.

View the complete December 30 article by Molly O’Toole on the Los Angeles Times website here.

John Kelly’s exit raises concerns about White House future

The departure of White House chief of staff John Kelly is raising concerns about how the White House will face potential legal and political challenges in 2019.

Kelly, who was thought to bring order to an often chaotic White House, will leave the West Wing as special counsel Robert Mueller‘s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election appears to be closing in on President Trump.

Trump will also face a divided Congress next year, with Democrats slated to take control of the House in January, giving the party subpoena power.

View the complete December 9 article by Michael Burke on The Hill website here.

Dem tears into Kelly over immigrant comments: ‘He eats the vegetables that they pick’

The following article by Morgan Gstatler was posted on the Hill website May 11, 2018:

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) on Friday tore into White House chief of staff John Kelly’s comments about immigrants being poorly educated and unskilled while lauding immigrants who take up agricultural work.

“You know the ones I was thinking about when he was saying that?” Gutierrez said on CNN. “The ones that probably came across undocumented to work in the fields. He eats the vegetables that they pick — that no American will go out and pick. He eats the fruit of their labor, literally and figuratively.” Continue reading “Dem tears into Kelly over immigrant comments: ‘He eats the vegetables that they pick’”

Trump Melts Down (Again) After Reports Kelly Called Him ‘An Idiot’

The following article by Joe Conason was posted on the National Memo website April 30, 2018:

When faced with embarrassing news circulating about them, most people would try not to draw even more attention to it. But Trump is not most people.

He didn’t try to ignore the reports that his chief of staff John Kelly called him an “idiot.” Instead, he decided to shine the glaring neon light of his Twitter account right at them. 

NBC reported Monday afternoon that Kelly has made such comments on multiple occasions, according to eight current and former White House staffers.

Kelly of course quickly denied the report, calling it “total BS.” He insisted that he is “committed to the President, his agenda, and our country.”  Continue reading “Trump Melts Down (Again) After Reports Kelly Called Him ‘An Idiot’”

Controversies pile up for White House, alarming GOP

The following article by Jonathan Easley was posted on the Hill website February 21, 2018:

Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump’s White House is consumed by controversies on several fronts, putting the administration on the defensive at a time when Republicans are increasingly worried about their electoral prospects.

Republicans would be content to spend every day between now and Election Day focused on the GOP’s tax-cut bill and the economy. But those efforts are complicated by the sheer volume of controversies the White House is juggling. Continue reading “Controversies pile up for White House, alarming GOP”