Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Trump Staff Picks and Revolving Door of Departures

To track the chaos of the 'administration' Trump is supposed to be running (while golfing most of the time!)

Others are welcome to post to update the public in the public interest.

Margaritas and Twister... The stories are still coming in...

The President of the U.S. Naval War College was removed from his position....what did he do?

Navy investigating War College president over ethics claims: report [The Hill]

The U.S. Navy is reportedly investigating the president of the U.S. Naval War College over accusations of improper workplace conduct.

The Associated Press reported Friday that Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley is under investigation after being accused in multiple complaints to the Navy’s office of the inspector general of improper hiring practices and other misconduct including keeping a margarita machine in his office...


The Navy Times disclosed that Adm. Harley had been under investigation for a year after multiple complaints were filed about his conduct after he was appointed to the position in 2016.
A Navy admiral under investigation for ‘free hugs,’ Twister games and a margarita machine in his office [Navy Times]

According to documents obtained by the press and military blogs recounting stories from employees of Adm Harley, he was having quite the party at the Naval College:

In an April 2018 complaint to the Office of the Naval Inspector General, employees portrayed Harley as a heavy drinker whose office margarita machine would often float around campus "to suit his mood," appearing in public dining areas and among other college leaders.

"He invited members of the staff to his office for afternoon drinks, setting his employees up to either comply because he's the boss or uncomfortably decline his offer because they do not want to drink during the workday," the complaint alleged.

Harley also allegedly set emails offering "free hugs" and games of Twister (a game Harley denied even owning), casting the college in an uncomfortable light, leaving staff, "wondering how Harley was spending his time and school resources," according to the Associated Press.

Indeed, the Associated Press reports that under Harley's purview, the college spent roughly $725,000 on raises annually while enduring an annual budget shortfall of $5 million, raises that several employees claim Harley "appeared to grant unilaterally to some faculty, rather than consulting the college's other senior leaders, as is customary."


we're now putting in "acting replacements" for the "acting Secretaries...

For the record, the U.S has been without a Secretary of Defense for 6+ months now.

Shanahan's defense secretary nomination collapses, leaving another void in Trump's CabinetShanahan's defense secretary nomination collapses, leaving another void in Trump's Cabinet

Trump announced Shanahan's withdrawal via Twitter, more than a month after announcing that the Boeing veteran had been his choice for the job. Trump also tweeted that Mark Esper, the secretary of the Army, will become acting defense secretary.


Domestic abuse incident apparently forced him to withdraw! Trump accepts 'only the best people' remember!

Mr (Senate Majority leader!) and Mrs McConnell conspiring together, or just parallel corruption?

Chao sells off stock as attention on corruption allegations grows.
Chao created special path for McConnell’s favored projects

Kelly Craft is Trump's latest nominee for UN Ambassador, with a glorious diplomatic resume; donated to Trump's campaign with $2 million (bought a position?) 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". She was AWL you see, she was a bum!

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
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.


The chaos ensues of course!

Why Trump can't fill the gaping holes in his government
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.


"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

Brookings just released a report detailing the turnover problem in the Trump Administration. It includes the statement: "President Trump’s 'A Team' turnover is 71% as of June 19, 2019".

One of the latest big gems, my personal favourite, is the leak of the 'vetting' documents. Yeah, a real goldmine for accountablity & transparency!

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]

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 recently the Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is going. Good riddance! Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, other federal prosecutors violated the rights of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-crime victims, judge rules [CNBC]

Last I'll point to is Mr. Matthew Scott ("Matt") Bowman. He is an attorney who was appointed by Trump to be the Principal Advisor to the Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Between 1996 and 2001, Bowman had at least 14 arrests in Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida. The arrests were for harassment, assault, battery and stalking in conjunction with his protests at high schools, hospitals, private homes, Disney World and abortion clinics. Bowman, of course, was also a frequent protestor against gay rights- including protests against Disney World's Gay Days, which accounts for his arrest in Florida.

Perhaps the nadir of Bowman’s activism was his participation in an Operation Rescue demonstration at Disney World. Operation Rescue (now known as Operation Save America) is best known as an extremist anti-abortion organization that is shadowed by its ties to violence, including the 2009 murder of an abortion doctor shot during a church service.


Others welcome to contribute......
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This is month 7 of America having no representative at the UN. I hear that "Jimmy" O'Hara who is in charge of the third shift mop closet at the US office at the UN is currently our acting acting face to the world. Think about it ….. can you imagine working for a bigger asshole than Obese Donald ….. :p
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Obese Donald's "cabinet" is an aspect of his incompetence that is usually overlooked. After all ….. Don needs to be the center of the universe 365 a year. a typical feature of a family business. Persons of competence are not interested in a position where you have to endlessly suck the boss' fat ass and are not permitted to have an intelligent thought. My personal favorite is Wilber Ross:

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Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, is reportedly falling asleep in department meetings to the extent that his schedulers have to severely limit his face time with senior staffers. “There’s a small window where he’s able to focus and pay attention and not fall asleep,” a former outside adviser told Politico. “Because he tends to fall asleep in meetings, they try not to put him in a position where that could happen, so they’re very careful and conscious about how they schedule certain meetings.”

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