Nope, there are no surprises on Axios' list of likely heads on the chopping block. It's headed (!) by Chris Wray at FBI, Gina Haspel at CIA, and with Mike Esper anchoring the third spot: Scoop: Trump's post-election execution list. Pretty much every patriot's dream list. If you're standing, don't bother sitting down for this next bit:
Wray and Haspel are despised and distrusted almost universally in Trump's inner circle. He would have fired both already, one official said, if not for the political headaches of acting before Nov. 3.
Let me count the reasons!
How does AG Bill Barr figure in all this? This is an article that you really have to filter carefully. Wray and Haspel seem like no brainers. However, here's what the article says about Barr:
Be smart: While Trump has also privately vented about Attorney General Bill Barr, he hasn't made any formal plans to replace him, an official said.
- Trump is furious that Barr isn't releasing before the election what Trump hoped would be a bombshell report by U.S. Attorney John Durham on the Obama administration's handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.
- Durham's investigation has yet to produce any high-profile indictments of Obama-era officials as Trump had hoped.
- "The attorney general wants to finish the work that he's been involved in since day one," a senior administration official told Axios.
I'll make no secret of it. I think removing Barr before Barr is ready to go would be a major misstep--an own goal. Barr wants to stay on and finish the job and Trump would be well advised to leave well enough alone. Maybe the result of Durham's investigation haven't come in on Trump's schedule, but Barr has a list of significant accomplishments that would be the envy of any AG--starting with his masterful handling of Team Mueller, and continuing from there. I know of no one else who could do that job and handle the political heat like Barr has--and I'm quite certain that there is a long list of GOP senators ready to tell Trump the same thing. Nor can I think of anyone else with comparable stature and credibility, and who has the temperament to handle the heat in DC and in a Trump administration.
Read the rest. It's entertaining and overall encouraging.
UPDATE: And admit it--who else would have the moxy to go in front of Congress and pull this off?
My politics in 2020: pic.twitter.com/W0umd6Qiv5
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 26, 2020
Add this into this post and Trump's 2nd term should be fun:
ReplyDeleteTrump’s historic assault on the civil service was four years in the making
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-e2-80-99s-historic-assault-on-the-civil-service-was-four-years-in-the-making/ar-BB1alk6h?ocid=uxbndlbing
Highly entertaining! You can tell what a threat this is from the length of the article.
Deletenothing about the civil service's historic assault on the presidency?
DeleteI suspect that this story is yet another attempt to get Trump's goat and entice him into an unforced error. He will no doubt be asked about this report and the media will try to make him look vengeful no matter how he answers. My hope is that Trump will respond to this inevitable question by reciting all the recent news about Hunter Biden and then ask . . . "where was Director Wray, he's had the laptop for 10 months."
ReplyDeleteFiring and replacing an agency head is a complete waste of time.
ReplyDeleteA Halloween Massacre V2.0 is in order though out several agencies and probably needs to number in the thousands. Good bye, get out and don't come back.
"A source familiar with conversations at the CIA says...."
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell kind of attribution is that? The guy that runs the hot dog cart in the parking lot or what?
Tom S.
On second thought it must be the octogenarian switch-board operator in the basement, the one who always listens in on calls and that can never be fired no matter how much technology changes or how many calls she mishandles. "Chris who? From Benghazi? No we can't accept the charges. Try State, their always willing to take a 3:00 a.m. phone call."
DeleteTom S.
I checked with the Department of Dumbest & Most Colossal Mistakes in History and they say that Trump firing Barr would be a very close second to the election of Barack Obama.
ReplyDeleteNow, to be fair, I asked if there was any way it could possibly be even worse than that. They say nothing can be worse than that.
This is from far-left Axios. Proceed with caution ...
ReplyDeleteTrump will celebrate his victory. The massacre of the Deep State will be on Thursday, Friday, or the following Monday. My guess is Monday.
ReplyDelete