Epstein Secrets

virtual policy, it has also been more open to the media than any White House in recent memory. In the beginning, I sought a level of formal access to this White House, something of a fly-on- the-wall status. The president himself encouraged this idea. But, given the many fiefdoms in the Trump White House that came

heeding Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s prescription that “this president will sign whatever is put in front of him,” while also taking advantage of the White House’s lack of political and legislative experience and outsourcing as much policy as possible to Capitol Hill. In the early weeks of the administration, P

om he had never met before, for positions whose importance Trump did not particularly understand. Ailes, a veteran of the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 41 White Houses, was growing worried by the president-elect’s lack of immediate focus on a White House structure that could serve and protect him. He tried to impres

cific ideas about how to turn his themes and vitriol into policy, nor a team that could reasonably unite behind him. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019969 In most White Houses, policy and action flow down, with staff trying to implement what the president wants—or, at the very least, what the chief of staff says the preside

nt of Michael Flynn—a favorite Trump general who’d been the opening act at many Trump rallies—as the National Security Advisor. “He’s fine. He’s not Jim Mattis and he’s not John Kelly ... but he’s fine. He just needs the right staff around him.” Still, Bannon averred: “When you take out all the never- Trump

n Trump's inner circle. Chief of Staff John Kelly, fed up with Trump—just as Trump was f up with him—seemed surely on the way out. Kelly had joined the Wh House, replacing Reince Priebus, Trump's first chief of staff, in Aug 2017, charged with bringing management discipline to a chaotic W Wing. But by mid-f

mp campaign, arguably among the most careless about election law compliance in recent history. Before joining the Trump administra- tion, McGahn had no White House or executive branch experience. He had never worked in the Justice Department or, in fact, anywhere in gov- ernment. Formerly an attorney for a nonp

ress wouldn't be able to undo the previous day's vote, and the shutdown was due to commence in mere hours. Mitch McConnell rushed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis into action to tell the president that American soldiers would not be paid the next day if he didn't sign the bill. This was a repeat performance:

akashima report. "The latest removals came as DHS's top cybersecurity official, Christopher Krebs, told colleagues he, too, expected to be fired by the White House at any moment. ... His agency joined state and local election officials in releasing a statement Thursday refuting claims by the president and his

d for her resignation, as well as Bryan Ware, a senior policy aide at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The requests came from the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, whose 3o-year-old director, John McEntee, has recently intensified efforts to purge appointees who have failed to de

d he plans to overturn the executive order. (Stars and Stripes) • The Biden team is reaching out to people who worked for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about helping him with the transition and possibly serving in the new administration. (Politico) • Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are gung-ho abou

gress wouldn't be able to undo the previous day’s vote, and the shutdown was due to commence in mere hours. Mitch McConnell rushed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis into action to tell the president that American soldiers would not be paid the next day if he didn't sign the bill. This was a repeat performance: Ma

p didn’t want a chief of staff who would focus him. Trump, it was clear, didn’t want a chief of staff who would tell him anything. Trump did not want a White House that ran by any method other than to satisfy his desires. Someone happened to mention that John E Kennedy didn’t have a chief of staff, and now Trump

ake Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart had its headquarters, over Washington, D.C. For a generation or more, the arm’s-length relationship between the White House and the Department of Justice often seemed more like a never-ending conflict between armed camps. Bill Clinton could hardly stomach his attorney gene