Share
Trump's Swamp - Leaked Trump Transition Vetting Documents Scream Corruption
Most people think that one of Trump's most important pledges during the 2016 campaign was to "Drain the swamp." But he didn't even launch that phrase until Oct. 18, 2016, just a couple of weeks before the election.
How was the most corrupt administration of all time assembled? They drained the swamp — into the White House.
Nearly 100 internal Trump transition vetting documents leaked to "Axios on HBO" identify a host of "red flags" about officials who went on to get some of the most powerful jobs in the U.S. government. The massive trove...sheds light on the slap-dash way Trump filled his cabinet and administration, and foreshadowed future scandals that beset his government.
As the Trump transition team geared up to fill the incoming president’s Cabinet in the weeks following his election, it identified a host of red flags for people like Scott Pruitt ( “coziness with big energy companies”), Gary Cohn (“an abrasive, curt, and intimidating style”), and Rex Tillerson (“Russia ties go deep”). Trump hired them all anyway.
Here are some highlights... I mean lowlights:
- 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... 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."
- 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.
- 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.
- 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."
- Seema Verma, who Trump appointed as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services... was simultaneously advising Indiana ($3.5 million in contracts) on issues impacting how it would spend Medicaid funds while she was also being paid by a client that received Medicaid funds.... a conflict of interest that potentially put Indiana taxpayers at risk."
- Sonny Perdue, Trump's pick for Agriculture Secretary, had a vetting form with sections labeled "Business conflicts of interest" and "Family conflicts of interest." It noted that "Perdue is the owner of Houston Fertilizer and Grain, a company that has received contracts from the Department of Agriculture."
- One red flag for Gen. David Petraeus, who was under consideration for Secretary of State and National Security Adviser: "Petraeus Is Opposed to Torture."
That's right, Petraeus is against torture, which for Republicans is a red flag.
The leaked documents reveal early concerns about administration officials who’ve since left the government. There were former EPA administrator Pruitt’s ethical issues, and the swampy relationship between former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and the health-care industry. Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of State, was said to have “deep” ties to Russia, and Ryan Zinke, the scandal-ridden former Interior secretary, was flagged for a history of “misusing taxpayer funds for personal travel.”
“To be honest, the process was such a disaster and such a shit-show and there were so many unqualified people coming through that the issues with [future HUD Secretary Ben] Carson don’t really stick out to me,” one RNC vetter told Axios. “You know, I’m like, ‘Oh gentle Ben is unqualified and thinks that pyramids store grain or whatever. Great. At least he’s not beating his wife and his wife’s not appearing on Oprah.’”
Sources and read more:
https://www.axios.com/leaked-donald-trump-vetting-docs-hbo-6ce3cd26-1eb9-4da8-b15e-47b56020aef7.html