White House in crisis

[Rewind]

In a New York Times essay, two attorneys, one of whom served in the Obama administration, argue that Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker is illegal and unconstitutional. Article II, Section 2, the Appointments Clause, was ratified in 1788 and stipulates that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... Officers of the United States..." Trump ignored the Constitution -- so what else is new? -- and made the appointment without any pesky ol' nomination and without any pesky ol' confirmation by the Senate.

Trump's appointment of the acting Attorney General is unconstitutional

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...nal/ar-BBPu93C

[Rewind]

Donald Trump said he would "hire the very best people." That was two years ago and we're still waiting. Meanwhile, the Swamp just keeps getting swampier.

Trump's new acting Attorney General served on the advisory board of a scam patent business
FTC says World Patent Marketing "bilked thousands of people out of millions of dollars."

https://gizmodo.com/trumps-new-actin...iso-1793490490

[Rewind]

When Barack Obama finally released the birth certificate showing he was born in Hawai'i, Trump said the birth certificate was fake and continued to claim Obama was not born in the United States. Obama's wife said she will never forgive Trump for that -- so naturally the childish, petulant, thin-skinned blowhard just had to attack the Obamas.


Trump knocks Michelle Obama for saying she'll 'never forgive' him for promoting birther conspiracy

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...wBlo?ocid=AMZN

[Rewind]

If the titular character of Kenny Price's 1971 country hit Sheriff Of Boone County were here, he would tell President Trump, "You in a heap o' trouble, son!"

Donald Trump played central role in hush payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal
Federal prosecutors have gathered evidence of President’s participation in transactions that violated campaign finance laws.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-...gal-1541786601

Michael Avenatti calls for 'immediate indictment' of Donald Trump after Wall Street Journal payoff story

https://heavy.com/news/2018/11/avena...ctment/?b2np=d

[Rewind]

Trump has been upset with Nielsen because she doesn't share his racist, bigoted, xenophobic, anti-immigrant views. I wonder if Trump could also be upset with her for failing to stop all the mass shootings that have been committed by American-born white men, not immigrants.

Trump is preparing to remove Kirstjen Nielsen as Homeland Security secretary, aides say

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...DUxB?ocid=AMZN

[Rewind]

Trump's "smooth-running machine" (as he described the White House) perhaps needs some WD-40.

After clashes with first lady and others, John Kelly may soon exit White House
The White House Chief of Staff has had an array of disputes with officials from the NSC and the East Wing in recent months.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...-white-n935686

[Rewind]

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has asked a US District Judge to rule against Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker. The Attorney General Succession Act passed by Congress mandates that if the attorney general leaves office, his duties are assumed by the deputy attorney general. That person is Rod Rosenstein.

Maryland asks federal court to disqualify Matthew Whitaker as acting Attorney General

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...d-lawsuit.html

[Rewind]

Trump recently said the White House is a "smooth-running machine" and last week he described the White House" as hot and said "everybody" wants to work there. Oh, really?

Staff anger spills over at White House
Politico, Nov 13 2018

Bottled-up hostility in President Donald Trump’s administration flowed to the surface today during a remarkable 12-hour period following an awkward midterm détente and tense trip to Paris over which the President is still seething. "It's like an episode of Maury, one former Trump aide observed. "The only thing that's missing is a paternity test."

At the White House, Trump appeared poised to dismiss Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, a source of personal frustration for months over what Trump views as weak leadership on border security and other immigration enforcement policies he's sought to implement. The fresh round of backbiting and post-midterm turnover could also sweep out Trump's chief of staff John Kelly, a close Nielsen ally, and see him replaced with Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers.

Today's West Wing staff morass — which had long been building but which the President personally subordinated to put up a unified front for the midterms — spilled over to the East Wing, with first lady Melania Trump openly calling for the ouster of one of the top officials on the National Security Council in a rare public rebuke. The first lady's office said in a statement that Mira Ricardel, deputy to national security adviser John Bolton, did not belong in the White House anymore. The President reportedly decided to fire Ricardel at Melania's urging after clashes regarding her recent solo trip to Africa.

And earlier in the day, Trump's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, lashed out at White House trade adviser Peter Navarro after Navarro, a trade protectionist, took aim at Wall Street and corporate influencers pushing a less aggressive stance against China. Navarro did Trump a "great disservice," Kudlow told CNBC.

White House aides and advisers have long anticipated an internal staff reckoning once the uneasy truce broke and the dust settled after the elections. But some conceded that the drumbeat of exits, the threat of subpoenas from the Russia probe and anticipated investigations by a newly empowered Democratic House — along with a raft of negative media attention in recent days — were taking a heavy toll on not only the President but also on the aides and advisers' thinning ranks.

Trump has kept a light public schedule while stewing over unflattering domestic and international headlines, all amid a First Amendment-focused lawsuit that CNN filed today against the president and top administration officials, demanding that its correspondent Jim Acosta's access to the White House be restored.

The internal upheaval came on the heels of Trump’s trip to Paris, where European leaders distanced themselves from his rhetoric and President Emmanuel Macron of France implicitly rebuked Trump in front of 70 other world leaders during an Armistice Day ceremony by criticizing the very idea of nationalism. Already dismissive of Trump, Parisians barely paid attention to the US President during his visit except to mock him.

"The Trump administration has been so consistently off the rails that days like today just blend into everything else," a former White House official concluded. "That in and of itself may be the biggest indictment of all."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...GfbK?ocid=AMZN

[Rewind]

Trump insists the White House is a "smooth-running machine" and a "hot" place where "everybody wants to work" -- and yet the exodus continues.

Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel departs the White House after rebuke from Melania Trump

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-n...htmlstory.html

[Rewind]

The number of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the United States has increased by 40% in the 26 months Donald "Neo-Nazis-are-fine-people" Trump has been President -- and he refuses to acknowledge that his lies, his accusations, his white nationalism, his racism and his hateful, divisive, anti-immigrant rhetoric are a contributing factor.

Man gives Nazi salute, shouts 'Heil Hitler, Heil Trump' at Fiddler On The Roof performance in Baltimore

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fiddler...ter-baltimore/