I got it! I had been looking for a theme or thread that is relevant to President-elect Donald Trump’s appointments to high-level positions. Today, after hearing about his recent selections, I think I found it. It is a multifaceted thread but seems to work.
To get appointed there is firstly the requirement of complete fealty. This is assured and evidenced in a variety of ways, from large donations (often associated with family connections and pardons to yourself or family members) and a relationship of prior endorsement of the president-elect or a mutually beneficial business connection.
Oh, I forgot, it also helps if you have been accused of sexual assault (usually of women) or have treated or used women in a despicable fashion. Since Trump wants no normal vetting of his candidates by the FBI, there is the obvious attempt to conceal any misdeeds not yet revealed by the media.
I apologize, and I won’t waste your time going into details (after all, I try to keep my columns short and suggest that you just check the details yourself by googling the partial roster of felons, crooks, and low-lifes who will be running our government.)
I think my favorite miscreant is Jared Kushner’s daddy, our soon-to-be ambassador to France. I won’t bore you with the facts about Jared being given billions of dollars by the Saudis and his total lack of experience as a hedge fund manager (and his over $100 million in fees to date, with no investments yet).
Papa was in jail for almost two years (he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion and lying to the Federal Election Commission and retaliating against a federal witness) but, as typical of Trump ‘s supporters, was pardoned by Trump in the last days of his presidency and was a major donor to his 2024 campaign. What is appalling to me (and I don’t “appall” easily, being a criminal and civil litigator for decades) is what Charles Kushner did to retaliate against his brother-in-law for cooperating with the government.
Charles hired a prostitute to seduce his sister’s husband (women are sometimes useful to Charles), a witness at the time in a federal campaign-finance investigation. He video taped it and sent a copy to his sister. What a guy—I wonder if the families still spend Thanksgiving together.
This paragon of virtue will now be responsible for discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron on everything regarding NATO and European and French relations with the U.S.
Another recent selection was Kash Patel as head of the FBI. His main qualification is that he believes that national law enforcement and much of the national security apparatus must be brought to heel since they have been part of the “Deep State” and must be held accountable for the improper investigations and prosecutions of Trump and his minions (most of the minions were pardoned or given executive clemency by Trump: Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, etc.). A Harvard Law School study of Trump pardons showed 84 out or 94 pardons had a personal or political connection to the president.
Patel was a low-level prosecutor and public defender in the Department of Justice, with no management experience. In his book “Government Gangsters,” he has argued that top management of the bureau be dismissed, that journalists be investigated and prosecuted, and that the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters be closed.
The independence of the FBI is crucial. This appointment is basically firing Mr. Wray, the current director. We will see what will happen to this appointee, who has stated:
We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections … We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out.
Just think, another four years of investigations into whether the 2016 election was stolen, after 63 separate cases in federal and state courts around the country determined there was not even substantial enough evidence to justify a fact-finding hearing.
The final appointee I want to address was someone I wrote about in my last column, where I laid out his lack of qualifications and bizarre worldview. Pete Hegseth, the Fox News anchor nominated for secretary of defense, has been accused of assaulting a woman and then paying her a settlement, but I didn’t mention that, although I probably should have because he opposes women in the combat arms and his background may be relevant to how he would treat women in the military.
Now we have more information, thanks to a letter from Hegseth’s own mother obtained by The New York Times:
… You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.
… but your abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out.
… On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say… get some help and take an honest look at yourself…
Mom
Hegseth’s mother has admitted she sent it but did so in anger when he and his wife were going through a divorce.
Just as information, active duty military members can be subject to prosecution for adultery under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The sordid details of Mr. Hegseth’s life can be easily googled, but my original article showed my concern that he successfully lobbied Trump to pardon military personnel who were tried and convicted after court martial of war crimes. Maybe he feels that military justice should only apply when he feels like it.
If I were a woman (or a man, for that matter) in the armed services, or thinking of enlisting, this apparent abuser would not be my choice as an ethical secretary of defense. His qualifications are abysmal at best, but his morality and bias are equally disqualifying.
Anyway, you can do more research yourself. It is fascinating reading, but the qualifications of those selected are equally terrifying.
