Remember the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” where the cast was continually changing, due to resignations and firings, and it became a popular insider guessing game who was actually going to be on the set when the cameras turned? That level of Hollywood puerility is being replicated in the White House, as filling the post of Trump chief of staff takes on all the gravitas of a TV game show. Rep. Mark Meadows says that he was never seriously considered for the post, it was all rumor, and now Newt Gingrich is being floated as a possible front runner — but he says he just dropped by the White House to look at the Christmas trees.
Newt told @FredLucasWH he was at the White House to advise on a new CoS, but that’s either a smokescreen or he’s pulling a staff-level Dick Cheney.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) December 13, 2018
At the very least his name is getting pushed by some in Trumpworld as someone who has experience w/ impeachment, never mind the fact that being a driving force behind the Clinton impeachment fiasco makes him about as appropriate for what Trump may face as blue jeans on a dolphin.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) December 13, 2018
Think this through for a moment: Gingrich might be the perfect fit in this slot, because if there is one thing that this administration is genius at, it is hiring the man or woman with qualifications which are dead opposite to the ones needed for the job.
It’s too bad that Jarvanka’s ploy to oust John Kelly and replace him with Nick Ayers, “a generational peer and ally who would increase their influence in the West Wing,” blew up in their faces. Ivanka, naturally, is flame proof, but her hubby is not and so he’s been feeling the full force of the Trump heat, and Daddy went into meltdown big time after Ayers humiliated him. Gabriel Sherman, Vanity Fair:
Ayers’s surprise decision to walk away from Trump’s offer has blown open the chief-of-staff search and, according to sources familiar with the situation, damaged Kushner’s standing with the president. “This was a big repudiation of Jared,” a prominent Republican close to the White House said. According to a source, Trump instructed Kushner, who almost never speaks publicly, to appear on Sean Hannity’s show on Monday night to be the face of the chief-of-staff debacle. “Trump said, ‘You’re going to go on there and defend me and take blame for chief of staff as punishment,’” a source briefed on the conversation said. (Kushner’s hit was spun externally as a discussion of prison reform.)
With Ayers out, Trump appears to be taking a hard look at candidates with vastly different politics and style than Kushner and Ivanka. According to two sources, Trump is scheduled to interview Citizens United president Dave Bossie at the White House on Friday. (Bossie declined to comment.) Bossie, who served as deputy campaign manager of Trump’s 2016 campaign, is known as a political street fighter and is a close confidant of Corey Lewandowski and Steve Bannon. With House Democrats poised to launch investigations of Trump in January, Bossie’s experience in political trench warfare is viewed by Trump as a plus. “Trump is all over how Bossie knows investigations,” one Republican briefed on the search said.
So, take a look at the lineup so far: Matt Whitaker, David “Citizens United” Bossie, Newt Gingrich, plus
Kushner and Ivanka are racing to inject a new horse into the race. Politico reported they have recommended Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for the job, but Mnuchin is said to be not interested. One source said they’ve suggested former deputy national-security adviser Dina Powell, but a source close to Powell said she wants to remain at Goldman Sachs.
Has anybody talked to Dick Cheney or Darth Vader about the job? Mike Pence is said to be in serious negotiations with Satan.
