DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, like several other top Cabinet picks has done an awful lot to make her boss look bad during his second term. A parlor game of “Who Will Trump Ditch First?” hasn’t been created but it might as well have been and Noem has always been on the short list of who will get thrown under the bus first. Last night she requested an ’emergency’ meeting with Trump that reportedly lasted two hours. For now she seems to have convinced Trump to let her keep her job. If he gets wind of what Noem reportedly said in private that might change in a hurry.
Look, it’s not like Trump didn’t just love all Stephen Miller’s suggestions for the stuff that’s been playing out in cities around the country. Hell, Trump WANTS to provoke an incident that will give him an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act. So, when as as this article from Mediaite tells us Noem told someone “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen” I actually think for once she was being truthful. Clearly Noem, Bovino and Miller got way out over their skis this weekend.
There was video out almost from the time Pretti was shot and killed that contradicted the things they were saying. Trump seemed to back them up, but the new spin is that maybe he got bad advice. I call bullshit on that because Trump is glued to TV and social media. You KNOW he saw video that gave lie to what the administration including Trump claimed over the weekend. But Trump led the (expected) ‘Believe ME and ignore your own lying eyes’ routine. It failed miserably and remarkably quickly so the WH shifted gears – to the Trump didn’t have all the information narrative:
The report from Axios suggests there was a great amount of confusion surrounding Pretti’s death in the White House. Officials told the outlet that Border Patrol officers told the White House that Pretti brandished a gun before being shot, but this claim is contradicted by video evidence. Some White House officials reportedly took issue with the official statement going out, as they were not briefed on all of the details surrounding the shooting before it was published.
“Others within the White House attempted to clean up the DHS statement prior to it being sent, but it had already been disseminated,” a source familiar with the situation told Axios.
Again, I’m calling bullshit on that nonsense. I want to focus on the ‘following orders’ thing. The question that popped into my head when I read the linked article was how many others has she said that to? The linked article cites Axios as being the outlet the individual spilled the beans to but you have to wonder who Noem has said something like that to will seek out a reporter?
Then consider Noem’s combative personality and that of her top aid/lover Lewindowski who is also basking in the perks of being one of the top Cabinet Secretaries. If Trump wants to fire Noem (and given how his plan to make Minneapolis explode in violence and give him that excuse for the Insurrection Act) has blown up in HIS face he might have a problem. Noem might not ‘Go quietly in to that good night.” She (and Lewendowski) might just start firing broadsides at Trump and Miller. She might even have ‘receipts’ in the form of notes, memos and witnesses.
Maybe that was why last night’s meeting ran two hours. And why Miller was rather pointedly NOT part of it. Noem might have told Trump she sees how badly things have turned against not just her (and they were already bad – but things can always get worse) but him too. AND he’d do well to keep covering her butt. Negotiate a resignation for after all this mess dies down and a high paying gig outside the government that allows both of them to save face.
However if more people go to reporters with the ‘All I did was what Trump and Miller said to do’ story we could be in for some serious Trumpian entertainment. This all might be quickly forgotten. Then again it might not be but I thought it was worth mentioning that you should keep an eye on this.
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