Free Republic

Candidate Donald Trump said of Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal, “This corruption and collusion is just one more reason why I will ask my attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor.” He later upped the ante with the declaration, “She has to go to jail.” Now, it appears that the Trump State Department is working to keep the e-mails secret. On May 5, Judicial Watch issued a press release announcing that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the U.S. Department of State to turn over to the watchdog organization "eight identical paragraphs" of previously redact material in two September 13,...

The Senate has confirmed Heather Wilson as secretary of the Air Force. Senators approved Wilson’s nomination 76-22, making her President Donald Trump’s first service secretary nominee to be approved by the GOP-led chamber. ... Wilson is a former Republican congresswoman from New Mexico. She had faced scrutiny from several Democrats for defense industry consulting work she did after leaving Congress in 2009. She is the first graduate of the Air Force Academy to hold the service’s top civilian post.

On March 13th, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order that will make the Federal government more efficient, effective, and accountable to you, the American people. This Executive Order directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to present the President with a plan that recommends ways to reorganize the executive branch and eliminate unnecessary agencies. President Trump wants to hear your ideas and suggestions on how the government can be better organized to work for the American people. Share your ideas below by June 12th! What agency would you like to reform? Select Cabinet Agency (Select...

The Trump administration has fired the White House chief usher — the first woman and second African-American to hold the nonpartisan position, according to a report. The White House residence staff was told Friday morning that Angella Reid, appointed in 2011 by President Obama, had been canned, without offering an explanation, the Washington Post reported, citing a source. “We are very grateful for her service and wish her the very best,” a White House official confirmed, declining to provide details. Reid was only the third usher to be booted in more than a century — and the first since then-first...

President Donald Trump's choice for Army secretary announced Friday that he is withdrawing his name from consideration. "It is with deep regret today I am withdrawing my nomination to be the Secretary of the Army," Mark Green said in a statement. On Tuesday, CNN reported that the nomination was in serious jeopardy, and he could be withdrawing as soon as this week, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The decision by Green, Trump's second pick for the post, came after his nomination ran into trouble following a backlash after past controversial statements on LGBT issues, Islam and evolution...

President Donald Trump has picked an economic advisor who believes in growing the nation’s economy by importing workers and consumers, and by expanding free-trade outsourcing, despite Trump’s “buy American, hire American” campaign promises. Kevin Hassett is slated to become chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors if he is approved by the Senate’s banking committee. If Hassett is confirmed, that will be a win for the corporatist, business-first faction in Trump’s White House, which fights for influence in the Oval Office against the populist, America-first faction that helped Trump win the election in November.

By way of disclaimer, I have known Steve Bannon for years and we regularly communicate in rather short bursts. So my info on the "inside Team Trump" is pretty one-sided. I don't know Jared Kushner, know OF McMaster and recommended him to Team Trump (as did Victor Davis Hanson). So I know what I know, but it's a pretty limited range of insight. 1. The Syria strikes. I knew going in this would be a firestorm for Trump among his voters, especially the Ron Paul/non-interventionist backers (many of whom you see on Twitter). I agree with many of you that...

Attention is turning to National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster as the situation with Syria heats up. McMaster replaced General Flynn as National Security Advisor after he was forced to resign in February.President Trump ordered a missile strike on an airbase in Syria reportedly holding chemical weapons and said he is prepared to take further action if necessary in a letter released by the White House yesterday.TGP also reported yesterday that McMaster is said to be working behind the scenes with Petraeus to put troops on the ground in Syria, a foreign policy decision many are saying is an about face...

An embattled Steve Bannon appears to be digging in against a storm of bad press suggesting he's on his way out, sources familiar with the inner workings of the White House told NBC News. The White House chief strategist "ain't going anywhere," sources close to him said. Bannon was removed from his position on the National Security Council this week, a shakeup that the White House denied was part of a "power struggle" within the administration. Officials discussing the move said Bannon was originally placed on the council as a check to then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who resigned in...

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway pushed back on media reports that Donald Trump is considering a shakeup of his West Wing staff, telling Fox News' "The First 100 Days" Friday night that such stories "do not help the president" and were meant to "distract from the success that he's had this week." The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump is unhappy with the ongoing feuding among his team and has asked his confidants to provide names of possible replacements for Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. On Thursday, a New York Times report detailed what it described as an...

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee told a Thursday forum at the Washington-based watchdog Judicial Watch that starting April 1 his committee and staff will hold President Donald Trump and his administration accountable for producing requested documents. “I would hope the new president would get more aggressive and demand that these departments and agencies provide the documents that Congress is seeking,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who took over the committee at the start of the previous session of Congress. “I don’t think they are off to a good start.” Up until the end of March,...

Last night President Trump had a lengthy dinner and conversation with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in advance of several upcoming foreign emissary visits to the White House, and T-Rex’s strategic trip to Asia. Today President Trump took Secretary Kelly (DHS), Secretary Ross (Commerce), Secretary Mnuchin (Treasury), Secretary Shulkin (VA), together with their spouses to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. Accompanying the cabinet group was key staff: Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. However, word of President Trump going to his National Golf Club in Virginia immediately sent The Hill into...

The Republican-controlled Senate is to blame for only 17 Trump confirmations so far.  Trump has 1242 more needing Senate approval, or the number may be as low as 500, it's hard to pin down.  Republicans are to blame because they are in the majority and thus in control of the schedule.  Given the Senate’s vacation schedule, officially “state work period,” there is an almost impossibility of Trump getting all 1242 appointees confirmed in four years even if they worked round the clock.  If the figure is only 500 appointees it would take nearly two years of round-the-clock work. With...

Support for Gorka not waning in Trump White House in light of media attacks Obama administration holdovers and loyalists are waging a leak-driven media campaign against a senior counter-terrorism adviser hand-picked by President Donald Trump, with the aim of undermining the Trump administration's national security apparatus, according to multiple senior White House officials and sources close to the administration. Sebastian Gorka, a longtime national security expert profiled by senior editor Bill Gertz in today's Free Beacon, has been the subject of multiple leaks and negative stories portraying him as a bigot as part of a campaign similar to the one...

Lawyers who worked with former President Barack Obama have formed a nonprofit called United to Protect Democracy, which aims at filing lawsuits against President Donald Trump's administration. The group plans to investigate Trump, give information to the press to build the pressure for Congressional investigations, and eventually file lawsuits, Politico reported on Thursday. The leader of the group and former associate White House counsel Ian Bassin warned that democracies don't end quickly. He said they often "decline over a period of years that happen through a series of much smaller steps," in an apparent suggestion that the Trump administration would...

When Omarosa Manigault, the former “Celebrity Apprentice” antihero-turned-White House adviser, needs to talk to President Donald Trump, she simply strolls into the Oval Office. As assistant to the President and director of communications for the office of public liaison, Manigault enjoys what Trump aides refer to as walk-in privileges — meaning she doesn’t need an appointment or permission to pop her head in and consult with the leader of the free world. Her level of easy access marks a break from the previous administration, where President Barack Obama and his gatekeeper chiefs of staff kept at bay the number of...

Cory Louie, the White House’s now former chief cybersecurity officer, was reportedly removed from his position. Louie “was forced to resign,” according to an editor at The Atlantic, who was the first to report his exit, despite initially saying that he was a member of the Secret Service. The story was apparently corroborated by ZDNet, who spoke to unnamed sources on the matter. {..snip..}

A senior adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) who played a critical role in crafting his national security agenda—including efforts to stop the Iran nuclear deal and designate the Muslim Brotherhood organization as a terrorist entity—has been tapped by the Trump National Security Council to serve as senior director for strategic assessments, a role that encompasses the fight against terrorist forces, the Washington Free Beacon can exclusively reveal. Victoria Coates, a top Cruz aide and his longtime confidante, has departed the senator's office to serve as senior director for strategic assessments in the new White House NSC, a role...

full title..............................Team Trump up and running: Ivanka looks on as husband Jared Kushner gets sworn in alongside senior staff members including Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway at the White House ..................Trump held his first swearing in ceremony inside the East Room Sunday Before the ceremony, Trump shared he received a 'beautiful' letter from former President Barack Obama that was left for him inside Oval Office Trump told his top advisers that they are in the White House not to 'help ourselves' but to 'devote ourselves to the national good' In total, 30 senior staff members were sworn in by Vice...

Team Trump up and running: Ivanka looks on as husband Jared Kushner gets sworn in alongside senior staff members including Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway at the White House Trump held his first swearing in ceremony inside the East Room Sunday Before the ceremony, Trump shared he received a 'beautiful' letter from former President Barack Obama that was left for him inside Oval Office Trump told his top advisers that they are in the White House not to 'help ourselves' but to 'devote ourselves to the national good' In total, 30 senior staff members were sworn in by Vice President...