Exclusive: Leaked Trump vetting docs
The RNC researchers identified some striking "Red Flags."
The first red flag for Rex Tillerson, who became Trump’s first Secretary of State, was about Russia. "Tillerson's Russia ties go deep," it read.
One red flag for Fox News host Laura Ingraham, considered for White House press secretary: "Ingraham said people should wear diapers instead of sharing bathrooms with transgender people."
One heading in the document about Kris Kobach, in the running for Homeland Security Secretary, listed "white supremacy" as a vulnerability. It cited accusations from past political opponents that he had ties to white supremacist groups.
Vetters had unique concerns about Gary Cohn. "Some Say Cohn Has An Abrasive, Curt, And Intimidating Style," they wrote, citing a Bloomberg piece. "He Would Sometimes Hike Up One Leg And Plant His Foot On A Trader's Desk, His Thigh Close To The Employee's Face, And Ask How Markets Were Doing."
Some of the contenders were strikingly swampy — even by the RNC vetters' standards.
Seema Verma, who Trump appointed as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had this paragraph near the top of her vetting form: "Verma was simultaneously advising Indiana ($3.5 million in contracts) on issues impacting how it would spend Medicaid funds while she was also being paid by a client that received Medicaid funds. Ethics experts have called the arrangement a conflict of interest that potentially put Indiana taxpayers at risk."
Sonny Perdue, Trump's pick for Agriculture Secretary, had a vetting form with sections labeled "Business conflicts of interest" and "Family conflicts of interest." It noted that "Perdue is the owner of Houston Fertilizer and Grain, a company that has received contracts from the Department of Agriculture."
The documents point to Trump’s willingness to meet with — and sometimes hire — people who had harshly criticized him. The vetting team often put these denigrations at the top of the documents. A source with direct knowledge told me many of these documents were handed to Trump; he knew about the insults, and picked the insulters anyway.
Nikki Haley, who became Trump's U.N. ambassador, had a note that she'd said Trump is everything "we teach our kids not to do in kindergarten."
Ryan Zinke, who became Interior Secretary, had described Trump as "un-defendable."
Rick Perry, Energy Secretary, had voluminous vetting concerns: "Perry described Trumpism as a 'toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness, and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition,'" the vetters noted.
https://www.axios.com/leaked-donald-trump-vetting-docs-hbo-6ce3cd26-1eb9-4da8-b15e-47b56020aef7.html
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They’re already there. Their demise can’t come soon enough.
As soon as Chump "won" it was all thrown out. Bannon, Kushner and Chump didn't want any good candidates like Christie had collected. All they wanted were tainted people that they blackmail and manipulate, and that's what they got. In addition they wanted heavy rollers who would pony up for Chump's re-election when the time came. They got that too, except most of them are gone now.
