Call it de-bamafication. Or maybe the continued unblackening. But as Donald Trump wages war on people who are telling the people the truth about his regime, also known as “low life leakers,” his team is focusing on ditching appointees who were put into their positions under President Obama.
A number of his advisers believe Obama officials are behind the leaks and are seeking to undermine his presidency, with just the latest example coming from reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and apparently misled senators about the interactions during his confirmation hearing.
The Sessions leaks may be recent, but they’re certainly not the only example.
President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, sources familiar with the matter said.
Apparently stories about the Trump regime’s increasing effort to tighten its fingers, which are immediately relayed by unnamed sources, enrage Trump. How can you create “real news” if people keep telling the “fake news” what’s really happening? This is a job for an expert on lying.
"His playbook should be to get rid of the Obama appointees immediately," said Newt Gingrich, a top surrogate. "There are an amazing number of decisions that are being made by appointees that are totally opposed to Trump and everything he stands for. Who do you think those people are responding to?"
Actually … who does Newt Gingrich think they’re reporting to? Does he think Obama is still running a shadow government while on vacation? Because that would be super cool.
Naturally, Trump is looking for new people who will pass the only test that matters: loyalty to Trump. However, having already mined his shallow pool of family and long-term employees, the source for people who can pass Trump’s purity tests is unclear.
The White House has thousands of open jobs across the agencies, many nonpolitical civilian employees are critical of the administration, and some Cabinet secretaries say they need the Obama people during a rocky transition.
Don’t expect simply needing people to make government work to get in the way. After all, the Trump team has already dismissed people at the Department of Energy in charge of nuclear weapons and booted the most experienced people at the State Department. Republicans have long run on the idea that government is an ineffective bureaucracy. Trump is just making it true.
In the meantime, for those who remain in the government the major task seems to be spying on each other.
Several officials in different agencies who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said some employees fear their phone calls and emails may be monitored and that they are reluctant to speak their minds during internal discussions.
So employees are learning to only say things Trump likes, even if it’s not the truth? Now things are getting “real.”