When General John Kelly was chosen to replace Reince Preibus as Trump’s Chief of Staff many of the political intelligensia sighed in relief. Now there was finally an adult in the room, a minder, a baby sitter who had the experience and gravitas to handle Trump the Toddler.
Well, the bloom is pretty much off that rose.
Over the weekend, Politico reported that Democrats are becoming alarmed that the director of the Department of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, isn't the calming influence on Trump that they had hoped. For some reason they believed Kelly would rein in Trump's draconian policies on immigration and security. They were wrong, according to Politico:
Instead, Kelly has moved to impose those policies with military rigor. He has pursued an aggressive deportation campaign; defended Trump’s effort to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries; and hinted that he might separate migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Kelly has joked with Trump about using violence against reporters and defended Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, amid allegations that he tried to set up a secret back channel to the Russian government.
Today, it’s tough to find anyone on the left willing to defend Kelly. He has alienated potential allies on Capitol Hill, including Democrats who voted to confirm him, and is endangering his reputation as a nonpartisan figure in a presidential administration that has relatively few.
That report from Politico via Salon was from last June. What we’ve seen since that point is much, much worse.
We though that Kelly would be the one to protect the nation from Trump. That he and Defense Secretary Mattis had a secret plan to tackle Trump he went got so upset by something that he went for the Nuclear Football. No, i’m not joking.
New York Magazine contributing editor Gabriel Sherman on Tuesday reported on a remarkable conversation he had with a senior Republican official, who described imagined conversations Donald Trump’s chief of staff Gen. John Kelly and defense secretary James Mattis have had about “physically [restraining] the president” in the event he “[lunges] for the nuclear football.”
Sherman was discussing the growing concern in the West Wing over Trump’s temperament, particularly as the president continues to escalate feuds with prominent Republicans like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) while simultaneously setting the United States “on the path to World War III.”
But the truth is nothing like that and there were early signs of it including when Kelly was head of Homeland Security and justified the aggressive tactics they began deploying under Trump by falsely claiming that ALL undocumented immigrants were criminals.
A DIRECTIVE TO immigration officials across the country to try to portray undocumented immigrants swept up in mass raids as criminals came directly from then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, The Intercept has learned.
Earlier this month, The Intercept published a cache of internal emails exchanged between Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Texas in February, while the first mass raids of the Trump administration were underway.
The redacted emails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by students at Vanderbilt University Law School, show that while hundreds of undocumented immigrants were rounded up across the country, DHS officials tried — and largely failed — to engineer a narrative that would substantiate the administration’s claims that the raids were motivated by public safety concerns. In the emails, local ICE officials are ordered to come up with “three egregious cases” of apprehended criminals to highlight to the media.
These tactics have made people who undocumented afraid to go pick up their kids from school, afraid to go to the emergency room when injured or sick, and afraid to GO. TO. COURT. because that’s where they’ve been targeted by ICE.
No going to church, no going to the store. No doctor’s appointments for some, no school for others. No driving, period — not when a broken taillight could deliver the driver to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It is happening on Staten Island, where fewer day laborers haunt street corners in search of work; in West Phoenix’s Isaac School District, where 13 Latino students have dropped out in the past two weeks; and in the horse country of northern New Jersey, where one of the many undocumented grooms who muck out the stables is thinking of moving back to Honduras.
These tactics have made numbers of ICE arrests increase, but most of this increase was not among those who were known “criminals.”
Between Jan. 22 and April 29, 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers administratively arrested 41,318 individuals on civil immigration charges. Between Jan. 24 and April 30, 2016, ERO arrested 30,028.
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While these data clearly reflect the fact that convicted criminals are an immigration enforcement priority, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has made it clear that ICE will no longer exempt any class of individuals from removal proceedings if they are found to be in the country illegally. This is evident by the rise in non-criminal arrests over the same period, which increased from approximately 4,200 in 2016 to more than 10,800 in 2017.
By the numbers overall arrests increased by 11,100, with the non-criminal portion of this 6,600 meaning more than half of the increase in arrests, were from non-criminals. At the same time the total number of deportations under Kelly’s ICE has actually gone down.
This is the excuse that Kelly used to implement draconian measures such as these.
More undocumented immigrants are being swept up in immigration raids targeting their friends, neighbors and coworkers.
Under the Trump Administration's new enforcement priorities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are instructed to detain and deport anyone who is in the country illegally, which means even so-called "non-targets" may end up in custody after a raid.
"The biggest change is under the previous Administration, there were a lot of individuals that were not considered amenable to arrest that now, since the change in Administration, our director has said there are not going to be any classes or categories of removable aliens that are exempt," says ICE spokeswoman Danielle Bennett.
In a four-day operation at the end of July, ICE arrested 650 people. Of those, 457 weren't targets of the raid. In other words, a full 70% of the immigrants swept up in this operation were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In point of fact although there have been more arrests and ultimately removals from inside the nation, the total deportations has actually gone down since Obama’s deportations numbers.
The result is that people who’ve tried to follow the rules, even those who are literally in the process of checking in with the court have been specifically targeted by ICE for deportation — so none of this is about “protecting the nation” it’s just about getting rid of people which clearly has bigoted roots.And then there was the time he smeared Rep. Fredericka Wilson with a big fat set of lies.
Three of the men that survived the fight were there, and gave a rendition of how brave those men were and how they gave their lives.
And a congresswoman stood up, and in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there and all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President Obama, and on that phone call he gave the money — the $20 million — to build the building. And she sat down, and we were stunned. Stunned that she had done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned.
But, you know, none of us went to the press and criticized. None of us stood up and were appalled. We just said, O.K., fine.
Rep. Wilson didn’t do any of that. That was one giant fucking lie.
Following thet Kelly told Laura Ingraham that he would never apologize to Wilson then blamed a lack of ability to “compromise” for the Civil War — even though compromise is exactly what allowed the inhuman practice of slavery to be codified and justified in our Constitution from the start.
In an interview on Monday night with Fox News, Kelly was asked whether a Virginia church should have removed plaques honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee and President George Washington, both Virginians. Kelly said figures of the past could not be viewed through the lens of current moral values.
“I think it’s just very, very dangerous and it shows you … how much of a lack of appreciation of history and what history is,” Kelly said. “I will tell you that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man.”
“The lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War, and men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had them make their stand,” Kelly added.
Actor Wendell Pierce responded to Kelly’s Civil War comments with “They raped my grandmother, lynched my uncle… you racist pr*ck’”
There’s also the way that Kelly had Omarosa forcibly removed from the White House grounds.
Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly had to break the news to Newman.
According to reporter April Ryan, the general was warned, “all hell will break loose” if Newman lost walk-in privileges.
Kelly reportedly responded, “Okay, all hell is going to break loose.”
And all available accounts suggest Newman lived up to that promise. She reportedly screamed, cursed, and tried to get into the residence to see the president, even setting off the White House security system in her attempts.
Last night on Celebrity Apprentice Omarosa admitted how she was very frightened by Trump’s behavior and how he was protected by those around him. That would include Kelly.
Then there’s the time that Kelly said that people eligible for DACA hadn’t all signed up because they were too lazy to “get off their asses”.
When describing the key components of the White House’s immigration framework, Gen. John Kelly noted that the plan includes a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million people, including DACA recipients as well as people eligible for DACA but who never signed up.
“The difference between [these numbers] were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up; others would say are too lazy to get off their asses but they didn’t sign up,” Kelly told reporters, according to audio posted by The Washington Post.
Yeah, way to flog that racist stereotype there John.
And now there’s this latest situation with Rob Porter whose domestic violence had been reported to the FBI, there was a restraining order on file from his second wife which had been holding up his security clearance for nearly a year, but it wasn’t until Ivanka Trump walked into his office with pictures of his first wife with a black eye on her phone that he finally resigned.
White House sources cited by CNN said that rumblings of Porter's personal challenges had been circulating in the West Wing in recent weeks, and that Kelly and some top aides had known of the abuse allegations since "early fall." President Donald Trump learned of the claims this week, CNN reported.
Politico echoed the same, reporting that the White House knew of the claims against Porter "weeks and in some cases months" before they were made public.
Even with all this known Kelly still defended him.
- Kelly on Porter: "a man of true integrity and honor and I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him."
- Sanders on Porter: "someone of the highest integrity and exemplary character."
And his current girlfriend Hope Hicks — who had previously dated Corey Lewandowski who was fired by the Trump campaign for forcibly grabbing a female Brietbart reporter then lying about it even when it was on tape— personally wrote the statement defending Porter.
Sources have told CNN that White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, who was recently revealed to be dating now-resigned Staff Secretary Rob Porter, helped craft the White House statement responding to the multiple domestic abuse allegations against him. Chief of Staff John Kelly has also been going to bat hard for Porter, despite reportedly having knownthere was a restraining order out against him. [Twitter/CNN]
And still Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah really can’t explain it.
Some people are shocked that Kelly would ignore the allegations against Porter simply because “he denied it” — but they really shouldn’t be. How different is his behavior here from the long standing behavior of ignoring cases of
sexual harassment and assault in the military?
"I am terrified that my story isn't good enough ... that it doesn't represent what's going on," Reyes said. But despite that fear, she is speaking out for the first time, telling CNN she hopes her words can help others.…
Like the vast majority of military victims who report crimes of sexual violence, Reyes said she remains dissatisfied with the way she was treated by investigators who decided not to pursue charges against the alleged assailant.
Her experience is an illustration of what many survivors described as a broken system that they say perpetuates a culture that suppresses the reporting of sexually violent crimes.
Current anti-abuse efforts in the military are clumsily centered around the idea that liquored up women are saying “yes” when impaired then regretting it the morning after.
Last year, posters were distributed with the headline, “Ask Her When She’s Sober.” The posters have since been scrubbed from the MyDuty.Mil website, which now has a video showing service members watching a colleague who’s getting too forward with a woman at a bar.
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Its most recent report, released this week, estimated that 26,000 service members experienced “unwanted sexual contact,” which includes rape, attempted rape and unwanted sexual touching. Of these, an estimated 12,100 were women — and 13,900 were men. Fewer than half of the incidents involved alcohol.
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One reason sexual assault festers in the military is its leadership structure, according to former service men and women who have been assaulted in the military and advocates who work with them.
In the military, sexual assaults are handled within the chain of command. That means that a victim’s commanding officer has the ability to intervene at any point: to stop an investigation, reduce a sentence or even set aside a conviction.
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Military leadership structure provides a strong incentive for commanders to avoid pursuing sexual assault allegations in their ranks: It can hurt their careers.
Kelly’s view of this is natural for someone from his background — that just because he didn’t personally see Porter assault his wives and that he may have been a bright, polite person and a good worker otherwise, betrays a deep misunderstanding that is common to those prone to bigotry. Assulters are successful because they put on a Jekyl/Hyde act — they can be sweet as pie when they need to be, but a fracking violent asshole when the mood strikes. But to the ignorant, If someone isn’t a raving asshole every second, they imagine it’s impossible that there can be another side to them.
Or they find ways to excuse and justify that ugly side when it does appear. They presume they know the answer before they’ve even fully asked the question.
Similar they can’t imagine that someone they presume is a “criminal”, “too lazy to get off their ass” or an “empty barrel” could possibly be something far beyond that, and even when confronted with clear evidence that their view is WRONG — they continue. They don’t apologize, they don’t correct themselves, never the less, they persist. It’s not just about presuming negative things about people when they don’t deserve it, it’s also presuming positives about others when they also don’t deserve it.
Kelly is a perfect example of this. The man is an ignorant bigot.
So is Trump.
Thursday, Feb 8, 2018 · 10:51:18 PM +00:00 · Frank Vyan Walton
Just to underscore that isn’t just about having one abuser on staff, the Trump administration has been systematically dismantling protections for women against violence.
- Cuts the National Domestic Violence Hotline: Trump’s budget proposes cutting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget by 18 percent. If that cut is applied to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, it would mean that more than 200,000 calls for help would go unanswered.55
- Failed to oppose sexual assault: Jeff Sessions was confirmed as attorney general despite refusing to say that nonconsensual groping constitutes sexual assault, contrary to the U.S. Justice Department’s definition.56
- Refused to fight sexual assault in schools: In her nomination hearing, now-Secretary of Education DeVos said it would be “premature” to commit to maintaining the department’s guidance aimed at combating sexual assault in schools.57
- Defended accused sexual harassers: In an Oval Office interview, Trump defended conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly from sexual harassment allegations despite evidence that Fox has already paid more than $13 million to settle five claims against O’Reilly. Trump’s assumption that the complaints were false reveals his instinct to doubt women who experience harassment and assault and mirrors the attitudes that make it hard for victims to come forward. Sadly, this is only the latest example of Trump defending harassers and echoes his support of former Fox executive Roger Ailes.58
- Cuts violence against women programs: Trump proposed Justice Department cuts that could affect Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, program funding and civil rights enforcement. VAWA serves survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, supports efforts to reduce sexual assault, and helps indigenous and tribal communities affected by violence. In addition to the proposed cuts, there are reports that Trump may be considering eliminating the Office on Violence Against Women entirely.59
So we can’t fund that, but we can throw money at parade for the Soldiers who don’t want a fracking Parade.
Friday, Feb 9, 2018 · 5:09:56 PM +00:00 · Frank Vyan Walton
And then there’s this….
Porter, 40, had been living with the willowy blonde political appointee, who split with him around Thanksgiving, after discovering suggestive text messages between Porter and White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of Trump's closest and most trusted advisors.
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In messages, reviewed by DailyMail.com, the woman describes abuse from Porter and was reaching out for advice from the ex-wives.
In December 2016, the woman wrote to Holderness: ‘Over the years I have desperately wanted to reach out to you, but Rob forbade me. I have been with Rob off and on now for a little over three years, and don't know where to turn to discuss my experience or how to escape it.
'I work in politics, and despite Rob's repeated abuse, some of which I think many know about, he continues to rise and I'm afraid to go against him. I'm sorry to bother you. I wanted to reach out and hear your story if you are willing to share -- as well as how you broke out of it with him and mostly, how you recovered.’
In a later message to Willoughby, she wrote: ‘I guess the questions that keep going through my head are "is it just me?!" and then sort of wondering, just what IS it with Rob, what is his psychological condition and is it redeemable or can he get help??
'He can go from being the sweetest kindest person to a complete abusive monster in minutes.
'He makes subtle digs at my clothing, hair, that I'm not "sexy enough" or don't seduce him enough or something (I could go on and on) and has a weird sexual aggression or problem that I can't figure out.
Apparently she also contacted White House Counsel Don McGahn as well to inform him of Porter’s violence — and yet, he persisted as Staff Secretary until the picture of Holderness showed up. Amazing.