This is going well https://t.co/7132wBKb5H— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) November 24, 2019
Which is a surprise, but also makes a certain amount of sense when you consider this:
Donald Trump has taken to “working” from his private quarters in the White House rather than the Oval Office because he distrusts the staff around him. https://t.co/TbogjsPREs pic.twitter.com/CyFvdjLSem— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) November 24, 2019
The distrust extends far beyond the staff of the White House. But don't make Esper a plaster saint, because he apparently was asked to resign for reasons other than Trump's tweet:
Esper may be angry at such an insubordinate subordinate. It's a fair cop. Reportedly the problem here is Spencer, not Trump. So this may be a matter of trust, not of a tweet. Will this stop here, or result in Trump making a legal order of the matter? Inquiring minds want to know.
And yet there is a ray of sunshine in the system yet:
Curveball: While there was speculation Spencer would resign for digging in against President Trump about how Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's discipline is handled, Spencer actually made a private offer to the White House to let Gallagher keep his Trident *without Esper knowing.*— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) November 24, 2019
Esper may be angry at such an insubordinate subordinate. It's a fair cop. Reportedly the problem here is Spencer, not Trump. So this may be a matter of trust, not of a tweet. Will this stop here, or result in Trump making a legal order of the matter? Inquiring minds want to know.
And yet there is a ray of sunshine in the system yet:
“Our unanimous conclusion was this: The truth matters. At a time when so much of our public discourse is based on deception or just lies, it is more important than ever that we still have places where the truth can be presented, examined and discerned.” https://t.co/mwHaRvQ2i3— Rod Rosenstein (@RodRosenstein) November 24, 2019
"... it is more important than ever that we still have places where the truth can be presented, examined and discerned." Frankly, toying with the military chain of command is about as exciting and motivating as ignoring the conclusions of the entire intelligence apparatus of the U.S. government. But the "smoking gun" tape didn't take Nixon down in itself, or in isolation. It was the last straw, the thing Baker and Specter knew they couldn't defend Nixon on, the last wall that fell and left them nothing to back up against. Nixon was going down (hell, he was in his second term); they just weren't going to let the GOP go down with him (although it did, only to get the whole of government handed back to them by Jimmy Carter and a feckless Democratic party; but that's another story).
Trump is going down; but how much damage is he going to do to troop morale, military structure, the entire function of government from top to bottom, before he does? As I said, these questions are abstractions; it is the concrete that will do him in.
News of this may well turn very solid and real by tomorrow. We'll see.
Adding:
Adding:
The Navy has been notified that the White House will not intervene to stop a disciplinary proceeding that could cost a SEAL his position in the elite unit, senior Navy official says. https://t.co/uZKXsgg9GD— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 24, 2019
Yeah, it's gonna end as a personnel matter. Even Trump won't go there.
And the last nail in that coffin:
And the last nail in that coffin:
Not speculation - he let it be known as we and NBC reported. Your great story which DoD put on record is the other side of a two-things-can-be-true-at-once coin. People at DoD say that Spencer was talking out of both sides of his mouth. https://t.co/3kArY1Msuw
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 24, 2019
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