Over the last week, President Trump and his Chief of Staff John Kelly went on the attack against their critics over the death of four US soldiers in Niger. A way to gauge the severity of the situation was when Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) came out to criticize the operation as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. On October 19, the senator threatened to subpoena the White House to get answers as to how the soldiers were so easily ambushed. When asked by the press if he thought the administration had been forthcoming about the incident, he smiled and said: "of course not."

Administration gets into fight with Gold Star widow

The response from the administration came as expected, as the trump administration has blatantly lied to the public and others about everything from the mundane to issues of serious importance.

On Sunday, former CIA official Mike Morrell said that it was important that the incident not become a political football, as Benghazi was. In fact, some of the criticism coming from Democrats has been to call this incident "Benghazi on steroids." But, over the past week, President Trump and his staff politicized the issue as they were playing offense and defense with Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D). The argument was over the conciliatory calls the president made to the families of service members who had been killed. Specifically, it was over calls made to Rep. Wilson's constituent, Myeshia Johnson.

Rep. Wilson's connection with now-Gold Star family

Gen. John Kelly said on Thursday during a White House press briefing that Rep.

Wilson was a "grand-stander" who had politicized what should have been a private and personal call. As mentioned, the Congresswoman not only represented the Johnsons but she personally helped steer the fallen soldier, Sgt. La David Johnson, away from the mean streets of Miami -- according to the New York Times. Rep. Wilson was the principle of a school where Johnson's father attended as a student.

Mr. Johnson had been enrolled in 5000 Role Models of Excellence, a program put together by Rep. Wilson to help African-American kids who are considered to be at risk. La David Johnson's mother is also a bus driver in Wilson's district.

Ambushed by enemies on all sides

Sgt. Johnson was unaccounted for until about three days after the initial reports had been made about the ambush.

During that time, Wilson and the family tried to get answers from the Pentagon but they got nothing despite their efforts. Politico recalled that at the time when reporters were asking Trump about the deaths, he appeared to deflect the questions by saying that his predecessors had never called the families of those who died in battle, crediting himself as the one who does. It was during this time that Wilson and the family were demanding answers and were waiting for a call from the president to console them. La David's body was later found, adding to the three casualties. Gen. Joseph Dunford would finally make a statement on Tuesday to be more forthcoming about the incident.

When the call did come in on October 17, the limo with Johnson's wife Myeshia and her two children was at the Miami International Airport waiting for the plane that would be bringing the body of her husband home.

It was from this moment that Rep. Wilson overheard the president's five-minute phone call when he said: "I guess he knew what he signed up for but it still hurts." Wilson has said that the call was on speaker phone, while the Trump administration, including Gen. Kelly, made it seem as though the Congresswoman had been listening in on the call. Despite this, the White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would accuse Rep. Wilson of politicizing the issue, with no signs that either Sanders or Gen. Kelly had corrected their deception. Due to Wilson firing back against the Trump administration, she's received death threats, likely by Trump supporters.
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