All eyes are currently on new White House Chief Of Staff John Kelly after the Office of the President saw major changes as key staff resigned or were fired in the last couple of days. Despite his solid reputation as a military man, Americans are asking if he can really reform the White House when it is not just employees and officials who need to change, but mainly President Donald Trump who is to blame for the crisis of government his administration is facing.
Leon Panetta, who once occupied the same post as Kelly, and was CIA director and defense secretary, gave a 15-point unsolicited advice to Kelly which is like a list of Trump’s political sins.
One of Panetta’s recommendations, which is likely the most vital as it has a lot of bearing if Trump is to finish his term, or go to jail, is for the president not to fire Robert Mueller as special prosecutor, The Washington Post reported.
Fire at your own risk
Panetta warned Trump that if he were to fire Mueller, who has reportedly empaneled a grand jury on the Russian probe, the president faces the risk of being impeached by Congress. Despite Trump’s insistence that the Russian interference story is fake news, Panetta pointed out that Russian cyber attacks and other forms of meddling are facts. By denying these realities, he said that Trump only succeeds in appearing crazy or like a Russian pawn.
He cited contacts made by members of Trump’s campaign, such as now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with Russian officials as proof. In the last few weeks, Donald Jr. was added to the list, and the president’s involvement further deepened when the statement that his son read, which was reportedly dictated by Trump, referred only to adoption of Russian children as the topic of discussion in an apparent cover-up attempt.
Stop the tweets
Panetta’s long list of advice to Kelly, who he said needs to tell Trump the truth, includes the need to stop tweeting. Panetta compared Kelly’s situation to being dropped in the middle of a combat zone. He said making Trump – who tweets after watching biased reporting from Fox News – stop tweeting is the toughest job for the general who was the former secretary of Homeland Security.
Newsweek pointed out that there is an urgent need to stop the president from tweeting as a lot of posts he made on the microblogging site were done with no consultation with advisers. He has been advised against tweeting, especially about the ongoing Russian probe. Trump’s recent tweet about banning transgenders in the military is one example of a policy made without consultation, although Trump claimed he asked military generals about the issue.
Panetta, however, recognizes tweeting is one of Trump’s activities that will not change. Although the former chief of staff said that if Trump were to stop from tweeting, it would be the best thing, it is definitely not going to happen.
