NY Times Columnist Makes Unhinged Prediction About Trump’s DOJ
Far-left columnist Maggie Haberman of the New York Times recently made an unexpected claim about President-elect Donald Trump’s anticipated attorney general pick during an appearance on CNN.
Invited to discuss a recent co-authored article, Haberman examined Trump’s methods, priorities, and considerations in choosing senior officials for his upcoming administration.
Anchor Manu Raju began by saying, “You and your colleagues wrote that Trump’s doing what he tends to do. He calls around to friends and associates; asks them who he thinks they should pick for his administration. So, what are you hearing, Maggie, about what Trump’s most interested in as he’s — and what he’s focused on, as he’s looking to fill out his cabinet?”
Haberman responded, “All of this is heavily, heavily asterisked right now. There are lists going around. There are people floating names. Trump is soliciting names. He’s suggesting names that he’s considering for people,” hinting that Trump has likely been vetting candidates for his Cabinet for months.
She continued, “None of this is real until he actually says what he’s going to do. And it’s notable that he started out by eliminating people with a Saturday night Truth post about Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley,” before delving into Trump’s key priorities.
“He’s most interested in a handful of Cabinet posts,” Haberman explained, “and that’s been the case the whole time. He was not interested in most of his Cabinet during his term. He’s interested in the attorney general, the secretary of defense, the CIA director. And he is interested in the secretary of Homeland Security because that’s the piece that deals heavily with immigration. And that is something that he’s campaigned on aggressively.”
In line with Haberman’s comment, Trump nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his DHS secretary on Monday.
“What those posts end up looking like really remains to be seen,” Haberman added. “What we have heard is that there is not a ton of consensus around who could fill any of those spots right now. And unlike what we saw when he was coming in as a new president in 2017, there are not a bunch of big names from, you know, established Washington or, you know, prominent companies — like Rex Tillerson, the head of ExxonMobil, who became the Secretary of State.
“This is much more people who are coming from Congress or people who are coming from the states or who are known to Trump. And we’ll see what that ends up looking like,” she continued. “They are aware that they have a Senate majority now that makes it easier to get a bunch of people confirmed, but it’s still — there’s the possibility of losing a bunch of Republican votes if Trump nominates controversial people.”
Raju then followed up with a comment, asking how Trump’s campaign trail remarks about “retaliation against his political enemies” might factor into his choice for attorney general.
It’s worth noting that Joe Biden’s Justice Department has twice indicted Trump, including charges over the retention of classified documents, despite the fact that Biden, along with Mike Pence and former President Bill Clinton, have faced similar issues regarding classified material.
“Is he serious about retribution? He’s been talking about retribution or revenge pretty consistently over the last, you know, two years, but certainly most of his life. So yes, I expect that will be a thing,” Haberman responded. “He talked earlier in the show about his desire for loyalty. We heard him ask a number of people about when he was in office previously. That will be the case this time.”
It’s worth noting, though, that Democratic presidents also expect loyalty from their Cabinet and administration appointments.