* Interesting debut as communications director for Anthony Scaramucci. He made one thing perfectly clear about his take on the president who he will serve. He’s got a crush on Trump. “I love the president,” cooed Scaramucci. “I’m very, very loyal to the president. And I love the mission the president has.”
What’s not to love? Unless, of course, it’s verbal fawning and blatant sycophancy. Or the perceived need for “Mooch” to underscore how much he regrets what he said about Trump in 2015, which is that Trump was just “another hack politician.” Ouch. But that was back when Scaramucci was supporting Scott Walker and then Jeb Bush. So, if anyone would understand allegiance rhetoric, it would be Trump, a former Democrat and ex-friend and fan of Hillary Clinton.
* Trump brought in the rich, slick, camera-savvy, Fox-friendly Scaramucci–think Ben Stiller in “Zoolander”–to take over the administration’s top “messaging” job. That’s just a more professional PR term for “branding.” That’s what Trump is looking for, because it’s what he has always looked for. Now he’s frustrated that his hotels and his kid’s clothes line fare better than his presidential reputation, one that has been shredded everywhere except with a certain deplorable element.
* Speaking of a base that ironically has not and will not fare better under this billionaire “populist” opportunist. That’s because he still acts and talks like the loudest, last-call drunk, and they hear what they want to hear. They seemingly can’t be reasoned with. Sort of like talking to the cult followers of Jim Jones.
* Former White House spokesperson Sean Spicer pre-empted a firing by quitting. He also took the high road to keep his post-Trump Administration career open to all options. The last one to take this route was Corey Lewandowski, who was replaced as Trump campaign chair by Paul Manafort. Lewandowski picked up a quick gig with CNN before moving on to his own consultancy career within the Beltway. Spicer, however, is not that calculated .
We’ll know more after he hosts “Saturday Night Live” in the fall.
* It’s never a good sign for a presidential administration when the word “indictment” is part of the public, political parlance. As in, can a sitting president be indicted? Even worse: When the likely answer is yes.
We know that special counsel Leon Jaworski was informed in a 1974 staff memo that he could indict Richard Nixon, a sitting president. It was well noted in a court brief.
Ditto for independent counsel Kenneth Starr in 1998. Thanks to a recent Freedom of Information Act release, we now know that a detailed, office memo reached the same conclusion regarding Bill Clinton. “It is proper, constitutional and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties,” it reads. “In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.”
As it turned out, however, the issue became moot as both Starr and Jaworski preferred to let Congressional impeachment proceedings play out.
As for an indictment option for special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Donald Trump’s Russian dealings and possible obstruction of justice, it may become moot as well. Letting it be known, and not too subtly, that he’s holding an indictment Trump card could be more than enough leverage.
* Given his very public rebukes and skewering by Trump, how does Attorney General Jeff Sessions retain any sense of pride? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question. Sessions already had forfeited any such claims by being the first senator to endorse Trump, wearing his “Make America Great Again” cap at Trump rallies and accepting the AG appointment in the first place. Call it karma.
* It hasn’t been all chaos, counterproductivity and intrigue-filled news as usual. Trump announced that he will nominate Jon Huntsman to be U.S. ambassador to Russia. It makes sense in that Huntsman, former ambassador to China under President Barack Obama, has international experience and a reputation for integrity. And as a former governor (Utah) and a 2012 Republican candidate for president, he’s no political novice. The part that makes less sense, is that someone of his caliber would sign on in any capacity to this administration. The best-case take: He’s taking one for Team America in a global hot spot that can use his savvy.
* What Trump doesn’t get is that the presidential bully pulpit is much more than a “bully” forum. Bluster and swagger won’t get him far enough with career, congressional pols who know he’s really not one of them. So, he’d better master the details–of legislation as well as legislators’ home-state status. When he inevitably doesn’t do his homework, it’s a de facto insult to those he wants to impress and persuade.