Trump official says Pentagon new hires are ‘padding their resumes’ and ‘getting revenge’: report
CNBC White House correspondent Eamon James said he asked a Trump Administration official what to make of the dramatic Pentagon staffing changes Wednesday and was told, “It’s just Trump guys getting revenge on people they don’t like and padding their resumes. It doesn’t mean anything on the policy front.”
The sophomoric response was echoed by another former Trump official who said the switcharoos occurred because “the person who really wanted Mark Esper out because he coveted Mark’s job is [National Security Adviser] Robert O’Brien. O’Brien wants someone to keep the seat warm so he could get the job [in a second Trump term]. Christopher Miller is his guy, so now he can reach in.”
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According to Javers, the official wasn’t impressed by the new assignments.
“Kash Patel has never worked in the Pentagon. Ezra [Cohen-Watnck] is a young guy. You can slap a title on someone for 60 days, but it has to pass the laugh test.”
See the full thread below.
But I also spoke w/a former Trump Admin official who says this indicates National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien is trying to keep his options open for the future: “There are some people inside the White House who really believe that Trump’s going to pull this off.“
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) November 11, 2020
This former official is dismissive of the new Pentagon brass: “Kash Patel has never worked in the Pentagon. Ezra [Cohen-Watnick] is a young guy. You can slap a title on someone for 60 days, but it has to pass the laugh test.”
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) November 11, 2020
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Now the current administration official calls this version of events from former Adm Official “crazy” and tells me: “Robert has been a huge opponent of the instability at DoD. Whoever told you that is either intentionally misleading you, or just ignorant.”
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) November 11, 2020
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