NY Times op/ed: Free Advice to Trump Aides: Quit While You Can

[Botany]

Last edited Wed May 17, 2017, 09:11 AM - Edit history (2)

Free Advice to Trump Aides: Quit While You Can

On Monday night, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, President Trump’s widely admired national security adviser, held a hastily convened news conference to try to knock down reports that Mr. Trump had shared highly classified information with Russia — only to have Mr. Trump appear to confirm the reports in two Tuesday morning tweets.

“General McMaster spent decades defending this nation, earning his integrity and honor. Trump squandered it in less than 12 hours,” responded the Republican strategist John Weaver in a tweet. The journalist and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, David Frum, asked: “How does McMaster not resign today? That thing he said ‘did not happen’ the president has just defended doing.”

snip

Thanks to copious leaks, we already know a lot more about the internal workings of the Trump White House than we do about past administrations, but there is still immense interest in what is really going on and how the major players feel about it. It would be worth the price of a hardcover just to learn how Kellyanne Conway — who, according to the “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, said she needed to shower after defending Mr. Trump during the campaign — sleeps at night.

snip

Those who stick around, however, will discover that in politics, being part of a national story can be ruinous. Members of Mr. Clinton’s administration had to shoulder huge legal bills, some running into hundreds of thousands of dollars, after being forced to testify before congressional committees and grand juries. As Mr. Stephanopoulos noted in 1998, “A single trip to the grand jury can cost you $10,000.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/opinion/free-advice-to-trump-aides-quit-while-you-can.html?ribbon-ad-idx=5&rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article

[DefenseLawyer]

1. Greg Marmalard, Faber Class of '63

[mopinko]

2. yeah, at this point there is no way they can even staff the govt.

they were already woefully behind in actually standing up a government.
now, they will be lucky to find a way to stop the bleeding.

[underpants]

3. That's correct. No one is reporting on that either.

Staffers serve several purposes including being a buffer in investigations.

Really low level Clinton staffers had huge legal bills which Stephanapolis quote alludes to.

[mopinko]

5. yeah, that bugs me. tho

there is a fresh hell every day to cover. but still. failure to actually form a govt ought to be part of the impeachment case. gross incompetence.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. Not staffing was explicitly part of Bannon's plan to deconstruct government from within. . . nt

[mopinko]

23. which is a violation of his oath of office.

add that to the tally.

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. It must take a special breed of masochist to be around that fool.

And if money was the selling point, I hope they got it in advance.

[Cha]

6. They certainly aren't doing it for god and country.

[workinclasszero]

7. Get out while you can people...before Trump stabs you in the back....

[Nay]

9. Well . . . it's almost too late, really. Lots of the stuff that has happened already

will, hopefully, be brought up in the trials and even if the aides and workers quit now, they'll still need to lawyer up and wait to be called as witnesses.

That doesn't mean they shouldn't quit -- it just means they aren't off the hook if they quit.

[workinclasszero]

10. True enough

If they were smart they would have turned down a deck chair on the USS Trump in the first place.

Gotta love it when reich wingers shallow their own propaganda BS and pay for it later.

[orangecrush]

8. "Copious leaks"

Right up Trumps alley!

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. Gangway! Save yourself!

?w=460

[secondwind]

12. That was $10,000 in 1998... you can triple that easily today

[L. Coyote]

13. Are there enough lifeboats? A single trip to the grand jury can cost you $10,000.

After a mere 120 days of employment, the net balance will be negative income.
"Wow, Trump really did reduce my taxes."

[gibraltar72]

14. They would

be well served to see who went to prison in Watergate. Hint it wasn't Nixon.

[workinclasszero]

21. LOL

Jail is for the little people!

Keep carrying water for your leader Trump SUCKERS!!!!

[world wide wally]

15. The impeachment hearings will be Trump's highest rated reality show EVAH!

The level of corruption will astonish you!
The testimony guarantees to captivate and amaze!
The details will horrify you!
Do not watch this alone!

[spike91nz]

16. Should be a reality show

how could he resist being the star of the show. It should begin with a mental status examination made by a panel of experts and be followed by Trump spinning the wheel to select a topic and another to select a prosecutor. Maybe we could have a random selection fo the public to be part of the inquiry. The ratings would be yohuge, really the biggest ever. And there is a chance Trump might escape justice by being declared mentally and emotionally incompetent. He could be led off in a straight jacket. All that attention, how could he resist?

[world wide wally]

18. It would be a hit!

[workinclasszero]

24. Damn I got to stock up on popcorn!

[onetexan]

19. i'm so excited i've got popcorn and goodies ordered

for watch parties at home with family AND with my Dems friends. WOO HOO REVENGE IS SWEET IN DEED!!

[unblock]

17. anyone quitting now can leave with a statement that may start to salvage their reputation

anyone staying to the bitter end, well....

[GBizzle]

22. Abandon ship! All hands, ABANDON SHIP!!

[workinclasszero]

25. She's gonna blow rethuglicans!!!

[riversedge]

30. I miss the original Star Trek.

[workinclasszero]

31. It was a great show!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

26. Don't you think it is too late? Huckabee, Spicer, Pence, and Conjob have already ruined

every chance they had to get another job - they are already branded LIARS.

The only one who did the right thing was Rod Rosenstein who threatened to quit

[Botany]

27. Sorry but Huckabee, Spicer, Pence, and Conway have made their bones w/the right wing power structure

Back about 2003 a republican on Orin Hatch's staff was caught hacking into the
democratic senators computers and he was "fired" but he got another job PDQ.

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/05/nation/na-hacker5

[workinclasszero]

28. They can always have a ghost written book or two

The reich wing sucks up that trash.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

32. Sorry, I was talking about legitimacy among the intelligentsia.

[riversedge]

29. oh my my!!