The face of the president’s Press Secretary and Communications Director belongs to Stephanie Romney Grisham. Yes, that Romney. Her uncle is the former Massachusetts Governor and current Senator Mitt Romney. She had to drop “Romney” from her name to join the White House. No problem.
Donald Trump has been relentless as he sought the identity of “Anonymous.” He has vowed revenge on the whistleblower who criticized him publicly and in a tell-all book.
The Trump White House decided to move Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates from the National Security Council to the Department of Energy. Why? She has worked with the National Security Adviser (NSA) Robert O’Brien, and he moved her into the deputy position. Was she “Anonymous.?”
Some of Trump’s people believe that Coates was, but she has denied the charges vehemently. Whistleblowers have been promised anonymity in return for them stepping forward even at great risk to themselves.
According to Axios, the roles within the administration have been shifting dramatically:
- ‘Coates could take on a senior role under Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, the former deputy secretary who was elevated to lead the department in December after Rick Perry’s departure.
- A decision on such a personnel move has not been finalized and discussions could still fall apart, one source tells Axios.
- “We do not comment on personnel matters,” National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told Axios. Coates declined to comment.’
The attitude within the White House has been uncomfortable at best. Members of that tight community have targeted Coates as the one who leaked an op-ed to The New York Times. A book by “Anonymous” followed shortly entitled “A Warning.” One of the literary agents released a statement indicating Coates was not the author.
Once Trump makes a decision, people can rarely move him off of his position. He has been purging the staff of anyone he considered disloyal to him. In addition, he has been bringing back people who had left the administration.
Coates started out as part of the president’s national security team during the period where President Barack Obama handed off of the baton to Trump. She worked for the first NSA Michael Flynn.
Fred Fleitz served as the Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council from May through October 2018. Fleitz was a former CIA analyst and news commentator. He said:
‘Coates has strong working and personal ties to the Energy Department. She advised Perry in his 2012 presidential campaign and regularly coordinates with the department in her NSC role on issues including sanctions and oil and LNG supplies and touching on Iran, Iraq and the Gulf region.’
Former National Security Adviser{ NSA) John Bolton’s “tell-all” book was about his time in the Trump administration. Fred Fleitz, former NSA chief of staff, released a Fox News op-ed Monday.
In it, Fleitz roundly criticized Bolton’s book. This is what he said about it:
‘Given the importance of protecting a president’s confidential discussions with his senior advisers, I strongly disagree with Bolton’s decision to release the book before the November presidential election and call on him to withdraw it from the publisher immediately.’
Bolton submitted his book to the White House for review, although he said he knew there were no security issues. Trump’s people said it did “contain top-secret information.”
The National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said:
‘Ambassador Bolton’s manuscript was submitted to the NSC for pre-publication review and has been under initial review by the NSC. No White House personnel outside NSC have reviewed the manuscript.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
