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Counter-offensive
Posted on: January 4, 2018 at 12:56:13 CT
Silas MU
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White House staffers are poring over copies of Michael Wolff’s forthcoming book, scanning the index for their names and crossing their fingers that they aren’t mentioned.
The president, for his part, is still fuming behind the scenes, even though in remarks to reporters Thursday he appeared to be pleased that Steve Bannon, his newly forsaken former chief strategist, called him a “great man” in a recent radio interview.
And Trump’s lawyers are threatening a ferocious legal assault on Wolff and those who cooperated with him, including Bannon.
But a day after explosive excerpts of Wolff’s book — titled “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” – were made public, aides are beginning to mobilize a response and spreading the blame beyond Bannon, according to interviews with eight White House staff and outside advisers.
While the book triggered the public collapse of Trump’s relationship with Bannon – who was quoted on the record criticizing Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner as “treasonous” for meeting with Russian operatives in 2016 – it is also reviving frustration with other former aides who the president’s close advisers have long suspected of leaking to the press.
Former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh, who was quoted in the book saying that managing the president was “like trying to figure out what a child wants,” is under fire from some in the administration for her apparent role in the book.
White House aides were so angry that they discussed whether Walsh should step down from her dual roles as a senior adviser to both the Republican National Committee and the outside pro-Trump group America First, according to an administration official. But Walsh appealed directly to Kushner to deny the comments and then publicly distanced herself from the book, saving her job for now after Kushner instructed others staffers to lay off of her.
“I’m shocked that she went on the record,” another administration official said Thursday. “It’s just unprofessional.”
Other White House aides expressed skepticism that Walsh had actually made the comments attributed to her, given her reliance on Trump-aligned groups for a living.
Walsh has disputed the direct quotes from her in Wolff’s book, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders referenced her denial at a Wednesday briefing with reporters to cast doubt on the authenticity of the book. But Axios reported Thursday that Wolff has audio recordings of his interviews with Bannon and Walsh, which could complicate the effort to undermine Wolff’s reporting.
The president, for his part, is still fuming behind the scenes, even though in remarks to reporters Thursday he appeared to be pleased that Steve Bannon, his newly forsaken former chief strategist, called him a “great man” in a recent radio interview.
And Trump’s lawyers are threatening a ferocious legal assault on Wolff and those who cooperated with him, including Bannon.
But a day after explosive excerpts of Wolff’s book — titled “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” – were made public, aides are beginning to mobilize a response and spreading the blame beyond Bannon, according to interviews with eight White House staff and outside advisers.
While the book triggered the public collapse of Trump’s relationship with Bannon – who was quoted on the record criticizing Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner as “treasonous” for meeting with Russian operatives in 2016 – it is also reviving frustration with other former aides who the president’s close advisers have long suspected of leaking to the press.
Former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh, who was quoted in the book saying that managing the president was “like trying to figure out what a child wants,” is under fire from some in the administration for her apparent role in the book.
White House aides were so angry that they discussed whether Walsh should step down from her dual roles as a senior adviser to both the Republican National Committee and the outside pro-Trump group America First, according to an administration official. But Walsh appealed directly to Kushner to deny the comments and then publicly distanced herself from the book, saving her job for now after Kushner instructed others staffers to lay off of her.
“I’m shocked that she went on the record,” another administration official said Thursday. “It’s just unprofessional.”
Other White House aides expressed skepticism that Walsh had actually made the comments attributed to her, given her reliance on Trump-aligned groups for a living.
Walsh has disputed the direct quotes from her in Wolff’s book, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders referenced her denial at a Wednesday briefing with reporters to cast doubt on the authenticity of the book. But Axios reported Thursday that Wolff has audio recordings of his interviews with Bannon and Walsh, which could complicate the effort to undermine Wolff’s reporting.
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Counter-offensive - Silas MU - 1/4 12:56:13