as freedom caucus chairman mark Meadows wrote a secret memo last month to both
how House Republicans could counter Democratic plans to investigate and
potentially impeach Donald Trump now the president is eyeing the North Carolina
Republican one of his closest allies on Capitol Hill to replace outgoing chief
of staff John Kelly in part because of that insight serving as chief of staff
would be an incredible honor Meadows told political playbook the
president has a long list of qualified candidates and I know he'll make the
best selection for his administration and for the country should Trump tap
medals for the job he'd be securing an astute political operative who's made at
his mission to defend Trump from embarrassing headlines medals and his
best friend rap Jim Jordan a Fox News TV star and hero on the right have almost
single-handedly pushed Republican chairman and GOP leaders to start
counter investigations of the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation a
key talking point for Trump who spent the probe as a witch-hunt the duo is
often on TV assailing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and
touting Trump's legislative achievements and with Mueller closing in on Trump and
newly empowered Democrats eager to highlight scandal out of the West Wing
Meadows knowledge of Congress and willingness to fight for him has
appealed to Trump White House insiders say he'd have a keen sense of what to do
what groups to engage with what defense to hold going into a hyper political
time said one White House official who asked not to be named he also knows
oversight better than most going into a Democratic House takeover he would no
tools Republicans have at their disposal to push back on Democrats better than
anyone some top Trump allies are publicly urging the President to pick
meadows Meadows understands the oversight process the media and how to
pick fights we can win said rap made Geats who said he's doing all I can to
encourage the president to pick him I lobbied the president the best way I
know how I made the meadows case on Fox News
Meadows ascent to the position is far from a done deal while he and Trump
speak frequently if not daily by phone the president is also
considering several others for the job while sources close with Meadows believe
he's open to the job and would serve a fast they also noted the political risks
involved while the position of chief of staff was once revered it could amount
to political suicide under Trump meadow would have to relinquish his influential
position in the GOP conference not to mention his seat in Congress for a job
that would likely be his last in politics with allegations of collusion
corruption and campaign finance violations haunting the president the
job might quickly turn dirty a challenging feat for a man who at times
seems to be sensitive to his reputation still the opportunity might be once in a
lifetime and comes as Meadows influence in the house is set to wane with
Republicans losing control of the chamber the freedom caucus relevancy
will be diminished what's more medals that initially hoped to lead the House
Oversight Committee GOP as Trump's top defender against Democratic
investigations which was why he recently wrote the memo on countering democratic
investigations he stepped aside at the last minute
however so Jordan could become ranking member of the panel Meadows could also
face opposition from Republicans across Washington that undercut his
effectiveness as White House chief as the freedom caucus leader he's made many
enemies both inside the Capitol and out and has a long difficult relationship
with the GOP establishment Meadows first made a name for himself when he filed a
motion to vacate our next speaker john boehner a procedural maneuver meant to
boot the Ohio Republican from power boehner resigned not long after since
then Meadows has been a pain in the side of GOP leaders circumventing speaker
Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to get what he wants on policy
matters during the Obamacare repeal effort and the house for example
Meadows leveraged the freedom caucus numbers to make policy changes favor to
conservatives including targeting pre-existing conditions protections that
would later haunt the majority on the campaign trail
medals did the same thing for tax reform appealing to Trump directly to land wins
for the right White House officials described Meadows
as a man on a mission trying to charm the president from the outset of the
administration metals energetic defenses of Trump on television earned him
several invitations to the Oval Office for signing ceremonies where Trump
advisers noticed he would linger to regale the president with compliments
among other things meadows has been overheard telling Trump well historic
leaner he is how extraordinary and unprecedented that rump administration
is and how awful the media can be though he gabs with reporters frequently and
often in the hallways of the hill he's complained to him about the Mueller
investigation as well ingratiating himself further with the president
despite his reputation as a hardliner however Meadows is out time sensitive to
being seen as a partisan in person he's a people pleaser often torn between his
ideological inclinations and his desire to make a deal with his political
opposites in the house he has friendly relationships with Democrats including
and coming oversight chairman Elijah Cummings at least for now
he's trying to befriend moderate Republicans as well but handed up
burning bridges with some when he walked away from immigration negotiations with
them earlier this year in Russia matters medals has been on the front lines of
the Republican effort in the house to suggest that I Trump by a sustained to
the FBI's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election
he's one of six Republicans on a small task force that has halt and Justice
Department and FBI officials to grilled him about their handling of the Russia
probe and GOP allegations that they downplayed the investigation of Hillary
Clinton's email server in favor of a focus on Trump Democrats have blasted
effort as a hyper partisan push to shield Trump as the investigations
become increasingly perilous to him his business and his family Meadows was
industry as recently as Friday when he pressed former FBI director James Comey
behind closed doors about the FBI's surveillance of a forum
Trump campaign associate whose Russia contacts were under scrutiny using a
so-called FISA warrant he also grilled Comey on interactions between the FBI's
general counsel and a law firm associated with the Democratic National
Committee medals has also forcefully agitated for the removal of Deputy
Attorney General rod Rosen Steinem pushed to hold him in
contempt of Congress for what he claimed was slow walking the production of
documents connected to the Russia probe he was one of the earliest voices in
Congress seeking Attorney General Jeff Sessions resignation for what he said
was a failure to police the Russia investigation and meadows has been a
vocal advocate for Trump to declassify reams of documents connected to the
Russia probe a move Trump seemed to embrace in September before backing down
after citing pushback from a foreign partner Depp
No comments:
Post a Comment