One wonders how it is to work under President Donald J. Trump. As the record of sacking of US government officials during his term shows, subordinates working for Trump should be insecure and nervous as they tiptoed on their job. As CNN reported immediately following the disappointing crowd turnout in his Tulsa, Oklahoma campaign rally, “despite claims he’s not angry, multiple people said Trump’s been seething since he got back from Tulsa. It’s raised questions about his campaign manager’s future, but others said his job isn’t the only one in jeopardy. Anyone, including White House aides, could be fired.”
The list of officials dismissed or axed by Trump in office is long and laden with controversy. As of May 25, 2020, a total of 415 officials from Cabinet members down to junior level officers have left or been dismissed. This has no equal in the annals of American governance.
Some departures had been newsworthy and many others were simply fired because they crossed the path of Trump. Andrew McCabe, former acting head of the FBI who was also unceremoniously sacked by Trump and the author of the current best-selling book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, said that the worst act of Trump is his unrelenting attacks against the FBI, the prosecutors and other American institutions that protect the country and its people. These included officials that simply did their job by testifying against Trump in the impeachment trial, and federal prosecutors and FBI officials who investigated the political allies of the president.
The recent dismissal of Geoffrey Berman, once the powerful Manhattan US Attorney, is a case in point. Berman has criminal jurisdiction over the president and his family and Trump feared him more than Mueller. Among other cases, Berman had caused the investigation of Rudy Giuliani and indicted his two Ukrainian associates who were part of the conspiracy to funnel foreign money during the 2016 presidential election.
Berman, despite being a contributor to the Trump campaign, discharged his duties without fear or favor; he was aggressive and independent and has filed cases against Trump’s people and even looked into Trump’s financial activities and businesses. This displeased Attorney General William Barr who announced that Berman had resigned, which Berman disputed. Barr then asked Trump to remove Berman, and he immediately axed Berman. Undoubtedly, Berman’s continuous stay in office would cause more political storm to Trump who has been trailing Joe Biden in the polls.
Getting rid of officials that do not play footsie with Trump has been a trademark of his regime. After getting elected, John Bolton, Trump’s former National Security Adviser who Trump allegedly fired from his post, had recalled that Trump once told him that the New York Prosecutors are Obama people. “Look what I’ll do when I assume office. I’ll replace them with my own people.” Which he did, including the appointment of Berman who was his own campaigner and contributor, by replacing the appointees of Obama. Bolton claims that those replacements and appointments amounted to obstruction of justice. But not even impeachment can intimidate Trump.
Trump’s firing of independent officials who have tried to investigate him and his subalterns has been unprecedented in US history. He has defied subpoenas and challenged lower court decisions ordering him to comply with certain processes such as the submission of his income tax returns. He abused his immunity from suit and regarded himself as untouchable and unaccountable for all his misdeeds.
During the height of the Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd, Trump called for an overwhelming law enforcement presence to quell what he labeled as vandals and looters roaming the streets. He ordered the deployment of the National Guards in cities where rampant rallies occurred. In several instances, overzealous officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets and brutalized marchers doing peaceful demonstrations. At one point, law enforcers attacked hundreds of protesters gathered just outside the White House to clear the streets for Trump to make a photo op in front of a church while holding a bible. He proudly proclaimed himself : “I am your president of law and order.” Yet as things stand, his administration, if anything, exactly projects the opposite—a government of lawlessness and disorder.
It seems that the profound lesson of Watergate is too soon to be forgotten. The current regime has conveniently buried in oblivion the fact that a president, Richard Nixon, who had just been overwhelmingly reelected was forced out of office in ignominy together with his zealots in office. They became arrogant, power-drunk, and regarded themselves above the law. In the case of Trump, loyalty to power and political expediency precede over public service. Trump and his cabal behaved as if there’s no limit to their power and that no one could hold them accountable for their perfidy. Trump’s exoneration in the Senate impeachment trial apparently clothed him with an armor of invincibility and made him bolder with his actions. Tyrants do not stay in power forever. At the end of the day, there is always a greater force that subdues them. Let’s wait this coming November and find out where sovereign power resides and see what a collective people’s wrath can unleash to destroy a despot.
Image credits: AP/Patrick Semansky
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