Former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said Sunday that President Trump’s new chief of staff needs to protect the Department of Justice from the president, but may struggle in controlling Trump and his White House.
Podesta said on ABC’s “This Week” retired Marine Gen. John Kelly may be used to operating in the politics of the national security world but he’s entering a different realm by becoming the White House chief of staff. He’s going to face a real challenge with a president who seems intent on pushing out his own message often times without telling his advisors.
“The toughest problem, I think, is can he discipline the president?” Podesta said. “It was an inauspicious start yesterday when the president went on a Twitter rant for failing to pass a healthcare bill that was going to throw millions and millions of people off of healthcare.”
Podesta said Kelly must protect the Justice Department from Trump’s attempts to interfere in investigations.
The DOJ, which is historically independent of the political whims of the White House, has been targeted by Trump’s criticisms of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in recent weeks. Trump also fired former FBI Director James Comey — ostensibly for actions he took in the investigation into Clinton, but Trump admitted it was due to the investigation into Russia meddling in the election.
“It’s going to be [Kelly’s] job to provide a bulwark against interference from the White House, which at the end of the day is going to get them in more trouble than less,” he said.
