The White House is pulling out all the stops in its effort to get President Trump’s CIA director nominee confirmed—even as that nominee, Gina Haspel, is trying to say she doesn’t want to play. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Haspel, the number-two at the CIA until its most recent chief, Mike Pompeo, became secretary of state last month, tried to withdraw her nomination on Friday:
According to the Post, White House aides pushed for Haspel not to withdraw and eventually prevailed on Saturday thanks, in part, to a push from the president himself. But the news of Haspel’s willingness to drop out was an inauspicious beginning to a difficult week for the CIA veteran, who is expected to face a tough Senate hearing on Wednesday in front of the Intelligence committee.
One More Thing—Pompeo had named Haspel to the position of deputy director just a couple weeks after taking the director job. It was a critical decision for Pompeo, who had been nominated by a new president whose transition team had recently blasted the intelligence community for its conclusion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of the Trump campaign. The early days of the administration were a low point for Trump’s relationship with the CIA, despite (or perhaps because of) a post-inauguration visit to Langley by the president.
But by selecting Haspel, who had been with the CIA for more than three decades, Pompeo endeared himself to the rank-and-file early. Her position signaled that Pompeo would be willing to defend the CIA’s counterterrorism work, including the enhanced interrogation program that endangers her nomination today, against a growing push from Capitol Hill and elsewhere against it.
According to a White House official, it was the strength of Haspel’s reputation within the agency and with Pompeo that led to her nomination in the first place. “She has widespread support inside the agency,” said the official. “And our pushing forward with her nomination was not based upon anything that [former CIA director John] Brennan said as far as recommendations. It was based on Mike Pompeo’s direct partnership with her, what we’ve seen in her 16 months serving as the deputy director, and the belief that she’s the right fit.”
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Rudy Watch—The former mayor of New York City and the newest addition to President Trump’s legal team continued his week-long media blitz with a Sunday appearance on ABC’s This Week. Rudy Giuliani told George Stephanopoulos that he didn’t know whether Trump would plead the Fifth Amendment rather than sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“When I’m facing a situation with the president in which every lawyer in America thinks he would be a fool to testify, I’ve got a client who wants to testify—please don’t,” Giuliani said. “And Jay [Sekulow] and I said to ourselves, my goodness, you know, I hope we get a chance to tell him the risk that he’s taking.”
Giuliani’s comments came just days after Trump reiterated his claim that he would “love to speak” to Mueller. “Nobody wants to speak more than me—in fact, against my lawyers,” the president said Friday. “Because most lawyers say, ‘Never speak with anybody.’ I would love to speak, because we’ve done nothing wrong.’” Trump also offered Giuliani a backhanded compliment, saying he was a “great guy” who would “get his facts straight.”
Last week, Giuliani said several times he believes Attorney General Jeff Sessions should intervene to end the Mueller probe, which is investigating potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Axios reported Sunday that many White House officials have been irritated by Giuliani’s media tour, which dominated headlines throughout last week.
Mark It Down— “No, not at all—I mean, anything that comes like this, it should play its part. It should go through the process. But they need to do it quickly. For the good of the country this investigation needs to happen quickly.” —Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, when asked if President Trump should shut down the Mueller investigation, May 6, 2018
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is facing ethics questions over appearances she has made in Chinese and Chinese-American media with her shipping magnate father James Chao, after Politico called attention to the story Sunday:
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President Trump on Friday announced his appointees to his Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, which is primarily tasked with encouraging kids to get into sports. Some, like Herschel Walker, Bill Belichick, and Misty May-Treanor, are prominent athletes or coaches; others are businesspeople. And one is the president’s favorite celebrity doctor, Mehmet Oz.
Dr. Oz, who became a household name due to his regular appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show in the early 2000s before getting his own syndicated program, has a history with the president: In 2016, then-candidate Trump appeared on Oz’s show to unveil and discuss his much-hyped medical records.
But in addition to being an accomplished doctor, Oz is also a world-class grifter, who for years used his TV platform to peddle worthless cure-alls and fat-busters. America’s doctors have by and large denounced America’s Doctor; the American Council on Science and Health called his appointment to the sports council “ridiculously inept.”
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From the Announcer’s Booth, high above @ChurchillDowns, watch @TravisStone call the 144th Kentucky Derby presented by @WoodfordReserve! pic.twitter.com/R11ovcK6Bl
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 6, 2018
Song of the Day—“Funky Nassau” by The Beginning of the End
