I had always imagined that when a new President was elected, the staff of the previous Administration would pack up and vacate during the weeks before the inauguration. Actually, its not that simple. A great many former staffers do move on before the new President makes himself home in the White House, but invariably some folks are obliged to hang around, in order to ensure a smooth transition with regards to certain sensitive positions. The goal is, with few exceptions, to eventually have an entirely new team in place within the first few months. Managing the various government agencies is a completely separate matter. Although the new Administration is expected to appoint its own folks to run the Central Intelligence Agency, the Justice Department (Attorney General), Homeland Security, and other vital government agencies, its assumed that most management level positions belong to career employees who have been promoted on merit. Basically, this allows the various agencies to continue functioning as before, but with a new Director who is more in-line with the intentions of the incoming President. In both instances, outgoing personnel have traditionally been on their best behavior with regards to supporting the new Administration, so as to keep the Executive Branch functioning without too much confusion. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has been forced to deal with illegal behavior on he part of personnel who did not move on prior to the Inauguration, and serious opposition from within the Intelligence Community and Federal Law Enforcement. This development has no precedent, with the last such behavior in my memory being the removal of all the "W's" from the computer keyboards by Bill Clinton staffers, as a welcome to incoming President George "W" Bush. What President Trump is facing is much more serious, and hopefully will be investigated by the FBI.
Since President Trump took office, he has been subject to one leak after another. Confidential information that has come from within the White House has somehow found its way onto the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times. I think its safe to assume that the leaks are being generated by a few "leftovers" from the Obama Administration, unless we are expected to believe that Trump's own folks are already attempting a coup of some sort. Any confidential information that originates in the White House is on its face classified, therefore whoever has been sharing that information with journalists has broken the law. I wish I could say that the FBI has jumped at the opportunity to protect the incoming Administration, but I'm not really sure at present what to make of the Department of Justice. You see, the Trump Administration is dealing with leaks coming from the Justice Department as well, not to mention the Intelligence Community. Since last November, the press has had very disturbing access to details of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian attempts to impact the 2016 campaign. Forgive me for being "old school", but shouldn't the FBI and the Intelligence Community wait until its investigations are complete before commenting? What is most troublesome is the politicization of the process. Up to now, according to James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, not one shred of evidence has been uncovered that indicates Trump personnel were aware of or involved with Russian activities regarding the 2016 campaign. So why has the media been able to headline this "fake" story for months on end? Because of leaks from within the investigative authorities. All that was needed was notification from the Bureau that certain investigations were underway, and confirmation from the Intelligence Community that Russia was trying to fiddle with the campaign, to put the Trump Administration on a "media-trial" for treason within the first month following the inauguration.
The best way for the new Administration to deal with this problem is to remove any and all Obama personnel as the earliest opportunity. Its just as important for the Administration to clean house in the various government agencies as well. During the last eight years, a flood of honest, patriotic officers in both Federal Law Enforcement and the Intel Community chose early retirement because of dissatisfaction with the Obama Administration. Just last year, I recall a number of reports indicating the high-rate of turnover with regards to FBI supervisory personnel. If I'm correct, then the Trump Administration should reach out to these officers, and ask them to return. It shouldn't be difficult to determine who in DC is willingly trying to impede the efforts of the new Administration, and if they are using their job in such a manner, then they should be removed immediately. In eight years, President Obama and the Democrats were successful in seeding every government agency with political appointees who may not have known diddly-squat about their new jobs, but certainly understood their marching orders. No doubt the rank-and-file of Federal Law Enforcement and the CIA continue to do yeomen's work, sacrificing and defending the nation despite all these distractions. The problem is limited to a few individuals who feel justified in doing what they can to disrupt the efforts of the new Administration. Trump needs to root out these folks at IRS, Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the Intelligence Agencies to promote personnel whose priority is to serve the American people, not obfuscate and meddle for political purposes. Again, there are many former officers who are anxious to return, to further the goals of national security and provide the American people with fair and honest work. I should know, I happen to be one of those officers.
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