It appears once again Donald Trump has not hired "the best people" as he repeatedly promised he would do if he took office. Trump administration hires have included serial domestic abusers, avowed racists, and now, Matthew Whitacker, a former hot tub salesman who Donald Trump inexplicably tapped to be the acting attorney general.
There are mounting legal questions about whether this is even a legitimate appointment. Legal experts contend Whitaker's appointment is both unconstitutional and in violation of the Vacancies Reform Act.
Those arguments aside, almost immediately after the Sessions resignation (at the request of Donald Trump) and the Whitaker announcement, commentary, Whitaker's troubling history, including many biased, false public statements regarding the Mueller investigation began to surface and CNN reports that White House staffers were surprised Whitaker had been so vocal about the Mueller investigation and that his statements appeared to completely disqualify him from taking over the role. Again, it appears nobody at the White House did even the most basic Google search about the man they tapped to lead the Department of Justice.
It was not widely known among White House staff that he'd commented repeatedly on the special counsel's investigation in interviews and on television -- which is ironic given that this is what drew President Donald Trump to him and raises continued questions over the depth of the administration's vetting process.
Sam Clovis, a 2016 Trump campaign national chairman who has close ties to Whitaker, encouraged him to get a regular commentary gig on cable television to get Trump's attention, according to friends Whitaker told at the time. Whitaker was hired as a CNN legal commentator last year for several months before leaving the role in September 2017 to head to the Justice Department.
Again, all they had to do was Google this man and his previous commentary would have been right there at their fingertips. The man was on CNN making false statements and leaping to conclusions about the Mueller investigation a year ago, long before the facts of the case (which still have not been released) were known. It's bonkers this man would oversee the investigation now in the fair and impartial manner demanded by our Constitution. It is yet another example of the total incompetence of this administration.
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