The real reason the tape released by Omarosa is so ugly for Donald Trump
Earlier this week Omarosa began telling people that she had recordings to support the claims she made in her book at Donald Trump’s White House. At the time, Palmer Report predicted that she would end up playing them “on some morning talk show” in order to gain maximum attention. Sure enough, she gave one of the recordings to NBC, which played it on Meet The Press this morning. As it turns out, Donald Trump is not on the tape – but it’s nonetheless a very ugly reveal for Trump.
The recording in question is of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly firing Omarosa. The firing isn’t quite the firestorm that had been portrayed in the mainstream media at the time it took place. Instead it consists of Kelly saying that he had to let Omarosa go over what he called “significant integrity issues,” and Omarosa asking for more detail so she could have an “opportunity to understand” her firing better. But there was one incredibly controversial aspect to this conversation: where it took place.
John Kelly, despite being an experienced U.S. Military General who should have known better, decided to take Omarosa into the White House Situation Room in order to fire her. Maybe he was trying to use that particular room to intimidate her, or maybe it was just the closest private room available, but he committed a serious security violation by taking someone in there whom he clearly didn’t trust. Moreover, personal cellphones aren’t allowed in the Situation Room, and yet he clearly made no effort to enforce this, as she managed to secretly record their conversation with her phone.
Keep in mind that General John Kelly is supposed to be the relative adult in Donald Trump’s White House. Yet this demonstrates that his behavior is dangerously negligent at best, and intentionally reckless at worst. If Kelly is behaving in this manner, then it means everyone else in Trump’s White House is acting even more unprofessionally. It’s a clear sign that Trump’s sinking administration is completely out of control.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report