By Kevin Kelleher
My mother was a wise woman. She, like many mothers, was not shy about giving her children advice. One of her best pieces of advice was “you’ll be judged by the company you keep.”
Good advice for anyone, sadly, Donald Trump never got this advice or ignored it.
Let’s look at the cast of characters that Donald Trump has hired to work in his administration and campaign. These are the people who were going to “drain the swamp.”
Michael Flynn, Trump national security adviser charged with making false statements to the FBI regarding Russian contact. Pleaded guilty.
Paul Manafort, campaign manager and chairman, found guilty of eight financial crimes including fraud. He faces additional charges of charges of obstruction of justice, money laundering and his unreported foreign lobbying work for pro-Russian Ukrainian interests.
Richard Gates, Trump campaign advisor, charged with financial fraud and lying to the FBI. Pleaded guilty.
George Papadopoulos, foreign policy adviser, charged with making false statements to the FBI regarding “the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials.” Pleaded guilty.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer and “fixer,” charged with tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations including payments to a porn star and former playboy playmate to cover up extramarital affairs. Pleaded guilty.
An additional 36 more people have resigned or been fired by Trump in his first year and a half of his term. These included:
Scott Pruitt, EPA head, who was repeatedly caught spending taxpayer money on personal indulgences such as private and first-class flights, a 24/7 security detail and a $43,000 soundproof phone booth.
Tom Price, Health & Human Services Secretary who chartered private air travel for himself to the tune of more than $1million dollars in eight months on the job.
Drain the swamp?? Hardly!