Mark Meadows is back in the news with a story that shoots down Team Trump’s defense in the purloined papers case:
“The former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told investigators he had no knowledge of Donald Trump either talking about or declassifying confidential information, it was reported on Sunday, potentially skewering the ex-president’s defense in his classified documents case.
Meadows’s alleged admission to the special counsel Jack Smith, reported by ABC News, suggests Trump made no blanket declassification of secret papers later seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort by FBI agents, leading to 40 criminal counts against him.”
Meadows appears to be playing a devious game with Jack Smith’s team. He’s doling out enough information to avoid federal prosecution BUT not enough to avoid charges in Atlanta. Eventually, Meadows will have to decide if he’s a cooperating witness or going down with the Trumpy ship. I think the Meadows two-step is down to his lawyer, George Terwilliger who is NOT on the Trump payroll.
Terwilliger was Bill Barr’s right-hand man at DOJ during the first Bush administration but didn’t drink the MAGA Kool-Aid like his former boss. Barr, of course, has turned on the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian. Barr now thinks former President* Pennywise’s goose is cooked and isn’t shy about saying so on Fox. Barr is trying to salvage what he can of his reputation after his time as a sycophantic Attorney General.
Meadows’ legal team is simultaneously trying to remove his case to federal court and get the charges dismissed. They’re arguing that he acted in his official capacity when he marched down to Georgia. Tricky Dick’s OG chief of staff, HR Haldeman, tried the latter gambit in the aftermath of Watergate. It did not work. I don’t expect it to work for Meadows either, but it has a better chance than Team Trump’s proposed 2026 date in the coup plot case. Oy just oy.
The only thing Meadows and Haldeman have in common is the job title they once held. Meadows is a weak man, still under the spell of his former master. He reminds me of the OG Mr. Renfield in Dracula in his abject sycophancy. For all we know, Meadows does this behind closed doors:
He certainly crawled when he was Trump’s right-hand man. It’s unknown if he ate bugs while working at the White House. One of his equally feckless predecessors, Reince Priebus, was used as a human fly swatter of sorts by the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian. I am not making this up.
Back to HR Haldeman. He was Nixon’s alter ego: a tough guy who was willing to do tough things that his boss would only talk about. Unlike Trump, Nixon wanted a strong chief of staff to control the flow of people and paper to the Oval Office. Except for General Kelly, all of Trump’s chiefs of staff were weak men willing to be dominated and do the bidding of the Kaiser of Chaos. Come on down, Mick Mulvaney.
Initially, Haldeman remained loyal to Nixon, committed perjury, and spent 18 months in prison. After his release from the slammer, Haldeman turned against Nixon because loyalty was a one-way street with the Trickster. Sound familiar?
History is a foreign country to most Trumpers, but Meadows should learn from Haldeman’s example. Meadows has to choose sides and stop being a waffling weakling. Flip, Mark, flip.
I selected the pictures in the featured image because they do NOT capture the spirit of the two men: irony is my jam, after all. Meadows looks forceful and Haldeman looks mild-mannered; nothing could be further from the truth. Bob Haldeman was fierce and frightening whereas Mark Meadows is a pussy. He should grab himself.
As to the title, it’s a homage to the best movie about the only president to resign in disgrace:
In Frost/Nixon, Frank Langella portrayed Nixon as a man at the end of his rope who summoned the strength to survive his humiliation. The Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian is incapable of such a feat: he’s all bluster and bullshit.
Mark Meadows would be wise to remember that everything the Kaiser of Chaos touches turns to shit. That includes people. Flip, Mark, flip.
The last word goes to Big Joe Turner who proves that flipping can fun: