"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We're in crazytown. I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."
I believe Kelly said that to other staffers in the heated meeting over the Rob Porter revelations. Regardless, even if he said it to Woody alone the question is begged: Why didn't you leave then, Kelly?
Kelly plays both sides against the middle. Those are statements through which Kelly is trying to have it both ways: to keep his reputation as one of the grown ups in the room and to keep his job. This isn't the worst job Kelly has ever had. He just signed up through 2020. He is disingenuous. Like this:
After Trump's Charlottesville, Virginia, controversy, in which he failed to condemn white supremacists, Cohn tried to resign but was instead dressed down by Trump and accused of "treason."
Kelly...told Cohn afterward, according to notes Cohn made of the exchange: "If that was me, I would have taken that resignation letter and shoved it up his ass six different times."
So transparent. Kelly says to one person what makes them feel good; says to another what makes the other feel good. It is so transparent.
Like this. This is tiered sourcing: James Comey's "A Higher Loyalty," CNN, who first reported an "angry" Kelly upset over James Comey's firing, and the Daily Beast. This is Noodles account:
New White House chief of staff John Kelly was so upset with how President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning, according to two sources familiar with the conversation between Kelly and Comey.
That is true. That is what Comey wrote in Higher Loyalty and two other sources verified it. But look at what follows:
Both sources cautioned that it was unclear how serious Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, was about resigning himself.
Umm, CLEAR! Kelly had no intention of resigning, he made that call for effect on his two listeners, CNN's sources.
The second tier in the sourcing is the Daily Beast who quoted some of Kelly's words:
According to Comey’s account, which is set to appear in his highly anticipated forthcoming memoir, Kelly was “emotional"...
Kelly, Comey recalls, said he was “sick” about the situation and “intended to quit” in protest. Kelly “said he didn’t want to work for dishonorable people,” referring specifically to President Donald Trump, who appeared to be upset at the FBI’s persistent investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russian officials.
According to...two sources who have read the book...Comey writes... that he encouraged Kelly to remain in his post, saying “this president,” more than his predecessors, needed people of principle and integrity around him.
"Higher Loyalty hadn't come out yet. Comey did write everything attributed to him by both CNN's and Beasties is what Comey did write.
Now, here is the Beasties analog to the caveat in Noodles:
A senior White House official disputed Comey’s characterization of the phone call with Kelly, saying that Kelly has maintained that the call was brief—roughly a minute long—and that the gist was, “I don’t know why you got fired, [and] best of luck to you,” according to the official. The version of this story that Kelly has told other senior staffers clashes markedly with Comey’s, the official noted, and does not include Kelly calling President Trump “dishonorable.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-comey-john-kelly-called-trump-dishonorable-for-firing-me
Kelly lied to the "senior White House Official" when he said that the call's "gist" was "I don't know why you got fired, [and] best of luck to you."
Each of these three incidents involves a personnel crisis. You would be forgiven if you read each of them, and the three taken together, as Kelly being in agreement that his competitors were being got rid of but leading those axed to believe that Kelly really stands with them. He says whatever puts him in the best light and in each of these three he had two different candles that he wanted to shine brightly on him.
I believe Kelly said that to other staffers in the heated meeting over the Rob Porter revelations. Regardless, even if he said it to Woody alone the question is begged: Why didn't you leave then, Kelly?
Kelly plays both sides against the middle. Those are statements through which Kelly is trying to have it both ways: to keep his reputation as one of the grown ups in the room and to keep his job. This isn't the worst job Kelly has ever had. He just signed up through 2020. He is disingenuous. Like this:
After Trump's Charlottesville, Virginia, controversy, in which he failed to condemn white supremacists, Cohn tried to resign but was instead dressed down by Trump and accused of "treason."
Kelly...told Cohn afterward, according to notes Cohn made of the exchange: "If that was me, I would have taken that resignation letter and shoved it up his ass six different times."
So transparent. Kelly says to one person what makes them feel good; says to another what makes the other feel good. It is so transparent.
Like this. This is tiered sourcing: James Comey's "A Higher Loyalty," CNN, who first reported an "angry" Kelly upset over James Comey's firing, and the Daily Beast. This is Noodles account:
New White House chief of staff John Kelly was so upset with how President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning, according to two sources familiar with the conversation between Kelly and Comey.
That is true. That is what Comey wrote in Higher Loyalty and two other sources verified it. But look at what follows:
Both sources cautioned that it was unclear how serious Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, was about resigning himself.
Umm, CLEAR! Kelly had no intention of resigning, he made that call for effect on his two listeners, CNN's sources.
The second tier in the sourcing is the Daily Beast who quoted some of Kelly's words:
According to Comey’s account, which is set to appear in his highly anticipated forthcoming memoir, Kelly was “emotional"...
Kelly, Comey recalls, said he was “sick” about the situation and “intended to quit” in protest. Kelly “said he didn’t want to work for dishonorable people,” referring specifically to President Donald Trump, who appeared to be upset at the FBI’s persistent investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russian officials.
According to...two sources who have read the book...Comey writes... that he encouraged Kelly to remain in his post, saying “this president,” more than his predecessors, needed people of principle and integrity around him.
"Higher Loyalty hadn't come out yet. Comey did write everything attributed to him by both CNN's and Beasties is what Comey did write.
Now, here is the Beasties analog to the caveat in Noodles:
A senior White House official disputed Comey’s characterization of the phone call with Kelly, saying that Kelly has maintained that the call was brief—roughly a minute long—and that the gist was, “I don’t know why you got fired, [and] best of luck to you,” according to the official. The version of this story that Kelly has told other senior staffers clashes markedly with Comey’s, the official noted, and does not include Kelly calling President Trump “dishonorable.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-comey-john-kelly-called-trump-dishonorable-for-firing-me
Kelly lied to the "senior White House Official" when he said that the call's "gist" was "I don't know why you got fired, [and] best of luck to you."
Each of these three incidents involves a personnel crisis. You would be forgiven if you read each of them, and the three taken together, as Kelly being in agreement that his competitors were being got rid of but leading those axed to believe that Kelly really stands with them. He says whatever puts him in the best light and in each of these three he had two different candles that he wanted to shine brightly on him.
