Will Donald Trump ‘Name Drop’ His Prospective Cabinet?
In politics, personnel is policy. But, in presidential politics—when you’re trying to convince skeptical conservatives and evangelicals—there’s a fine line between sharing a list of prospective Supreme Court nominees and announcing who you want on your Cabinet.
A very fine line.
Offering a federal job to anyone during an election is a criminal offense. And most campaign counsels would lose their minds if their candidates were to do such a thing, but one longtime Donald Trump confidant says there is a way to do it that’s been sitting on a shelf, gathering dust, for nearly 40 years.
“I think that Trump is going to name a prospective cabinet and there is of course a way to do this in a way that is perfectly legal,” Roger Stone told Breitbart’s Aaron Klein during his syndicated radio program on Monday. “Because technically of course to promise someone a federal job is a crime so Trump could theoretically say, ‘For CIA Director I would appoint General Mike Flynn or someone like him. For Secretary of State, I would appoint, who knows, you know, Aaron Klein or someone like him.'”
Klein seemed to be blown away by the news, and asked if this was something Stone heard about from a source inside the campaign. Stone, in reply, said, “I think you could take that to the bank.”
Click here to listen to the entire interview.
“This is something that when I worked for Ronald Reagan in 1980 we seriously considered. It was the brainchild of John P. Sears, one of the most brilliant Republican strategists and minds in the Republican party.
“It was vetoed by the Reagan lawyers at the time. Although the legal flaw could have easily been fixed by pointing out that this wasn’t a hard offer but an example of the kind of person that I would ask. That doesn’t imply they would accept but I don’t know anybody who a president-elect has asked to be in the Cabinet who has declined. That is a very rare thing.”
