The wildest interview ever

[someoneyouknow]

Dr. David Shulkin served as head of the VA for a time under the con artist until the con artist fired him because he wasn't going along with trying to privatize the VA. He has written a book, It Shouldn't Be This Hard To Server Your Country, in which he details his time spent in the regime.

What has to be one of the most memorable experiences was his "interview" with the con artist right after Russia's assistance to get the con artist elected succeeded. A few quick tidbits from the article:

Kushner and Conway were having a side conversation, which they took outside. Then Trump turned to me and asked, “So what’s the best hospital in the city?”

“Well, Mr. Trump, I think it depends on—”

“You know, I used to think well of this one place, but I know a guy who went in there feeling okay, and they just chopped his thing right off! They chopped it off! I wouldn’t go there for anything now.”

Once again, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Yes. Well . . . no hospital is good at treating every condition,” I managed.​

In relation to the VA:

“I want our veterans to get the best.” Then he repeated, “They really created a mess here. Can we fix it?”

Once again, I assured him that I was committed to doing just that.
 Trump ruffled through a few papers on his desk and then looked up. “The VA’s an important place, but there are some good ones and some bad ones. But I’ll tell you what’s messed up. They come back with PTSD. You know what’s really bad? They come back and their wives or girlfriends didn’t wait for them.”​

Kushner and Conway had previously left the room to discuss something and had now returned:

Kushner and Conway came back in, still engrossed in their own private conversation, passing a piece of paper back and forth. Soon Priebus and Bannon were drawn in, and the volume of their sidebar escalated.

After a moment, Priebus interrupted. “Mr. Trump, we need your approval on this press release. It’s about Jared’s role in the administration.”

Trump glanced at the paper for a split second and then, without reading it, handed it back. “Just tell me what it says!”​

Getting back to fixing the VA:

“I think we need to let the veterans go wherever they want.”

“Well, there needs to be a coordinated effort — ”

“I’ll tell you what: we’re going to fix this thing. If you were in charge, what would you do first?”

“I would make sure that we had — ”

“Do you think we can fix this thing?”

“Yes, Mr. President-Elect, I do.”​

https://time.com/5701364/david-shulkin-donald-trump/

 

[magicalmoments]

I think there may be a number of appointees who could tell the same story.

Let's hope they do.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Remember how, in the above excerpts from an interview, the con artist was so concerned about problems at the VA? Remember how he vowed to fix the VA? He went so far as to create more government, the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection.

A political operator who led an office created by President Donald Trump to expose wrongdoing at the Department of Veterans Affairs used his position to quash whistleblowers and retaliate against foes, according to an inspector general report released Thursday.
. . .
The inspector general audit said that under O’Rourke and Nicholas, the whistleblower’s office ended investigations into allies of senior officials, failed to consistently report to Congress and refused to honor whistleblowers’ demands for anonymity. The office used unfair and shoddy investigative procedures, and in some cases didn’t interview the subjects of some complaints, the report said.
. . .
The inspector general report said that O’Rourke had directly retaliated against at least two whistleblowers by downgrading their jobs. It said he had intervened in the investigation of a political ally, producing a favorable outcome for that person.​

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/24/trump-aide-veterans-affairs-whistleblower-056772

 

[JackLuis]

Blowing Trumpski's whistle always works!

 

[someoneyouknow]

"You serve at their pleasure, and the president should have the team around him or her that allows them to feel comfortable and to get the advice they want, there's no issue with that," he told ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks. "The issue that I've raised in the book and just laid out the facts -- for people to decide -- is this was being orchestrated by a small number of political appointees who weren't elected and weren't put in place to decide who should be secretary."
. . .
He said they created the situation by leaking and creating "false information" that had an influence on the other members of government.
​

That is what David Shulkin said during an interview with ABC News. He said these political appointees would go around him, the head of the VA, directly to the con artist who also orchestrated the plan to oust him.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/va-secretary-david-shulkin-speaks-calls-shadow-government/story?id=66535547