Ideas For An Incoming Trump Administration

November 08, 2024 Francis Menton, 144 Comments, @ Manhattan Contrarian 

Eight years ago, the incoming Trump administration did not “hit the ground running,” to say the least. Indeed, many have speculated that Trump was surprised that he had won. Whether or not that is true, he was not ready with a slate of people to fill the top cabinet and other posts. On top of that, many of his early initiatives quickly got stalled or hobbled by an orchestrated barrage of attacks from the Deep State. Examples include pervasive FBI investigations of his people for phony “Russian collusion”; a fake yet successful criminal gambit by the FBI/DOJ against his first choice for National Security Advisor (Michael Flynn); false rumors that delayed confirmation of, and then hobbled his first Attorney General (Jeff Sessions); a successful effort to get a special prosecutor appointed; and so forth.

This time around, I expect a very different scenario. The Trump transition project looks much better prepared. Nobody is going to buy the kind of Deep State scams that stalled Trump’s first administration. Both houses of Congress look like they will be supportive. There is a real opportunity for Trump’s team to come in with an immediate “shock and awe” cascade of initiatives to put the Deep State on the back foot.

So herewith some ideas for early actions that I would hope Trump will take. Most of these ideas are not unique to me, although I don’t necessarily know who may have first come up with them. I will give credit where I think it is due. Note: I’m leaving out the subject of climate and energy for now, and saving that for its own upcoming post.

• Communications. Take immediate control of all government websites, and replace the messaging of the left with the messaging of the new administration. This is not something that requires any Congressional action, nor going through any kind of complex process to revise regulations. You would think that this item would be an obvious first priority of any incoming administration. However, the first Trump administration was inexcusably slow to take control of the communications function of the government. Dozens of government websites continued to parrot the left’s messaging years into Trump’s first term. In an example that I am most familiar with, the websites of EPA, the Department of Energy, and others continued to broadcast the climate alarm message two years and more into the first term, and when the sites changed, that occurred slowly and piecemeal.
• Immobilize the administration’s enemies in the bureaucracy. The federal bureaucracy consists of well over 90% partisan Democrats, and large numbers of them are hard at work right now figuring out ways to “Trump-proof” their agencies, and to stall and undermine any changes the new administration might want to make. Meanwhile the career functionaries have what is called “civil service” protection, and theoretically can’t be fired without some proof of “cause” and a lengthy process. How to deal with that? The best suggestion I have seen comes from Steven Hayward writing at The American Mind on October 25: “Trump ought to have his cabinet officials determine who is useless or obstructive and order them to work from home. Then cut off their email and access to department computer servers the next day.” My only quibble with this is that I don’t see any reason why, with 2 million or so federal bureaucrats, this needs to be an individual process where cabinet secretaries make decisions person by person. This process could be applied wholesale to entire groups advancing agendas that the new administration opposes.
• Department of Justice and FBI. These agencies have been shown over the last eight years to be thoroughly corrupt, with corruption for these purposes defined as participating in using the processes of criminal justice to attack political enemies. It’s not just that a few partisan people at the top got involved in illegitimate prosecutions of Trump or January 6 protesters or Trump allies; it’s that every single person went along, and not a single person spoke out against this. The entire top echelons of both agencies should be fired immediately, no questions asked. Those at mid to high levels with theoretical civil service protection should get the treatment of the prior bullet point. At lower levels (line prosecutors) it won’t be possible to fire or immobilize everybody, because there won’t be enough people left to do necessary work; but I would recommend erring on the side of getting rid of people. If the feds bring fewer prosecutions for some period of time, I don’t see a problem with that. Indeed, my experience with observing federal prosecutions over the course of my career is that a high percentage of them are dubious, more designed to bring down some big target and to advance the career of some prosecutor than to deal with real criminality. The highest profile prosecutions were often the most dubious, and also consumed disproportionately large amounts of resources. See my tag Phony Prosecutions. In the case of the FBI, I would recommend shuttering it, and creating a new agency with a new name. Current FBI agents could apply for employment at the new agency.
• January 6. I have seen multiple people calling for immediate pardons for all January 6 defendants. I would not go that far. Instead, I would suggest getting a panel of Republican lawyers to review the convictions. In each case the conviction should be reduced to what would be the norm for the conduct at issue in non-political circumstances, which in the most severe cases will be something like misdemeanor criminal trespass; and the punishment should be commuted in each case to the extent that it is beyond what would be the norm for the conduct in question in non-political circumstances. That would mean no jail time for any but those who committed actual acts of violence. Those who merely wandered around the capitol non-violently should get full pardons. Under this regime, essentially every J6 defendant still in prison will be immediately released. The worst offenders will be left with a misdemeanor conviction on their record, which is appropriate. Anyone who was prosecuted for something that would not be prosecuted in normal circumstances should have his attorneys’ fees paid by the government. Anyone who was incarcerated for longer than would be the norm for the conduct in question should receive compensation for the time. Meanwhile, the entire team of J6 prosecutors in the Justice Department, and everybody in the FBI who worked on this, should be fired immediately. Also, the records of the DOJ and FBI should be de-classified to reveal how many sources the feds had among the protesters, and the extent to which the government sources instigated or directed the rioting.
• Eric Adams prosecution. As I have written in several previous posts on this subject, the Adams prosecution is about relatively minor conduct, none of it involving any federal office. Given the overwhelming stench at Justice and the FBI, there is a reasonable hypothesis that this prosecution is revenge for Adams speaking out about the migrant crisis. My recommendation: Trump (or his new AG) should refer the case to the Manhattan or Brooklyn District Attorney’s offices, for them to decide whether to pursue the case as a matter of state bribery law.
• Media and social media censorship. I have no doubt that a vast network of media and social media censorship organizations continues to operate in the federal government, even after the extensive exposure of that network that has occurred via litigation of the New Civil Liberties Alliance and others. A little-remarked aspect of this problem is that it seems to have originated — or at least first grown to critical mass — during the first Trump term, as a response of the public health authorities to what they saw as Covid “disinformation.” I doubt that Trump himself was much aware of this, but still, it was on his watch. Anyway, these censorship bureaucracies should be immediately dismantled, and their personnel fired. If that’s not possible, see second bullet point above.
• DEI. The DEI cancer took off and metastasized throughout the federal government during the Biden administration. Biden issued multiple Executive Orders calling for more and more DEI initiatives, for example this one on his first day in office, January 20, 2021; and this one on June 25, 2021; and this one on February 16, 2023. Trump can and should revoke these Executive Orders on day one. Equally important, the entirety of the DEI bureaucracies in every agency should be dismantled, and the personnel fired.
• Defund the Left! OK, this is not something that can just be done on day one. But there is a lot that can be done without waiting for new acts of Congress. Throughout the federal government, grants are being made on a daily basis to fund things like critical race theory, anti-Israel propaganda, “history” projects that teach hatred of the United States, and so on and on. This can be greatly reduced by a determined effort to take control of the grant-making bureaucracies, currently in the firm grip of the left.

That’s it for now. Commenters are welcome to put forth their own brilliant suggestions.

It's a Purge, and a Tell!

By Rich Kozlovich

This is a May 20, 2024 FREE article by George Friedman at Geopolitical Futures (I recommend subscribing) , A Government Shakeup in Moscow saying;

The Russian government announced last week a massive shakeup of its senior staff. Several ministers in civilian sectors such as energy, agriculture, industry and trade, and transportation were relieved of their positions, but the most notable departure was Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced by Andrei Belousov, a former assistant to Vladimir Putin and a former minister of economic development............Putin has made every effort to dismiss the idea that the team that managed the war failed............[yet] one senior Defense Ministry official was arrested and charged with corruption. Whether this is a single event or the beginning of more arrests (or worse) is yet unknown.........  But after two years and limited advances, you don’t need a diversion of weakness. It’s already there.

 

It's being emphasized this isn't a Stalinist style purge, but lets not lose sight of the fact Putin is a vile murderous monster, corrupt to the core, and ex-KGB Colonel who surrounded himself with incompetent sycophants, both in the military and in the domestic arenas.  To understand what's going on we really do need to get that, and this really is a purge. 

 

I've said for some time there's a Claus von Stauffenberg cabal within Putin's military, and truth be told, I think there's Stauffenberg style cabal within their domestic leadership also.   And while this isn't a Stalinist purge, it's a purge nonetheless. 

 

Ukraine is running out of people, their government officials are still corrupt, and clearly corrupt beyond the pale.  Furthermore, they really are now a fascist regime, and from reports they've lost the confidence of Ukrainian people, who are avoiding conscription by fleeing the country and saying they're not planning on returning....ever.

 

Update 5/21/24, 4:51 PM - I guess Zelenskyy (correct spelling by the way) Hasn't stolen enough yet, so,  Zelensky now ruling under martial law after suspending elections until after war

 

Putin will not give up, no matter the economic or military costs, because if he stops, he's out.  And just like Stalin, it's not "the plan" that's at fault, it's the failure to implement "the plan" properly, and so those who've failed "the plan" have to suffer the consequences, and it's a purge.

 

As they say in poker, it's also a "tell".  Tells are noticing small behaviors and/or demeanor when the pressure is on, and this is a tell he's losing confidence, and he's scared.  If NATO countries engage in this mess with boots on the ground, it's over for Putin, since the demographics will change dramatically, and that's his only real advantage.   Here's a map provided in George's article.

 

 

 

After two years of failure, with massive losses in equipment and man power, they're launching a new offensive, but he can't fund or train his military properly, his military leadership is incompetent, and he can't even manufacture his military needs, and what he has is substandard.   He's being forced to buy military hardware from N. Korea and Iran, can you imagine that!  Seeing that does not give credence to Russia's industrial abilities, or the competence of those dealing with the nations domestic/economic issues, after all, they're still commie central planners and Putin sycophants.  Will this push also stall and add more failure? 

 

He has on a number of occasions threatened using nukes, but I don't think his military will allow him to do that, and if he tries, I think they're overthrow him.  The Soviets overthrew Khrushchev for a whole lot less, but Khrushchev wasn't feared as the monster  as Stalin was, and Putin isn't Khrushchev, who didn't execute people who tried to overthrown him at one time.  Putin will execute anyone who attempts a coup. 

 

One writer described Washington as high school with paychecks, it's even worse in Putin's regime.  He's surrounded by incompetent sycophants with no solutions in sight!  This really is a purge, and he's scared.

Venezuela: Socialist Elite Purge Rocks Maduro’s Inner Circle

Christian K. Caruzo 22 Mar 2023

The sudden resignation this week of Tareck El Aissami, one of the most powerful people in the Venezuelan socialist regime, has shaken the core of dictator Nicolás Maduro’s inner circle.

Maduro and his regime have framed the arrest of an undisclosed number of chavista officials that began over the past weekend as part of an “anti-corruption” purge, a surprising move given Venezuela’s status as the most corrupt country in the region. Many, including defectors from the regime, are rejecting this official explanation however, suggesting Maduro and his closest allies are eliminating anyone from within who could potentially challenge Maduro for leadership...........To Read More....

Fear and Loathing in an Islamic Republic

Iran's tyrants turn to internal purges

 Fri Jul 8, 2022 Hugh Fitzgerald

Iran is in a parlous state. Its economy is in a shambles. The Iranian rial has lost 90% of its value in the last three years. 80% of Iranians now live below the poverty line. Its farmers are suffering from the worst drought in fifty years, made worse by the mismanagement of water resources. Exports of Iranian oil have sunk to about one million barrels a day. Unemployment has surpassed 10%, and is now three times that in the United States. All over the country, Iranians have gone out on the streets to protest the corruption of the leaders and the mismanagement of the economy; the regime has answered their calls for an end to the regime – the cry “Death to Khamenei” is unambiguous – by ordering that the protesters be beaten up and arrested. The mysterious deaths of a half-dozen high-ranking Quds officers has led to an atmosphere of fear and despair. No one is quite sure who is responsible for the killing of IIRGC commanders and other military men. Is it a foreign adversary, that is, Israel, with its Mossad operatives, or domestic assassins who belong to the increasing opposition within the country, or members of the regime itself who are either settling scores with political rivals, or eliminating extra-judicially those whom they suspect of being traitors to the regime and therefore deserve to die? The free-floating suspicion has not spared anyone. In late June the highest-ranking suspect so far, Brigadier General Ali Nasiri, was secretly arrested and charged with being a spy for Israel.

A report on Iran’s paranoid regime is here: “Iran’s regime increasingly unstable, turning to purges out of fear,'” Israel Hayom, June 30, 2022:...........To Read More....

 

6 Russian Oligarchs Commit Suicide in Mysterious Outbreak of Epstein Syndrome

By streiff Apr 23, 2022 

Very few parts of Russian society have drawn more interest than the so-called “oligarchs.” These are incredibly wealthy men with political connections to Putin’s inner circle because, in the totalitarian kleptocracy that is Russia under Vladimir Putin, if you don’t have political ties to Putin’s inner circle, wealth doesn’t bring you power; it brings you a one-way trip to a Siberian labor camp........But after Putin became president in 2000, the era of the old guard largely came to an end. Russia’s new leader did not embrace the spirit of perestroika or approve of the rise of new capitalist tycoons..........

Some of these have featured prominently in American politics. For example, Oleg Deripaska was a central figure in the Russia Hoax as well as being an FBI informant (see There Might Be A Very Good Reason Why Mueller Is Not Indicting Paul Manafort’s Russian Business Partner). Another oligarch, Yevgeny Prigozhin, owned Concord Management and Consulting and beat Robert Mueller’s flunkies like a rented mule in one of the Russia Hoax trials (see Mueller’s Team Continues Their Humiliation at the Hands of a Russian Oligarch).

Prigozhi also is the principal of the Wagner Group, the nebulous corporation that employs mercenaries to places where Putin would rather not send Russian troops to do things he’d rather Russian troops not be caught doing, you know, like torture and low-level genocide.

But being a politically connected billionaire is not all superyachts and scantily clad “models.” It is damned stressful, if not downright dangerous. Since January, at least six Russian oligarchs have committed suicide.....To Read More....

Biden Consequence: Purging Conservatives Preserves Freedom

By Rich Kozlovich

These four bullet points appeared here:

• The editor of Forbes, Randall Lane, has urged companies not to hire communications officials from President Donald Trump's administration.
• Lane wrote that there should be a "truth reckoning" after Wednesday's siege at the US Capitol.
• As part of that reckoning, Lane said there should be "repercussions" for those who had lied on behalf of Trump.
• Lane called out former Trump press secretaries by name and suggested any companies employing them would be viewed as a "potential funnel of disinformation."

The title, "Purging Conservatives Preserves Freedom" is of course another Orwellian piece of  "newspeak" which corrupts logic, clear thinking and what's right over what's corrupt.  And this corruption is unbelievable!  This is happening in America!

We'll start with a man who has clearly been up to his neck in political corruption to the point of treason, and if he'd been prosecuted by the the two loser AG's Trump appointed I think they would have gotten a conviction, and it's turning out the second was worse than the first as he appears to have been a Deep State mole.

But we'll now never know and Deep State people like Brennan can now spout all sorts of corruption and get away with it.  Please view John Brennan: The Traitor-in-Chief and the rest of my

Former CIA Director John Brennan Calls for Mao-Like Public Humiliation Sessions for Trump Supporters Before They Are Accepted Back into Society -  By Jim HoftJanuary 9, 2021 2148 Comments -  Former CIA Director John Brennan wants Mao-like public humiliation sessions for Trump supporters before they will be accepted back into society. Every politician, government official, journalist, & talk show host who has ignored & enabled Trump’s lies & corruption bears responsibility for the damage he has wrought. Spare us the excuses. You failed the test of citizenship. It is now up to you to try to redeem yourselves.............

 

The Left’s Stalinist Purge Attempt Against Trump Supporters - Fri Nov 13, 2020 Joseph Klein  59 - Trump-haters demand a “reckoning".  President Trump continues to exercise all the rights he is entitled to under the law to challenge the vote counts in key battleground states. Whatever happens, Trump’s extraordinary record of accomplishments on behalf of the American people deserve to be defended against the mass dissemination of crass anti-Trump propaganda. And the more than 70 million Americans who voted to reelect President Trump to a second term should hold their heads up high against all the disgusting ad hominem attacks aimed their way.  Trump-haters did everything they could for four years to undermine the legitimacy of the Trump presidency. They are now lashing out at President Trump and his supporters for daring to question the legitimacy of the mainstream media’s anointment of Joe Biden as president-elect before all recounts and court challenges play out and the states’ electors make the election results official...............

A Biden Presidency and the American Gulag - Wed Nov 11, 2020 Robert Spencer 102 -  Out of the question? Of course, except for all the leftists who are calling for it.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Kolyma) tweeted Friday: “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future.” Michael Simon, a former Obama administration staffer, tweeted in response (and later deleted the tweet): “Yes, we are. Every administration staffer, campaign staffer, bundler, lawyer who represented them – everyone.” He linked to “The Trump Accountability Project,” a website that proclaims ominously: “Remember what they did.” Remember it, apparently, in order to hound these people out of public life and into poverty or worse. Is the age of American gulags about to dawn?  Emily Abrams, a Pete Buttigieg campaign worker, tweeted (and then made her account private): “We’re launching the Trump Accountability Project to make sure anyone who took a paycheck to help Trump undermine America is held responsible for what they did.” The Trump Accountability Project website proclaims its intention to destroy Trump supporters:...................

The leftist tech monopolists and billionaires continue their purge - January 10, 2021 By Andrea Widburg -  Even as they attempt to remove all avenues for conservative speech, the tech monopolists remain open to extremist speech from the left. The big news on Saturday was that Amazon Web Services gave Parler 24 hours to hit the road, effectively shutting it down. Meanwhile, the left is continuing to push out both misinformation and aggressive hatred from leftists. One of our regular contributors, though, gave me some idea about what may lie behind this frantic behavior.........

Democrats Demanding Biden Clamp Down on Conservative Christians, Remove Them From Public Office and Re-educate Trump Voters - By Leo Hohmann, 15 December, 2020 - A group backed by congressional Democrats touting a “Secular America” has sent a 28-page document to the Biden transition team advising him to strip First Amendment rights from Christians who advocate traditional biblical positions on the sanctity of life, marriage, education and the nuclear family.  The group, calling themselves the Secular Democrats of America, sent the letter to Biden’s team under the title “Restoring Constitutional Secularism and Patriotic Pluralism in the White House: Prepared exclusively by Secular Democrats of America PAC for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Transition Team........................

Joe Biden Urges America to ‘Unite’ and ‘Heal.’ Actor David Cross Says ‘F**k That. I Want Blood’-  David Ng - 28 Dec 2020 - Joe Biden has stated that he wants to see America “unite” and “heal.” But some of his supporters on the left have the opposite idea and want to see Trump supporters suffer — violently so. Actor-comedian David Cross is the latest Hollywood figure to call for retribution, apparently against President Trump and the people who supported him. The Mr. Show and Arrested Development star is calling for “blood” in a tweet................ 

The Conservative Purge Won’t Stop With Big Tech  -  Todd Starnes Jan 11, 2021- Twitter has every right to decide who uses its platform. So does Facebook. And Google. Whoever pays the mortgage gets to decide the rules. I own a broadcast media company that includes a news-talk radio station and two prominent websites. And just like Twitter and Facebook, I get to decide who has a voice on my platforms.  Unlike Big Tech, I actually cherish free speech. I believe in spirited debate. And I believe in the free exchange of ideas.  That's why this rock-solid constitutionalist conservative permits liberals to host radio shows in my company.  We have rules governing foul language, but otherwise you can say what you want to say on my pages and my air waves...............

 Daily Beast Editor Calls For “Humiliation” and “Incarceration” For Trump Supporters - December 1, 2020 -  We have been discussing the rising threats against Trump supporters, lawyers, and officials in recent weeks from Democratic members are calling for blacklists to the Lincoln Project leading a a national effort to harass and abuse any lawyers representing the Republican party or President Trump. Others are calling for banning those “complicit” from college campuses while still others are demanding a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to “hold Trump and his enablers accountable for the crimes they have committed.” Now, Daily Beast editor-at-large Rick Wilson has added his own call for “humiliation,” “incarceration” and even ritualistic suicides for Trump supporters in an unhinged, vulgar column. Wilson declared “[o]nly exposure, pain, humiliation, and (inshallah) incarceration will lead to a moment of reckoning for the GOP.”  Not surprisingly, Wilson is a key advisor to the Lincoln Project which was blocked recently on Twitter for abusive doxxing efforts directed at Republican lawyers.  His column captures the level of hateful rhetoric fueled by the Lincoln Project, which is funded by thousands of lawyers despite its attacks on fellow members of the bar for their representation..............

National Association of Realtors Imposes Cancel Culture on 1.4 Million People - Mon Nov 30, 2020 Daniel Greenfield  147 - Say the wrong thing on Facebook and lose your license and your business.The National Association of Realtors claims to have 1.4 million members. There will be fewer members before long as the association begins purging conservative real estate agents. At the center of the storm was an addition to Article 10 which covers various forms of discrimination. But unlike all the previous sections which addressed how real estate professionals interacted with customers, Article 10-5 is catchall cancel culture that controls what real estate agents say on social media on their own private accounts and in their free time. This goes far beyond being made to bake a cake. Even if you’re at home and you post something opposed to gay marriage or illegal migration, you can lose your business..............

Rep. AOC Suggests ‘Archiving These Trump Sycophants for When They Try to Downplay or Deny Their Complicity’- Craig Bannister | November 6, 2020 - The tweets, writings and photos by people who are guilty of “complicity” with President Donald Trump will be deleted, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) predicted on Friday.  As Democrat Joe Biden appeared to close in winning the presidency, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez posted a cryptic tweet suggesting that those who supported Pres. Trump will try to deny their “complicity.”  Ocasio-Cortez implied that an archive of “Trump sycophants” should be created, so that they could be held accountable for supporting the president – and that their past speech will, somehow, be “deleted” – regardless of whether they expressed themselves through social media, writings, or photographs:

Libs Take Things To The Next Level With Their Persecution Of Conservatives - Magnus McCoy January 11, 2021 - Our Forefathers set up a bill of rights guaranteeing every American liberties. In recent years it appears our first and second amendment are constantly in danger. The Freedom of speech seems to only count to liberals when they agree with the opinion/facts otherwise they seem to feel we should be silenced. Just look at Universities. Liberal students/teachers have been preventing conservative speakers from expressing themselves on campuses, preventing students from getting a different perspective.  This anti-conservative trend is becoming more and more prominent in our culture. They did a huge purge of conservative pages back in 2018 on Facebook during the Kavanaugh appointment hearings and more recently social media platforms have censored the president of the United States claiming his rhetoric caused a raid on the U.S. Capitol Building. If they can censor the president of the United States is any conservative safe?..............

“How Do You Deprogram 75 Million People?” – California Democrat Calls For “Post WWII” Reeducation For Trump Supporters - By Cristina Laila November 19, 2020 1239 Comments  -  California Democrat David Atkins this week called for Trump supporters to be “deprogrammed” in “post WWII” type reeducation camps.  “No seriously…how *do* you deprogram 75 million people? Where do you start? Fox? Facebook?” Atkins said. “We have to start thinking in terms of post-WWII Germany or Japan. Or the failures of Reconstruction in the South.” he added............

Biden's America: Leftists Compile Massive Enemies List - Leah Barkoukis @LeahBarkoukis Nov 07, 2020 -  As Joe Biden appealed the nation for unity on Friday, members of his party were busy compiling an enemies list. Bronson already reported that people like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and WaPo’s fake conservative Jennifer Rubin were calling for the blacklisting of Republicans concerned with election integrity. But some TDS-afflicted liberals have been quite busy on their Trump Accountability Project.  “Remember what they did,” the website’s homepage reads, vowing to “never forget” those who helped push the Trump agenda.  “We should welcome in our fellow Americans with whom we differ politically,” the site says. “But those who took a paycheck from the Trump Administration should not profit from their efforts to tear our democracy apart. The world should never forget those who, when faced with a decision, chose to put their money, their time, and their reputations behind separating children from their families, encouraging racism and anti-Semitism, and negligently causing the unnecessary loss of life and economic devastation from our country's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”..............

Forbes editor warns companies that might hire Trump press secretaries: Magazine will assume everything they say is a lie - Joshua Zitser Jan 10, 2021 - In the wake of Wednesday's siege at the US Capitol, Forbes' editor issued a warning to any companies thinking about hiring former communications officials from President Donald Trump's administration. Businesses that choose to hire Trump spokespeople will, the editor said, be held to close scrutiny. "Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie," the magazine's editor, Randall Lane, wrote. "We're going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we'd approach a Trump tweet.".................