Then suddenly on Wednesday afternoon, [Patrick] Kennedy and three of his top officials resigned unexpectedly, four State Department officials confirmed…. All are career Foreign Service officers who have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
This is from a Washington Post article with the headline, “The State Department’s entire senior administrative team just resigned.”
Now compare this article, from before Trump’s election:
A group of top State Department officials that some called “The Shadow Government” met weekly to discuss Freedom of Information requests related to Mrs Clinton. They wanted her emails to be released all at once, instead of on a rolling basis, as would normally be the case, according to the FBI summary. But the group did not get its way.
From the lede of the same article:
A State Department official offered a “quid pro quo” deal if the FBI would change the classification of a Hillary Clinton email, FBI documents indicate.
Patrick Kennedy, an undersecretary of state, had asked the email be downgraded to a lower category. [Emphasis mine.]
Hmm. That name seems familiar.
Next, consider this analysis, which begins:
IN JANUARY 1961, Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address after serving two terms as U.S. president; the five-star general chose to warn Americans of this specific threat to democracy: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.†That warning was issued prior to the decade long escalation of the Vietnam War, three more decades of Cold War mania, and the post-9/11 era, all of which radically expanded that unelected faction’s power even further.
This is the faction that is now engaged in open warfare against the duly elected and already widely disliked president-elect, Donald Trump. They are using classic Cold War dirty tactics and the defining ingredients of what has until recently been denounced as “Fake News.â€
Their most valuable instrument is the U.S. media, much of which reflexively reveres, serves, believes, and sides with hidden intelligence officials….
Finally, consider CNN’s slightly different take on Patrick Kennedy’s departure from State:
Two senior administration officials said Thursday that the Trump administration told four top State Department management officials that their services were no longer needed as part of an effort to “clean house” at Foggy Bottom.
Was Kennedy fired, or did he resign? Why does the answer matter?
Get it?