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Kitchen Table Kibitzing Friday: Melania Trump's 'strategy consulting' [1]

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Date: 2023-05-19

x I'm back to work--and back to the 1/6 transcripts. Stephanie Grisham's testifying to the total lack of coordination between the First Lady's office and the West Wing is both abnormal and telling. Ask yourself if Mrs. O's (or Mrs. Bush's) teams refused to play ball like this. 1/ pic.twitter.com/XFlRoKEoHt — Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) December 29, 2022

DUI

And Grisham says Mrs. Trump both disliked how they treated Grisham--but also how "didn't trust Meadows" and "was very wary" of how he and others (including the core campaign legal team) enabled and disserved her husband. 3/

Between 12:30 and 3 a.m. on 11/4, Grisham woke Melania and had her dress for Trump's potential remarks. They went into the residence where a scrum of aides insisted Trump not concede. Grisham urged Melania to "get in there" & make sure Trump had a "level head." She didn't. 4/

The scene in the residence, according to Grisham, was pure "chaos" as Trump threw around papers and yelled. 5/

Those in the residence scrambled downstairs and assembled in the Green Room, where more folks joined them to add their "10 cents." The loudest voice, according to Grisham, was Boris Epshteyn, also the only person at that time urging Trump to say the election was stolen. 6/

No one knew how it would go until he reached the podium, Grisham says, and she was frustrated that Melania remained silent all the while. And when Trump then declared the election "a fraud on the American public," Grisham was so "ashamed and pissed" that she began to cry. 7/

In the days after the race was called for Biden, Grisham remembered Melania "preparing to leave" and "selecting what things she wanted to take with her." 8/

But over time, Mrs. Trump, who Grisham recalled as "pragmatic," a "rule follower," and "big into tradition," started questioning the election--and following the West Wing's lead. She told Grisham to hold off on asking Dr. Biden for tea. 9/

Grisham remembered thinking to herself, given what she knew of Mrs. Trump, "who in the hell is going upstairs and talking to them?" 10/

As with prior transcripts, what the committee revealed to Grisham is interesting too. While Grisham recalled staff keeping their job searches secret, the committee told her they had evidence that as early as November, Trump offered exec. asst. Molly Michael a job in Florida. 11/ Meanwhile, Melania continued to take her cues from the West Wing regarding any public signs of a transition. That "flabbergasted" Grisham, who was used to "doing our own thing" at Melania's insistence that "what they say doesn't matter." 12/

Grisham watched 1/6 from home; Melania's staff was telecommuting in those days. Grisham was "disgusted" by Trump's calling on those assembled to march. Why? Because while giving them "energy" and permission, "that man was not going to march down the street with people." 13/

After violence erupts at the Capitol, Grisham asks Melania to tweet that the lawlessness is unacceptable. She gets a one-word response: "No." Grisham said she was "more disappointed in her than I had ever, ever been" because Melania had been "amazing at influencing" Trump. 14/

And that is Grisham's breaking point. She resigns that day because of the text--and because "she would not take time out of photographing a carpet while our Capitol was being assaulted to tell people to be peaceful." 15/ And aside from a short email/text exchange, after a four-plus year relationship, they never speak again. 16/

And finally, Grisham makes clear that three Trump loyalists -- at least two of whom could be key witnesses in the records investigation -- were angry with her by election night. Why? Because she was a stickler for rules about govt resources. Hmm. FIN

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/19/2144464/-Kitchen-Table-Kibitzing-Friday-Melania-Trump-s-strategy-consulting

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