Sunday, Axios' revealed on their HBO show that they had obtained leaked documents that showed all of the research President Donald Trump's transition team did on possible appointees and the individuals who became cabinet officials. What was uncovered, however, is what the researches were afraid of and prioritized the most when considering the appointees.
Axios reporter Jonathan Swan called the documents one of the most significant leaks that the site had ever received.
"It gives us much, much more detail than we already had about the frenetic, incompetent, sloppy way this government was put together," Swan told site founder Mike Allen. "The transition was more of a disaster than I realized."
The transition crafted a section called "red flag" for the top advisors to look at when doing an interview.
Kris Kobach's largest "red flag" had to do with his possible ties to white supremacy. Gen. David Petraeus doesn't believe in the use of torture, which was seen as a red flag for the administration.
Scott Pruitt, for example, "lost his job because of serious ethical abuses and coziness with lobbyists," Swan said. "There is literally a section here 'Allegations of Coziness With Big Energy Companies.' So, they went ahead with that anyway."
"So it was foreseen," Axios chief Mike Allen said.
"Perry described Trumpism as a 'toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness, and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition," his file said. Yet, oddly enough, Perry has remained one of the least troubled of most appointees.
Former Trump Transition chief Chris Christie was shown the document that was developed about him. It said that the biggest drawback was that Christie was the prosecutor who helped put Jared Kushner's father in jail.
Questions for Christie involved whether he thought he couldn't work with Kushner. Another question asked if Christie believed that his dismissal from the transition team was at the hands of Kushner.
"Yes, I do," Christie said. "And the reason I do is that's what Steve Bannon told me."
He went on to say that it was bizarre reading the file on him because he knew there was a more extensive, detailed file that was used for Vice Presidential vetting.
Allen noted that in any other administration, none of these people would have even been considered. Swan agreed, saying what shocked him was that so many people who were still given jobs despite their so-called "red flags."
Swan said that for all of the reports about the incompetence of the Trump transition, it was actually far worse.
Watch the full clip below: