President Donald Trump was warned that one of his longtime allies was running an old-fashioned shakedown scheme during last year's post-election transition period, but he ignored that warning and kept him on.
ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl appeared Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to discuss his newly released book, "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America," which reveals new details on the incoming administration's efforts to staff the government.
"As you remember, there was alot of talk during thattransition about how muchsmoother it was going than Trump in 2016," Karl said. "Susie Wileshas really locked things down, they've got a process, they'remaking appointments muchquicker. I really get behindthe scenes in Mar-a-Lago andalso, by the way, on a on ayacht that is just down theintercoastal waterway from Mar-a-Lago, where something thatsome of the Trump folks calledthe alternative transition wastaking place, where they werepushing people like Matt Gaetzfor attorney general, Kash Patel for FBI director, andhaving, you know, meetings justdown the way from Mar-a-Lagoand really setting the stagefor some of what was going on."
Karl reported on infighting within the transition team as some insiders strongly objected to nominees like Kristi Noem and Sean Duffy – now, respectively, the Senate-confirmed secretaries of homeland security and transportation – and freelance efforts by some Trump advisers to promote their own favored candidates.
"The battlebetween [Howard] Lutnick and [Scott] Bessentover treasury secretary, thebattle over – by the way, BorisEpshteyn's role as a Trumpadviser," Karl said. "I break asignificant amount of news onthat, including the memorandumthat Trump's lawyer, Dave Warrington, now, by the way, isthe White House counsel. But hewas the chief lawyer for thethe campaign, wrote to Donald Trump saying that they hadevidence that Epshteyn was wasshaking down people who wantedjobs in the in the incoming Trump administration."
Epshteyn, who's served as an adviser to all three of Trump's presidential campaigns, has served as the president's personal senior counsel since his second term began.
"Ireprint the conclusion of thatmemo, which is that Donald Trump should not have anycontact whatsoever with Boris," Karl added, "and if he does, it could resultin either massive embarrassmentor, worse, a legal action, and,you know, but Boris wasfrozen out for about two days."