Trump official suspected of backstabbing colleague to secure Vatican visit: book

Donald Trump's administration circumvented Vatican protocol during a 2017 visit.

According to a new book by Jonathan Karl, "Tired of Winning," when the administration was headed to the Vatican in March of their first year, they were told just 10 members of his entourage could join him.

Deputy chief of staff, Joe Hagin, was handling the logistics, told Trump that it might be a good idea to bring those who "helped you get here," meaning the presidency.

"Trump jotted down the names on a piece of paper and handed it to Hagin. The list included his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as several high-level White House staffers, including H. R. McMaster, Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks, Dina Powell, and Dan Scavino," Karl wrote.

There is a story about press secretary Sean Spicer being snubbed from the list of White House members attending the meeting. Spicer, a devout Catholic, expected to be there, just as other press secretaries had. He even brought his rosary, hoping to have it blessed. Trump didn't care and still left him off the list.

One story that wasn't previously told, however, is that Gary Cohn and Dina Powell didn't feel like it was appropriate for them to go since they weren't Catholic.

"Hagin explained it was too late to change the names, but based on his experience on previous presidential trips to meet the pope, he said he didn’t think the Vatican would check the IDs of the president’s entourage. If they wanted to give away their spots on the visit, whoever took their places would simply have to identify themselves to the guard at the door as Gary Cohn and Dina Powell," the book says.

"With that, Powell gave her spot on the Vatican visit to Julie Radford, Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff, and Cohn let Brian Hook, a senior State Department official, take his place. Both of the substitutes were devout Catholics who were thrilled about the chance to meet the pope, even if it meant telling a little white lie to get into the room," it continues. But then it takes what Karl calls a "Trumpy turn" in the story.

"When Trump’s entourage arrived at the pope’s offices, there was a person checking names but, as Hagin had said, not checking IDs. Brian Hook was let in as 'Gary Cohn.' But when Julie Radford walked up to take Dina Powell’s spot, she was stopped in her tracks."

“No!” the Vatican gatekeeper exclaimed, according to the book. “Dina Powell has already gone in!”

As it turns out, another person in Trump's team learned about the plot and went in before Radford, the "Dina Powell," claiming to be Dina Powell.

"When confronted by her colleagues, the official denied lying her way into the meeting," Karl wrote. "Nobody believed her, but who would call her out? Is it really a sin to deceive your colleagues at work when they are already lying to the Vatican?"

The staffer has not yet been revealed.

Pope Francis looked positively miserable when photos were taken, glaring into the cameras. Even in videos where he walked Trump into his office for a chat, the normally cheerful man who once washed the feet of youth prisoners, cast his eyes downward. The Trumps were ridiculed for the photo as everyone appeared miserable.