Trump move is admission that top aides ‘have created a disaster’ in MN: Ex-FBI director
A former FBI director said Monday that President Donald Trump has realized he has a problem as criticism grows over the fatal shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Andrew McCabe told CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer that Trump's announcement that he's sending his designated "border czar" Tom Homan to oversee the ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota is a sign that he's growing frustrated and suggested he could be losing confidence with federal officials Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino.
"And he should lose confidence in those leaders," McCabe said. "They have created, essentially a disaster for him. They've victimized the citizens of Minneapolis. They have absolutely lost any semblance of trust that they had with the general public. And with this, with the state and local law enforcement community. So I'm not sure that the leadership team that's on the ground in Minneapolis for the feds is even capable of righting the ship and you know, turning this thing around. So they definitely need someone else who's going to be able to influence the situation and speak on their behalf."
The public frustration has been fueled over the "lack of transparency and the blatant dishonesty," McCabe added, although the Trump administration has not announced any plans to change its aggressive approach.
It's also unclear if Homan would break from what Noem or Bovino have said publicly, he explained.
"I think it's unlikely that we'll see him come out and directly contradict the the misstatements that have already been made. But what we might see from Mr. Homan is an emphasis on the investigative posture going forward," McCabe said. "We've heard a lot from Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, from Kristi Noem, from Greg Bovino, about the fact that they're investigating. But we have no details as to who's investigating, whether it's an internal investigation for potential misconduct or whether it's actually a criminal investigation.
"So Mr. Homan would be, well, would be getting off on the right foot if he would become more transparent with the public about exactly what steps the federal government is taking to determine the possibility of wrongdoing in this terrible tragedy."