White House down: Why is everyone 'faking' it

Three senior officials of the White House, Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, have lost their jobs in the last fortnight.

'Crooked Hillary' is the nickname that US President Donald Trump used, time and again, to describe his opponent in the presidential election. And he has continued to do so well after winning it.

Such words followed revelations that Hillary Clinton used private email servers, instead of an official one, while she was the Secretary of State(Foreign minister) during Barack Obama's tenure, and that classified information was shared from it. Trump jumped on the opportunity to use this information and was successful to paint an image of wrongdoing on her part, which helped him win.

Yet barely half a year after coming to power, his tenure itself has been surrounded by one controversy after another. From possibly colluding with Russians in the election to the sacking of senior officials, the worst fears of those who had worried about Trump's presidency seem to be coming true, with what can be described as nothing but the unravelling of his administration.

While Trump has blamed all media reports of such controversies regarding his administration to be 'Fake news,' the latest development that has come to light, and which cannot be seen without a touch of irony, saw his senior staff fall prey to an email controversy of their own.

Latest controversy is 'Fake emails' not 'Fake news'

This comes in a period of a couple of weeks during which three of the most senior White House staff have lost their jobs. These include Trump's Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.

Priebus and Spicer, who had been heavily criticised for their work lost their jobs soon after the new communications director took over. Scaramucci, who was appointed less than a fortnight ago, was the biggest victim of fake emails sent by a prankster from the United Kingdom using the identity of other senior officials and Trump family members. And the replies by them have gone far in showing the turmoil the present administration finds itself in, with infighting between senior officials a major part of it.

This could be seen by Scaramucci's reply to the emails that he thought were from the real Priebus, which reinforced the idea that he blames the former chief of staff for the alleged leaks from the White House which Trump has claimed have taken place. Or from his reply, "Both of them," to the fake id of soon to be US Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman Jr, which asked him who he would like to be removed from their posts. In an apparent reference to both Priebus and White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, against whom he had gone on an expletive ridden tirade while talking to a reporter earlier.

Though his replies to such mails cannot be directly linked to his firing, the fact that they would have increased the odds for such an action is without a doubt. Other than him, Huntsman himself, as well as Trump's son Eric Trump too, were hoodwinked by the prankster.

Such a lapse in judgement by those close to Trump show that the administration is yet to learn from the past events related to Hillary as well as those of the last half a year. And have sent the already bruised administration which is already at the centre of a major Russian controversy into another one.

The Russia controversy is not going away

The biggest controversy since he took over has been over allegations of Russia's interference in the country's election process.

It's a matter of fact and not just political rumouring that hackers from Russia, most probably government sponsored, got access to the computer servers of the Democratic party, the opposition to the Trump's Republican party, including those related to Clinton and leaked information that would be damaging to her.

To make matters worse and seriously support allegations of Russian interference in support of Trump, it has been reported that these hackers had access to information which would be damaging to Trump and his party as well, yet they chose not to reveal it. In addition, a mass propaganda machine, which spread false information against his opponent has also been reported.

Surprisingly, this is not what concerns Trump and his coterie. Well, at least not on the face of it. The present and of most concern to the President is the current inquiry that is looking into the allegations of Trump and his close aides being in direct contact with Russians and also that many of his choices to fill important official posts chose not to disclose such contact during the Senate confirmation hearings, which is the norm after selecting top officials in the US, that such officials are required to do so.

Others who have lost their jobs

Trump's first pick for National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, had to resign from office within a month of taking over. Flynn was blamed by the White House to have misled Vice- President Mike Pence that he did not have any contact with the Russians, which turned out to be false.

US Attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had to recuse himself from the investigations being conducted by his department into links with Russia after he failed to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had contact with the country during the election campaign. He was recently publicly criticised by Trump for recusing himself from the investigation. And there are growing speculations that Sessions might not last long.

Trump also fired the Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey, who was investigating the matter related to the Russian controversy. The President even openly admitted that he fired him due to his role in the investigation, and reportedly even called him a 'nutjob' and was found boasting about firing him to the Russian foreign minister.

After his firing, Comey while giving testimony in front of the Senate committee looking into the matter, came out against claims that Trump had made regarding the Russian interference and for all means and purposes called them a lie. He also gave damaging testimony that Trump asked him to let go of the investigation into Flynn who is facing scrutiny for his contact with the Russia administration.

Trump's previous communications director had also resigned barely four months into the job, and though such a step so early in the presidency would cause a major scandal in another leader's tenure, it did not under Trump. Where almost no matter what happens, it doesn't seem too bizarre to be a reality.

No end in sight

With others including members of Trump's inner circle still under suspicion when it comes to the Russian links, the controversy is far from over, especially as former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is well known for being a straight arrow and extremely thorough in his job now put in charge of the investigation by the justice department of the country. The expectations of more breaking news regarding further conflicts of interest and foreign meddling, can't be too far off the mark.

On the home front, as a measure to start afresh and get his house in order, former General and Homeland Secretary, John Kelly, has been appointed as the new chief of staff to replace Priebus. His first major decision being the removal of Scaramucci.

Though Trumps's supporters would hope he might be able to end the spate of controversies that keep rising out of the White House. Given the last six months, even the most die-hard supporters of the President would be sceptical of it.

While those who chose Trump over Hillary, following the controversy regarding her emails, might be questioning their decision, given the chaos witnessed in the first six months after his inauguration. Her supporters would not be wrong to ask if the email controversy made her 'Crooked,' then what might Trump be called.

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