Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Saturday he warned President Donald Trump that hiring a “yes man” to succeed him would lead to impeachment, the Washington Examiner reported.
At a Sea Island, Ga., political conference, Kelly said in hindsight, he now regrets leaving.
“I said, whatever you do — and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place — I said whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man,’ someone who won’t tell you the truth — don’t do that,” Kelly said at the Sea Island Summ. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached,” Kelly said at the event, hosted by the Examiner.
“That was almost 11 months ago, and I have an awful lot of, to say the least, second thoughts about leaving,” he said. “It pains me to see what’s going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place.”
Kelly, Trump’s Homeland Security secretary before being tapped as his second chief of staff, did not validate impeachment or endorse the inquiry. But he indicated the White House bears some responsibility for the investigation, saying it was avoidable, the Examiner reported.
“Someone has got to be a guide that tells [the president] that you either have the authority or you don’t, or Mr. President, don’t do it,” Kelly said. “Don’t hire someone that will just nod and say, ‘That’s a great idea Mr. President.’ Because you will be impeached.”
“The system that should be in place, clearly — the system of advising, bringing in experts in, having these discussions with the president so he can make an informed decision, that clearly is not in place,” he added. “And I feel bad that I left.”
Mick Mulvaney, the current acting chief of staff, appeared to have a shaky hold on the job after bungled remarks concerning the call between Trump and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that discussed a corruption probe of Joe Biden and his son, triggering an impeachment inquiry.
The House is now expected to vote on articles of impeachment by Christmas, with a trial to follow in the Senate to determine whether Trump should be removed from office.