Rolling Stone's Blatantly Deceitful John Kelly Exit Interview Article

The Rolling Stone Headline Screams Out "John Kelly Confirms He Was Lying All Along: The White House Is in Chaos"
Not only is the Rolling Stone headline wrong, but what it's author Peter Ward wrote was, reprehensible, dishonest, Liberal claptrap.

The author Peter Wade accuses John Kelly of now admitting the White House was in Chaos and not the "Well Oiled Machine" Kelly claimed it to be.

Wade also goes on to accuse John Kelly of distorting the facts in order to protect his legacy.

Reading the interview, the only lying and deception that took place is what Peter Wade wrote in this reprehensible interpretation of Kelly's interview to the LA Times.
In his Rolling Stone article, Peter Wade unscrupulously wrote:
It will come as no surprise that the White House is in chaos, but what is shocking is that this fact is being confirmed by President Donald Trump’s outgoing Chief of Staff John Kelly.

In an exit interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kelly admits that the White House is not quite the “well-oiled machine” that Trump loves to brag about.  
That "Well-oiled machine" quote Peter Wade tried to insinuate came from Kelly, actually came from a September 7th, New York Post article titled Trump insists White House is a well-oiled machine amid op-ed craze.

Yes, Wade did link that "Well Oiled Machine" quote to the NY Post story. But that wasn't due to Ward's journalistic integrity. The only reason Ward placed that link, was to get away with using the quotation marks, to make it appear that John Kelly used those exact words.

Peter Wade's Rolling Stone article is littered with these "well-oiled machine" fraudulent insinuations, taken out of context phrases, and egregious misrepresentations of what John Kelly's actually said.

 
The Travel Ban
One of the two specific instances Peter Wade used in his Rolling Stone article to show a White House in "chaos," was Kelly's recollection of the implementation of President Trump's travel ban.

The LA Times article wrote:
Shortly after taking office, Trump issued an executive order immediately suspending the entire U.S. refugee program for 120 days, indefinitely freezing the entry of refugees from Syria and barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. 

At the time, despite reports he’d been caught off-guard by the president’s order, Kelly gave a full-throated defense.

“I had very little opportunity to look at them,” before the orders were announced, Kelly acknowledged in the Times interview. “Obviously, it brought down a greater deal of thunder on the president.”
Where in these two paragraphs does it signify a White House in chaos?

Peter Wade may claim that it's John Kelly stating he 'had very little opportunity to look at them.' This quote seems to be ample evidence in Peter Ward's mind that John Kelly was overseeing a tumultuous White House.
Peter ward wrote:
When the travel ban blocking many people from majority Muslim nations from entering the U.S. was first announced, Kelly told Congress, “The thinking was to get it out quick so that potentially people that might be coming here to harm us would not take advantage of some period of time that they could jump on an airplane and get here.”

But now, he told the Times, he was caught off-guard by the announcement. “I had very little opportunity to look at them,” Kelly said. “Obviously, it brought down a greater deal of thunder on the president.”
This is where Peter Wade's creative writing skills, and his dishonesty rears its ugly head.
Wade took what he was reading, mixed sentences together, and in addition left out one key detail that would destroy his narrative

The LA Times article clearly stated "At the time, despite reports he’d been caught off-guard,' and then goes on to add Kelly's quote of: “I had very little opportunity to look at them”.

So Peter Wade threw those two sentences into a blender and came out with his deceitful:
"But now, he told the Times, he was caught off-guard by the announcement."
Peter Wade's implies that General Kelly was lying in the LA Times story.

After all, beyond Peter Ward lying by attributing a quote to John Kelly that he did not say.  How else in Peter Ward's ethically challenged mind, could The President's Chief of Staff claim he was "caught off-Guard by the travel ban announcement"?
There is one way...
When President Trump signed the travel ban on January 27, 2017. John Kelly wasn't the Chief of staff, Reince Priebus was.

John Kelly didn't become Trump's Chief of staff until July 28, 2017, a full six-months after Trump signed the Travel Ban into law.

Since John Kelly was the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) at the time of President Trump signing the Travel Ban in law. John Kelly was not working from inside the White House, or privy to what President Trump was about to do.

So it is not inconceivable that Kelly may have indeed been "caught off-guard," by the sudden travel ban announcement.
Zero-Tolerance Policy
The second instance that Peter Wade cites in his article to confirm a White House in chaos, was John Kelly discussing the administrations 'Zero-tolerance immigration policy'.
The L.A. Times exit interview story stated:
In May, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy for immigration violations. U.S. officials already had begun to put the policy into practice, resulting in hundreds of migrant children being separated from their parents.

Kelly said Sessions’ announcement caught the White House by surprise.
But in Peter Ward's Rolling Stone article, Ward feigned shock that John Kelly could possibly claim to have been surprised at the 'Zero-Tolerance' announcement:
This revelation is more than a little strange, considering Kelly told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that the Department of Homeland Security was contemplating separating children from their parents in March 2017, less than two months after Trump was inaugurated. And Sessions announced the beginning of “zero-tolerance” more than a year later, in April 2018. Could it really have been such a surprise?
To answer Peter Wade's question, "YES!"

As the LA Times article affirms: "U.S. officials already had begun to put the policy into practice."

So, as head of DHS, and later President Trump's Chief of Staff, John Kelly would have been well aware of the administrations 'Zero-Tolerance' policy.

But Attorney General Jeff Sessions sudden public announcement about the Justice Department's implementing that "Zero Tolerance" policy, could easily have come as a complete surprise to those inside the White House.

The U.S. Attorney General does not work inside the White House, nor does the AG have any obligation to report everything he is doing to the POTUS.

So John Kelly is quoted in the article saying that the White House was "surprised" by Jeff Sessions sudden announcement should not come as any great shock. It certainly doesn't prove that John Kelly was lying to the LA Times, or he was working inside a chaotic White House.
Peter Ward narrative that John Kelly, and the Trump administration are somehow immoral leaves out one important fact.
Both Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton have professed the exact same sentiment as John Kelly, and President Trump has stated.

In order to send a message to people who are contemplating sending their Children thousands of miles through hostile, dangerous territories.  If these children illegally enter the U.S., they will not be allowed to stay, and they will be sent back.

Wade ends his Rolling Stone Article with:
In the interview, Kelly said he hopes his tenure will be judged not by what Trump did but by what Kelly prevented him from doing — not exactly a ringing endorsement of his former boss.
Once again, to perpetuate his narrative Peter Wade overlooks one very important detail.

So he did not have to address his blatant oversight, Ward let his readers draw their own conclusions. But judging by the liberal writing of Ward, and Rolling Stone in general, Ward would have easily surmise their conclusion would be.

John Kelly had prevented President Trump from doing some mischievous, foul deed.

In fact, if Peter Wade were actually to report on the LA Times article without all his liberal bias, he would have noted that immediately before John Kelly delivering his "hopes his tenure will be judged" quote, the LA Times wrote:
“When I first took over, he was inclined to want to withdraw from Afghanistan, He was frustrated."
The story goes on to record how John Kelly convened the top officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, the director of national intelligence, diplomats, and lawmakers and they huddled with Trump and urged the President not to give up in Afghanistan.

We now know that President Trump, heeded their advice since he did not pull the troops from Afghanistan.

At this point, the John Kelly quote of "he hopes his tenure will be judged not by what Trump did but by what Kelly prevented him from doing" is placed in it's proper context.

If the Rolling Stone detests the fact that President Trump labels their ilk Fake News. Perhaps they shouldn't permit writers such as Peter Ward to provide ample evidence that proves President Trump assessment is accurate.

Read the full article