In the past 18 months, Washington and its allies have assembled lists of government officials considered disloyal to the US President, and are seeking to replace them with pro-Trump figures, the news website Axios cited sources familiar with the matter as saying. The Trump administration has yet to comment on the claims.
The sources claimed that Trump’s allies outside the White House, including Ginni Thomas, wife to US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had compiled the lists and memos which have become more important since Trump's acquittal in the Senate's impeachment trial on 5 February.
The lists reportedly include John Sullivan, the current US ambassador to Russia, undersecretary for political affairs David Hale and Jessie Liu, US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Liu was withdrawn by President Trump over claims made by conservative activists at Groundswell, an organisation with which Ginni Thomas is affiliated.
The withdrawal came despite the fact that Liu’s recommendation for the post was endorses by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Unnamed White House aides were cited by Axios as saying that since his impeachment acquittal, Trump “has crossed a psychological line regarding what he calls the ‘Deep State’ [of globalists, bankers, Islamists, and establishment Republicans].”
The aides claimed that Trump “feels that his government — from Justice to State to Defence to Homeland Security — is filled with ‘snakes’; he wants them fired and replaced ASAP”.
The Axios report comes after Trump replaced Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, top national security council official Alexander Vindman and US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in mid-February, just days after POTUS was acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial.
CNN cited an adviser to Trump as saying that the ouster of the major impeachment witnesses aims to send a message that siding against the US President will not be tolerated.
On 5 February, Trump was acquitted on both charges by the Republican-led Senate, in a decision that followed the POTUS being impeached by the Democrat-controlled House for abuse of power and obstructing Congress in the investigation of the Ukraine scandal.
