Exclusive: The intervention to marginalize Ricky Buria is aimed at insulating the Pentagon from any more missteps

Exasperated by the turmoil that has dogged Pete Hegseth’s office in recent weeks, the White House will block the US defense secretary’s choice of chief of staff and select a candidate of its own, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Hegseth had suggested giving the chief of staff position to Marine Col Ricky Buria after the first person in the role, Joe Kasper, left last month in the wake of a contentious leak investigation that brought the ouster of three other senior aides.

But the White House has made clear to Hegseth that Buria will not be elevated to become his most senior aide at the Pentagon, the people said, casting Buria as a liability on account of his limited experience as a junior military assistant and his recurring role in internal office drama.

  • 5C5C5C@programming.dev
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    11 hours ago

    It’s not really up to me, it’s up to the judgment of Trump and whoever pulls his strings.

    But looking at historical precedent, maybe something like the Iran-Contra affair that landed Oliver North in jail while sparing Reagan from any accountability.

    I guess a good rule of thumb would be whether the scandal will involve jail time.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      well, if you come across the puppet master, let him know that his puppets suck.

      somehow, i think we’re well past the iran-contra affair level of scandal. We have 2-3 contitutional criss including a present using money without proper oversight; different but the same. We also have a president providing things to a heavily sanctioned antagonist nation (russia,)

      oh and he’s doing the broke-dick nazis thing.

      • 5C5C5C@programming.dev
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        9 hours ago

        Of course I agree with you, but the sad reality is that they’re getting away with this stuff so far. I think Hegseth’s time will be up when they finally need someone to do jail time for the team. Until then they’ll probably keep him around because his incompetence is strategically advantageous for their puppet master’s goal of undermining the republic.