Harward Says No

Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down President Trump’s offer to be national security adviser. This feeds the Democratic Party media’s “chaos” theme:

Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Why did Harward say no? The AP’s report sheds no light:

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was “very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally.”

“It’s purely a personal issue,” Harward said Thursday evening. “I’m in a unique position finally after being the in military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.”

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, “I think that’s for the president to address.”

How could Trump have publicly offered the post to Harward without knowing Harward would accept it? This seems like incomprehensibly bad staff work. Maybe Trump’s staff thought they had Harward lined up for the job, and then something went awry. But this shouldn’t happen.

The AP is licking its chops at the possibility that Trump might next turn to David Petraeus:

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.

The Harward episode was an unforced error. Let’s not have another one.

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