Trump’s Karl Rove
by digby
As I write this the rumor is that Trump is imminently firing chief of staff John Kelly and replacing him with Pence’s brain Nick Ayres. We’ve been hearing this rumor for along time so who knows? But if you want to know who Nick Ayres is, this piece by the Huffington Post remains the best profile out there. This guy is a real piece of work.
Here is just one short excerpt:
Despite his age, Ayers is solicitous in the manner of a courtly older gentleman. Sometimes, he will ask permission from reporters to remove his coat or tie with an elaborate politeness. He is given to grandiloquent declarations of integrity. “One thing I am not, is I am not a liar,” was an example recalled by a Republican consultant who has spoken with him often. “I am always truthful. People can call me a lot of things, but one thing I am is a truthful person.” This “Southern Baptist preacher schtick” is the sort of thing GOP donors “swoon over,” the consultant told me, but it doesn’t always go over so well with Ayers’ peers. “Almost every operative that comes across Nick just absolutely cannot stand the guy,” the consultant added. Still, while Ayers’ affect may be cloying, it does place his principal guiding motive—himself—disarmingly in plain sight at all times.
It is a central tenet of politics that you can have money or power, but not the two at the same time. Ayers is a rare exception. He is not shy about showing his wealth—issuing gracious invitations to hunting parties on his estate on Georgia’s Flint River; sending Christmas cards that are fatter than most and wrapped in a bow. He has occasionally been known to lease a private jet—unusual among a crowd of strategists-for-hire who are accustomed to Marriotts and economy class.
When he joined the administration, Ayers’ White House financial disclosure attached some hard numbers to his high-roller image. After less than seven years of working as a political consultant and a partner in a media buying firm, Ayers reported a personal net worth between $12 million and just over $54 million. (For context, one leading strategist told me that a top-level consultant could expect to make $1 million in an election year and about a third of that in the off year.) And his business arrangements can be difficult to track. In the 2016 election cycle, Ayers spearheaded the Missouri gubernatorial campaign for Eric Greitens, who is now under indictment for invasion of privacy. In addition to the consulting fee of $220,000 paid to Ayers’ firm, he was paid over what appears to be a very similar time period by at least two different entities involved in the race.
Astonishingly, when Ayers entered the White House, he didn’t immediately sell his lucrative business, C5 Creative Consulting, as previous administrations would have required. He also obtained a broad waiver permitting him to talk to former clients. His ownership of C5 turned his White House job into a minefield of possible conflicts of interest. As chief of staff to the vice president, Ayers’ duties can include advising Pence on which candidates to support—decisions that can have a huge influence on fundraising and, hence, political advertising. In addition, in his private work for the Pence PAC, he is in a position to steer donor dollars into races where the company could potentially benefit. “That’s staggering,” one seasoned Republican operative told me.
He has cultivated all the young Trump dullards (he is an avid animal killer for fun, like the two boys)and is particularly close to Ivanka and Jared who have promoted him heavily.
He is supposedly saving Pence’s reputation for his future run as successor to Trump but he’s far too savvy to believe that Pence hasn’t destroyed himself with his supine adoring-gaze performace as VP. (This profile is interesting in that respect. Pence is a real dolt — almost as dumb as Trump, although far more malleable.) And this piece makes it clear that Ayers is about Ayers. He’s stab Pence in the back without a second thought if he thinks he can gain a benefit. Trump’s feral instincts undoubtedly draw him to such a man.
Anyway, this guy is a real operator.
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