Fail Up

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lAW SCHOOLS

Law School Student Famous For Saying ‘I HATE BLACK PEOPLE’ Now Has Prestigious Federal Clerkship

Hate doesn't seem to be slowing down her career prospects.

By KATHRYN RUBINO

onOctober 5, 2021

https://abovethelaw.com/2021/10/law-school-student-famous-for-saying-i-hate-black-people-now-has-prestigious-federal-clerkship/

I’d say Crystal Clanton just keeps failing upwards, but given that outrage is currency in right-wing circles, it is more accurate to say that her career is progressing on schedule. Do you remember why Clanton first became a news story? It’s been a minute, so I’ll cover the deets.

In December of 2017, the New Yorker reported that Clanton, who at the time worked at the conservative student group Turning Point USA, texted co-workers with this hateful message:

I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like fuck them all .?.?. I hate blacks. End of story.

From ABOVE THE LAW

Awful, right? And this was far from a one-off incident, as reported by Mediaite:

Numerous sources who worked with Clanton detailed how she would exchange racist remarks regularly with other TPUSA staffers — including Alana Mastrangelo, who currently works for the group, and Timox Prax, who was allegedly forced out of TPUSA this year over “bigoted” remarks — using Snapchat.

One such message reviewed by Mediaite features a photo of a man who appears to be Arab and a caption written by Clanton that reads, “Just thinking about ways to do another 9/11.” (The source who provided Mediaite with the image requested it not be published to protect their anonymity.)

Well, even though Clanton was forced out of the right-wing nonprofit, her career prospects were far from damaged. Shortly after she left Turning Point USA, Ginni Thomas — yes, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife — hired Clanton to assist with her media ventures. And Clanton lapped up her connection to the powerful jurist.

But that wasn’t the end of Clanton’s ambitions. She was admitted to ASSLaw — that’s George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, for the uninitiated — and is scheduled to graduate this spring. And now we know that her post-graduation plans include an incredibly prestigious clerkship with Eleventh Circuit Judge William Pryor for 2023-24.

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an 5 25

Former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer said Americans should not be surprised to see controversial former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz be assuming the role as UN ambassador.

“Failing up in the Trump administration isn't really a surprise. It happens often,” said Setmayer. “I’m sure (Rep.) Elise Stefanik (R-NY) isn’t very happy today, once again, because she lost the dream job she was hoping she was going to get, and that someone like Mike Waltz is going to get it instead of her.”

Setmayer added that she expected more leaks and “people stabbing each other in the back” as bitterness and “inter-party dynamics” set in.

“Yes, there’s palace intrigue, but you also have to worry about the way the party functions … We’re already living in a daily chaos cycle with Donald Trump, and that chaos leads to mistakes, which we’ve seen multiple times over and over again. Most importantly with the Signalgate issue with what’s happening with the Department of Defense and the Department of State."

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Waltz was moved from his NSA post amid continued fallout weeks after he invited a journalist into a chat among top national security officials discussing plans for Yemen airstrikes.

Setmayer also openly questioned Trump moving Secretary of State Marco Rubio into the dual role of National Security Advisor, while letting him continue to lead the State Department.

“The last time we had a secretary of state also serve as a national security advisor was Henry Kissinger, and Marco Rubio is no Henry Kissenger,” Setmayer told MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing. “And Marco has been neutered in a lot of areas where the secretary of state would traditionally be taking the lead. He’s had to take a back seat on Ukraine negotiations to a real estate guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing … who is a Putin apologist.”

She added that Rubio “has tied himself into political knots” trying balance Trump’s policies that have until recently “been anathema” to him, including his former support of Ukraine against Russia and his evolving positions on China.

“Why are we in this position? [Because] Trump can’t seem to keep people in positions of power that are of grave importance to the United States and our stability on the world stage and our foreign policy and national security,” Setmayer said. “Why is that? Because he’s incompetent and chaotic.”

Additionally, Setmayer advised Democrats to “seize” that argument during Mike Waltz’ confirmation hearing to better remind the American People “why this is happening.”

Watch the video below, or by clicking here.

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an 5 25

Trump is reportedly considering naming billionaire real estate mogul Steve Witkoff—his de facto envoy to Moscow—as the next National Security Advisor. Witkoff, who has no diplomatic or national security experience but does reportedly have ties to a Russian oligarch, has come under fire for his apparent closeness to Vladimir Putin. Among the concerns are that Witkoff has repeatedly been meeting the Russian leader alone, without any senior U.S. officials or policy experts present, to allegedly discuss ending Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine.

Thursday afternoon President Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as interim National Security Advisor, and announced that Mike Waltz, now his former NSA, will be his nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, according to ABC News.

Regardless of President Trump’s intentions for Witkoff, serious concerns continue to swirl around him.

Anders Åslund, an economist and former Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, has described Witkoff as "pro-Putin." The former head of the UK's MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, has described Witkoff's comments as "pro-Putin," according to Sky News.

"Steve Witkoff, Trump's Special Envoy, has a serious and unreported conflict of interest in Russia-Ukraine negotiations: his relationship with Ukraine-sanctioned businessman Len Blavatnik," reported The Counteroffensive's Tim Mak, a former NPR investigative reporter.

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Witkoff's "fortune is largely made up of the Witkoff Group, the New York-based real estate developer he founded in 1997," Forbes reported in November. "He also owns homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons and south Florida, where he’s developing projects including the Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course with a luxury hotel, in partnership with Soviet-born billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries."

Critics have been blasting Witkoff for meeting alone with President Putin — even his translator is reportedly provided by the Kremlin.

The New York Post calls the solo act "a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure," and notes that "Russian media have picked up on a pattern of Witkoff parroting Putin, withstate television announcersrecently commenting that the American easily accepts Moscow’s narratives — even when Russians don’t."

Witkoff's actions are so upsetting to national security experts that one, Republican former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, last week called Witkoff's decision to meet with Putin without any other U.S. representation, "pure, unadulterated, evil."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented, “I believe Mr. Witkoff has adopted the strategy of the Russian side.”

“Consciously or not, he is spreading Russian narratives. Either way, it does not help,” Zelenskyy warned.

The Post also reports that Witkoff has been labeled a "bumbling f------ idiot," by a former official in Trump's first administration.

The Financial Times last week reported that Ukraine has “long suspected Witkoff of pro-Russian sympathies.”

Last week, Fox News’ Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin blasted the Trump administration:

“Where are the subject matter experts with Witkoff? Putin, the KGB officer, is laughing,” Griffin noted. “Meanwhile the instability at the Pentagon is not helping project strength during these delicate negotiations. There is still no confirmed NSA [National Security Agency] (Cyber Command) director after Defense Secretary Hegseth fired Gen Hauck and his deputy for no reason, not even a nominee yet for the person overseeing the crown jewel of US intelligence and SIGINT, which might come into handy when you are negotiating with Putin and Xi.”

Among those reporting Witkoff is being considered for the vital role as National Security Adviser are Mark Halpern, Politico's Jake Traylor, and CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak.

Politico adds that in addition to Witkoff, other possible candidates to replace Mike Waltz include "Trump’s top policy chief Stephen Miller, NSC senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka and Trump’s special envoy for special missions Richard Grenell."

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