That may delay confirmation hearing though. I hear some of the old establishment wonks saying there is no way he is going to get most of his nominees through the Senate. I wonder what his plan is?
I don’t think that anybody believes that one to be true. He might be trying to weasel his way back into good graces, but he has always contributed heavily to the democrats and is still censoring conservatives on facebook. That man is not to be trusted.
He DID meet with Trump though. I have seen that verified by several sources, and I think few people who actually meet in person with Trump come away hating him.
Zuckerberg can read the writing on the wall. Recall he came out and admitted putting his thumb on the scale at the government's behest in the 2020 election, and then lied about it. People like that have no honor, and are not to be trusted. At best, Trump is keeping his enemies closer.
My guess would be that Mark Zuckerberg was there to negotiate a plea deal for himself, but he has some pretty terrible stuff in his background ; so I don’t know if he is getting a good one or not. I think that most of the people involved with the Epstein kind of business are going to prison for it. If he turns over all his records and information about collaboration with the government, it might help him evade a death sentence though.
It is my understanding that Trump can ask the Senate to go on recess which would allow him to put into place any of his appointees without confirmation. It’s a given that the Republicans control the Senate but the hearings to give the nod to those who need confirmation could take from 2 months to 6 months to complete. In short, recess appointments would speed things up considerably. So far as an FBI investigation / vetting process, even if someone has some ding against them like bad checks or a payoff to a hooker, the main thing that might be hampered is their level of security clearance.
I think if the President does that, it has to be approved by both houses of Congress. He may get cooperation though, especially if Vance is seated and Rubio has been replaced. I don't know if the House will go along though, although Johnson seems to be on his side.
According to Fox News, one of the reasons that first Gaetz and now Patel are nominated is that all the corruption in the Justice Department will have to come to light in confirmation hearings. Apparently no allegations of misconduct with Patel as I think he has been confirmed for other posts, and no one can claim he doesn't have experience.
I just read that the CIA has been funding ISIS against Assad in Trump's absence, so there is some fear that the CIA, in the company of terrorists who hate Trump since he shut them down, will work together against Trump since the CIA sees much of its clandestine skullduggery on the chopping block.