re: #10 BeachDem

My first question would be why the fuck was anyone talking to Rudy in the first place? He had no clearance; he held no position—he was just a private, personal mouthpiece for the yam.

Well, presidential special advisers without a lot of official pull, but a lot of unofficial influence, being used for diplomatic stuff is not something new. Harry Hopkins communicating with Churchill and Stalin during WW2 is probably the best known historical case. And Hopkins was no longer in the Cabinet after Sept. 1940.