Flawed Choices for the State Department
If Mr. Trump places Mr. Tillerson at the State Department and has Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, he will have filled two top national security posts with pro-Russia apologists.
.. Such inexperience could also enhance the clout of the deputy secretary of state, the department’s No. 2 official, a position that reportedly could go to John Bolton, who served as ambassador to the United Nations and under secretary of state for arms control under President George W. Bush.
.. Last year, he wrote in The Times about bombing Iranian nuclear facilities, and he has criticized President Obama for pushing a nuclear deal that has successfully curbed Iran’s program. There is no doubt that Mr. Bolton will work to destroy the deal if he’s given a State Department perch.
.. On Sunday, he made the outrageous accusation that the Russian hacking of the Clinton campaign was a “false flag” operation intended to blame the Russians.