As President-elect Donald Trump assembles his cabinet, here are winners and losers after his seismic win.
1. Winner: Rudy Giuliani. After he served as mayor and de facto NYPD commissioner for eight years, and more recently as a Trump supporter, it was unclear whether his final destination would be Washington or an insane asylum. With talk of his possibly becoming attorney general, the former seems more likely — at least in the short term.
2. Possible Winner: Ray Kelly. His stop-and-frisks and spying on Muslims make him an ideal Trump candidate for secretary of homeland security. And as a cabinet appointee, he wouldn’t have to report to Giuliani, whom he despises. And vice versa. Neither his diabetes, hearing issues nor age (he’s 75) slowed him down as commissioner.
3. Biggest winner: NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Can you imagine a Trump-appointed attorney general indicting Pantaleo in the “chokehold” death of Eric Garner after a Staten Island grand jury — probably including Trump supporters — declined to indict him? Could you imagine Giuliani moving to indict Pantaleo?
4. Loser: Bill Bratton. He threw in with the Clintons, joining Teneo Holdings, which has ties to the Clinton Global Initiative.
5. Loser: Chris Christie. Demoted to vice chairman of Trump’s transition team apparently because of the Bridgegate scandal, his best shot with Trump might be ambassador to Mexico.
6. Loser: Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Damaged goods after meeting with Bill Clinton just before FBI Director James Comey cleared Hillary in the email scandal, Lynch’s legacy might become the political calculation she made in apparently trying to indict Pantaleo after her predecessor dallied for more than a year and took no action.
7. Loser: President Barack Obama’s legacy. Give Trump a year — maybe just a few months — and that could change.
8. Big Losers: Comey and the FBI. Already weakened by top officials protecting Boston mass murderer James “Whitey” Bolger, the FBI director is accused by Hillary Clinton of effecting Trump’s election. She has a point. His two letters to Congress about Clinton’s emails just days before the election recall the worst of J. Edgar Hoover. Democrats might call for Comey’s head. In the name of unity, Trump might go along.
