The White House Under Siege? Unpacking a Former Aide's Wild, Unsubstantiated Claims of Deliberate Destruction

You know, some stories just grab you by the collar and refuse to let go, even when, honestly, every fiber of your being screams, “This can’t be real.” And yet, here we are, staring down a rather sensational claim from a former White House advance team member, a fellow named Michael Bessent. He’s out there, on Facebook of all places, spinning a yarn about a White House in utter pandemonium on the eve of Joe Biden’s inauguration — a scene of intentional, almost gleeful, destruction. It’s quite the visual, isn't it?

Bessent paints a picture of what he calls a “madhouse” within the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or EEOB, on January 19, 2021. Imagine this, if you can: staff members, supposedly driven by sheer defiance and a boiling frustration, just absolutely losing it. He alleges they were “throwing things around,” “stomping on computer monitors,” and “ripping cords out of walls.” Even, he claims, “breaking glass.” Honestly, he suggests it was such a chaotic mess that the Secret Service had to step in, for goodness sake. Documents, according to Bessent, were being obliterated by the boxful. A scene right out of a dramatic thriller, perhaps?

It’s a truly dramatic retelling, to be sure. But here’s the rub, the very real, rather significant snag in this narrative: there is absolutely, positively no corroborating evidence for any of it. None. Not a single, solitary shred. Think about it for a moment: if the White House, a place under constant scrutiny, the very symbol of American power, was truly subjected to such an orchestrated act of vandalism and destruction, wouldn't we have heard about it? Wouldn't someone else have seen something? It just seems… well, highly improbable, to put it mildly.

Seasoned journalists, the kind who practically live and breathe the White House beat, were there. People like Olivia Nuzzi from New York Magazine, or The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, who, in truth, noted the transition was “calm, well-ordered.” These aren't exactly folks known for holding back on a juicy, chaotic story, are they? Yet, they reported nothing even remotely resembling Bessent's explosive account. Not a peep. Other White House officials, even those who weren’t exactly shedding tears over Trump’s departure, offered no such widespread tales of woe or wanton destruction.

And, you could say, there's a practical side to this, too. Presidential transitions, as we know, aren't some free-for-all. The General Services Administration, the GSA, plays a crucial role. They’re tasked with meticulously documenting and overseeing the transfer of government property. If there had been any significant, deliberate damage, or massive amounts of property going missing, trust me, the GSA would have flagged it. Their report on the transition did note “several items that were not found,” but those were ultimately returned by the National Archives. It’s hardly the apocalyptic scene Bessent describes, is it?

So, where does this wild theory come from? Perhaps we should consider the source. Bessent, for all his impassioned Facebook posts, has a bit of a history, shall we say, of peddling rather dubious theories. We're talking QAnon, the stolen election, even the old Biden laptop story. He was also reportedly involved in the infamous “Stop the Steal” rally and, yes, participated in the January 6 Capitol riot. His social media presence, honestly, has been described as a consistent fount of conspiracy theories and disproven information. One might even argue he's a disgruntled former staffer, perhaps feeling a bit overlooked, given his mentions of not securing a job.

In the end, what we’re left with is a compelling narrative, a tale of defiance and destruction, but one that lacks any grounding in reality. It’s a stark reminder, I suppose, of how easily a dramatic story, however unfounded, can gain traction in our ever-connected, sometimes overly credulous, world. Perhaps it’s a story best left to the realm of fiction, rather than the annals of actual White House history.