"This was predictable from the get-go," said Leon Panetta, a former White House chief of staff, defense secretary and CIA director in Democratic administrations. "Under the best of circumstances, these are tough jobs. But when you now add to that list family members who have no clear-cut role, no experience, no real understanding of the rules and a host of financial connections and business dealings that can obviously be used to manipulate you, then that is a prescription for the kind of chaos you're seeing in the White House."