Sean Spicer denies “any knowledge of investigation” into Trump-Russia Ties. Seriously?
I will admit that I sometimes want things be more insane than they really are with respect to the Trump Administration. So, when I listened to the audio of the White House “Press Gaggle” that excluded the NY Times, BBC, LA Times, CNN, Politico, and others, while including Brietbart and other, but lesser known, conservative online rags, I thought that I was hearing things. So I listened again. Then I listened again because I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t hallucinating or in some wonderful dream where the logic, if you can call it that, of the White House, and Sean Spicer in particular, failed on every level and in every respect.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly claimed that the White House has “no knowledge” of an investigation into Trump’s “ties with Russia”. NO. WAY. Did he really say that? HE DID. Let me walk you through this badly executed sleight-of-hand. Many news sources, prior to this “Press Gaggle”, reported that Reince Preibus asked the Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, in a sideline meeting “the day after the stories (into communications between the Trump campaign and Russian officials) were published,” to denounce any connections between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. According to a US law enforcement official, it was not a phone call between McCabe and Preibus, although Preibus did call McCabe at a later time, but rather, in person. Okay, back up. What investigation? Spicer clearly states at the carnival sideshow press conference that the White House has “no knowledge” of an investigation and it doesn’t exist. According to Spicer. That request to denounce the investigation was, of course, quickly denied by the FBI.
But the insanity didn’t stop there. A question by a CBS reporter at the press conference asking Spicer to clarify that the White House was unaware of an investigation into Russian ties with the Trump campaign seemed to unravel him. Spicer immediately responded to the reporter by asking if CBS had asked the same of the Obama administration. Typical pivoting maneuver adopted by Trump surrogates and supporters nationwide. The reporter responded that they did. Spicer continued to demand that the reporter go to the nonexistent Obama administration and ask them the same thing. Okay, first Trump and Spicer didn’t know Frederick Douglass was dead. Now Spicer wants to resurrect a White House administration that no longer exists to support the current White House’s denial of contacts with Russia during the presidential campaign? Interesting position.
But, no. It doesn’t even stop there. When the CBS reporter repeated the question to get Spicer’s emphatic denial of any knowledge of the investigation he laughingly, and ironically, accuses her of pivoting away from his Obama question. She points out to him that she is getting him back on topic by asking him to clarify his lack of knowledge of an investigation, which apparently pushes him over the edge. His answer to her question about the investigation is, and I quote, “I will definitely try to look if CBS asked the same question of the Obama White House.” At that point I almost fell out of my chair laughing. The whole press conference is entertaining and hilarious. I highly recommend it if you’re bored and need free entertainment, however disturbing.
The most entertaining, and enlightening, point in the press conference came when Spicer told the CBS reporter, “I’m having a tough time understanding the logic of your question.” I have no doubt.