Lunch break
It is every Washington reporter’s dream to sit down at a restaurant, overhear secret stuff and get a scoop. It rarely happens.
Still, everyone in town important enough to have secrets worth keeping knows that secrets are not safe on the Acela train and in Washington restaurants.
This is especially true in eateries next door to a major newspaper.
Yes, Ty Cobb and John Dowd, lawyers for President Trump, we’re talking to you.
But it’s too late now.
*stops reading in order to laugh*
Really? Really? Trump’s lawyers went out for munchies and talked loudly enough to be overheard? Really?
Together, they went for what appears to have been a working lunch at BLT Steak, 1625 I St. NW in Washington. It’s close to the White House and very convenient.
It’s also next door to 1627 I St. NW, which happens to house the Washington bureau of the New York Times.
Walkies, see? Takes 1 (one) minute. They might as well have gotten takeout and gone and sat at a reporter’s desk.
But they basically did, because there was one at the next table. I guess he wasn’t wearing a big neon sign that said NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER so Trump’s lawyers felt safe discussing things at normal conversational volume.
Vogel overheard the lawyers talking about White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II and Jared Kushner, president Trump’s son-in-law, as well as the infamous Trump Tower meeting. Here’s a sample from the article bearing the bylines of Vogel and Peter Baker:
Mr. Cobb was heard talking about a White House lawyer he deemed “a McGahn spy” and saying Mr. McGahn had “a couple documents locked in a safe” that he seemed to suggest he wanted access to. He also mentioned a colleague whom he blamed for “some of these earlier leaks,” and who he said “tried to push Jared out …”
The White House Counsel’s Office is being very conservative with this stuff,” Mr. Cobb told Mr. Dowd. “Our view is we’re not hiding anything.” Referring to Mr. McGahn, he added, “He’s got a couple documents locked in a safe.”
… Mr. Cobb also discussed the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting — and the White House’s response to it — saying that “there was no perception that there was an exchange.”
The movie is probably in production as we speak, with Jim Carey and Seth Rogen playing the lawyers.
Plus…the reporter snapped a photo.
Here's a photo of Ty Cobb & John Dowd casually & loudly discussing details of Russia investigation at @BLTSteakDC while I sat at next table. pic.twitter.com/RfX9JLJ0Te
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 18, 2017
Apparently Kelly is not best pleased.
About what I’d expect of anyone stupid enough to work for Trump.
BA HAHAHAHA!
Oh, nice to start the day with a smile!
Well, duh. How can you expense your high-price steak lunch to the client if you don’t discuss his case during lunch? Priorities, people.
Sure, Screechy, but that only works if you have a client who pays his bills! Although I have little doubt that Trump plans to outsource paying his legal fees to the taxpayers. That’s why we have to dismantle everything else in the government – it’s money not going to Trump.