Plunging deeper
The Washington Post’s Daily 202 on This Whole Disaster:
First there’s the fact that, just as he did last week after he fired Comey, he undercut his own Liars for Trump. They trotted out yesterday to say He did not either, it wasn’t like that, he didn’t do things that the Post never said he did in the first place. Today he said Yes I did! I did and I was right and I can do whatever I want to!
Then there’s the rising chaos.
The already dysfunctional West Wing has plunged deeper into a state of crisis. Here are some vignettes from last night that show just how messy everything has become:
From the Times’s Matthew Rosenberg and Eric Schmitt: “Before The Post’s article was published, its impending publication set off a mild panic among White House staff members, with the press secretary, Sean Spicer; the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders; and the communications director, Mike Dubke, summoned to the Oval Office in the middle of the afternoon. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and one of his advisers, was not in the meeting. But internally, Mr. Kushner criticized Mr. Spicer, who has been the target of his ire over bad publicity for the president since Mr. Trump fired the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, last week.”
Doncha wish you could work with those people?
Just kidding. It would be nice to have a bug planted though.
— “Obviously, they are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening,” Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters at the Capitol.“The chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating … a worrisome environment.”
— In an interview with Bloomberg TV this morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said: “We could do with a little less drama from the White House.” With characteristic understatement, he added: “I think it would be helpful if the president spent more time on things we’re trying to accomplish and less time on other things.”
Also? It’s actually worse than we know.
— Other outlets confirmed The Post’s reporting last night, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN and Reuters. One U.S. official told BuzzFeed that, “It’s far worse than what has already been reported.”
Awesome.
I have to disagree with McConnell; as horrible as the ‘drama’ is, it’s still better than anything that the GOP has been attempting to do with regards to policy. The more of this crap that consumes Trump’s staff, the less he’s able to sign Executive Orders without reading them first.
And the Times is now reporting that there’s a Comey memo documenting his conversation with Trump where he was asked to shut down the Flynn investigation.
Deeper and deeper….
“It would be nice to have a bug planted though.”
There are probably several people in the White House recording everything on their phones, both as self preservation, and for those “tell all” books we know are coming.