Trump Lies

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday attacked former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Twitter, rebuking the former intelligence chief for remarks he made on “The View” about surveillance of Trump’s campaign. In a tweet, the president erroneously claimed that Clapper had “admitted” to placing a spy on his campaign staff, when in reality Clapper had merely acknowledged …

“I ran Michigan. Hillary Clinton was not in our state. She did not bring a message to the voters of our state that resonated and President Trump did. He talked about trade. He talked about jobs. He talked about wages. Look where our country is already under our leadership. He won this election because he cared about average working class …

“While we’re sticking to the facts and telling you what we know, President Trump has no constraints since he simply makes stuff up. He frequently lies and has a long and well documented conspiracy theories with no concrete evidence ever provided. For years he perpetuated the myth that Obama was not born in the United States, and that he saw …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump has branded his latest attempt to discredit the special counsel’s Russia investigation as “spygate,” part of a newly invigorated strategy embraced by his Republican colleagues to raise suspicions about the probe that has dogged his presidency since the start. Trump now is zeroing in on — and at times embellishing — reports that …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani switched gears Wednesday, saying that he would prefer the president grant an interview to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office and that a decision would be made within “the next couple weeks.” “I guess I’d rather do the interview. It gets it over with it, it makes my client …

Mediaite reports: Trump outright condemned the FBI for embedding an informant to spy on his 2016 campaign in his morning tweetstorm, but he backtracked this afternoon to a more accusatory stance this afternoon by saying “I hope it’s not true, but it looks like it is.” Trump also made a big deal of showing off his fancy, new, totally uninspired …

The BBC reports: Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved. The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting for Ukraine’s leader, Petro Poroshenko, the sources said, though Mr Cohen was not registered as a representative …

The New York Times has published a longread on what it’s like to speak for Glorious Leader. This bit with Aunt Lydia jumps out: Like many of her White House colleagues, Sanders is quick to suggest that some of the criticism the Trump White House has received is a product of a biased press. I replied that a lot of …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an angry rant against his enemies in America’s law enforcement agencies by referring to them as the “Criminal Deep State.” Despite the president’s assertions, however, there is no evidence that the FBI implanted a spy in his presidential campaign in 2016. Rather, the FBI had a confidential informant who met with …

CNN reports: Donald Trump’s legal team is trying to narrow the scope of the President’s potential interview with special counsel Robert Mueller to questions on Russia-related matters that occurred before Trump’s election, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump’s lawyers, who are urging Mueller to wrap up his investigation, are looking for a way to get him to …

The New York Times reports: A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Under the agreement, the partner, …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump told the veteran journalist Lesley Stahl of the CBS program 60 Minutes that he bashes the press to “demean” and “discredit” reporters so that the public will not believe “negative stories” about him, Stahl said. Stahl said she and her boss met with Trump at his office in Trump Tower in Manhattan after the 2016 …

NBC News reports: The Environmental Protection Agency barred The Associated Press and CNN from a national summit on harmful water contaminants on Tuesday — and guards forcibly shoved a female reporter out of the building. The EPA blocked the media organizations, along with the environmental-focused E&E News, from attending the meeting in Washington, convened by EPA chief Scott Pruitt. “The …

The Daily Beast reports: Monday, the Associated Press reported on the months-long 2017 lobbying effort carried out by Elliot Broidy and George Nader that brought the pair close to securing nearly $1 billion in contracts with the Saudis and the Emiratis in exchange for lobbying against their enemy, Qatar. Also during the pair’s lobbying blitz in the fall of 2017, …

PBS NewsHour reports: The White House says President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly plans to “immediately set up a meeting” with congressional leaders and the FBI, Justice Department and Director of National Intelligence to review “highly classified and other information they have requested” related to the Russia investigation. Rep. Devin Nunes, an ardent Trump supporter and head of …

Axios reports: President Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, recommended appointing Stefan Halper, an academic and suspected FBI informant on the Trump campaign, to a senior role in the Trump administration, Axios has learned. During the transition everyone involved in Trump’s presidential campaign were asked to submit resumes for administration positions. Halper, who already knew Navarro in the context of …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen beat the fake news drum on Monday, bemoaning the veracity of news reports and ending with #TheTruthWillComeOut. Cohen is currently under investigation in the Southern District of New York for possible bank fraud and campaign-finance violations. He is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by Stormy Daniels for defamation. The …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday shared a quote from a former Secret Service agent and conservative commentator, Dan Bongino, who slammed former CIA director John Brennan. While Trump was using Bongino’s comments, he added in his own commentary by labeling the controversial dossier as “phony.” The president appeared to be loosely quoting Bongino from an appearance he made …

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that Democrats are “losing their war against women in the Trump administration,” as Gina Haspel prepares to be sworn in as the first female CIA director. Haspel, whom President Trump tapped to lead the agency after picking former CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State, faced …

Propaganda Minister Kellyanne Conway really outdid her trademark diversion tactics today in a wild 20-minute interview with CNN’s Brian Stelter that careened from topic to topic. Here’s just one bit via Mediaite: The Reliable Sources host moved on to press about leaks coming out of the White House, asking if any staffers have been fired, and after Conway took a …