Trump Lies

The Associated Press reports: Several people close to the president say his reliance on a small cadre of advisers as he mulled firing Comey reflects his broader distrust of many of his own staffers. He leans heavily on daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as Hope Hicks, his trusted campaign spokeswoman and Keith Schiller, his longtime bodyguard. …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Trump is growing increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of his chief of staff, Reince Priebus; the communications director, Michael Dubke; and Mr. Spicer, a Priebus ally, according to a half-dozen West Wing officials who said the president was considering the most far-reaching shake-up of his already tumultuous term. He has been especially critical of …

And of course, Hannity agrees. The Hill reports: Former Speaker Newt Gingrich is urging President Trump to follow through on his threat to cancel daily White House press briefings, accusing news media of being “dishonest opponents” of the president. “What they ought to do is get out of all this junk, they ought to focus on the big goals, they …

Last this afternoon Fox News anchor Chris Wallace went off on Sean Spicer’s handling of Trump’s blackmail threat against James Comey. Wallace: “When I heard that exchange today between Jeff Mason, White House reporter, and Sean Spicer speaking from the podium in the briefing room for the President of the United States, it took my breath away. That was what …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey has seen the odds on his impeachment slashed to their shortest ever price. Bookmaker Paddy Power said its odds reflected a 60 per cent chance of the billionaire being impeached during his first term in office. Mr Comey’s sacking reverberated around Washington on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday. He …

Oh, this WILL be fun. Via Newsweek: Sarah Huckabee Sanders had been filling in for Spicer while he was on Navy Duty. This will be the first press briefing for Spicer since President Trump fired FBI director James Comey. Earlier today, President Trump tweeted that maybe press briefings are a waste of time. President Donald Trump says his busy schedule …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s lawyers say a review of his last 10 years of tax returns do not reflect “any income of any type from Russian sources,” with some exceptions. The lawyers did not release copies of Trump’s tax returns so The Associated Press cannot independently verify their conclusions. The letter says there is no equity investment …

Ben Shapiro writes at the Daily Signal: First, it’s not smart to blackmail a fellow who is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week. Comey obviously had few limits on what he was willing to say publicly before Trump blackmailed him; now he’ll be even more loose with his tongue. Second, revealing that there may be “tapes” …

The New York Times reports: Only seven days after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the F.B.I. director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief. The conversation that night in January, Mr. Comey now believes, was a harbinger of his downfall this week …

After yesterday’s bumbling and lie-filled press briefing by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, snippets of which were dissected and replayed throughout yesterday afternoon, this morning Hair Furor made excuses for the lies because, after all, he’s a VERY BUSY president. Trump followed up with an open threat to end press briefings entirely. Which is totally normal. Everything is fine. Again, the story …

NBC News reports: Despite what President Donald Trump said earlier in the day, James Comey did not seek a dinner with the president to retain his job, one current and one former FBI official close to Comey told NBC News Thursday evening. The January dinner meeting between the two men, the sources said, was requested by the White House. And …

NBC News reports: The White House has abandoned the idea of President Trump visiting FBI headquarters after being told he would not be greeted warmly, administration officials told NBC News. Amid the continuing fallout over his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, Trump was considering an appearance at the FBI’s J Edgar Hoover Building in downtown Washington, DC. The …

Let’s see if she’s getting any better at lying. Via Patch: The White House continues to face questions about the firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday night. The events that led up to Comey’s termination are unclear, and many press reports tell a very different story than the one the administration has laid out. Some recent reports have …

The New York Times reports: President Trump recently sat for a long interview with The Economist magazine in which he discussed his economic agenda. One exchange was particularly attention-grabbing for anyone who could remember high school history, or had paid vague attention to the debates over stimulus during the last recession. Explaining why he seeks tax cuts even if they …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview Thursday with NBC News’ Lester Holt, called ousted FBI chief James Comey a “showboat” and revealed he asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia. “I actually asked him” if I was under investigation, Trump said, noting that he spoke with Comey once over dinner and …

The New York Times reports: The unfolding story over Mr. Trump’s abrupt firing of Mr. Comey hung over the hearing, infusing political theater into annual testimony by the nation’s top security officials about the biggest threats facing the United States. Mr. McCabe rejected the White House’s assertion that Mr. Comey had lost the backing of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents, a pointed …

Raw Story reports: Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday defended his father’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey by retweeting a conspiracy theory about Vince Foster, the former deputy White House counsel in the Clinton administration who took his own life in 1993. President Bill Clinton fired former FBI Director William Sessions in 1993 amid charges of corruption, including …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday forming a commission on voter fraud and elections, a senior administration adviser confirmed to CNN. An action that Trump has discussed since the beginning of his administration, it will be spearheaded by Vice President Mike Pence and controversial Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kobach, who helped …

The Washington Post reports: Back at work Monday morning in Washington, Trump told Vice President Pence and several senior aides — Reince Priebus, Stephen K. Bannon and Donald McGahn, among others — that he was ready to move on Comey. First, though, he wanted to talk with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his trusted confidant, and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. …

The Washington Post reports: Last week, then-FBI Director James B. Comey requested more money and resources from the Justice Department for his bureau’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussion. Comey, who was fired by President Trump on Tuesday, made the request in a meeting last week …