White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders held a rare press briefing. It only lasted 10 minutes, as one reporter shouted out to her disappearing back. The briefing was a bit like an Alice in Wonderland experience.
Before she escaped down the rabbit hole, another reporter asked the press secretary whether Trump was arguing that the 24-day-0nly national security adviser, Michael Flynn was a liar. Sanders answered, according to CNN:
‘We’re disputing any actions he engaged in had nothing to do with the President. Just because, maybe he did do those things, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the President directly.’
When, Flynn appeared in court, he expected to find his get-out-of-jail card. After all, everyone including the special counsel Robert Mueller, thought a zero to six-month slap on the wrist would work. The judge disagreed.
He was offended at Flynn’s treatment of the U.S., that he was supporting foreign governments. The judge even pulled out the word “treason,” then said:
‘…you sold your country out.’
This judge was also angry that Flynn’s attorneys had the gall to say the FBI did not inform him of his rights given the job he held, national security adviser. The judge said if the defendant wanted his sentence that day, it would not go well for him. Instead, he urged Flynn to come back in 90 days. Wisely, Flynn agreed.
Sanders told the White House press corps said that there was “certainly concern” regarding the former national security adviser’s lies. Then she tried to separate Flynn’s lies from Trump:
‘No. We still firmly believe — look the things that may have taken place, again, that’s for the judge to make that determination, whether he engaged in anything inappropriate. What we do know that was inappropriate by the … self-admittance of (fired FBI Director) James Comey is that the FBI broke standard protocol in the way that they came in and ambushed Gen. Flynn and in the way that they questioned him and in the way that they encouraged not to have White House counsel’s office present.’
She continued:
‘And we know that because James Comey told us that and he said the very reason that they did it was because … they thought they could get away with it. We don’t have any reason to walk that back.’
When a reporter asked her why Trump had said nice things about and to Flynn, but not his former fixer and personal attorney, Sanders responded:
‘It’s perfectly acceptable for the President to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the court’s determination is.’
Then, it came time to answer questions about whether Trump planned on shutting down the government over his border wall. The journalist asked Sanders how the president planned on funding it. She said:
‘At this point we’re disappointed in the fact they’ve yet to vote and pass something. When they do that, we’ll make a determination whether we’re going to sign that.’
Sanders continued, spreading the problem around to POTUS’ cabinet members:
‘The President has asked every one of his cabinet secretaries to look for funding that can be used to protect our borders and give the President the ability to fulfill his constitutional obligation to protect the American people by having a secure border. So we’re looking at the other options. In the meantime we’ll see what the Senate does and let you know when we have an announcement.’
The New York attorney general decided to shut down the president’s charity, the Trump Foundation, because Trump and his three eldest children illegally used it as a piggy bank for political and private concerns. The investigation will continue, however.
The press secretary did not comment on the issue. Instead, she referred reporters to the Trump Organization, which no longer exists.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
