Trump continues assault on FBI and “dishonest media”, via Twitter and a conference speech


Developments on Day 36 of the Trump Administration:

Trump Attacks Press and FBI

Amid pressure on his Administration over possible links with Russia, Donald Trump strikes out at the press and the FBI both on Twitter and in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Before addressing CPAC, Trump denounced the FBI in a pair of tweets:

Trump appeared to have been provoked by the FBI’s refusal of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus’s request that the agency tell the media there was nothing of substance to the claims of Administration-Russia links. The news of Priebus’s approach — possibly violating the restriction on contact with the FBI during an ongoing investigation — then spread through press and broadcast media.

Unable to get the FBI to dismiss the Russia story, the White House spent Friday morning trying to put out its version. It insisted that the FBI’s Deputy Director had told Priebus that the claims of Russian links were “bullshit” and that FBI Director James Comey repeated this, even as he refused to speak to the media. However, the White House tale failed to catch on with the press.

Meanwhile, Trump opened his CPAC speech:

You know, the dishonest media, they’ll say he didn’t get a standing ovation. You know why? No, you know why? Because everybody stood and nobody sat. So they’ll say he never got a standing ovation, right?

They are the worst.

Encouraged by some in the crowd chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”, he continued, “I want you all to know we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake. Phony. Fake. A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. They are the enemy of the people.”

Read full transcript

Trump specifically declared, “They have no sources, they just make them up when there are none,” a claim that brought an immediate correction on social media exposing the Presidency’s hypocrisy:

Other observers noted that the White House had briefed the press — on anonymous basis — hours before the speech and mocked Trump’s use of pseudonyms like “John Miller” and “John Barron” when he posed as his own assistant in phone calls.

Trump also raised eyebrows when, having berated the media for its dubious sourcing, he based his exposition on the refugee danger to Europe on a friend named “Jim”:

I have a friend, he’s a very, very substantial guy, he loves the city of lights. He loves Paris. For years, every year during the summer he would go to Paris. It was automatic. With his wife and his family. Hadn’t seen him in a while. And I said, Jim, let me ask you a question, how’s Paris doing? Paris? I don’t go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris.

Trump did not relent throughout the speech, however — “There are some terrible, dishonest people that do a tremendous disservice to our country, and to our people” — and continued last night on Twitter:

White House Bars Leading Media From Briefing

The White House continues its battle with the media by barring high-profile outlets from a briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, the BBC, and the Guardian were blocked, while right-wing outlets such as the Washington Times, One American News Network, and Breitbart — the hard-right webstie edited by Steve Bannon before he became the White House chief strategist — were hand-picked to attend.

The White House press pool usually includes representatives from one television outlet, one radio outlet and one print outlet, as well as reporters from a few wire services. In this case, four of the five major television networks — NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News — were invited and attended the meeting, while only CNN was blocked.

The Associated Press, Time magazine, and USA Today left the press “gaggle” in protest.

Spicer explains the ban, “We’re not going to sit back and let false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there.”

How Trump’s Audience Waved Russian Flags

Amid the ongoing investigation of the Trump Administration’s links with Russia, some of his audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference offer a surprise by waving Russian flags with “TRUMP” inscribed on them.

Two activists passed out roughly 1,000 flags. Members of the audience took pictures and kept waving the flags until security told them, “If you wave these, you will be removed.”

Trump’s Mystery “Six-Block Line”

Trump prompts fact-checking and teasing on social media when he declares in his CPAC speech, “There are lines that go back 6 blocks. I tell you that because you won’t read about it.”

An image of the scene outside the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center as Trump spoke:

CPAC NON-CROWD

A CPAC volunteer outside the main doors said there were “spurts” of people who came to the event together by bus, but told about Trump’s statement, she laughed in disbelief and said, “No! Six blocks?”

Chicago Police Hit Back at Trump Tweets: We Never Heard from White House

Chicago police hit back at Donald Trump’s tweets over the city’s crime rate, saying they asked the White House for help but have heard nothing.

Superintendent of Police Eddie Johnson said:

We have challenges with gun violence in several neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city. It’s unacceptable to me, to the Mayor and to Everyone who lives in Chicago.

We’ve made requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work — from increasing federal gun prosecution to more FBI, [Drug Enforcement Agency] and [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] agents to more funding for mentoring, job training and more. We are still waiting for the administration’s response to our request.

Trump has repeatedly used Chicago as an example of a supposed crisis in America’s inner cities — even though violent crime in the US has been decreasing, with murder rates at their lowest since the 1960s.

State Department’s Work Hindered by Worries Over Leaks

State Department employees say their work is being hindered by worries over leaks of information, as well as lack of communication from the staff around Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“There’s so much that’s not being communicated inside the building and it’s a huge problem that effects everybody,” a career State Department official said. “Posts are calling us and asking us, ‘What are we supposed to say?’ We don’t know what to tell them.”

Officials said detailed readouts of Tillerson’s meetings with foreign officials are no longer distributed widely, leaving staff in relevant bureaus unsure of what transpired. One source said the Secretary of State has limited those allowed inside the daily 9:15 a.m. senior staff meeting, a key channel through which various State Department offices and bureaus learn about the day’s agenda and get direction from Tillerson’s office.

Another source said he was instructed to make requests for policy information and guidance over the phone or in person, rather than commit any discussions to an e-mail that might be leaked.

But the anti-leak measures are already in difficulty: a four-page memo outlining them was soon leaked to The Washington Post.

GOP Congressman: Trump Should Release Tax Returns

A Republican Congressman calls on Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

At a town hall meeting, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida was pressed by the crowd when he would not say whether Congress should subpoena the records.

“If you hear me out, you’ll like my answer,” Gaetz said. “Absolutely, Donald Trump should release his tax returns.”

Representative Mark Sanford of South Carolina has also said the returns should be released, and GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine said in an interview on Wednesday that she was open to Congress demanding the documents.

Trump Order for Task Forces On Regulations

Donald Trump signs an executive order directing each federal agency to set up a task force to identify regulations that can be scaled back.

“Every regulation should have to pass a simple test,” Trump said. “Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it — and getting rid of it quickly.”

Among executives in the Oval Office for the signing ceremony were leaders of Lockheed Martin and Dow Chemical.