The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign, multiple US officials briefed on the matter tell CNN.
But a White House official said late Thursday that the request was only made after the FBI indicated to the White House it did not believe the reporting to be accurate.
White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said. The reports of the contacts were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14.
The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations.
Oh hell no!
The White House can't do this!
That is called interfering in an ongoing investigation. Regular citizens get thrown in the clink for that shit.
Of course once again Spicey bitched that this was a mischaracterization of what happened:
"We didn't try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth," Spicer said.
So here we are again. Being asked to decide whether or not it's the media or this poor man's Melissa McCarthy telling the truth.
Well you know where I land on that.
To be honest, though it is completely indefensible, it is understandable as to why the White House is so desperate to keep all of this quiet.
As Politico reports this investigation is taking stage front and center at many recent GOP town halls:
Constituents and liberal activists are demanding to know what GOP lawmakers are doing to help or hinder investigations into the president’s ties to Moscow and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The scrutiny suggests the firestorm over alleged ties between Russian officials and members of Trump’s campaign and administration has spread well beyond the Beltway.
“I am very concerned about the Trump administration and his ties to Russia,” a woman told GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley in Garner, Iowa, on Tuesday — winning huge applause from the overflow crowd when she said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation.
And the pressure got to be a little too much for Cheeto Hitler who seems to have wrested his Twitter account way from his handlers long enough to tweet this:
The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
What is that old saying again?find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
"He who lives by the leaks, dies by the leaks?"
Well it was something like that.
Source http://ift.tt/2lBtdDr
