Trump has no intention or plan to fire Mueller. FALSE. Trump told the NYT that if Mueller crosses a certain "red line" he could be fired.
The charges and plea announced today had "nothing to do with the President's campaign or campaign activity." FALSE. And here's why:
· Manafort lied to the FBI *while Trump's Campaign Manager* and used his illegally gotten, Putin-linked funds to work for Trump "for free."
· So Trump was the direct beneficiary—to the tune of saving *many millions* in consulting fees—of the fact Manafort got money from Russia.
· All Papadopoulos' lies—which he's pled to—involved high-ranking Trump officials, Trump campaign activity, and protecting Trump himself.
"There's clear evidence" Clinton colluded with Russian intelligence. FALSE. This is false on almost too many grounds to mention. A start:
· Clinton's camp *continued* payments started by *Republicans* to a firm that contracted with *another* firm whose sources were *non-FSB*.
The dossier "influenced" the election. FALSE. Barring 1 article, the dossier wasn't reported on in any significant way until January '17.
The dossier "smears" the President. FALSE. Every piece of information in the dossier that can be confirmed so far *has* been confirmed.
· Clinton's camp didn't know what research they would receive and had nothing to do with its collection. And—the FBI believes the dossier.
There's been no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. FALSE. Not only is the Papadopoulos plea a smoking gun—Sessions' perjuries were too.
· Indeed—both the ongoing secret sanctions negotiations between Trump and Russia and the GOP platform change were the result of collusion.
Papadopoulos is in trouble only for not telling the truth. FALSE. The WH implies the underlying activities were all okay. They were not.
· Papadopoulos plead to Making False Statements so that he *wouldn't* have to plead to greater charges and *could* cooperate with the FBI.
There's no "official capacity" in which the campaign was involved with Papadopoulos' acts. FALSE—his actions were *campaign-sanctioned*.
The Manafort/Gates indictments deal with crimes in a time "well before" the Trump campaign existed. FALSE. Both were ongoing in 2015.
Papadopoulos had a "limited" campaign role. FALSE. He was a top adviser and a primary liaison to other nations on Trump's Russia policy.
· Papadopoulos went overseas for Trump and was one of the *only* NatSec team members kept on when the team disbanded in late July of 2016.
· Papadopoulos was giving interviews on Trump's Russia policy to Russian media as late—possibly later—than *late September of 2016*.
· All told, George Papadopoulos worked for Trump for *at least* seven months of the eleven-month campaign primary/general "voting" season.
Papadopoulos' outreach on the Kremlin's behalf was "repeatedly denied." FALSE. At all turns he was openly, clearly encouraged by emails.
Papadopoulos had no role in extra-campaign outreach. FALSE—he went to Israel for Trump, talked to Russian media for Trump and much else.
· And of course we know from his sworn plea docs that "high-ranking campaign officials" authorized him to speak to (other) Kremlin agents.
"We expect Mueller to conclude his work soon." FALSE. Recent articles confirm Trump and his lawyers are battening down for a long haul.
Sanders says Trump's last Manafort contact was in February. TRUE/FALSE? In this case it doesn't matter—because it's damning. Here's why:
· We were told Manafort called Priebus just before the inauguration—to urge Trump to release dirt on HRC—because he couldn't access Trump.
· The campaign wanted to distance Trump from Manafort *and the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting* by saying Manafort *could not access* Trump.
· Today Sanders inadvertently revealed that Manafort was still able to talk to Trump—and we know his subject was "HRC dirt"—in *February*.
Sanders now says that Donald Trump can't recall *anything* about his March 31st, 2016 meeting at Trump International Hotel in DC. FALSE.
· Trump is always lauding his perfect memory and appears to have excellent recall for (for instance) any person who has ever slighted him.
· Moreover, others at the TIHDC meeting have excellent recall: they told The Daily Caller Trump was "flattered" by Papadopoulos' proposal.
Sanders says she's had "no conversations" with Trump on pardons. FALSE. We know Trump has discussed the pardon power with his top aides.
Sanders: it's "not clear how Sessions could be said to be involved" in the Papadopoulos case. FALSE—Sessions was the kid's *supervisor*.
· Moreover, Sessions received at least some—maybe all—of Papadopoulos' March (and April, and May) emails. And he *heard him at the TIHDC*.
Sanders says she's not sure when Trump first heard of the stolen emails. Possibly TRUE, but Papadopoulos implies it was in *April 2016*.
Sanders: the indictments/plea "don't have anything to do with us." FALSE. See preceding tweets—this is, simply put, an *outrageous* lie.
Papadopoulos "volunteered" for Trump's NatSec Advisory Committee. FALSE. He was recruited by Sam Clovis; he didn't come out of nowhere.
· Papadopoulos was *chosen* by Trump's team, then *featured* by Trump in print/pictures, then *promoted* by Trump to a larger Russia role.
Trump's NatSec Committee "met only once"? FALSE. They were in constant contact via email threads—so this is a *deeply* misleading claim.
"He [Papadopoulos] wasn't responded to in any way when he reached out"—FALSE—for *months* he was responded to *throughout* the campaign.
Sanders says the dossier is "fake information" and the Clinton campaign knew that. FALSE. The dossier is substantially verified *and*...
· ...everyone who's looked at the dossier, including Steele, Fusion GPS, FBI, and others in law enforcement have *believed it to be true*.
· So the idea the Clinton campaign was in a position to know "false" a dossier that (a) is *true* and (b) the FBI believed true, is crazy.
Trump was "without a lot of reaction" when he learned of Mueller's indictments. FALSE. And—uh—I'm just going to post this picture here:
SHS says when Trump hired Papadopoulos, the latter was a "seasoned operative." FALSE. All accounts say he lacked meaningful credentials.
"We have indications" the probe will wrap up soon, Sanders says. FALSE. They're relying on Christie, it seems, who has/cites no sources.
Trump called Papadopoulos an "excellent guy" in a pro forma way. FALSE. He said his team was the best, and "sold" Papadopoulos as such.
· The other possibility is that he was lying about knowing who Papadopoulos was—which he was claiming to—but that's *not* the WH line now.
Sanders says she's "not aware" of Trump aides speaking with Papadopoulos about Kremlin meetings. FALSE—she read Papadopoulos' affidavit.
Sanders: "we haven't asked for any leak investigations." FALSE. Trump has done precisely this on Twitter in the past, and she knows it.
Sanders: "I don't know" if Trump thinks Mueller has overstepped. FALSE. Trump calling the probe a "witch hunt" makes exactly that claim.
So those are all the lies Sanders told America—on the most important federal criminal probe of our lifetimes—in a *very* short briefing. As Americans, we mustn't just expect but be *prepared for* at *least* that many lies from the White House on this—every day—from now on. It already was a massive disinformation op, but we have to understand that now the WH press office is acting to undermine legal process. When a complex criminal investigation is unfolding, *any* disinformation can obstruct or otherwise impede the work of law enforcement. So the cynicism that causes us to say, "Oh, every White House lies!"—true enough—must be set aside in these extraordinary circumstances. The appropriate thing for the White House press office to do—if it's otherwise going to lie—is to say it has "no comment" on the probe. And make no mistake, Huckabee Sanders isn't saying "no comment"—which would be easier than lying—because Trump is *pressing* her to lie. In other words it's not just the volume of Huckabee Sanders' lies, but the fact she's lying at *all* that is enormously newsworthy.
