Mad as tinfoil hatters by @BloggersRUs

Mad as tinfoil hatters

by Tom Sullivan

Yesterday's classified briefing at the White House were odd even for a day the president sent the leader of North Korea a "Dear John" letter. The briefings on the FBI's reported "confidential source" on the Trump campaign farcically included the presence of White House lawyer Emmett Flood.

Democrats responded:

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "Never seen a Gang of Eight meeting that included any presence from the White House. Those individuals left before the substance of it. Unusual times."

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, called Flood's presence "completely inappropriate." "Although he did not participate in the meetings which followed, as the White House's attorney handling the Special Counsel's investigation, his involvement — in any capacity — was entirely improper, and I made this clear to him," Schiff said in a statement.

The purpose of the meeting was to review information regarding Trump's concocted outrage over the FBI informant who provided information on Russian efforts to infiltrate the Trump election campaign. In Trump's mind, this counterintelligence effort is evidence of a "deep state" conspiracy against him.

"Nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the FBI or any intel agency placed a spy in the Trump campaign," Schiff told reporters.

Steve Benen writes, "The president made this demand for brazenly political reasons, threatening to undermine not only the rule of law, but also a probe in which Trump is a subject." But of course he did. The White House is desperate to derail the Mueller investigation by any means necessary.

Benen provided a list of some of the other conspiracy theories floated by the White House and its coterie:

* Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. (He didn’t.)

* There were improper unmaskings. (There weren’t.)

* The FISA warrants related to Carter Page were improper. (They weren’t).

* It was Democrats who actually colluded with Russia. (They didn’t.)

* Conspiring FBI officials may be guilty of “treason.” (They aren’t.)

* “Uranium One” is a real scandal. (It isn’t.)

* Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) had improper communications with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch. (He didn’t.)

* Every member of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team is a rabid Democratic partisan. (Mueller is a Republican.)

* Law enforcement officials ”infiltrated” the Trump campaign, “implanting” a “spy” in the Republican operation. (They didn’t.)

"Innocent people generally don't try to undermine investigations through a series of ridiculous conspiracy theories," Benen tweeted.

Is he implying something? He might be implying something.

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