The Emperor has a lovely wardrobe and he wears it so well
by digby
Sycophants on parade:
Omarosa Manigault Newman released a new audio recording of President Donald Trump in an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” in which the president “crashed” a meeting of White House communications staffers and talked to them of how it was Hillary Clinton who was linked to collusion with Russia.
The meeting took place in October of 2017, Manigault Newman said.
“I think Hillary is getting killed now with Russia. The real Russia story is Hillary and collusion,” Trump said during the recording before talking about the amount that a law firm was paid to gather opposition research on the president.
The firm, Perkins Coie, was working on behalf of Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, and hired Fusion GPS in 2016. Fusion GPS subcontracted with former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele to collect information, and he eventually produced a dossier that outlined Trump’s ties to Russia.
In the recording, Trump says that “somebody told me it was $9 million they spent on the phony report,” and alleges that it was a campaign finance violation.
“So the whole Russia thing, I think, seems to have turned around. What do you think Sarah?” Trump is heard, directing his question at Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who replies, “Absolutely.”
If he were a normal president I would think he was giving his communications staff their marching orders in a way that provides plausible deniability. But he doesn't need to be this subtle. He tweets his marching orders to them every single day.
He was just looking for reassurance. And he got it.
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