Reacting to Spicer

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

1:35 PM: Spicer just awkwardly denied, if I’m understanding this right, that Flynn or anyone else had conversations with Russian officials during the election. This has been reported as a fact in the Times, the Post and in other media outlets.

1:31 PM: Here’s a key passage from what Spicer said: “When the President heard the information presented by White House counsel, he instinctively thought that general Flynn did not do anything wrong and the White House Counsel’s review corroborated that.”

1:25 PM: Note that in Sean Spicer’s initial discussion of the Flynn matter, he clearly did not say that Flynn had misled the President. The consistent refrain is that he misled Vice President Pence “and others.” He also went to great lengths to say there was nothing substantively or legally wrong with what Flynn what Flynn did. The issue is entirely one of communication between Michael Flynn and the Vice President “and others.” Spicer said the President lost confidence because of Flynn’s lack of truthfulness with Pence. It is no accident that there is no mention of Flynn misleading the President.

Latest Editors' Blog
  • |
    December 24, 2024 12:22 p.m.

    Here’s some Christmas Eve entertainment for you. By perhaps making Mike Johnson unelected as Speaker (not a done deal but…

  • |
    December 23, 2024 12:18 p.m.

    Just an update: There are currently 47 tickets remaining for TPM’s first live podcast taping, which will take place on…

  • |
    December 20, 2024 11:07 p.m.

    As of Friday evening it appears that the Trump/Musk GOP has managed to put out, or at least move to…

  • |
    December 20, 2024 2:00 p.m.

    I admit I’ve been saying mostly the same thing in my last few posts on events on Capitol Hill. I…

Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: