Trump Gives Impromptu WSJ Interview, Ties Brennan Clearance Decision To ‘Witch Hunt’

US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a dinner with business leaders in Bedminster, New Jersey, on August 7, 2018. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOW... US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a dinner with business leaders in Bedminster, New Jersey, on August 7, 2018. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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As White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to subdue suspicions that President Trump’s decision to revoke the security clearance of a former CIA director was in the interest of national security and not an attack on his political critics, Trump has proven it was, in fact, a pounce on those who have lambasted him.  

During a 20-minute impromptu interview with the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, Trump blamed former CIA Director John Brennan — and the nine other, notably Democratic, former officials whose security clearances he’s reviewing — for starting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Brennan was one of the officials who informed Trump about Russian meddling just before his inauguration.

“I call it the rigged witch hunt, (it) is a sham,” he told the WSJ. “And these people led it! … So I think it’s something that had to be done.”

Trump also said he had planned to announce his decision to revoke Brennan’s clearance last week, but things were “hectic” and said he would revoke a Republican’s clearance as well “if I thought they were incompetent or crazy.”

Read the full WSJ stories here and here.  

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Notable Replies

  1. And the flailing continues.

    The witch hunt that has generated legitimate indictments and may, after this week, put a guy or two in prison for a very long time.

    The noose is tightening.

  2. He might as well be sitting in a police interrogation room downtown, writing out his confession on a yellow pad. This is ridiculous. It goes beyond projection—he has some strange compulsion to confess to these obstructions, presumably because he feels it’s a projection of his trademark spurious “strength” and is too god-damn dumb to realize what he’s actually saying. He doesn’t understand the concept of obstruction, either intellectually or emotionally, so he can’t seem to shut his idiot mouth. Amazing.

  3. Date ______

    Today Mr. Mueller announced the indictment of Donald Trump the current POTUS.

    In count number 100 of the indictment Mr. Mueller noted the allegations of abuse of power over revoking the security clearance of Mr. Brennan.

    The indictment continues. …

  4. Can Josh call 'em, or what?

    But let’s just put it squarely: President Trump never speaks publicly without the Russia probe being front and center. Never. Even when he’s bragging about the greatest economy in human history, or African-American unemployment or his increasingly obviously failed gambit in North Korea, the Russia probe is always there as the backdrop or counterpoint, whether explicitly or implicitly. And it’s usually the former.
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trumpian-cognition-and-the-specter-of-the-russia-probe

     

    Trump blamed former CIA Director John Brennan — and the nine other, notably Democratic, former officials whose security clearances he’s reviewing — for starting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

    Q.E.D.

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