Trump's biggest weapon: Lawyers
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Tapper on Trump tapes: 'The plan seems to have backfired
Jake Tapper on Trump's 'tapes' statement: 'The plan seems to have backfired'
Story highlights
- Tapper on how Trump handled Comey: "Not a great strategy"
- Tapper: White House's "accountability-free zone" an abnormal norm for Trump
(CNN)On
Thursday morning, President Donald Trump formally revealed what many
within Washington, DC had already assumed: He does not, in fact, have
recordings of his conversation with former FBI Chief James Comey.
But for CNN's Jake Tapper, it was the administration's afternoon activity that proved most telling.
"After
the President's admission today, the White House held a press briefing
in which cameras were banned, and the audio was not provided
live. Rather it was released after the fact," said the host of CNN's
"The Lead."
Labeling
such a practice as both "odd and unusual," Tapper suggested it's fast
becoming an abnormal norm for the Trump administration.
"This
is part and parcel of a White House trying to operate in something
close to an accountability-free zone," Tapper concluded, referencing an
environment in which the President's staff is saved from appearing live
on television to "defend aberrant behavior on Twitter or explain the
false things" claimed by Trump.
Tweets, lies and videotape
As
for the President's initial claim, one that came -- naturally, via
Twitter -- 41 days ago, Tapper wondered about Trump's motive.
"Now it is unclear why the
President made that initial tweet. Was it bluster? Witness
intimidation?" he asked rhetorically. If Trump's goal was to force Comey
into honest testimony, Tapper said, "the plan seems to have backfired."
After all, on the stand, less than a month after the Trump tweet, it was the now-former FBI director who famously uttered "Lordy, I hope there are tapes."
To Tapper, simply the suggestion of recordings lifted a weight square off of Comey's 6-foot-8-inch frame.
"The
notion of tapes, for Comey, that tweet, that made him excited,"
surmised the host. So much so, that on June 8 the FBI's once top-cop
testified that he was moved to pass along details of his conversations
with Trump to an associate. Comey's hope was that the information would
soon be splashed across the nation's newspapers, lead the next day's
newscasts, and ultimately, result in the hiring of a special counsel.
Enter Mr. Mueller
"Comey's
plan worked," Tapper said. On May 17, Robert Mueller was appointed by
the Justice Department as special counsel overseeing the investigation
into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
While
Trump's reason for the original tweet -- the one threatening that Comey
"better hope" there are no tapes -- remains unclear, Tapper is
convinced it didn't unfold exactly as the commander-in-chief had hoped.
"Not a great strategy President Trump," he said.
140 Characters of Confusion
In
issuing a wide-sweeping indictiment of the adminstration's
communication process to date, Tapper said he'd ask Trump about the
various inconsistencies of his tenure, including conflicting public
statements on the non-binding Paris climate agreement. However, that
simply isn't permissible by the President.
"He
is limiting his interviews," said Tapper, adding that his staffers
prefer to simply suggest "the President has been very clear, when he has
been anything but."
As for Trump's
preferred method of promoting his message, the one he often turns to
late at night, or in the wee hours of the morning? Tapper reminded his
viewers of the administration's insistence that "the tweet speaks for
itself," before closing his monologue with an opinion to the contrary.
"The tweet most certainly does not," he concluded, noting "as was made clear just today."
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