As Politico reports, President Trump’s adventures in organizing the Justice Department took another weird turn today:
President Donald Trump defended acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker as a “highly respected man” on Friday, while also claiming he didn’t know him despite reports Whitaker had regularly visited the Oval Office in recent months.
“I don’t know Whitaker,” the president told reporters, but added that he is “highly thought of” and a “highly respected man.”
The New York Times reported in September that Whitaker, then the chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, had “frequently visited the Oval Office” and that Trump had called him to offer “reassurance that he has faith in him.” The Washington Post also cited a senior administration official who said Whitaker met with Trump in the Oval Office more than a dozen times, usually alongside Sessions.
Trump has also previously said that he does actually know Whitaker.
“I can tell you Matt Whitaker’s a great guy,” he said on an interview on “Fox and Friends” on Oct. 11. “I mean, I know Matt Whitaker.” [Pols emphasis]
This all might just be a really clumsy attempt by President Trump to throw Matthew Whitaker under the bus in the midst of heavy criticism over the appointment…but it is a remarkably lazy effort. The odds are pretty good that somebody has at least one photo of Trump and Whitaker together.
Of course, it’s also not out of the realm of possibility that Trump doesn’t remember his interactions with Whitaker, which is also terrifying.
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@Realdonaldschmuck
You mean that bald guy who comes in every Tuesday at the White House Glory Hole to …uhh,…discuss foreign policy with me …THAT'S my new Attorney General?
When Trump said, "Matt Whitaker is a great guy. I mean I know Matt Whitaker," he meant "I know that he is a guy I have seen on CNN, repeatedly, saying all the things that I want my AG to say." He "knows" him in the sense that Whitaker has been speaking directly to him (through the magic box) for months. For Trump, and many of his followers, what he sees and hears on TV is much more real than what he sees in his immediate surroundings or is told through briefings.
Or it might mean that Trumpty knows it's bullshit and knows his beloved base will swallow it anyway.
Whitaker: you know…
The guy standing next to Jeff Sessions, who talked to the President and CoS Kelly far more often than Sessions himself…
The guy who has been advising Trump on how to weaponize the DoJ against his political opponents…
The guy who hasbeen whispering sweet nothings in Trump's ear about how to kill the special counsel's investigation without firing Mueller outright.
The guy who thinks that Madison v Marbury was incorrectly decided, who thinks the courts should be inferior.
Oh – and the guy who is under active FBI investigation for defrauding inventors via a scam patent company.
Yeah…that guy.
Cut from the same bolt of cloth as Nixons' two chief thugs, Haldeman and Erlichmann. Just another criminal in the T***p family mob.
Now, now. Halderman and Erlichmann, the twins of Watergate, were not personally venal and had not used their positions to pressure someone into continuing to be fleeced.
Dunno, JID. Maybe so. I think this guy is more of the " Mack the Knife" sort. First you notice the pleasant smile…then you see all the blood.
Don't turn your back on him.😳
I don't think you want to turn your back on ANY of them…. And Whitaker, the power lifter, really shouldn't be ignored in person.
H & E apparently thought themselves affluent enough or at least had enough honor to NOT join with some of the grasping Republicans of their day. Agnew, Rebozo, and a few others were the scam artists / political grafters of their day.
I heard a story from a Newport RI resident of a real estate scam there run by Rebozo, Doris Duke, and Nixon involving the announcement of the closing of a naval base there, a suddenly depressed real estate market, multiple purchases of properties by holding companies and such ( owned by, guess who?), then a surprise cancellation of the closing order.
Someone made a LOT of money.
Trump lies like he breathes and like everything else he does, he's terrible at it.