Last night, Buzzfeed News published a bombshell report in which it was alleged that President Donald Trump suborned his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to commit perjury by lying to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow deal. If true, it would be an earthshaking development, the kind of felonious, impeachable behavior that might finally bring down this corrupt administration.
So far, the White House response to the growing scandal has been lackluster at best. Trump himself penned a weak tweet impugning Cohen’s credibility. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s increasingly deranged attack dog called Cohen’s claims “categorically false.” These predictable defenses hardly constitute the full-court media press a PR disaster such as this requires, and illustrate the fact that the administration is woefully equipped to handle the chaos about to rain down on it.
New statement from Rudy Giuliani is the first denying Buzzfeed's article
"Any suggestion – from any source – that the President counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false."
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) January 18, 2019
"Today’s claims are just more made-up lies born of Michael Cohen’s malice and desperation, in an effort to reduce his sentence," Giuliani says
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) January 18, 2019
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Now, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has finally addressed the BuzzFeed story, and her comments offer little encouragement for the MAGA-heads still hoping that Trump will be able to claw his way out of the mess he’s created for himself.
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Rather than offer the kind of full-throated repudiation of the story that might actually inspire confidence, Huckabee Sanders just referred reporters to Giuliani’s earlier, pathetic “categorically false” comments. Her failure to stake a flag of her own on the topic almost seems like she’s personally afraid of getting caught up in this scandal.
In the past, she’s shown what could almost be described as a passion for lying, swatting away legitimate questions with disinformation and faux outrage. Her relatively demure approach to reporters today could indicate a sense inside the White House that things are about to get very bad. Hopefully, that turns out to be the case.
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Sarah Huckabee Sanders rejects the BuzzFeed report that Pres. Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie: "It's categorically false." https://t.co/hQvKXg7FXj pic.twitter.com/ly3BJcOrVo
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 18, 2019
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says the Buzzfeed report that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a proposed Moscow project is "categorically false" https://t.co/fwhdLwgQqw pic.twitter.com/uM7BFE33WG
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 18, 2019
