August 10, 2022

Trump’s Press Sec makes false accusations about Obama staffers’ pranks on incoming admin

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Now we know what White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham actually does rather than hold the daily press briefings that every other person in her position saw as an integral part of their job, but she has refused to do since assuming her position — invent exaggerated fables to attack the Obama administration.

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The evidence for that exercise comes from CNN Political Correspondent Abby D. Phillip who posted this tweet noting what Grisham said had happened at the very beginning of the Trump administration during the hand over from the previous White House occupants.

Add your name to tell Congress to investigate Pence for his role in Trump’s Ukraine corruption. The VP is complicit!

Offices filled with Obama books! Oh, the horror!

Pranks played by the outgoing staff on the members of a new administration — particularly when a new party is taking control — have a long storied history.

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Members of the Clinton administration famously removed all of the “w” keys from White House computer keyboards when George W. Bush was handed the election over then-Vice-President Al Gore by the Supreme Court after a contentious fight over vote recounts in Florida. In fact, the amount of the ”damage, theft, vandalism and pranks” perpetrated by departing Clinton staffers totaled nearly $14,000.

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Despite the legacy of such transitional taunting, however, the CNN correspondent found Grisham’s accusations somewhat less than credible — an occupational hazard in dealing with any statement by a member of the Trump administration.

Since Grisham provided no hard proof of her claims. people were skeptical that the story hadn’t been reported on when it originally happened, particularly given the animosity that Trump has displayed towards his predecessor, and why no photos or contemporaneous reports have emerged.

Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor during the Obama administration, called Grisham’s divisive fabrication a “bald faced lie” in a Twitter response to Phillip’s recounting of the allegations.

Other former Obama officials, such as former Special Assistant to the President Ned Price, also countered Grisham’s narrative.

ABC Chief White House Correspondent Johnathan Karl weighed in with his own account of being on the scene as the Trump staff moved into their offices. He says that he saw no evidence of the sort of pranks that Grisham claimed and proved photographic evidence of his own.

Phillip’s CNN colleague Jim Acosta reported on Grisham’s response to the pushback from Rice and other Obama administration staffers who called out the Press Secretary’s story as essentially malicious slander.

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Despite the attempts at damage control by Grisham over her initially broad accusation, CNN’s Phillip suggested that the press secretary put up or shut up.

At this point, there is not much that the Trump administration can say that won’t face the highest scrutiny.

That’s the legacy of a cascade of lies issued every day — a level of credibility lower than the Mariana Trench.

Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter. 

Vinnie Longobardo

is the Managing Editor of Washington Press and a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile, & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.

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