Clean up, Aisle 1600: WH says Trump didn't really mean that thing about declassifying Russian docume

[riversedge]

Clean up, Aisle 1600: White House says Trump didn’t really mean that thing about declassifying Russia documents

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/20/clean-up-aisle-1600-white-house-says-trump-didnt-really-mean-that-thing-about-declassifying-russia-documents/


President Trump with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, left, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in July. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Aaron Blake
Oct. 20, 2020 at 2:07 p.m. CDT

For the better part of five years now, President Trump’s allies have been put in the unenviable position of arguing that the things he says shouldn’t be taken literally — that the word of the candidate and then president shouldn’t be taken at face value because, well, sometimes he just says things. It’s a thoroughly convenient stance that allows them to believe and defend the things they want to while discounting virtually anything that’s inconvenient.

But on Tuesday, we got one of the most remarkable episodes in this saga to date: The top aide to Trump assured a court of law that what the president had said on Twitter wasn’t, in fact, what he meant and had virtually no real impact on what the U.S. government does.



In a sworn court filing Tuesday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows downplayed Trump’s recent tweet declaring that he had authorized the declassification of all related to the Russia investigation.

Trump on Oct. 6 made waves by writing: “I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”

I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions! https://t.co/GgnHh9GOiq
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020

The tweet instantly set off intrigue. Whatever Trump might have thought he was declassifying when it came to the supposed law enforcement “coup” against him, or Clinton’s emails, his tweet would also mean he had declassified items that might not reflect so well upon him. What about the redacted portions of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report? What about the evidence that was collected against him over the course of the Russia investigation that preceded it? Trump had seemingly opened himself up to a minefield of information that could suddenly be available to the public — on the eve of the election, no less.

Alas, as the president’s aides have held many times before, Meadows said Trump was effectively just spouting off..............................................

[AZ8theist]

1. "The musings of an imbecile"....

I hope President Biden reaches out to all of the former intelligence officers who left in disgust.....

And offers their jobs back.

Then arrest every fucking Russian and Russian collaborator in the US.

[lastlib]

6. including the Orange One!

and his spawn.

[Illumination]

2. So tired of hearing this clownish carnival barker's nonsense!...

[Canoe52]

3. What did the president mean, and when did he mean it?

I didn’t think it could get any more ridiculous...

[johnnyfins]

4. In a seemingly unrelated matter

It is Meadows who has been tasked with changing Don the Con's depends.

[Lonestarblue]

5. Who is really running the US government?

Think about this sentence: “The top aide to Trump assured a court of law that what the president had said on Twitter wasn’t, in fact, what he meant and had virtually no real impact on what the U.S. government does.”

Since Trump does very few meetings, including intelligence briefings, Twitter is his means of governing. Yet, what the president says has virtually no impact on what the government does. So who is running the government? The animals are now in charge of the zoo.

On the other hand, if agency heads are free to ignore Trump, the military should feel the same and can do what’s best for the country.