a Spicy Dish - Josh's take on the presser - TPM - "The Takeaway So Far"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-takeaway-so-far

By JOSH MARSHALL Published FEBRUARY 14, 2017, 1:55 PM EDT

Here are the big points I can see from Spicer's remarks.

1. Spicer denied that Flynn or any other campaign officials were in touch with Russian government officials during the campaign. That is flatly contradicted in multiple press reports.

2. Spicer insists that President Trump instinctively knew that what Gen. Flynn did was not wrong and his White House Counsel confirmed this for him.

3. Spicer claims that the President did not instruct Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian Ambassador.

4: Spicer was neither asked nor answered whether President Trump knew about Flynn's communications with the Ambassador at the time or whether Flynn misled the President.

5. Spicer says that President Trump was not aware of the Flynn/Russia discussions when they happened and only learned of them after the DOJ briefed the White House Counsel.

His earlier reaction to the presser (pressed spiced ham?) = http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/reacting-to-spicer

By JOSH MARSHALL Published FEBRUARY 14, 2017, 1:28 PM EDT

1:35 PM: Spicer just awkwardly denied, if I'm understanding this right, that Flynn or anyone else had conversations with Russian officials during the election. This has been reported as a fact in the Times, the Post and in other media outlets.

1:31 PM: Here's a key passage from what Spicer said: "When the President heard the information presented by White House counsel, he instinctively thought that general Flynn did not do anything wrong and the White House Counsel's review corroborated that."

1:25 PM: Note that in Sean Spicer's initial discussion of the Flynn matter, he clearly did not say that Flynn had misled the President. The consistent refrain is that he misled Vice President Pence "and others." He also went to great lengths to say there was nothing substantively or legally wrong with what Flynn what Flynn did. The issue is entirely one of communication between Michael Flynn and the Vice President "and others." Spicer said the President lost confidence because of Flynn's lack of truthfulness with Pence. It is no accident that there is no mention of Flynn misleading the President.

[GusBob]

1. Who has the goddamned transcripts, what are the dates, and what do they say?

The WH must have seen them and are pussy footing around the truth

[pinboy3niner]

2. Didn't Spicer also say transition team was constantly getting readouts on counterpart discussions?

Yet he insists Trump knew nothing about Flynn's calls until WH Counsel informed him.