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What's driving the narrative? Is it fake news, PR stunts, real legal arguments?

General Discussion
#97

As Gen Kelly leaves this WH, he is giving a LOT of interviews, and reporters are straightening out some facts.

Kelly is interviewed by LA Times, NYT and Washington Post (written early Dec) I am highlighting some from each.

LAT

Kelly rejects reports that Trump bristled at the endless briefings and Kelly’s tight-fisted control of access to the Oval Office.

…

The stalemate also highlights the distance, at least in language, between Kelly and Trump over the president’s signature promise — to build a wall.

“To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Kelly said.

…

Kelly faulted the administration for failing to follow procedure and failing to anticipate the public outrage for the two most controversial initiatives of his tenure: Trump’s travel ban in January 2017, and the “zero tolerance” immigration policy and family separations this year.

…

When Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence, Kelly seemed to hang his head in disapproval. But later he defended Confederate memorials and suggested the Civil War was not caused by slavery but inability to compromise.

In early 2018, Kelly conceded he’d mishandled the removal of Rob Porter, then-White House staff secretary, after reports emerged that two ex-wives had accused Porter of abuse.

…

Asked why he stayed 18 months in the White House, despite policy differences, personality clashes, the punishing schedule, and a likely lasting association with some of Trump’s controversies, he said simply: duty.

“Military people,” he said, “don’t walk away.”

NYT

Mr. Kelly has clashed with Mr. Trump over the nature of the wall before. When Mr. Kelly said earlier this year on Fox News that Mr. Trump’s views on a border wall were not “fully informed” and had “evolved,” the president was enraged and berated him.

“The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter a short time later.

…

But Mr. Kelly said the president never ordered him to do anything against the law, and that he would have quit if that had happened.

WAPO

But the departure of Kelly — a four-star general with battlefield experience and deep government know-how — deprives the West Wing of a seasoned leader who was seen by allies as a check on some of the president’s most reckless impulses.

@evanperez (CNN)

Evan Pérez Retweeted Maggie Haberman

It’s remarkable that Kelly now admits the chaos of travel ban implementation, thanks to Stephen Miller & Co, when he previously lied to the public and press. The reporting, it turns out, was spot on. Kelly was lying.

@maggieNYT

The current theme out of some in the WH comms shop is “there’s no chaos to see in this White House,” a narrative Trump has hoped will replace the actual reporting. This Kelly interview affirms most of the real-time reporting about how it is there.

written Dec 9, 2018

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#98

WH is saying very little and not availing itself to reporter’s questions…That is the easiest way to control the narrative. Say nothing more, leaving a lot of speculation…

This is the least responsive White House press operation I’ve ever dealt with by far,” said Peter Baker, a veteran White House reporter for the New York Times and one of the co-authors of the story about Trump’s isolation. “There are certainly individuals there who are professional and try to be helpful when they can, and I appreciate their efforts, I really do. But as a whole, I’ve learned not to expect answers even to basic questions.”
Adds Baker, “I don’t know why that is. I don’t take it personally. But it’s a lost opportunity on their part to get their side of the story out.”

The White House has had no response to stories large and small in recent days: reports that Trump planned to meet with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome H. Powell, whom he has criticized (no response to Agence France-Presse); the partial shutdown of the federal government (no response to Reuters or USA Today); a report by an advocacy group that wealthy donors gave $55 million to groups supporting his reelection, despite Trump’s stated opposition to such donations during the 2016 campaign (no response to Washington Post); Trump’s statement that former secretary of state Rex Tillerson was “dumb as a rock” (no response to CNBC); a piece in the Times reporting that a podiatrist may have helped Trump dodge the draft when Trump was a young man at the height of the Vietnam War.

At the same time, the White House seems to have all but stopped explaining Trump’s bizarre tweets.

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#99

The DOJ is further Inflaming the immigration issue with false official reporting. When facts are misconstrued to support a position then authoritarianism is at play here.

It stokes further animosity and distruct of government.
#moredisruption

Justice Dept. admits error but won’t correct report linking terrorism to immigration

Released by the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the report stated that 402 of 549 individuals — nearly 3 in 4 — convicted of international terrorism charges since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were foreign-born.

The report was written in compliance with President Trump’s March 2017 executive orderhalting immigration from six majority-Muslim countries.

Critics immediately expressed alarm at what they considered highly misleading data presented without context. They called it an attempt to misuse law enforcement agencies to advance a political agenda in opposition to immigration, and former senior counterterrorism officials warned it could play into terrorists’ hands by fueling misperceptions about radicalization and stoking societal divides.

Several government watchdog and civil liberty groups in May sued the two agencies in two federal courts, seeking a retraction or correction under the little-known Information Quality Act. The agencies refused, and the courts stayed the lawsuits to allow time for an administrative appeal.

Link to WaPo article

https://t.co/2uZBBwFWtq

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#100

A possible preview for T’s Saturday’s speech - caravans, now let’s bring up ‘prayer rugs.’ Misinformation campaign for sure…fear mongering par excellence.

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#101

George Conway…always taking a shot at T. Thank you.

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#102

From Cliff SIms New Book Team of Vipers, an excerpt about the diabolical tactics KellyAnne Conway uses to get stories she wants into the press. She’s their #1 leaker…probably next to T himself, and others of course.

What is curious about this is the willful manipulation of the news, coming from a source who invented the words “Alternative facts.” She is a spin meister, the high priestess of spin…and more. Strangely, she could just be the Mystery writer of the NYT’s piece…

(Who is mystery NY Times Op Ed Author)

She is duplicitous as she will trash people via her leaks to the Press, then support them to their faces. I had heard the remark that during Morning Joe and mentioned in this article, KellyAnne after her mike was turned off, openly said disparaging remarks, like “I need to take a shower…” would be a signal to those in the MSM she does not play it straight. She is in love with her own power and the position she finds herself in.

And the fact her husband George Conway tweets all the condemning words towards the president (and rightfully so) makes me think that perhaps the long plan for the Conways was always to get out of this mess alive, and with a name to carry on as a respectible lawyer, and who knows what for KellyAnne.

She will claim that she never had any Russian contacts, because she started after Manafort and knew nothing about any tactics the campaign used…but she may be connected with Cambridge Analytica…who knows.

Below is an excerpt on how KellyAnne’s IMessages to several main stream reporters were read by Cliff in real time while he worked on a statement for her to read. She had let him use her computer, and all that was synced up on her IPHONE, IMAC etc could be seen on all her computers.

Trump Aide Recalls Conway’s Leaking Tactics in the West Wing Viper’s Nest
In this exclusive excerpt from Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, a former Trump aide recalls the leaking, the gossiping, and the infighting that made Kellyanne Conway such a formidable player in the White House.

I sat down and started slowly pecking out a statement. While working in the White House, I found that I’d grown so accustomed to writing in Trump’s voice that writing for other people had become somewhat harder than it nor­mally would have been. I was already getting off to a slow start, but I was also getting distracted by the nonstop stream of iMessages popping up on the screen. At that point, personal phones had not yet been banned in the West Wing, so Kellyanne was sitting at her desk texting away. And since her iMes­sage account was tied to both her phone and her laptop, which she must not have even considered, I could inadvertently see every conversation she was having.

Over the course of 20 minutes or so, she was having simultaneous conversations with no fewer than a half­-dozen reporters, most of them from outlets the White House frequently trashed for publishing “fake news.” Jour­nalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Politico, and Bloomberg were all popping up on the screen. And these weren’t policy conversations, or attempts to fend off attacks on the president. As I sat there trying to type, she bashed Jared Kushner, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, and Sean Spicer, all by name. (“The real leakers, past and present, get much more positive press than I do. While it’s rare, I prefer to knife people from the front, so they see it coming,” Conway said in a statement shortly after publication. According to a source familiar with the situation, the statement was drafted in consultation with her husband, George Conway. Subsequently, George Conway has denied involvement with the statement on Twitter. A White House aide close to Kellyanne Conway insisted that George Conway was not involved in this statement, but did contribute to the statement submitted to Morning Joe. )

She also recounted private conversations she’d had with the president, during which, at least in her telling, she’d convinced him to see things her way, which she said was a challenge when you’re deal­ing with someone so unpredictable and unrestrained. She wasn’t totally trashing the president, at least as the Morning Joe crew described it, but she definitely wasn’t painting him in the most favorable light. She was talking about him like a child she had to set straight. I was sitting there, watching this, totally bewildered. I was supposed to be writing a statement, defending her against accusations that she had done almost exactly what I was watch­ing her do that very moment.

When Fox & Friends co-host Abby Huntsman later asked Kellyanne about allegations that she was the “No. 1 leaker” in the administration, she sidestepped the question, only saying that “leakers get great press,” and adding that “one day, Abby, I will have my say.”

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#103

The Fox Network group are suggesting that CNN was staking out Stone’s house this am that they were tipped off by FBI…

FWIW
Fridays tend to be day for indictments, Stone has been a target a long time and there are always stakeouts…

Conservative media having a problem with this…

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#104

Idiot’s delight…his main refrain rings hollow.

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#105

Shame on Van Susteren. She makes the claim that the FBI tipped off CNN yet offers absolutely nothing to back it up. She just plucked that out of thin air. My opinion of her was always low and it has now dropped to zero – I will never again listen to any of her commentaries following this flagrant, concocted accusation.

Van Susteren’s unsupported allegation is especially unconscionable since she knows it will be picked up by Trump and, sure enough, he’s spreading the smear today (his tweet: “Who alerted CNN to be there?”). Millions of Trump’s followers have now been conned into believing one more unsubstantiated black mark against the FBI. Yes, we could indeed find out that the FBI leaked the arrest particulars to CNN, but so far there is no basis to make this claim and it is reprehensible to do so.

In fact, all the signs point to CNN’s coverage of the arrest simply being the result of dogged, expert journalism. As reported in Lawfare’s excellent analysis of Stone’s indictment posted by @Pet_Proletariat:

Trump and some media figures have questioned how CNN came to have cameras at Stone’s house at the time of his arrest. “Who alerted CNN to be there?” the president asked, clearly implying that someone had leaked that the arrest was happening. And in the same tweet, he complained about the manner in which law enforcement dealt with Stone: “Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better.”

This suggestion has gathered steam in pro-Trump media in the hours since Stone’s arrest. But in fact, it’s no secret why Mueller’s team decided to execute an early morning raid, rather than allow Stone to surrender himself to authorities. The special counsel’s office made this very clear in its motion to seal the indictment and related warrants and motions, filed the day before Stone’s arrest:

Law enforcement believes that publicity resulting from disclosure of the Indictment and related materials on the public record prior to arrest will increase the risk of the defendant fleeing and destroying (or tampering with) evidence. It is therefore essential that any information concerning the pending indictment in this district be kept sealed prior to the defendant’s arrest.

In such circumstances, the treatment of Stone is quite normal: arrests are often made by the FBI, and warrants are generally executed, in early-morning hours as a matter of standard operating procedures.

Trump’s suggestion that law enforcement leaked the coming raid also seems wholly unlikely. Law enforcement tends to take the secrecy surrounding raids extremely seriously; a leak risks compromising an investigation in the precise way Mueller’s filing suggests, not to mention potentially placing FBI agents in physical danger. More importantly, CNN has offered a detailed explanation of how its reporters obtained the story, saying reporters had been “staking out Stone because there was just enough evidence lurking in the special counsel’s activity over the past week that CNN’s team covering the Mueller investigation placed a bet that Stone could be arrested as early as Friday.” According to CNN, the first hints were provided when a Mueller’s team told a grand jury witness to select a day for testimony other than Friday—an indication the special counsel’s office anticipated being busy. Then the grand jury was set to meet Thursday, instead of on the usual Friday. CNN reporters then observed Mueller’s prosecutors in the courthouse meeting with the grand jury and later saw one of those prosecutors wheeling a suitcase, suggesting plans to travel. CNN decided to send a team to stake out Stone’s house in case an arrest was imminent. In other words, this does not appear to have been a leak it all—just good reporting leading to a scoop.

And here’s CNN’s own validation of their hunch about the timing of the Stone indictment – yesterday, I happened to catch this CNN alert speculating that the arrest might come the next day (today):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=5loQowx3KKo

In other words, if CNN had neglected to be at Stone’s house early this morning, they would not have been doing their job as journalists. Heck, if I lived within driving distance, I would have been tempted to be there myself, sitting in my car having my morning cup of joe and staking out the place along with the CNN crew. :male_detective: :coffee:

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#106

All great points about how CNN was on it, and anticipated another indictment. The CNN gang (and others) keep their eyes on the Mueller movements in the courts, the filings etc. Information seeped out last night as well that there had been another sealed indictment filed in the last day or so…🔍 All things Mueller - What we know he has on Trump 'n Co Not sure if it is the same indictment…the numbers do NOT match but heck, that’s a clue along the trail.

The immediate blowback from the Greta’s, the Drudge Reports, the Pres are just more indicators how they want to this to be perceived…and making CNN the bad guy, or an non-extistent FBI leak the culprit.

Yes, @Keaton_James I would not mind observing the Roger Stone’s get pulled in and indicted myself… We need these victories…and :boom:'s

FWIW
Here are the Drudge Report’s headlines at the early stages of Roger’s court appearances…spreading false information.

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#107

After T gave his interview late yesterday to the NYT, all the cable networks followed it.

T initiated the interview initially asking A. G. Sulzberger, publisher of the Times, if he could have an off-the-record dinner with T, but Sulzberger declined.

And of course, there was immediate news coverage on what transpired in the interview with Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker.

On CNN, Anderson Cooper led with this chyron…

The chyron on Anderson Cooper’s “Keeping Them Honest” segment was surreal, saying, "WE’LL LEAVE THE GASLIGHT ON FOR YOU, PART 17." Cooper said, "We begin tonight…with the president once again telling you not to trust your eyes and ears, not to believe what you see and hear, but to believe only him."

From Brian Stelter’s (CNN - Reliable Sources newsletter)

And clearly, NYT’s is wise to what T wants to accomplish with a dinner with Sulzberger

Here’s Stelter’s recap

President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon sat down with NYT’s Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, and publisher A.G. Sulzberger for a wide-ranging interview touching on a number of topics. NYT’s story posted Thursday night… Some highlights…

– On border wall negotiations: Trump called negotiations with Congress a “waste of time.” Seemingly hinting at a future declaration of a national emergency, Trump said, “I’ve set the table. I’ve set the stage for doing what I’m going to do.”

– On the Russia probe: Trump said Rod Rosenstein “told the attorneys that I’m not a subject, I’m not a target” of the investigation.

– On Roger Stone: Trump said he “never” spoke with Stone about WikiLeaks, and “never” directed anyone to make contact with Stone about WikiLeaks.

– On the emerging Democratic field: “I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris." Trump said some of the others “were very flat.”

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#108

When the NY TImes interviewed T this week What's driving the narrative? Is it fake news, PR stunts, real legal arguments? , with Sulzberger, Baker and Haberman were in attendance, T danced around the question of ‘fake news,’ when Sulzberger questioned him. And is his way, T declared “I do believe I’m a victim of that.”

No question that the press can go after a president, and try to expose all his intentions, and actions. And the criticism is sharp and deep, but we expect that the press is all over the President’s actions.

It is always clear that when T does not like his coverage, he chants “Fake News” because he is thin-skinned, and thinks like an autocrat, or reflexively denounces it.

There’s no excuse for it…and I hope the press is that much stronger for his berating. Sends a chill down my spine to listen to his bs.

In lengthy and at times contradictory remarks on Thursday about the news media — which he deemed “important” and “beautiful,” but also “so bad” and “unfair” — Mr. Trump called himself “a victim” of unfair coverage and declined to accept responsibility for a rise in threats against journalists since he took office.

“I do notice that people are declaring more and more fake news, where they go, ‘Fake news!’” the president said during an Oval Office interview with The New York Times. “I even see it in other countries. I don’t necessarily attribute that to me. I think I can attribute the term to me. I think I was the one that started using it, I would say.”

…

When Mr. Sulzberger said foreign leaders were increasingly using the term “fake news” to justify suppressing independent scrutiny, Mr. Trump replied: “I don’t like that. I mean I don’t like that.”

But, in a common pattern whenever the president speaks about the press, Mr. Trump quickly refocused on his personal grievances. “I do think it’s very bad for a country when the news is not accurately portrayed,” he said. “I really do. And I do believe I’m a victim of that, honestly.”
…
“We’re seeing leaders of journalistic organizations saying very directly that governments feel like there is a climate of impunity that’s been created,” the publisher said. “You know the United States and the occupants of your office historically have been the greatest defenders of the free press.”

“And I think I am, too,” Mr. Trump interjected. “I want to be. I want to be.” He quickly added: “I guess the one thing I do feel, because you look at network coverage, it’s so bad.”

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#109

Pretty bold move by The Post to lead the charge on the issue of Free Press on one of the most watched sporting events…

Thank you for that.

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#110

Here it is…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDjfg8YlKHc

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#111

True.

As a source for news, opinions, misinformation and manipulation - what could go wrong?

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#112

Well, leave it to Fox news for shedding light on what T’s request for a Wall is all about. It is only a rallying cry - It’s about politics, his 2020 re-election and nothing to do with Immigration.

Thanks for clearing that up…and glad they can state the truth. We already knew what it was…an easy meme for T to get to his base.

Fox contributor Dan Bongino explicitly said that Trump’s insistence on building a wall is about giving him a "political victory,” stating, "This is not about immigration. I think everybody at this table knows this.” Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy claimed Trump needs a wall “because he needs to start running for re-election.” Fox’s Tomi Lahren argued, “When President Trump listens to his instincts on this, he is right, which is why he won the election in 2016. He will win on it again in 2020. But he has to hold firm on this. The American people want a wall.”

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#113

Dragonfly - thanks!

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#114

Yeah, that’s rich…but Chris Wallace (Fox Sunday) has enough _____ to call the R’s out on this.

From Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources (CNN) Newsletter.

Chris Wallace calls out ‘outraged’ Republicans

Oliver Darcy emails: It was another one of those moments in which an actual journalist at Fox broke from the chorus to offer the audience valuable context. “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace said he found it “rich that Republicans are so outraged” over the Whitaker hearing, given that the GOP held many, many hearings on things like the IRS, Benghazi and Fast & Furious. Mediaite has the full clip here…

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#115

Total spin…Qatar walks back it’s thoughtless? investments in Kushner properties, will have to get some oversight on it…hmmmm

Big WTF meter just went off…

When news emerged that Qatar may have unwittingly helped bail out a New York skyscraper owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, eyebrows were raised in Doha.

The bailout, in which Doha played no part and first learned about in the media, has prompted a rethink of how the gas-rich kingdom invests money abroad via its giant sovereign wealth fund, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The country has decided that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will aim to avoid putting money in funds or other investment vehicles it does not have full control over, according to the sources, who are familiar with the QIA’s strategy.

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What The Fuck Happened Over The Weekend?
#116

@dragonfly9 Wow – I’m so glad you posted this. Last night I was on the verge of posting similar thoughts. This phrase in particular that you quoted jumped out at me as well:

The bailout, in which Doha played no part and first learned about in the media…

How can Reuters just flat out make this claim with absolutely no substantiation? This sounds more like a pay-for-publication press release issued by Qatar and the U.S. company involved (Brookfield), than a responsible piece of journalism. And what’s more distressing is that it was picked up without any apparent vetting by major news outlets such as the NYT – they reprinted it in its entirety without taking the time to question it in any way.

Ah, but at least Vanity Fair was doing its job. Here’s a take on the Reuters’ piece by Bess Levin:

And Levin is in a position to know. Here’s an earlier report from her exposing the web of connections between Qatar, Brookfield, and the Kushners (both Jared and his felony-convicted father, Charles). An intriguing read.

And here’s something that’s really telling from that piece. Levin quotes an NYT article from the same time period (May, 2018) that makes it clear the talks on financing were ongoing at that time and had not been finalized.

The company controlled by the family of the White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its troubled flagship building by a company with financial ties to the government of Qatar, according to executives briefed on the deal.

The highly spun Reuters “press release” makes it sound like Qatar only found out about its participation in the bailout after the fact, but here is in-your-face proof that their involvement in the bailout was well known before it was finalized. Why didn’t Qatar try to stop it by taking a public stand back then? Qatar’s and Reuters’ lies are there for everyone to see.

BTW, I normally respect Reuters’ reporting, but this incident has damaged their reputation IMHO. I’ll be scrutinizing their work more closely in the future.

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What The Fuck Happened Over The Weekend?