The Week in Washington: “They Have Information, I Think I'd Take It”
“…It's not an interference. They have information, I think I'd take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI—if I thought there was something wrong,” President Trump proclaimed on Wednesday, when ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked him about foreign meddling in our elections. Trump’s willingness to “take information” was so outrageous that it prompted Federal Election Commission chair, Ellen Weintraub, to admonish him: “Let me make something 100 percent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a US election.”
Even some of Trump’s usual cadre of boot-lickers thought his comments were a bridge too far. On Thursday, the president attempted to walk his remarks back, calling into Fox & Friends on his birthday—he turned 73—to offer this convoluted explanation of his previous statement: “Of course, you give it to the FBI or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that … But of course, you do that. You couldn't have that happen with our country … Of course, you have to look at it, because if you don't look at it, you won't know it's bad.”
Sometimes it’s really easy to know what’s bad. On Tuesday, fact and fantasy collided on the White House lawn, when the president waved a sheet of paper that he claimed was the agreement his administration had just struck with Mexico on immigration. The deal meant that the president would not be making good on his threat to inflict tariffs on that country, a policy that even his cadre of bootlickers hated. An eagle-eyed Washington Post photographer screen-grabbed the paper, which, on closer examination, was vague and not signed by high-level officials of either country. Trump insisted that in addition to that document, there was a secret part of the agreement that was simply wonderful, but he just couldn’t reveal it yet. (The Mexican government, for its part, insists that they have no idea what he is talking about.)
In other news, on Monday the Department of Justice finally agreed to hand over additional material from the Mueller investigation that the house has been demanding for weeks. In exchange, the house will delay efforts to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of court for refusing to cooperate with a subpoena. But it was a short reprieve for the AG—the House Oversight and Reform Committee voted Wednesday to recommend that Barr, along with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, be held in contempt for their refusal to release documents related to a citizenship question added to the 2020 Census. In a move that should surprise no one, Trump has asserted executive privilege over the census stuff—after all, last April he boasted: “We’re fighting all the subpoenas.” (This census business might sound boring, but it is anything but—the data collected could be used to cut funding to impoverished communities.)
It’s not just subpoenas the president is blowing off. He also intends to ignore the Office of Special Counsel’s recommendation that he get rid of Kellyanne Conway, queen of alternative facts, because of her violations of the Hatch Act. The Act bars government officials from engaging in political activity that could influence the results of an election, and the OSC determined that Conway has violated the law by disparaging Democratic candidates on numerous occasions. "No, I'm not going to fire her. I think she's a terrific person," Trump told Fox during that birthday call.
We seem to be stuck with Kellyanne for the time being, but guess who you won’t be seeing around anymore? The much-reviled White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is going back to Arkansas, rumored to have her smoky eye on the governor’s seat. Not that you have seen very much of her lately: according to the Washington Post, in the past 100 days only one White House briefing was held. In the past 200 days, there were only four, and in the past 300 days a mere eight. Sanders, a notorious fibber who admitted to lying when she was interviewed by the Mueller team, continues to astonish. On Tuesday she said that she hopes she will be remembered for being “transparent and honest.”
Originally Appeared on Vogue
