We have previously discussed the increasingly aggressive role of the White House Counsel’s Office (WHCO) in defending President Joe Biden, including spreading disinformation about various investigations. WHCO spokesman Ian Sams has taken the lead in attacking critics and denying facts related to corruption and other allegations. Now, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) is blasting a memo in which the WHCO instructs reporters on how to cover the recent Hur report and allegations of the President’s diminished faculties.
Sams is not a lawyer. He is a political operative who has worked extensively for Democratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee, including a stint with Hillary Clinton. He was recently accused by the former head of the WHCA (and my former student) Jon Decker of giving false statements concerning the Special Counsel’s report.
There have been previous controversies over instructions given to the media by the White House. While the media has often been accused of maintaining a largely unified front protecting the President, actual memos directing their responses insulted many in the media. That is just not how this is done. You have to maintain certain proprieties and appearances.
Indeed, when the President recently snapped at a reporter by saying “that is not the judgment of the press,” it seemed to say the quiet part out loud in the ability of the White House to dictate coverage.
The most recent controversy came after Sams sent another letter with media instructions. Sams lays out how the report should be spinned in the media, putting in writing what is often conveyed in “background” chats with reporters.
It proved too much for WHCA president Kelly O’Donnell who called it “misdirected.” She added that “[a]s a non-profit organization that advocates for its members in their efforts to cover the presidency, the WHCA does not, cannot, and will not serve as a repository for the government’s views of what’s in the news.”
In my testimony at the Biden impeachment hearing, I raised the role of Sams and the White House staff in advocating for the President: ” To the extent that the President has used White House staff to maintain false claims or resist disclosures, it can fit into the type of Nixonian abuse of power model.”
The WHCO has long distinguished between the interests of a president and the presidency. Biden has his own personal counsel to oppose these allegations. That separation has now collapsed under White House Counsel Ed Siskel, who appears to approve of this advocacy role as Sams routinely lashes out at critics and investigators.
As noted in a recent column, Sams’s work is precariously close to the line drawn in past impeachments. Indeed, he may have already crossed over in the effort to swat back investigations into corruption allegations. Sams’s effort to spin out of these scandals could easily end up spinning the White House into an actual impeachment.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if people would try the truth. It is easier and it’s the right thing to do.
No surprise, except the backlash. I thought everyone. but @doocy was on the take.
The last man to give and suffer so much for his country was George Washington.
The battle for Americans now is to stop the communists in America.
Jonathan: Why no mention of Judge Engoron’s decision awarding the state of NY over $350 million in damages against DJT and his kids for their persistent financial fraud? DJT says he is going to appeal. Any basis for appeal? Was the amount of damages too high considering the evidence? Did DJT actually overvalue his properties to get loans? Was Judge Engoron biased in his decision? Any other legal claim upon which to challenge the decision? So far you have been strangely silent. So permit me to add some interesting info about the case and it has nothing to do with the actual judgment itself.
DJT had an immediate visceral response to Engoron’s judgment. It was fast and furious. DJT lashed out at the decision calling it “a complete and Total SHAM!” He attack Judge Engoron as “crooked” and AG James as a “racist”. Nothing particularly surprising from DJT. But DJT is directing his ire in the wrong direction.
Business Insider had a headline article yesterday entitled “AOC’s questions years ago helped spark the investigation of Trump’s businesses”. The article points out that in 2019 there was a House hearing in which Michael Cohen testified about his involvement with DJT. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a new House member, asked Cohen whether DJT inflated his assets. Cohen responded “Yes”. AOC had a follow up Q: “”Who else knows that the President did this?” Cohen answered “Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari”. All were officers in the Trump org.
The testimony of Cohen caught the attention of NY AG Letitia James who started her investigation of Trump’s real estate empire in NY. When she first announced her lawsuit against DJT, James gave a nod to AOC and her questioning of Cohen: “I will remind everyone that this investigation started after Michael Cohen…testified before Congress and shed light on this misconduct”.
So, besides having no one to blame but himself for his predicament, DJT is complaining about the wrong people. It was a young AOC who asked the right questions and got the answers that prompted AG James’ investigation. The rest is history and why we owe a debt of gratitude to AOC for first revealing the systemic and persistent financial fraud of DJT.
Dennis, you might enjoy this ad:
Anonymous: Finally got time to see the video you posted from the Lincoln Project. Hilarious! What would the ghost of Fred Trump say about his son today? At least I think he would be embarrassed by how far his son has sunk into depravity. Fred gave his son over $400 million to start the business empire in NY and what does DJT have to show for it today? He has lost control of all his properties. I don’t think dad would approve of that! Thanks again for always coming up with something that puts things in perspective.
And I think his dad would be enormously proud of his son.
Wading trough all those corrupt politicians who throw all kind of shite to the wall looking for something to stick..
Don’t hear you complaining about the fake Russia Russia dossier, about the stolen documents from Biden or about the 10% for the ‘big guy’ end so on and so on..
Because any reasonable person can recognize the lack of legal merit in a completely unique, victimless crime invented to prevent a political rival from beating the current husk like a dog? We know you’re just a political hack, and can safely be completely ignored, but that’s why the sane folks are ignoring it. Just FYI.
LTP: So you think “any reasonable person can recognize the lack of legal merit in a completely unique, victimless crime…”. You have apparently bought into DJT’s claims that “no one was harmed because the banks were paid back for the loans”. If you took time to read Judge Engoron’s decision that argument failed miserably. The “victims” were the people of NY because in getting favorable loans by cooking the books DJT deprived others from getting the similar deals. That was fraud on the people of NY. Under the “reasonable person” standard anyone should be able to see that. Just FYI.
Yes, LTP is right.
Makes no difference how you try to turn it..
Any reasonable man can see that.
I wonder though..
Riddle me this: As this was normal practice done by any and all real estate owners in NY, why only go after Trump? And why now?
Or are the ‘reasonable persons’ only the ones seeing that this is due to discredit a political rival?
If you steal $100 from your boss, bet it at the races, make $200 and then replace the $100 you stole, you’ve still committed a crime.
From who did he steal the 100$ then?
Sing-a-long, Denny….follow the bouncing ball
“Sign the contract, Fani
Set the dollars free
Sign the contract, Fani
Then sail the seas you and me….”
These lyrics are too good to miss …..
“Pulled into Atlanta
was feeling up my lady friend
Just need a court
where Trump has to defend
Say Fani, can you hire me?
It won’t be a kickback scheme
I’ll take my money, leave my wife,
and be fodder for this meme
Sign the contract Fani
Set the dollars free
Sign the contract Fani
Then sail the seas, you and me
Packed up our bags
Sat First Class on a big plane ride
I spent all the money
that I sure tried to hide….
*sung to the tune The Weight by The Band
Let me preface my response by stating that I’m a NeverTrumper who voted against him in the 2016 primary (Rand Paul), the 2016 general (Gary Johnson), preferred a Democrat in primary season (Tulsi Gabbard) and voted against him again in the 2020 general (Jo Jorgensen).
A property owner is never able to compel any third party to accept his/her declared value of his/her property. If a Mr. Trump or a Mr. Smith asks for a $10 million loan and puts up a property HE SAYS is worth $10 million, the lender will perform their own appraisal on the property. If that appraisal comes back at $3 million, neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Smith will get the loan. On the tax side of things, the property owner does not get to tell the tax assessor what his property is worth. The assessor does that, based on the features of the property and recent sales of comparable properties.
In the case before Judge Engoron, Mr. Trump’s legal team called HIS CREDITORS to the stand, whereupon they testified that Mr. Trump paid back his debts in accordance with the loan contracts. There were also no complaints from the tax assessor’s office regarding delinquent property tax payments. The appropriate analogy would be charging someone with Grand Theft Auto when the vehicle in question never left the driveway.
It is good to see Professor Turley shift focus from occasionally outrageous but largely inconsequential academics to those that are more closely associated with power and policies. In an election year, an obscure White House operative is of more consequence than a university president.