Donald Trump just contradicted his own ridiculously implausible claim not to have known Matt Whitaker’s hostility toward the Russia investigation before naming him as acting attorney general. And that was less than one minute after Trump repeated the obvious lie.
If there’s anyone who seriously believes Trump's claim that he didn’t appoint Whitaker to the post of acting attorney general without knowing his views on the Russia investigation, then I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. But don’t take my word for it, take Trump’s words on Fox News Sunday today.
First, Trump made his ludicrous claim to host Chris Wallace:
WALLACE: Did you know, before you appointed [Whitaker], that he had that record and was so critical of Robert Mueller?
TRUMP: I did not know that.
I did not know he took views on the Mueller investigation as such.
WALLACE: And when you found that out?
TRUMP: I don’t think it had any effect. If you look at those statements - - those statements that can—they really can be viewed really either way, but I don’t think will have anything—
Besides the obvious falsehood, given Trump’s obsession with the Mueller investigation, it would be negligent for Trump to have picked an attorney general without knowing what his views on the investigation were. But even so, just a few days ago, Trump all but acknowledged to The Daily Caller that Whitaker’s views on Mueller were the exact reason for the appointment.
Yet, Wallace did not challenge Trump about any of that. Here’s how the discussion continued:
WALLACE: Well, he says there’s no collusion and he says—
TRUMP: Chris, I’ll tell you what—
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: He says you can starve the investigation—
TRUMP: What do you do when a person’s right? There is no collusion. He happened to be right. I mean, he said it.
So if he said there is collusion, I’m supposed to be taking somebody that says there is? Because then I wouldn’t take him for two reasons, but the number one reason is the fact that he would have been wrong. If he said that there’s no collusion, he’s right.
So Trump admitted that belief of collusion would have been his "number one reason" to have rejected Whitaker. Yet, Wallace did not note this admission. Even though this was an even more explicit admission than when Trump began babbling about how well respected Whitaker is and how the Russia investigation “should have never been brought” when asked in a Daily Caller interview about a permanent replacement for Jeff Sessions, a question that had nothing to do with Trump's response.
Also, Whitaker is not well respected, as a deep dive by Vox made clear. Among other things, he “served on the advisory board of a scam company that the government shut down.” Also, there’s the matter of his suspiciously unavailable financial disclosure forms. The former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub called the missing forms “an outrage” on Twitter. He wrote, “either Whitaker failed to file (illegal) or DOJ is determined to hide them from you (illegal).
Wallace brought up none of that.
Then there was this exchange. Notice how Wallace made a point of looking friendly to Trump at the same time that he worked to pull news out of him:
WALLACE: [Whitaker] is going to have to make or could potentially make a lot of big calls in the Mueller investigation. If Mueller decides that he wants to subpoena you, the Attorney General Whitaker can block that. If Mueller issues a final report, he can decide how much goes to Congress or doesn’t go to Congress.
You tweeted this week about, quote, Bob Mueller and his gang of Democrat thugs.
TRUMP: Right.
WALLACE: If Whitaker decides in any way to limit or curtail the Mueller investigation, are you OK with that?
TRUMP: Look, he—it’s going to be up to him. I think he’s very well aware politically. I think he’s astute politically. He’s a very smart person. A very respected person. He’s going to do what’s right. I really believe he’s going to do what’s right.
WALLACE: But you won’t overrule him if he decides to curtail—
TRUMP: I would not get involved.
There, Trump acknowledged he would not mind at all if Whitaker did something to kill the Mueller investigation – which is not exactly how a guy who is certain of his innocence behaves. Nor one who cares about Russia's interference in our democracy.
Yet once again, Wallace did not challenge Trump.
Watch Wallace give Trump a pass on the Whitaker disgrace below, from the November 18, 2018 Fox News Sunday.
(Transcript excerpts via FoxNews.com)