A few weeks ago, the press got wind of the fact that Donald Trump Jr. had met with a Russian attorney early in the 2016 campaign. The Trump brain trust got together to discuss how to respond:
The strategy, the advisers agreed, should be for Donald Trump Jr. to release a statement to get ahead of the story. They wanted to be truthful, so their account couldn’t be repudiated later if the full details emerged.
But within hours, at the president’s direction, the plan changed.
That’s from Ashley Parker, Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker, and Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post. It might be the greatest lead I’ve read all year. Congratulations to whoever came up with it.
So who was the source for this story? Spicer? Priebus? Someone else? Poor old Donald hasn’t yet figured out that when you treat people badly, they’re likely to treat you badly in return. And government employees sign standard contracts, not the Trump specials that threaten to ruin their lives if they ever say anything bad about him. He might want to think about that.
