April 19, 2019

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Embarks on Media Tour to Defend Her Lies

“I had a slip of the tongue…but it’s not untrue.”

Among the string of explosive and damaging revelations that emerged from the Mueller report Thursday was White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ admission that she had lied to reporters in order to damage the reputation of former FBI Director James Comey.

After Trump abruptly fired Comey in 2017 the midst of the FBI’s Russia investigation, Sanders falsely claimed that the White House had been in communication with “countless” bureau employees who did not support Comey. Sanders ultimately acknowledged to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators that her claim was a fabrication. Her admission has prompted demands for her resignation.

But don’t expect Sanders to be heeding such calls. When asked about the bombshell revelation during an appearance on Sean Hannity late Thursday, the press secretary offered a defiant defense.

“Look, I acknowledged that I had a slip of the tongue when I used the word ‘countless’—but it’s not untrue,” she said. “Certainly you just echoed exactly the sentiment and the point that I was making, is that a number of both current and former FBI agents agreed with the president. James Comey was a disgraced leaker who tried to politicize and undermine the very agency he was supposed to run.”

Sanders repeated that same defense on Friday.

“That’s not a slip of the tongue, Sarah,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos said after playing the clip of the press secretary in May 2017 making the false claim to White House reporters. “That’s a deliberate false statement.”

“Actually, if you look at what I’ve said, I said the ‘slip of the tongue’ was in using the word countless,” Sanders responded. “But there were a number of FBI, both former and current, that agreed with the president’s decision. And they’ve continued to speak out and say that.”

Stephanopoulos then called Sanders out for admitting to lying while under the threat of criminal penalties but failing to do so otherwise. 

“It was the heat of the moment, meaning that it wasn’t a scripted talking point,” Sanders shot back. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t a robot like the Democratic Party that went out for two and a half years and stated time and time again that there was definite Russian collusion between the president and his campaign.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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