The meaningless war of semantics the White House is pushing continued during Wednesday's briefing when the press secretary insisted repeatedly that Donald Trump was merely voicing his “opinion” in a morning tweet urging his attorney general to stop the Russia probe "right now."
"The president is stating his opinion," Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters, repeating the word opinion at least five times throughout the brief, in case anyone missed it. "It's not an order," she added, "but I think he's been crystal clear about this investigation from the beginning."
That he has. Trump absolutely despises the Russia probe, so perhaps we should celebrate an instance of Sanders letting an actual truth slip out from under her podium perch. But even as she strained to paint Trump’s directive—"Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now"—as something other than an order to obstruct, she effectively admitted Trump is obstructing justice.
”The president is not obstructing, he’s fighting back,” Sanders clarified, giving her best Rudy G. impersonation.
And what exactly is "fighting back" if not obstructing? It's a lot like the slippery distinction without a difference between "collusion" and “conspiracy” the White House has been touting this week. "Collusion is not a crime," Trump has suddenly decided because it's not listed in the criminal code. Of course, collusion is simply "conspiracy," which is criminal, by a different name.
Also, a reminder that any president actually worth a damn would be working to ensure that a fair investigation into Russia's attack on a U.S. election reached its natural conclusion. But this president, who isn't worth a damn, has personalized everything about the probe—it's only good or bad based on how it relates to him, not the country. What does that tell you about Trump's legal liabilities here?
Oh, and keep an eye on this: When Sanders was asked if Trump had ever "directly" told Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to end the investigation, she declined to say.
"Not that I'm aware of," Sanders responded.
That's a dodge, in politi-speak.
Watch it below.