Yesterday, Richard Johnson of the famously trashy Page Six gossip section of the New York Post published comments from an anonymous tipster who had allegedly recently testified before the Grand Jury, which was convened by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in Washington, D.C. The comments reeked of racism:
“The grand jury room looks like a Bernie Sanders rally,” my source said. “Maybe they found these jurors in central casting, or at a Black Lives Matter rally in Berkeley [Calif.]”
Of the 20 jurors, 11 are African-Americans and two were wearing “peace T-shirts,” the witness said. “There was only one white male in the room, and he was a prosecutor.” Mueller was not present.
Never mind that the racial composition, as described above, would be a representation of the racial make-up of Washington, D.C. — where the jury pool is drawn from—the comments seem to indicate the process isn’t legitimate because there aren’t more white people present. Johnson’s source went on to say as much:
My source said, “That room isn’t a room where POTUS gets a fair shake.”
The Grand Jury proceedings, including information about the jury members themselves, are supposed to be secret. What source close the Mueller Grand Jury proceedings would have such insight into the make-up of the Grand Jury? Judd Legum over at Think Progress makes a strong case that it was Trump himself. For starters, he has know Richard Johnson of Page Six for a long, long time. A quick search of Getty Images shows dozens of photos of the two together at a wide range of events over the years.
Johnson is on record about his close relationship to Trump. Last month, he detailed their connections in a column entitled “Richard Johnson’s life with the Donald.”
In that column, Johnson revealed that he “served as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant when Trump owned the franchise.” He also described a personal conversation he had with Trump shortly after he won the presidential election.
Many of Johnson’s recent columns appear to rely on sources close to Trump. A December 24 column, for example, provides details of a White House Christmas Party that was closed to the press. “[S]ome of the guests were so thrilled by the experience, they couldn’t maintain their silence,” Johnson wrote.
You may recall that Trump was known to regularly call in tips to gossip reporters at Page Six, People Magazine, etc., sometimes posing as John Miller or John Barron. But, it is the language of the comments to Page Six that Think Progress notes sounds suspiciously like Trump, particularly the “central casting” phrase the anonymous tipster used. TP put together a video of soundbites to show just how frequently Trump has used this phrase:
Is Trump the racist leaker who doesn’t think POTUS can get a “fair shake” with a diverse jury? If not, the leaker sure seems to have a lot in common with the Page Six-loving Donald Trump.
Read the full case from Think Progress.