Donald Trump Is Constitutionally Incapable of Telling the Truth

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.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

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