President Donald Trump lied more than 9,000 times by the 773rd day into his presidency, The Washington Post reported earlier this month.
"The president averaged nearly 5.9 false or misleading claims a day in his first year in office. He hit nearly 16.5 a day in his second year. So far in 2019, he’s averaging nearly 22 claims a day."
So when Trump demanded on Thursday that Congressman Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, should resign for "knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking," Twitter instantly weaved it into an epic self-own.
“Undoubtedly there is collusion,” Schiff said in an interview after Attorney General William Barr shared his interpretation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings. “We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power? . . . It doesn’t appear that was any part of Mueller’s report.”
Trump doth protest too much.
"Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!"
Nice try.
George Conway had a field day with it, agreeing that politicians who incessantly lie should quit.
Nobody likes a habitual liar.
Where is the lie here?
"I mean, if there were a Lombardi Trophy for lying, a Pulitzer Prize for prevarication, a FIFA World Cup for fibbing, a Medal of Honor for mendacity, a Distinguished Service Cross for deceit, *you* would be the perennial winner."
"Hmmm." Yes, ponder this.
Something about accusing others of that which you are guilty.
Follow your own lead, Donald.
Schiff could have a defamation suit on his hands, and discovery would be amazing.
Trump has spent the week riding a wave of self-congratulations following Barr's letter to Congress. But as is now the norm, Trump and his cheerleaders are wildly distorting the facts.
The public has no idea what is in Mueller's report. We can only assess what Barr has said, which is that Mueller found insufficient evidence to prove collusion and obstruction of justice. Barr did concede, however, that Mueller's report "does not exonerate" Trump.
Still, we are totally in the dark. The continued secrecy around Mueller's report hints that the truth could be devastating for Trump.
Given Trump's track record, and that of his defenders, he should not be casting stones.
Festivus was months ago but putting anything past this timeline is pointless.
Nevertheless, Schiff's job - as is that of Congress - is to provide oversight. And that is precisely what they are doing, despite some Republicans also urging Schiff to step down.
Not gonna happen.
