{"id":74899,"date":"2017-06-12T07:42:26","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74899"},"modified":"2017-06-12T07:43:18","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:43:18","slug":"msm-now-functions-as-oppo-arm-for-deep-state-against-trump-see-ap-wapo-fake-fact-check-below","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74899","title":{"rendered":"MSM Now Functions As OPPO Arm For Deep State<\/i> Against Trump—See AP-WAPO Fake ‘Fact Check’ Piece Below"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AP FACT CHECK: James who? Trump paints Comey as a stranger<\/h1>\n

By Calvin Woodward and Jim Drinkard\u2009|\u2009AP <\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 James who?<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump contended in recent days that he didn\u2019t know his FBI chief, James Comey, well enough to lean on him for his loyalty.<\/p>\n

That was one of a number of claims by the president that called for scrutiny in the fierce backwash of Comey\u2019s accusations in Senate testimony that Trump exerted improper pressure on him to back off an FBI investigation.<\/p>\n

A review of some statements from the president and his people on the Russia investigation, NATO, health care and more:<\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cI believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very \u2018cowardly!\u2019 \u2014 tweet Sunday<\/p>\n

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Trump targets Comey on Twitter, senators weigh in<\/div>\n
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President Trump launched fresh accusations against former FBI director James B. Comey on Twitter June 11 while senators of both parties reacted to the feud.<\/span> (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde\/Photo: Jabin Botsford\/The Washington Post)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

THE FACTS: Cowardice and courage are in the eye of the beholder. As to Trump\u2019s question about the legality of Comey\u2019s disclosures, there\u2019s scant expert opinion that the fired FBI chief broke the law when he released memos he wrote of his private conversations with Trump.<\/p>\n

Several Republican lawmakers, though admiring of his testimony to Congress last week, said it was \u201cinappropriate\u201d for Comey to give the memos to a friend for the purpose of making them public. But few are alleging criminal behavior. \u201cReleasing his memos is not damaging to national security,\u201d Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said Sunday.<\/p>\n

Trump actually was ahead of Comey in disclosing content from their private meetings and phone calls. When he fired the director, Trump revealed that Comey had assured him he was not under FBI investigation. Comey said he resisted pressure from Trump to make that fact public because the investigation might expand to include the president.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s legal team has accused Comey of leaking \u201cprivileged information.\u201d It\u2019s not clear the memos meet that standard. When information is privileged, the Freedom of Information Act cannot be used to force its disclosure. But any of the participants in the discussion are still free to make it public, says Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy specialist with the Federation of American Scientists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other peculiar thing about this whole discussion is that the claim of privilege supports the accuracy of Comey\u2019s account,\u201d he said. \u201cPrivilege can only apply to accurate information.\u201d<\/p>\n

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TRUMP: \u201cBecause of our actions, money is starting to pour in to NATO. The money is starting to pour in. Other countries are starting to realize that it\u2019s time to pay up and they\u2019re doing that. Very proud of that fact.\u201d News conference Friday<\/p>\n

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THE FACTS: Money is not pouring in and saying it twice does not make it so. This account of NATO finances is one of Trump\u2019s favorite concoctions.<\/p>\n

The real issue is how much NATO countries spend on their own military budgets. They agreed in 2014, well before he became president, to stop cutting military spending, and have lived up to that. They also agreed then to a goal of moving \u201ctoward\u201d spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense by 2024. Most are short of that and the target is not ironclad.<\/p>\n

Trump knows how it works but cannot resist telling the more dramatic and false tale of NATO leaders sending in money because he pushed them to.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP on Comey: \u201cI hardly know the man. I\u2019m not going to say, \u2018I want you to pledge allegiance.\u2019 Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath? I mean think of it, I hardly know the man. It doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d \u2014 Trump news conference Friday<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: How well Trump knows a person varies. It depends on how well he wants to be seen as knowing that person at the time.<\/p>\n

Bragging early in the campaign about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said \u201cI got to know him very well because we were both on \u201860 Minutes\u2019,\u201d even though they were on different segments from different locations. When perceived closeness became a potential liability, Trump took to saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August 2016, when the Trump campaign announced the hiring of Steve Bannon as campaign CEO and the appointment of Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager, its statement quoted Trump as saying: \u201c\u2019I have known Steve and Kellyanne both for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this April, when he was trying to play down Bannon\u2019s importance, he said \u201cI didn\u2019t know Steve\u201d and \u201che was not involved in my campaign until very late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, David Bossie, who was deputy campaign manager, told The Associated Press after Trump took office that Bossie had introduced Trump and Bannon in 2011 at Trump Tower and they had grown close. Bannon, while leader of conservative Breitbart News, interviewed Trump at least nine times in 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n

In his testimony, Comey detailed three one-on-one meetings with Trump in January and February, one of them a dinner. Comey also laid out specifics on at least two private phone calls initiated by Trump and said that altogether, they had had nine conversations.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Comey said he and President Barack Obama only spoke twice in three years, and one of those times was to say farewell.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP: \u201cThe Democrats have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS!\u201d \u2014 tweet Sunday<\/p>\n

TRUMP, tweeting a week ago that Democrats \u201care taking forever\u201d to confirm his nominees, including ambassadors: \u201cThey are nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS! Want approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Both on his team appointments and on policy, Trump hasn\u2019t given Democrats much to obstruct, whether they want to or not.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been strikingly slow in nominating people for jobs requiring Senate approval. And some major actions he promised to take quickly in his presidency have yet to be presented to Congress, perhaps most notably his plan to overhaul taxes.<\/p>\n

Trump is lagging at least his last four predecessors on nominees. He\u2019s only put forward 110, not even a quarter of the positions requiring confirmation. Barack Obama had more than double the number of candidates submitted for Senate approval by now, 252, according to the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service.<\/p>\n

Vacancies remain at major embassies, among other offices. Trump has only nominated 11 ambassadors, of whom five have been approved, with scores more to come.<\/p>\n

The shortfall is all the more striking considering that Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans control the Senate and only a simple majority is required to confirm them.<\/p>\n

Before Obama, Republican George W. Bush had submitted 202 nominees by this point of his presidency, Bill Clinton had nominated 207 and George H.W. Bush had nominated 155.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP: \u201cDespite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication.\u201d \u2014 tweet Friday<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Trump\u2019s claim that he was cleared of wrongdoing by Comey\u2019s testimony is groundless. Comey testified that the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign did not extend to Trump himself during the time Comey was leading the FBI.<\/p>\n

That investigation continues, as do congressional inquiries. Sufficient questions were raised for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel with wide-ranging powers of inquiry \u2014 work that is only recently underway.<\/p>\n

Comey told Trump in multiple conversations that Trump was not being personally investigated and said the president implored him to make that public. Comey told senators he resisted those entreaties because the situation could change and if it did, that, too, would have to be announced.<\/p>\n

The fired FBI chief repeatedly refused to say in the hearing Thursday whether he thought Trump had obstructed justice. Comey suggested that was a matter for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, to judge as he proceeds.<\/p>\n

Vindication it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP: \u201cJust yesterday we learned that one of the largest insurers is pulling out of Ohio. That could mean another 20,000 counties and 19,000 people will have no plan available to them.\u201d \u2014 Speech in Cincinnati on Wednesday<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: He was off by a factor of 1,000. According to a White House information sheet released with his remarks, the pullout of an insurer from the health insurance exchange in Ohio could leave people in 20 counties without choices in that market, not 20,000. Ohio has only 88 counties.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP: \u201cObamacare is in a total death spiral.\u201d \u2014 Cincinnati speech<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: That\u2019s overstated. Although the insurance markets of Obama\u2019s health care law are in trouble, they don\u2019t appear to be in a \u201ctotal death spiral.\u201d Insurers have lost hundreds of millions of dollars and parts of the country are at risk of having no participating carriers on HealthCare.gov. But the turmoil appears to be concentrated in pockets, not nationwide, or \u201ctotal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any blame for the situation is shared by the Trump administration, whose actions are sowing uncertainty that\u2019s contributing to higher premiums. The administration has failed to give a clear signal that it will continue to pay billions of dollars in subsidies that help reduce deductibles and copayments for low-income people. The lack of such assurances has been a major complaint from the insurance industry and from state regulators.<\/p>\n

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TRUMP, promising to leverage taxpayer money into $1 trillion in road, bridge and waterway improvements: \u201cTaxpayers deserve the best results for their investment, and I will ensure that this is what they get. The last administration passed a stimulus package of which only a tiny 7 percent went to infrastructure, and much of that was just wasted money.\u201d \u2014 Cincinnati speech<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Obama\u2019s $787 billion package was not an infrastructure bill, but a catchall response to a deep recession, with public works projects as a significant part. More than one-third of it went to tax cuts. Medicaid spending and other help for health care made up the next largest component. Then came infrastructure, at about 13 percent, followed closely by education. The package mixed economic and social spending, helping states train displaced workers, for example, extending jobless benefits and assisting with low-income housing.<\/p>\n

When the plan passed in February 2009, Trump praised its combination of tax cuts and spending programs, saying \u201cI thought he did a terrific job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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EPA CHIEF SCOTT PRUITT, crediting Trump with creating almost 50,000 jobs \u201cin the coal sector\u201d since the fourth quarter of last year. \u201cIn the month of May alone, almost 7,000 jobs.\u201d \u2014 NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d June 4<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: He\u2019s wildly off base. Instead of adding almost 50,000 jobs in the last few months, coal mining accounted for a total of only 51,000 jobs nationally at the end of May. That\u2019s only up about 400 jobs from the prior month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n

Pruitt counted jobs in unrelated enterprises to get his botched total. His staff pointed to statistics encompassing seven months of job gains across the far broader mining sector. That includes not just coal but also oil and gas extraction, metal ore mining, stone quarrying and other jobs.<\/p>\n

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PRUITT, contending carbon dioxide is only one of many causes of man-made climate change: \u201cIt\u2019s a cause like methane and water vapor and the rest.\u201d \u2014 \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/p>\n

THE FACTS: The overwhelming majority of climate scientists say carbon dioxide is by far the primary cause of global warming. The Nobel Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculated that about 73 percent of the human-caused warming since 1750 is from carbon dioxide. Water vapor and methane contribute much smaller amounts.<\/p>\n

A joint statement from the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society in Britain said \u201chuman-induced increases in CO2 (carbon dioxide) concentrations have been the dominant influence on the long-term global surface temperature increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Associated Press writers Sadie Gurman, Michael Biesecker, Seth Borenstein, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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\nFind all AP Fact Checks at http:\/\/apne.ws\/2kbx8bd<\/p>\n

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures<\/p>\n

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\nhttp:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/ap-fact-check-james-who-trump-paints-comey-as-a-stranger\/2017\/06\/12\/ac4f752c-4f43-11e7-b74e-0d2785d3083d_story.html?utm_term=.a63491c450f7#comments<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AP FACT CHECK: James who? Trump paints Comey as a stranger By Calvin Woodward and Jim Drinkard\u2009|\u2009AP WASHINGTON \u2014 James who? President Donald Trump contended in recent days that he didn\u2019t know his FBI chief, James Comey, well enough to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}