Donald Trump once suggested incarcerating reporters who publish classified material in a meeting he had with James Comey.
According to a report published by the New York Times Tuesday, the president “condemned leaks to the news media” in an Oval Office meeting with the former FBI director in mid-February. He said Comey “should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information.”
(Photo: Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)
That was during the same meeting — according to a memo written by Comey — that Trump asked him to shut down the federal investigation into his former national security adviser Mike Flynn because “he is a good guy.”
A White House spokesman denied the nature of the meeting that was described in the memo, saying: “This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”
Trump recently suggested canceling the daily White House press briefing “for the sake of accuracy” because “it is not possible” for his surrogates “to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!”
As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
…Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future "press briefings" and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017