White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed that members of the Trump administration found unfriendly notes from Obama staffers when they moved into their West Wing offices.
CNN political correspondent Abby D. Phillip tweeted Tuesday about Grisham’s claim, saying, “WH Press Sec Stephanie Grisham claims Obama aides left ‘you will fail’ notes in offices for Trump aides: ‘We came into the WH, I’ll tell you something. Every office was filled with Obama books and we had notes left behind that said ‘you will fail,’ ‘you aren’t going to make it.'”
WH Press Sec Stephanie Grisham claims Obama aides left ‘you will fail” notes in offices for Trump aides: “We came into the WH, I’ll tell you something. Every office was filled with Obama books and we had notes left behind that said ‘you will fail,’ ‘you aren’t going to make it,’”
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) November 19, 2019
Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice was quick to refute Grisham’s claim, calling it “a bald-faced lie.” (RELATED: ‘Today Was A Public Joke’: Stephanie Grisham Says Impeachment Hearing Was A Dud)
This is another bald faced lie. https://t.co/E1U9KtdL77
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) November 19, 2019
Rice claimed that she had left a much different note for her successor, General Michael Flynn. She wrote in her book “Tough Love” that she had left best wishes and offers of help. “On a White House stationary card, I reiterate my best wishes for his success in a job so crucial to the nation’s security. I offer to help him, if ever I could…”
Here is what @AmbassadorRice wrote in her book “Tough Love” about the note she left Michael Flynn: “On a White House stationary card, I reiterate my best wishes for his success in a job so crucial to the nation’s security. I offer to help him, if ever I could…” https://t.co/5INvhdTYKP
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) November 19, 2019
Obama speechwriter Cody Keenan did not admit to leaving a note, but did concede that he left something behind.
I actually left an iPhone charger if anybody’s seen it, but no, nobody left unimaginative notes written at a sixth-grade level. https://t.co/DeaTk5W6wk
— Cody Keenan (@codykeenan) November 19, 2019
The Daily Mail’s David Martosko pushed back, saying that he had heard from a number of White House sources that those notes did, in fact, exist.
Multiple vintage 2017 West Wing officials now telling me they found nastygrams in their offices on Day One. https://t.co/ACaLFz0Wdq
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) November 19, 2019
Here’s what we know about the nasty notes left behind by Obama aides for their Trump administration succesors when they left the West Wing for the last time. I’ve confirmed this with 3 sources beyond what Stephanie Grisham said on the radio this morning. https://t.co/HhXYM8Q4zL
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) November 19, 2019
I have now spoken to four former Trump officials who were there on Day One. All confirm it. One says: “They were trolling us from the minute we got there. … We were trying to find the bathroom, and we get these notes saying “You will fail,” and “You’re not going to make it”.’ https://t.co/hv5mPi120A
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) November 19, 2019
Martosko also cited sources who told him that Obama staffers “left Russian vodka inside cabinets” and left “mean notes in odd places … all about how we were doomed to failure.”
The source says Obama aides left Russian vodka inside cabinets too. Another: ‘There were mean notes left in odd places. One in a deputy press secretary’s office, one inside a desk drawer in upper press, another on a bathroom mirror. … all about how we were doomed to failure.’
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) November 19, 2019