Sean Spicer read news clips about Russia for 9 full minutes during today's press briefing

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spent nine minutes of the Thursday press briefing rehashing reports about the Trump administration's ties to Russia. Spicer, asked about the Senate Intelligence Committee leaders' joint statement Thursday reporting "no indications" of wiretapping at Trump Tower, insisted President Trump "stands by" his baseless claim former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower during the presidential election.

"There's a ton of media reports out there that indicate something was going on," Spicer said, denying that the Senate Intelligence Committee leaders' statement constituted "findings." Spicer then began reading a series of reports from The New York Times, Fox News, and other media outlets, none of which provided evidence directly backing Trump's claims. Many of the reports Spicer used to make his point notably relied on anonymous sources, the use of which the Trump administration has condemned.

It's unclear what Spicer achieved by upholding the wiretapping claims that have now been disavowed by several Republicans on Capitol Hill, though The Washington Post's Abby Phillip noted Spicer certainly did a good job of reminding the press about all the alleged connections between the Trump administration and Russia. Becca Stanek

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