On a White House tour with President Trump earlier this month, Time reporters had the opportunity to look at a new 60-inch flat-screen TV Trump had installed in his dining room. This particular television boasted "one of the greatest inventions of all time," Trump wanted the reporters to know. "TiVo."
But cued up on the DVR was not Trump's typical fare (CNN, Fox & Friends). Instead, Trump reviewed saved footage of the Senate hearings on Russia's influence over the 2016 election, while mocking former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates:
The first clip [Trump] shows is of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham speaking to [...] Clapper. Graham asks if Clapper stands by his statement that he knows of no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump waits quietly, until Clapper admits that nothing has changed. Trump pantomimes a sort of victory."Yes. He was choking on that," the president chortles. "Is there any record at all of collusion? He was the head of the whole thing. He said no. That's a big statement.' [Time]
The next clip Trump played showed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asking Clapper and Yates if they ever asked for the names of Trump, his associates, or members of Congress to be unmasked:
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"Watch them start to choke like dogs," Trump says, having fun. "Watch what happens. They are desperate for breath."Clapper, on the screen, pauses several beats to search his memory. "Ah, he's choking. Ah, look," the president says. After a delay, Clapper finally answers, admitting that he had requested an unmasking, which would have been a routine occurrence in his former job. The running Trump commentary continues. "See the people in the back, people are gasping," he says, though it's unclear who he is referring to on the screen. [Time]
Read the full report at Time here.
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