Sarah Huckabee Sanders tries to pour cold water on another Trump-FBI scandal
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The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that last year, President Trump asked Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe whom he voted for in the 2016 election. McCabe was then the bureau's acting chief, and the alleged conversation is reportedly of interest to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
But if you ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, it's really not a big deal — and hey, who knows if it really happened anyway. During Wednesday's briefing, ABC News' Cecilia Vega asked Sanders if Trump "[made] a habit" of asking federal employees whom they voted for. When Sanders replied that Trump and McCabe "have had limited and pretty non-substantive conversations," Vega fired back: "But that's kind of a yes or no question. He did or didn't ask." Sanders shrugged and replied, "I wasn't in the room, I don't know what was discussed."
Later in the briefing, another reporter called the reported conversation between Trump and McCabe "the leading story of the day." Sanders disagreed: "I very seriously doubt that any person in America would list that as an issue they care about."
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The conversation between McCabe and the president reportedly occurred last May, shortly after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, and The Washington Post reported that Mueller is interested in its contents. McCabe thought the question about his political leanings was "disturbing," the Post reported.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
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