CNN's John Berman tries to untangle Trump's 'hydra of dishonesty' about the Trump Tower Russia meeting

CNN&#039;s John Berman dissects White House laws

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CNN)

published 4 June 2018

On Saturday, The New York Times published a 20-page letter President Trump's lawyers Jay Sekulow and John Dowd sent to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in January in which they claim almost monarchical powers for the president. But on Monday's New Day, CNN's John Berman focused on one sentence in the letter, and he wasn't shy about using the "L" word. The letter "opens up a huge can of worms for the White House — actually, not worms, it's more like writhing hydra of dishonesty," Berman said. "And just like the mythical creature, you chop off one lie and and two more emerge in its place."

Berman pointed specifically to the part of the letter where the lawyers acknowledge that "the president dictated a short but accurate response to The New York Times on behalf of his son, Donald Trump Jr.," about Trump Jr.'s meeting with Kremlin-linked Russians, then he played clips of Sekulow and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders unequivocally saying Trump had no role and did not dictate the statement. "There's a lot of talk about the difference between lie and a falsehood or untruth," Berman said. "Here, someone is lying," and it's either Trump or Sanders and Sekulow.

New Day co-host Alisyn Camerota asked analyst John Avlon if "the fact that they're admitting that, after lying so consistently about it, does that tell us that someone like, say, Hope Hicks has been interviewed by Robert Mueller and now they have to tell the truth?" Avlon said that "telling the truth is not the first instinct of this crew," and "the whole chronology of this is lie upon lie upon lie, that's what's important. Remember, first this meeting didn't happen, then it was about adoption, then there were incriminating emails that showed it was about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton." Worse, Berman added, "this is dishonesty about something that is crucial to the entire investigation." Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.