After Trump called for Jeff Sessions to investigate a highly critical NY Times op-ed from someone within his administration, Kellyanne Conway told CNN she had no idea if any criminal activity had occurred, but maybe...
To see Conway have trouble talking her way around one of Trump's egomaniac official statements was interesting to say the least.
Everyone from Barack Obama to most honest political pundits and politicians understand that the president can't use the DOJ for a personal vendetta or because someone was critical of their behavior in an opinion piece for the media.
CNN's Jake Tapper explained to his audience and to Kellyanne Conway the real reason the Trump administration wants to open a criminal investigation over the disparaging op-ed is so they can destroy the person's credibility.
And let's not forget so quickly, Conway said, "cowards are like criminals," trying to make the case the person must be guilty of something for simply remaining anonymous, but Conway herself tried to be an anonymous source to the Washington Post to bash her own husband because George Conway constantly criticizes Trump.
When Tapper pressed her again and again on what law was broken she had no response except to express her disgust of betrayal and facetiously claim they told the Times classified information that wasn't printed.
TAPPER: Do you think the person broke the law?
CONWAY: I don't know. I have no idea...
Here's the entire segment via CNN:
TAPPER: Let me ask you, though, because President Trump has said that Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, should be investigating who the author of the piece is because of national security reasons.
Is that a directive to DOJ to investigate?
CONWAY: So, from what I understand, there can be an investigation if there is criminal activity perhaps.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: And there doesn't appear to be any.
CONWAY: I don't know that. And I don't think you know that. In other words, that's...
TAPPER: What would the criminal activity be?
CONWAY: It really depends on what else has been divulged by an individual.
Anybody who would do this...
TAPPER: But we read the op-ed. There was nothing criminal -- there was nothing -- there are no national secrets divulged.
[09:10:00]
CONWAY: Anybody who would do this, you don't know what else they're saying.
But there's a difference between administrative action, as I understand it, and criminal action. But the president is also just -- the president has a...
TAPPER: Do you think the person broke the law?
CONWAY: I don't know. I have no idea...
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: I have no idea.
TAPPER: You think that, because he or she wrote the op-ed, he might -- he or she might have also broken the law? Is that the idea?
CONWAY: I have no idea what -- I have no -- I have really no idea, nor do you, what else this person has divulged.
I think somebody so cowardly and so conceited would probably go a step further.
TAPPER: But that's not how investigations are done. You don't look at somebody's behavior and say, if somebody did this, which is not illegal, maybe he or she also would have done illegal...
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: But, Jake, let's not look at the four corners or the op-ed or the four corners of someone's book to say this is everything we know. That's the entire point.
But, look, the president's...
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: It is actually everything we know.
CONWAY: I actually think the president...
TAPPER: It's everything we know. The op-ed is everything we know about it.
I mean, we don't know if this person has done anything else.
CONWAY: Right, because we're not the -- we're not the -- you're not the government sitting here.
But the president is making the point -- I -- look, I think this person is going to suss himself or herself out. I think cowards are like criminals. Eventually, they confess to the wrong person: Shh. It was -- it was me, but don't tell anyone.
And, of course, the person will tell someone. So they will probably suss themselves out.
But I really help -- I really hope whoever it is doesn't ultimately get a hero's welcome and the red carpet unfurled, kill the fatted calf, because what really was gained by being so cowardly? Come forward and say, I disagree with this president's policies.
Plenty of Republicans have done that. He has turned this city upside down.
TAPPER: Well, one of the reasons...
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: ... donor class, the lobbyists, certainly the media.
TAPPER: Right.
Well, one of the reasons why you and the president want to know who it is so you can undermine that person's credibility. You can't attack him or her without knowing who it is, in the same way that you have attacked other critics, James Comey, Omarosa, whomever.
So -- so, I mean, isn't that really one of the reasons that you want this person to come forward?
CONWAY: Not me.
This person has already undermined their credibility. I don't know why they were imbued with the authority, transparency, accountability, and credibility that everybody gave them, other than they were peddling an anti-Trump message.
I don't think an anonymous messenger should be imbued with that level of credibility. So, they have already undermined their credibility.
I think the whole point here is, are you somebody?
