After Brutal Grilling, Sarah Sanders Turns on Press: ‘You Guys Are The Ones That Publish Classified Information’
Right off the bat at today’s White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was peppered with questions by the press corps, who absolutely grilled her on the President Donald Trump’s response to the Rob Porter domestic abuse scandal.
Following that barrage, Sanders was asked why high-level aides were allowed to work with classified information without received permanent security clearance, in reference to a recent report that 30 to 40 White House aides still haven’t been cleared.
“Can you guarantee that you are protecting classified information when you have someone like Rob Porter who didn’t have a permanent security clearance?” MSNBC’s Kristen Welker asked.
The press secretary used this question as a way to take shots at the media, specifically when it comes to reporting based on classified info.
“I think we’re taking every step we can to protect classified information. If you have such concern with classified information, there’s plenty of it that has leaked out of the hill, out of other communities, well beyond the White House walls. If you guys have real concerns about leaking out classified information, look around this room. You guys are the ones that publish classified information and put national security at risk. That doesn’t come from this White House. We take every precaution possible to protect classified information and certainly to protect national security. It is the president’s number one priority, protecting the citizens of this country. It is why we spend every single day doing everything we can to do that. And I think if anyone is publishing or putting out publicly classified information, it is members of the press, not the White House.”
Watch above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
—
