Shep Smith: Not Really Transparency When You’re Doing It to Beat ‘Document Dump’
Following Donald Trump Jr.’s release of his email exchange with Rob Goldstone that showed he was looking to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government, it was revealed that the New York Times was on the verge of publishing those very revelations.
Yet, in a statement delivered by deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at today’s off-camera White House press briefing, President Donald Trump praised his son for not only being “high-quality,” but also for his “transparency.”
During a segment this afternoon on the blockbuster news, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith had on Associated Press reporter Julie Bykowicz to discuss these recent developments. Smith used this opportunity to poke holes in the White House’s narrative that this was Trump Jr. being transparent.
“His transparency came minutes before he had been made aware that The New York Times would be publishing the same e-mails this released, correct?” Smith asked Bykowicz.
After she said that was right, Smith continued to press his point.
“So transparency is something that normally happens prior to learning that somebody else is about to document dump you,” he dryly noted. “Normally that word wouldn’t be used in this circumstance.”
At the end of the segment, Smith pointed out that Trump Jr.’s story kept changing as the Times reported more and more on the meeting he had with a Russian lawyer.
“Each change in explanation happened after The New York Times brought out more of this information,” Smith explained. “The story changes happen as the times brought out more relevant information.”
Watch the clip above, via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
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