Trump Hits Back at CNN Report — By Admitting ‘Of Course’ His Staff Saw Documents Lying Around Mar-A-Lago
Former President Donald Trump pushed back hard on a Thursday night CNN report on how Mar-a-Lago staffers may turn against their boss in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case led by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The report opens with a cutesy, if not twee, framing that reads:
A plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker are among Mar-a-Lago staffers and contract workers who federal prosecutors may call to testify against former President Donald Trump and his two co-defendants at their upcoming criminal trial in Florida, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.”
The report was filed by Paula Reid and Katelyn Polantz, the latter of whom appeared at the top of Thursday’s AC360 to provide a breathless report on what “may” happen. There was solid reporting within the piece, but the fact that the build-up was pegged to what may (or may not) happen led Mediaite’s Michael Luciano to call out the bizarre use of “exclusive” for what is only speculation.
Well, the former president wasn’t thrilled with the “breaking” either, demonstrated in his calling out of the CNN report on social media.
“Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump wrote. “Of course they did!” which could be viewed as an admission of evidence — or an admission of the obvious — depending on one’s perspective.
Trump continued to flex his media criticism muscle, calling out the apparent hyperbole CNN used to call this “Breaking News,” as if he has a credible leg to stand on regarding truth, exaggeration, and hyperbole.
Trump posted on Truth Social:
Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago. Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act. I even supplied, upon request, Security Tapes to these Election Interfering Thugs. Is this really “Breaking News?” No, it’s “Breaking Fake News.” But what about all of the papers, boxes, and documents found at NUMEROUS Crooked Joe Biden places, like his garage floor by his cherished Corvette, or CHINATOWN where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out. He doesn’t come under the Presidential Records Act because he wasn’t President at the time. Deranged Jack Smith has spent over $100,000,000 investigating me on this phony Russia, Russia, Russia, type Scam. How much $’s have they spent investigating Crooked Joe on his much bigger boxes deal?
Reid and Polantz are top reporters whose previous work has earned them a well-deserved top-shelf reputation. But breaking news on what “may” happen feels a bit thin to the former president and, probably, many others as well.
Watch the original report above via CNN.
