Ranking House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) tried to defend Trump taking classified documents, and it was an epic disaster.
[embedded content]
CNN State Of The Union guest host Brianna Keilar asked, “Do you take home documents marked special access?”
Turner answered, “No.”
Keilar: And yet you’re casting doubt —
Turner came back with an answer that implied that Trump couldn’t be trusted with national security documents, “I’ve been in the Oval Office with the president I’d be surprised if he has actual documents that rise to an immediate national security threat.”
Keilar asked again, “Well, the documents, just to be clear, several sets, and you’re aware of that because you’ve seen the property receipt. You’re casting doubt, you don’t have information on which to base that conclusion at this point, but you yourself would not take home documents marked special access. You would not take home this sensitive compartmented information?”
Turner went back to trying to suggest that the documents might have been mislabeled, “Remember what I’m casting doubt on. It’s not — these are labeled that. We don’t know whether or not these are classified and rise the level. The second thing we don’t know is are they a national security threat? Attorney General Garland could have –”
Keilar asked, “Do you know they’re not? Sir, do you know they’re not?”
Rep. Turner tried to salvage this dumpster fire, “Demanding Donald Trump deliver the materials to the court. Instead, he spent nine hours in his home. That rises to the highest level. We give them authority to be intrusive and invasive — “
Turner was then hit with hypocritical quotes about Hillary Clinton’s emails, and things got worse for Republicans.
Rep. Turner tried to defend Trump taking classified documents, and he crashed and burned. He could not give any logical reason for Trump to have the documents, admitted that he would never take the documents, and looked like a hypocrite given his previous comments about Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Any Republican who tries to defend Trump outside of conservative media is going to face the same fate as Turner.
Republicans are trying to defend Trump potentially committing espionage, and to say that it is not going well would be a massive understatement.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association