In case you missed it, the Washington Post had a hot scoop on acting DNI Joseph Maguire:
Trump's intelligence chief threatened to quit if White House forced him to stonewall Congress on whistleblower, officials say https://t.co/fwdIo5VIT1
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 25, 2019
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham pushed back against the WaPo’s report:
This is actually not true. And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond. https://t.co/5EBnBlShbK
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) September 25, 2019
Hmmm.
BREAKING: Maguire threatened to resign if he wasn't allowed to testify freelyhttps://t.co/jL3elkqqL8
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 25, 2019
"In essence, Maguire was serving notice that he intended to cooperate with lawmakers unless the White House moved forward with a legal case to prevent him from doing so, the officials said."
"In essence": seems like WaPo or anon officials were extrapolating a threat to resign. https://t.co/ASp0ODSkaT
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) September 25, 2019
Well, there’s an easy way to clear this up. What does Maguire himself have to say?
ADNI MAGUIRE STATEMENT:
“At no time have I considered resigning my position since assuming this role on Aug. 16, 2019. I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now.
— Olivia Gazis (@Olivia_Gazis) September 25, 2019
I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.”
— Olivia Gazis (@Olivia_Gazis) September 25, 2019
Huh.
Acting DNI chief shoots down WaPo story ——> https://t.co/CXh3Xpt3fb
— David S. Joachim (@davidjoachim) September 25, 2019
So, Grisham was right to call out WaPo? Imagine that.
That was fast. pic.twitter.com/SiN8YUPRTz
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) September 25, 2019
Oh look.
Media making shit up.
AGAIN. https://t.co/J07qRC2Nuj
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 25, 2019
So happy the @washingtonpost burns their credibility yet again.
— Paige Sullivan (@PaigeSully88) September 25, 2019
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional text and tweets.
***
Update:
Hold up, everybody. John Harwood’s still not convinced by Maguire’s own words:
more specifically, he denied that he “considered” resigning (which might not rule out threatening it to others) https://t.co/iCYP7ihK8N
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) September 25, 2019
And NBC’s Ken Dilanian:
Maguire now denying this. The Post is standing by its reporting, as am I. https://t.co/oxcrx8AF8r
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) September 25, 2019
Because of course you are, Ken.
Wait, so if he threatened to resign if he couldn't speak freely, but now is saying he didn't say that, and the media reports are true, then he's not speaking freely — so why hasn't he resigned yet? #SoConfused https://t.co/y5wJhEpEzC
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) September 25, 2019
And ’round and ’round we go.
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