Here’s an odd sign of the times.
Snapchat’s Peter Hamby was at National Harbor to watch President Donald Trump’s speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, and he saw audience members waving tiny Russian flags emblazoned with the name “TRUMP.” Staffers seem to have swiftly realized this was a bad look for a president who is under suspicion of a variety of shady ties with Russia, and confiscated them.
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At the same time, the speech itself really only deepened the questions around Trump and Russia. He denounced the Washington Post reporting that led to National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s firing, for example, as having been based on fake sources. But if the sources were fake, then why did he fire Flynn? Then he specifically denounced the whole idea of stories based on anonymous sources. But just hours ago, the Trump White House held an anonymous briefing with senior White House officials to deny reports that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had made improper contact with the FBI regarding the investigation.
Flags or no flags, questions about what exactly is going on here won’t stop until the White House allows a thorough and independent investigation.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Hamby works for CNN, which he left some time ago. Fake news. Sad!
