Fake News exposed
AGAIN!
******************
The “Trump Hid His Meetings with Putin” Stories Begin to
Unravel
By Fred Fleitz
January 15, 2019
Over the weekend the
mainstream media launched a new ploy to promote their Trump-Russia collusion
narrative with a story that first appeared in the Washington Post titled
“Officials
in dark on Putin talks.” A similar piece was published in the Wall
Street Journal today, “Trump
didn’t use notetakers at Putin/ Meeting.” Cable News networks and
Democratic congressmen claimed these stories indicated that President Trump held
secret discussions with Russian President Putin that were revealed to no one.
For example, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) told
CNN on Sunday that the U.S. government ‘does not know’ what
Trump and Putin discussed.
These stories were
misleading, if not mostly false. First, they neglected to mention that the
President’s decision to restrict access to read-outs of his one-on-one meetings
with Putin were due to the extraordinary number of leaks to the press of his
phone calls and meetings with foreign officials at the beginning of his
presidency.
Second, it is untrue
that senior officials are unaware of what was discussed in President Trump’s
meetings with Putin.
Concerning Trump’s
first meeting with Putin in 2017, although a notetaker reportedly was not
present and Mr. Trump allegedly took possession of his interpreter’s notes,
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attended this meeting and provided a detailed
read-out to senior U.S. officials. It is clear that the unnamed officials cited
in the Washington Post piece on the 2017 Trump-Putin meeting
were irritated they were not provided with copies of Tillerson’s read-out of
the meeting, not that there wasn’t a read-out. It also is ridiculous for the
press to assert that President Trump said something nefarious to Putin with
Tillerson present.
Concerning President
Trump’s one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki last July, I can attest as
former National Security Council Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff that
senior U.S. officials – including myself – knew everything that was discussed.
Again, the real issue here is that some U.S. officials are irritated they were
excluded from read-outs of this meeting and voiced their frustrations to the
press.
The media’s claim
that this story amounts to a U.S. president concealing his secret discussions
with the Russian president as part of his alleged collusion with Russia is fake
news. Senior U.S. officials knew exactly what was discussed in these meetings.
This story is really about a successful effort by President Trump to prevent
anti-Trump government officials from leaking sensitive national security
information to the press.
Good job President
Trump!
_______________________
About Fred Fleitz
Fred
Fleitz is President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy.
He recently served as a Deputy Assistant to President Trump and Chief of Staff
to National Security Adviser John Bolton. He previously worked in national
security positions for 25 years with CIA, DIA, the Department of State and the
House Intelligence Committee staff. Read his
complete bio here. Follow Fleitz
on Twitter @fredfleitz.
About CSP
The Center for Security Policy
was founded in July 1988 by 30 national security policy practitioners united by
an overarching goal – to perpetuate the time-tested policy Ronald Reagan used
to such transformative effect during his presidency: “Peace through
Strength.” Led by Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan Defense
Department official and aide to Senators Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Senate Armed
Services Committee Chairman John Tower, they founded an non-partisan,
educational public policy organization with a single, overarching mission: secure
freedom.
“What
an exemplary organization you are — devoting yourselves to the pursuit of
peace and national security. I can think of no loftier purpose or goal.” —
1995 letter from President Ronald Reagan to the Center for Security Policy
The
Center has diligently advanced that goal ever since through a combination of:
cutting-edge public policy research; the skillful and evolving use of multi-media
platforms for outreach to – and impact with – the nation’s leadership and
people; and, most uniquely, the creation and direction of coalitions to
undertake effective advocacy.
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