White House hits back over Woodward book
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders yesterday pushed back against Bob Woodward’s new book on President Donald Trump, denouncing it as ‘‘fabricated’’ without disputing any of the specifics that have been reported in excerpts so far.
‘‘This book is nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad,’’ Sanders said.
Sanders contended that Trump has delivered ‘‘unprecedented’’ success for the country and that while his approach is unconventional, ‘‘he always gets results.’’
‘‘Democrats and their allies in the media understand the president’s policies are working and with success like this, no-one can beat him in 2020 – not even close,’’ she said.
Sanders’ statement follows a report by the Washington Post earlier yesterday on several episodes detailed by Woodward in his forthcoming book, Fear: Trump in the White House.
They include one meeting in which Trump vented to his personal attorney that the Russian probe is ‘‘a goddamn hoax’’ and said after learning of the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller III, ‘‘Everybody’s trying to get me.’’
In the 448-page book, Woodward also reports on a small group meeting at which White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ranted about Trump to colleagues. ‘‘He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown,’’ Kelly said, according to Woodward.
Kelly disputed the depiction of the meeting in a statement yesterday. ‘‘The idea I ever called the president an idiot is not true,’’ Kelly said, adding that Trump ‘‘always knows where I stand, and he and I both know this story is total BS.’’
Woodward also recounts in the book a meeting in the White House residence organised by John Dowd, Trump’s then-personal lawyer, that served as a practice session for a potential Trump interview with Mueller.
The book said Dowd and another Trump lawyer met Mueller and his deputy in the special counsel’s office, where Trump’s attorneys re-enacted the president’s January practice session.
According to the book, Dowd also later told Trump: ‘‘Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit.’’
In a statement, Dowd said that he had not read Woodward’s book and pushed back against Woodward’s reporting, including the ‘‘orange jumpsuit’’ comment , the practice session and the reenactment. ‘‘I do not intend to address every inaccurate statement attributed to me – but I do want to make this clear: there was no so-called ‘practice session’ or ‘re-enactment’ of a mock interview at the Special Counsel’s office,’’ Dowd said. ‘‘Further, I did not refer to the president as a ‘liar’ and did not say that he was likely to end up in an ‘orange jump suit’. It was a great honour and distinct privilege to serve President Trump.’’
Woodward said in a statement: ‘‘I stand by my reporting.’’