1. Trump threatens Comey
Donald Trump threatened James Comey with “tapes” of their conversations, after reports surfaced that Trump had demanded a personal loyalty pledge from the FBI director, and that Comey had refused to make such a pledge.
The threat
James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
2. Comey: bring it on
He hopes there are tapes. That would be perfect.
– an unnamed source close to James Comey, as cited by NBC News
3. Spicer won’t confirm or deny tapes
Q: Did President Trump record his conversations with [Comey]?
SPICER: I assume you are referring to the tweet? I’ve talked to the president, and the president has nothing further on that.
Q: Why did he say that? Why did he tweet that? What should we interpret from that?
SPICER: As I mentioned, the president has nothing further to add on that.
The best-case scenario
So it seems the best case scenario for the White House might be that the President lied on Twitter about recording Comey
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 12, 2017
Preposterous
Is the president out of control?
— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) May 12, 2017
Spicer: "That's frankly offensive."
4. Congress demands any tapes
Didn't take long: Ranking Dems on Judiciary and Oversight Committees ask WH counsel for tapes. https://t.co/ammxHDb3vc pic.twitter.com/A6HBf7zsM2
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) May 12, 2017
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6. Sessions stiffens sentencing
“Attorney general Jeff Sessions is directing federal prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges possible against the vast majority of suspects, a reversal of Obama-era policies that is sure to send more people to prison and for much longer terms,” AP said.
Holder calls move ‘dumb on crime’
7. 'What is wrong with you?'
Michelle Obama has made her strongest political intervention since leaving the White House, stating bluntly at a health conference: “Think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap.”
'They don't care about your kid'
.@tomcostellonbc Michelle Obama: "Think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap ... if somebody is doing that, they don't care about your kid." pic.twitter.com/23SRklxt4T
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) May 12, 2017
...and another thing:
when life gives you a video of Melissa McCarthy/Sean Spicer cruising down the street on a podium, add "Ridin' Dirty" to it
— Taylor Maycan (@TaylorMaycan) May 12, 2017
(h/t @elanazak) pic.twitter.com/V2ae1UnDJ1
...and another thing:
In the annals of presidential firings, the response to Truman firing MacArthur for insubordination was crazy. From "The Coldest Winter": pic.twitter.com/qpTthqMGrX
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) May 12, 2017
...and another thing:
This is just your periodic reminder that Trump will be visiting the Middle East in under 2 weeks to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) May 12, 2017
