Trump: “Of Course” You Report Foreign Campaign Dirt

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The inevitable Phase 2 of Foreigndirtgate took place this morning:

Under fire for saying earlier in the week that “I’d take it” and scoffing at the notion that he should call authorities, Mr. Trump shifted by saying that while he would still look at incriminating information provided by a hostile foreign power about an election opponent he would “absolutely” report such an encounter. “Of course, you give it to the F.B.I. or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends” in a telephone interview on Friday morning. “But of course you do that. You couldn’t have that happen with our country.”

If this follows the usual pattern, Phase 3 will happen in about a week. That’s the part where Trump, counting on the fact that memories have gotten a little foggy, claims that he’s always said he’d call the FBI if some foreigner offered him campaign dirt. His spear carriers in Congress and the media will all join in, agreeing that the liberal media, as usual, is deliberately impugning Trump’s integrity by misquoting him.

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Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

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