Over the weekend, Trump made waves among policy and media circles when during a brief, informal exchange with reporters on New Year's Eve at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, the president-elect questioned the official version of "Russians hacking the election", saying it was possible "somebody else" compromised the Democratic campaign’s servers, and adding that he will reveal some previously undisclosed facts in the coming days by hinting that "I also know things that other people don’t know, we they cannot be sure of the situation."
Asked what that information included, the Republican President-elect said, "You will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday." He did not elaborate.
This naturally prompted curiosity among the press, with some wondering what, if anything Trump knows, above and beyond what has been revealed, while others such as CNN's Jim Sciutto, suggesting that "Trump's promise of "new information" on #RussianHacking and his team's subsequent backing off has echoes of the birther campaign."
1/Trump's promise of "new information" on #RussianHacking and his team's subsequent backing off has echoes of the birther campaign
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 2, 2017
2/Often, just a hint of something secret and new is enough to keep the story going for his most ardent supporters
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 2, 2017
3/Now his camp is pointing to White House review due out by inauguration but question is: will that sway him if briefings so far have not?
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 2, 2017
Meanwhile, perhaps concerned by the build up in expectations, Trump's incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday sought to temper expectations that the President-elect will reveal new details about alleged Russian hacking during the U.S. presidential election in the coming days.
“It’s not a question of necessarily revealing,” Spicer said on CNN’s “New Day.”
.@seanspicer: "Irresponsible" for Obama to act on intel report on alleged Russian hacking as it is not yet final https://t.co/lPWONBiTwk
— New Day (@NewDay) January 2, 2017
“He’s going to talk about his conclusions and where he thinks things stand. He’s not going to reveal anything that was privileged or was shared with him classified. I think he can share with people his conclusions of the report and his understanding of the situation and make sure people understand there’s a lot of questions out there. “
During the Monday interview, Spicer stressed that a report released last week that said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security had linked Russia to the hacking of Democratic party organizations is not final (it was also, as noted here yesterday, woefully inadequate and incomplete).
“The current president of the United states has not seen a final report. The intelligence community is talking about wrapping it up later this week,” he said. “I think that the idea that we’re jumping to conclusions before we have a final report is frankly irresponsible.”
Spicer also took a dig at host Alisyn Camerota. “I know this is frustrating for you that we are doing it in a logical way. We are going to actually get all the information, get briefed properly and then make a decision. We’re not going to put the cart before the horse.”
"I know this is frustrating for you that we are doing it in a logical way." Trump spox takes shot at @AlisynCamerota https://t.co/ffqmL8CubK
— New Day (@NewDay) January 2, 2017
* * *
Following up his CNN appearance, Spicer later spoke on Fox News, and said that there’s “zero evidence” that Russia influenced the U.S. presidential election.
“The way the mainstream media is playing it up is that [Russia] had an influence on the election,” Spicer said on Fox News. “There is zero evidence that they actually influenced the election.”
Spicer emphasized on Monday that “whether or not they were hacked and they did anything is a completely different story” than whether Russia had an influence on the election. The incoming White House speaker also added that “hacking is wrong” and that “people shouldn’t be interfering,” but said the “13-page report is more of a how-to manual for the [Democratic National Committee] as to how they can improve their IT security.”
No matter what Trump will, or won't reveal, on "Tuesday or Wednesady", one thing is virtually certain: it will take place on Twitter, and will completely bypass the conventional press distribution apparatus, leading to even greater anger among the mainstream media.