Disgraced anchor Brian Williams, who has a history of not telling the truth, on Wednesday offered a skeptical take on the claim by a Republican Congressman that Donald Trump's aides were surveilled during the presidential transition. Regarding the assertions made by Representative Devin Nunes, Williams explained in a doubting tone: “[Nunes] says he is now in receipt of information. It's intelligence information that he found alarming enough to go down to the White House and brief the President. [This is] not traditionally the role of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.”
Williams, who falsely said he was shot down in 2003, added, “[Nunes] has a lot of other people he reports to.... He has got an FBI director and NSA director who are going to be real interested in exactly what he came to tell the President.” The anchor, who told tales about seeing dead bodies while covering Hurricane Katrina, wondered, “Central question: Is what he has discovered at all confirmation of the President's tweets?”
Williams, who repeated his Iraq lie about being shot down multiple times, chided the “suspicion” Nunes created with his comments: “But he could not have injected more suspicion into what he's discovered in the few minutes he strolled outside the northwest portico and addressed the White House press corps outdoors.”
Nunes's claims will have to be investigated to find out what they do or do not mean. But maybe Brian Williams isn't the man to cast doubt on anyone's assertions.
A transcript is below:
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MSNBC Live
3/22/173:30pm ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Night has fallen in London. As you see there, about 7:30 local time. Then we were in our last hour of coverage when, suddenly, the Republican who shares the intelligence community in the House, the focus of our attention all day Monday as the head of the FBI and NSA came to testify before that committee. He says he is now in receipt of information. It's intelligence information that he found alarming enough to go down to the White House and brief the President. Not traditionally the role of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He has a lot of other people he reports to, Republican members, ranking members, the Democrats, Mr. Schiff from California, the congressman we've come to see a lot of.
He has got an FBI director and NSA director who are going to be real interested in exactly what he came to tell the President about, what the President or the President's people were caught up in, that's part of some incidental intelligence gathering. Central question: is what he has discovered at all confirmation of the President's tweets? Is there wiretap evidence? And we use that word as the President did. Wiretap evidence. He was asked that question and answered no. But he could not have injected more suspicion into what he's discovered in the few minutes he strolled outside the northwest portico and addressed the White House press corp outdoors. Kasie Hunt is following all of this, at least I hope she is. This is getting tough to follow. Up on Capitol Hill. Kasie, to extend and amend our conversation over the last hour, thing of the number people just where you are who are really anxious to hear what Devin Nunes has discovered and told the President.
