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WATCH: Seth Meyers Brilliantly Interviews Kellyanne Conway on Trump and Russian Dossier

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Guess Who’s One of The Best Journalists at NBC?

Seth Meyers interviewed incoming White House advisor Kellyanne Conway Tuesday night, hours after both the CNN and Buzzfeed bombshell reports exposed that Russia may have compromising information on Donald Trump, and that information may include disturbing and potentially disqualifying information on the president-elect.

Meyers, who before becoming host of “Late Night” was a head writer at Saturday Night Live and Host of its “Weekend Update,” “grilled” Conway, as The Washington Post notes, on the shocking Russian revelations. And as some on Twitter and elsewhere noted, Meyers’ interview of Conway is an example of how she should be interviewed, and perhaps journalists should take note.

Meyers, in short, let Conway wriggle out of almost nothing, countered her false or misleading statements, and respectfully delivered factual information in response to her attempts to mislead.

Watch this short excerpt, and read the transcript published by The Washington Post.

Opening with the revelation of the Russian dossier, Meyers shared the basics with his audience and Conway, allowing her to respond.

“Well, guess what hasn’t happened, Seth,” Conway began. “Nobody has sourced it. They’re all unnamed, unspoken sources in the story, and it says it was based on a Russian investigator to begin with.”

“I think it was based on an MI6 British investigator,” Meyers noted.

“Right, well one of those. And then it said that it also may have originated with a Russian investigator. It also says that Hillary Clinton and groups that wanted Hillary Clinton to win may have been behind the investigations themselves. And, most importantly, it says that the FBI is trying to confirm it. So nothing’s been confirmed.”

Conway continued: “And I have to say as an American citizen, regardless of your party or if you don’t like politics at all, which are many Americans, we should be concerned that intelligence officials leak to the press and won’t go and tell the president-elect or the president of the United States himself now, Mr. Obama, what the information is. They would rather go tell the press —

“But the press report was about them going to the president,” Meyers said.

“And it says that they never briefed him on it, that they appended two pages to the bottom of his intelligence report,” Conway said.

“I believe it said that they did brief him on it,” Meyers said

“Well, he has said that he is not aware of that,” Conway replied.

“That concerns me,” Meyers said.

“It’s not fair, and it’s not true,” Conway interjected.

“What’s not fair? That I’m concerned?” Meyers joked. “I assure you I am.”

“It’s not fair that people don’t give him his due,” Conway said. “He received an intelligence briefing. He made comments about it afterward. And I have to tell you there wasn’t very compelling information in terms of the nexus that people like to make between alleged hacking and the election results. Vladimir Putin didn’t tell Hillary Clinton to ignore Michigan and Wisconsin. She did that all by herself.”

Meyers and Conway were able to find a common ground here. “I am not going to sit and argue with you that the Clinton campaign was a well-run campaign,” Meyers said.

“Or that the Russians interfered in the election successfully. That they interrupted our democracy,” Conway said.

“But shouldn’t we care if the Russians tried to interfere?” Meyers asked. “Whether it informed the election or not. I sometimes fear that the president-elect has no curiosity as to the amount they tried.”

“That is completely false,” Conway said. “He has enormous curiosity. I’m there every day with him. He has a number of different meetings every day — briefings and otherwise. He was curious enough to figure out America. He knew America when many other Republicans did not.”

“That’s a pivot right there, Kellyanne,” Meyers said, before breaking into applause. “And by the way, no one does it better,” he added.

The full 13-minute interview is here.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump and Russia Deny Crippling Information in Dossier Is Factual, Both Call Its Release a ‘Witch Hunt’

Alleged Intelligence Dossier of Russia’s Compromising Info on Trump Includes Details of ‘Sexual Perversion’

REPORT: Russians Say They Have Compromising Information on Trump

You can respond directly to Kellyanne Conway by sending your comments to her on Twitter: @KellyannePolls. 
You can respond directly to Seth Meyers by sending your comments to him on Twitter: @sethmeyers. 
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News

Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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News

Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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