White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says her office won’t compile a list of alleged inaccuracies in Bob Woodward’s book being released Tuesday, despite aggressively pushing back on specific allegations.
“I think that would be a complete and utter waste of our time, so no,” Sanders said Monday at the daily White House press briefing.
Woodward’s 362-page “Fear: Trump in the White House” depicts administration officials unnerved by President Trump and inclined to disobey or undermine him.
Sanders described the book as sourced to “disgruntled former employees” and said Trump “absolutely” is a credible voice as he disputes its accuracy.
The book contains shocking stories of insubordination. Former White House economist Gary Cohn, for example, allegedly told a colleague he “stole” a document from Trump’s desk to prevent U.S. withdrawal from a trade deal with South Korea.
Trump allegedly told Defense Secretary Jim Mattis he wanted to assassinate Syrian President Bashar Assad. “Let’s f—ing kill him!” Trump allegedly said, before Mattis told an aide, “We’re not going to do any of that.”
[More: Trump pissed at Gary Cohn, Rob Porter for their roles in Bob Woodward’s book: Report]
Many figures in the book have denied Woodward’s reporting, including former Trump attorney John Dowd, who allegedly staged a mock Trump interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller before personally telling Mueller that Trump was incapable of honesty.
At the Monday briefing, Sanders fended off questions of Trump’s credibility.
A journalist pointed out that a Quinnipiac poll found 60 percent of the public believe Trump is dishonest, and asked if he could successfully challenge Woodward, a Washington Post journalist famous for reporting during the Watergate scandal.
Sanders cited denials from Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and said instead of Woodward’s sources, “I would rather take the actual on record accounts from people who have here who have been working in this building who have interacted with the president day in and day out.”
[Also read: Majority of American voters find NYT op-ed writer’s claims credible: Poll]
