MSNBC’s Katy Tur suggested that the White House’s decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan was intended to deflect from the bombshell allegations made by former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders made the announcement Wednesday afternoon at the beginning of a press briefing, relaying a message from President Trump that said Brennan’s “erratic behavior” should disqualify him from having access to sensitive information.
The move made good on a threat the White House made last month, but Turr insisted that it was done now in order to distract from the prevailing news story of the week.
“Question, how do you get Omarosa off the news?” Tur said Wednesday after the press briefing concluded. “Answer: by revoking the security clearance of the former director of the CIA.”
In her book and in the accompanying press tour, Manigault Newman has made a number of wild claims, including that Trump is experiencing a “mental decline,” the author heard of a tape in which Trump used the N-word, and that his marriage to Melania Trump is in jeopardy.
[More: Omarosa speaks highly of Melania Trump in book that disparages the president]
