Sarah Huckabee Sanders earned the ire of the White House press corps this week after she ended the only press briefing in the entire month of December early, prompting one reporter to yell, “Do your job, Sarah!”
The incident took place on Tuesday as the White House Press Secretary left the podium after only a few minutes of taking questions from reporters. As Newsweek noted, the meeting itself started nearly an hour later than scheduled, and Sanders repeatedly cut off reporters while informing then that she was “short on time.”
Reporters had been hoping to learn more about Donald Trump’s changing stance on a potential government shutdown, the report noted. After initially bragging that he would welcome a shutdown — and even proudly take credit for it — over his demand for border wall funding, Trump later called on Democrats to avoid a shutdown. And this week, there were indications that the White House was backing away from the fight entirely.
Sanders said that the White House was willing to avert the showdown, but did not give details. Even Congressional Republicans seemed in the dark about Trump’s plan and exactly what he seeking.
In her remarks on Tuesday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not give any new insight onto where the White House stood, instead blaming Congress for failing to bring a measure forward to provide funding for the border wall.
“At this point, we’re disappointed in the fact they’ve yet to vote and pass something,” Sanders said.
“When they do that, we’ll make a determination whether we’re going to sign that.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says there are “other ways” to secure the $5 billion US in funding that President Donald Trump wants for a border wall. https://t.co/DNbfjWmcEB
— CBC News (@CBCNews) December 18, 2018
Sanders also refused to answer any questions on Donald Trump’s charity, the Trump Foundation, which would be dissolved after a lawsuit and investigation by New York’s attorney general found that it existed solely for Trump’s personal and political benefit. The investigation, which stretched for months, led to some damaging results for Trump.
“Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more,” New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a statement . “This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”
The attorney general is also seeking to ban Donald Trump and his three oldest children from serving on any other charity boards and seeks $2.8 million in restitution. Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not comment on the decision.
