White House Truncates Media Briefing, Leaving Questions Unanswered

WHITE HOUSE — 

The White House spokesman, during a truncated off-camera briefing Wednesday, brushed aside a question about a report that fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly that the president pressured him to end an investigation into a top Trump aide’s ties to Russia.

“We are focused on the president’s agenda,” answered White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “Going forward, all questions on these matters will be referred to outside counsel Marc Kasowitz.”

The New York City litigator was retained by Trump last week to represent the president in all matters concerning the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

CNN on Wednesday reported that Comey will tell the Senate Intelligence Committee, as soon as next week, that Trump urged him to drop his ongoing investigation into Michael Flynn, whom the president fired as his national security advisor.

Earlier in the day, the president on Twitter used the term “Witch Hunt” to characterize congressional investigations into his 2016 campaign’s links to Russia, blaming opposition Democrats for allegedly blocking the testimony of another former aide, Carter Page, looking to clear his name.

During the daily White House briefing, Spicer also was asked about mysterious Wednesday morning tweets on the president’s @realDonaldTrump account referring to “covfefe.”

Shortly after midnight, Trump tweeted, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”

The tweet, with the mystery word not found in any dictionary, stayed online for six hours before being deleted. Then, just after 6 a.m., the president tweeted: “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!”

That one stayed up, unleashing another round of social media confusion.

Asked about the cryptic message, Spicer replied, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”

Pressed for clarification, the press secretary did not respond, much to the chagrin of a befuddled press corps.

Cameras were not permitted to record Spicer’s comments, as the White House apparently moves to reduce the number of contentious televised briefings.

The administration alternatively used the terms “gaggle” and “pen and pad” session” for Wednesday’s briefing, saying audio could be recorded but could not be aired live or streamed.

Despite the ground rule, the 11-minute briefing was aired live by some cable networks, in which one-fourth of the session was consumed by Spicer reading prepared announcements.

As the press secretary abruptly walked off the podium, one frustrated reporter exclaimed, “How short are these gonna be?”

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