Former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett was grilled on the Steele dossier and the FBI spying on the Trump campaign live on TV, but tried to dodge the topic altogether, earning comparisons to Hillary Clinton from conservatives.
Confronted by a Fox Business anchor with mounting evidence that much of the dossier – which alleged illegal cooperation between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government – was unverified and not credible, Jarrett said Tuesday morning that it’s time to move on from the issue because it was “nearly four years ago.”
“I don’t understand why our focus isn’t on what’s happening right now,” she told the host Maria Bartiromo.
But Bartiromo continued trying to get clear answers on the dossier, which kicked off the ‘Russiagate’ investigation and was used to spy on Trump campaign member Carter Page. She asked the Obama advisor to respond to reports the document was not based on firsthand knowledge and could have been politically motivated to target officials like Michael Flynn.
Jarrett parroted her first deflection and tried to steer the conversation to the “integrity” of the upcoming November election.
“Aren’t you worried about how we are going to have a safe and fair election?” she asked Bartiromo.
Later confronted with the question of whether she or Obama had any direct involvement in the dossier and the campaign spying that followed, Jarrett claimed “that’s not how it works” and theorized the dossier was only “one piece” of the many reasons former FBI Director James Comey decided to investigate Trump and his campaign.
See the full exchange below:
.@ValerieJarrett on new evidence FBI knew Steele Dossier was garbage: This “was nearly four years ago and I don’t understand why our focus isn’t on what’s happening right now” [via FBN/@MariaBartiromo] pic.twitter.com/SrOGArm5NP
The deflective nature to Jarrett’s answers inspired many to compare the moment to the infamous “what difference at this point does it make” comment from Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, during hearings on the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. The 2012 attack left four Americans dead on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
“With all due respect, the fact is we have four dead Americans,” Clinton said, clearly frustrated, during the 2013 hearing. “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?”
“What difference does it make, the sequel,” Daily Wire contributor Christian Toto tweeted about Jarrett’s new comments.
What difference does it make, the Sequel https://t.co/EaaZ4audOI
Valerie sure wants everyone to move on, doesn’t she?
The comment, widely spread by Clinton critics to this day, was in response to questions on the cause of the attack, which reports never clearly explained. Some theorized a protest outside the US Embassy turned violent, while others argued the attack was planned and the administration was unprepared for it.
Jarrett’s comments on Russiagate, the origins of which are being investigated by Attorney General William Barr, have already earned a response from the White House as Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called them part of “documented history of lies” from the Obama administration.
“The fact that Bill Barr is looking into why the Obama Administration spied on [the] Trump campaign is their real problem. That he is in [search] of the truth. And, that is their problem with Attorney General Barr,” she said on Tuesday’s ‘Fox & Friends.’
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