A reporter sitting in the “new media” seat in the White House briefing room Monday asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt about Justice Department documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, citing a conspiracy theory about the Clinton family in the process.
“Trump posted to Truth Social a video highlighting what most people call the Clinton body count,” Liam Cosgrove, who works for the far-right website ZeroHedge, said during Monday’s briefing with Leavitt.
In the lead-up to his question, Cosgrove mentioned what he said described as the “strange number of suicides that seem to happen in circles,” relating to the Clintons.
He cited a Saturday headline from The Washington Post that read “Trump peddles conspiracy theories tying the Clintons to several deaths” and knocked the newspaper over its reporting on Trump’s history of floating unfounded theories about political rivals.
Cosgrove called Epstein’s death “the most-famous Clinton-related death” before asking Leavitt when the Department of Justice planned to release more files on Epstein’s case.
“I know the attorney general has committed to releasing those files. I would defer you to the Department of Justice on her timeline,” Leavitt responded. “But, when she’s made a promise in the past, she has kept it, and I’m certain that she will in this case as well.”
Trump’s White House has sought to elevate more conservative pundits, social media influencers and internet-based media outlets during his first few months in office, granting organizations such as The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire and others greater access to his administration.
The West Wing has separately taken a hostile approach toward dealing with mainstream media outlets, wresting control of the daily press pool from the White House Correspondents’ Association earlier this year and taking pool privileges away from certain wire services.
Leavitt has repeatedly argued mainstream media outlets are out of touch with American voters, and elevating new and more politically diverse voices in the media is a priority for the president.
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