Politics

White House Comms Director Caught Red Handed In Flagrant Lie

White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah speaks to reporters in front of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC on October 8, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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ABC White House correspondent Jonathan Karl caught White House communications director Alyssa Farah in a lie — and laid out his evidence on Twitter.

The exchange began with Karl, who claimed in a Sunday morning tweet that the White House had refused to “allow any of the medical experts on the president’s own coronavirus task force” to appear on “This Week” to discuss the continued spread of the pandemic. (RELATED: ‘Freaked Them Out’: Jonathan Karl Says Trump Diagnosis Has White House ‘Really, Really Rattled’)

Karl then doubled down, again saying that the White House would not allow any members of the task force to appear on the show and adding, “Quite remarkable that they would muzzle the health experts in the middle of a pandemic.”

Farah responded, saying that Dr. Anthony Fauci had made multiple appearances in recent days, and claiming that Karl had not requested any of the other task force members. (RELATED: ‘She’s Not Some Distressed Damsel’: White House Denies CNN’s Report That Dr. Birx Is ‘Unhappy’)

“FALSE. 1) Dr Fauci has been doing media all week – appearing on PBS Newshour & NBC’s Andrea Mitchell 3 days ago. 2) not getting your desired guest does not = the WH trying to “muzzle” anyone. This narrative is tired. 3) @jonkarl didn’t request any other member of the task force,” Farah tweeted.

Karl responded by sending a screenshot of an email, addressed to Farah and dated October 9, in which Karl requested Dr. Deborah Birx, Admiral Brett Giroir, Dr. Sean Conley or Vice President Mike Pence if Fauci were not available.

“The truth matters. The requests for Dr. Fauci and the other members of the task force were made directly to you — multiple times. In this email, for example,” Karl said.

Farah, after addressing the screenshot, continued to argue that Fauci had not been “muzzled” by the White House, sharing a list of his recent media appearances.

Farah later claimed that she had simply not seen the email requesting appearances from other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Darin Miller, special assistant to the president for communications, added in a follow-up statement, “One missed email shouldn’t distract from the absurdity of Jon Karl’s claim: Dr. Fauci and other federal health leaders are on TV every week, speaking candidly without any intervention or ‘muzzle’ whatsoever. This should be abundantly clear to anyone who covers this administration’s efforts to fight COVID-19.”