President Donald Trump slammed Sen. Mark Warner, wondering if he was in a “near drunken state” when he made some comments at a fundraiser over the weekend.
The Virginia Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee reportedly joked to donors at the Democratic fundraiser that he might share secrets from Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.
“If you get me one more glass of wine, I’ll tell you stuff only Bob Mueller and I know,” Warner told guests at the Democratic Party’s retreat on Martha’s Vineyard last Friday, Politico reported. “If you think you’ve seen wild stuff so far, buckle up. It’s going to be a wild couple of months.”
Trump tweeted in response to the report, asking “Isn’t this highly illegal. Is it being investigated?”
Why is Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), perhaps in a near drunken state, claiming he has information that only he and Bob Mueller, the leader of the 13 Angry Democrats on a Witch Hunt, knows? Isn’t this highly illegal. Is it being investigated?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018
Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Warner, said the senator’s comment was “obviously a joke,” and criticized Trump for paying attention to it.
Because it was obviously a JOKE. (Admittedly, not a very GOOD joke.) Why is our President spending time on this today? https://t.co/VafTmu7IyX
— rcohen (@rcohen) June 25, 2018
Warner also dismissed his remarks as a joke on Monday.
“It was a bad joke. You know how seriously I take this investigation,” he told Politico.
Senior judicial analyst for Fox News, Andrew Napolitano, defended Warner as an “honorable guy” during a “Fox & Friends” interview on Tuesday.
“The Senator Warner that I know and have worked with is an honorable guy who is worthy of keeping the country’s secrets.” –@Judgenap pic.twitter.com/BaU7M3HLk4
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 26, 2018
But constitutional law professor, Jonathan Turley, quipped that Warner’s comments qualify for the new chapter in his book: “Jokes You Do Not Make in Washington.”
“I don’t know what’s worse — he had secrets and he was willing to share them or he had secrets and he was joking,” Turley said on “Fox & Friends” Monday. “Either way, it’s serious.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean that, it was a joke,” Turley added. “But at this time, with everything at stake, you might want to keep those jokes to yourself.”
Via BPR