The New York Times' Maggie Haberman is setting the record straight as President Trump accuses The Times of running a story about his attacks on the various investigations surrounding him without first contacting the White House.
“I sent several emails that went unanswered until yesterday. We went through a detailed list of what we were planning on reporting," Haberman, who also serves as a CNN contributor, told "New Day."
"They chose not to engage, and afterwards, the president acts surprised," she continued. "Whether his aides are not telling him what we are looking at or whether this is a game and he knows what it is and he’s pretending, I can’t read his mind. We certainly follow normal reporting practices and went over it at length with the White House and the Department of Justice.”
“That’s not true, that’s a lie,” Haberman later added. “I don’t know if he knows it’s a lie or whether he is telling himself this is true, whether his staff doesn’t tell him we are reaching out. I find it hard to believe that his staff didn’t reach him that this kind of a report was coming.”
The president targeted the media in a Wednesday tweet which included claiming writers "don't even call asking for verification" while declaring the Times as "the enemy of the people."
Maggie Haberman on Trump's criticism of NYT report: 'That's a lie' (The Hill)