FAKE NEWS/INTELLIGENCE/MEDIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/MICHAEL FLYNN: “President Donald Trump leveled fresh attacks on the intelligence community and the news media Wednesday after a tumultuous few days that included the departure of his national security adviser and reports about U.S. investigations into his team’s communications with Russian authorities.
Mr. Trump requested Michael Flynn’s resignation Monday [2-15-17] night following media reports that the Justice Department warned the administration last month that U.S. intercepts contradicted Mr. Flynn’s denials that he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador in late December, before Mr. Trump took office. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday [2-16-17] that Mr. Flynn had lost the trust of the president.
But at a joint news conference Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mr. Trump called Mr. Flynn ‘a wonderful man’ who had ‘been treated very, very unfairly by the media.’ He then turned his fire on the intelligence community, saying: ‘papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, it’s criminal action, criminal act, and it’s been going on for a long time.’ “
– Damian Paletta and Carol E. Lee, “Donald Trump Blasts Media and Intelligence Agencies,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 15, 2017