It’s “sad” we’re talking about this other than topics Americans care about, Huckabee Sanders told the White House press corps after about the 20th question related to author Michael Wolff’s controversial new book about the Trump administration, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."
In excerpts released from Wolff's book Wednesday, former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon is quoted as condemning Donald Trump Jr. for meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign. That meeting was "treasonous," he charged.
President Trump unloaded on Bannon in an official statement, saying that Bannon had "lost his mind."
Other claims in the book charge that Trump did not know who House Speaker John Boehner was. That, Huckabee Sanders said, was the simplest claim to debunk. Trump had tweeted about Boehner, he golfed with him. Heck, there were even photos of the two together.
Huckabee Sanders was asked about other farfetched claims in the book, before dismissing it as “pure fantasy” and “tabloid gossip.”
"Our position is very clear that we think it is full of false and fake information," she emphasized.
The White House "absolutely" did not give Wolff the access he requested while writing his book, Huckabee Sanders said when asked by CNN's Jim Acosta. "There was no use" for them to "waste the president's time."
A Trump lawyer has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wolff and the book's publisher, Henry Holt and Co.
Huckabee Sanders referred the press to the president's personal attorneys for questions on the legal challenge.