The President’s tweet about Attorney General Jeff Sessions today started a whirlwind of commentary and a flurry of statements regarding the legality and political wisdom of Donald Trump potentially directing Sessions to fire Robert Mueller and staff, ending the special counsel’s investigation. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani responded to both the Washington Post and to CNN’s Dana Bash distancing the president’s tweet from any actual reality or action.

Giuliani spun the comments by fretting over the President’s First Amendment freedom to express an opinion, which was never in dispute, but also expressed very plainly that that opinion was in no way related to anything that has been done, is being done, or will be done. Because although the President and his surrogates have relentlessly pressed the notion that Trump’s tweets are, and this is a quote, “official statements”, and although he and his supporters say that it’s his method for bypassing the dishonest media to get the truth to his base and to voters, it is frequently the case that what the President actually tweets is not reflective of any actions or position that the administration will take, which we know because, like today, his attorneys and other spokespersons come out shortly after his more intemperate tweets to either soften or gainsay them.

In this case, Giuliani told Washington Post reporters that “I think it’s very well-established the president uses tweets to express his opinion.” He also attempted to paint the tweet as a carefully premeditated and crafted phrasing. “He very carefully used the word ‘should’,” Giuliani told WaPo.

On CNN, Dana Bash had a slight variation on that comment, which Giuliani gave her a short time ago:

“The president was expressing his opinion on his favored medium for asserting his first Amendment rights of free speech. He said ‘should’, not ‘must’, and no presidential order was issued or will be.”

Bash said that he wasn’t defending the tweet, so much as “cleaning up” and “explaining and clarifying” the tweet. “Trying to calm the very real understandable concern, considering he is the president of the United States and this is a federal probe of great importance.”

Contrary to the walking back by the attorneys, Newt Gingrich practically called out Sessions earlier today implying that it was merely his lack of desire to help the President that was staying his hand on Mueller.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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