Whatever officials may have done to reinforce the lines of communications, there’s more work ahead, as made clear today in a news conference attended by President Trump and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Deep into the proceedings, Trump sought to call on a reporter from the U.S. press contingent in attendance.

“Peter Baker?” he said.

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A short moment later, a reporter stood to ask, “Thank you, Mr. President. In the light of a very busy news week, a lot of people would like to get to the bottom of a couple of things — give you a chance to go on record here: Did you at any time urge former FBI Director James Comey in any way, shape or form to close or to back down the investigation into Michael Flynn?” No, the president responded.

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Excellent question, consistent with the long journalistic record of Baker, who has covered the White House going back to the Clinton years. He’s the chief White House correspondent for the New York Times.

Only it wasn’t Baker who asked the question.

It was Scott Thuman, chief political correspondent for the WJLA-TV in the D.C. area and its owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group — a company with a “strong tilt” toward Trump. Trump called on Thuman at a previous bilateral news conference, part of a pattern in which the White House sought questions from friendly outlets.

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The intrigue doesn’t end there. Peter Alexander, an NBC News correspondent, tweeted the following, which suggests that Trump may have mixed up his “Peters”:

Asked about today’s confusion, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer emailed the Erik Wemple Blog, “I was at the end of the row. I think Scott thought he was being called on and stood up.”

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Okay, but that doesn’t explain how he ended up with a microphone in his hand.