Story highlights Tapper on how Trump handled Comey: "Not a great strategy"

Tapper: White House's "accountability-free zone" an abnormal norm for Trump

(CNN) On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump formally revealed what many within Washington, DC had already assumed: He does not, in fact, have recordings of his conversation with former FBI Chief James Comey.

But for CNN's Jake Tapper , it was the administration's afternoon activity that proved most telling.

"After the President's admission today, the White House held a press briefing in which cameras were banned, and the audio was not provided live. Rather it was released after the fact," said the host of CNN's "The Lead."

Labeling such a practice as both "odd and unusual," Tapper suggested it's fast becoming an abnormal norm for the Trump administration.

"This is part and parcel of a White House trying to operate in something close to an accountability-free zone," Tapper concluded, referencing an environment in which the President's staff is saved from appearing live on television to "defend aberrant behavior on Twitter or explain the false things" claimed by Trump.

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