Advertisements

When Sean Spicer claimed yesterday at his press conference that the Trump administration has been “constantly” in contact with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe it was a lie.

Tribal Chairman David Archambault II released a statement saying, “Spicer claimed that the Trump administration has been ‘constantly’ in contact with our tribe. That claim is absolutely false.”

In fact, the photo above most accurately describes the only level of contact the Trump administration has had with the Standing Rock Sioux and reminiscent of a very dark period in American history.

Advertisements

Here is Spicer’s lie from the press conference:

Q Thanks, Sean. Has the President been briefed at all on the situation at Standing Rock? And is he concerned that a stand-off with protesters could slow down his executive orders on pipelines?



MR. SPICER: Our team has been involved with both the tribe and the governor there, and so we are not only — we are constantly in touch with them. And I think we feel very confident that we will move forward to get the pipeline moving. And so we’ll have a further update on that, but I think we’re in constant contact with the officials there.

According to Archambault,

“We repeatedly asked for meetings with the Trump administration, but never received one until the day they notified Congress that they were issuing the easement. I was on a plane to Washington, D.C. when the easement was issued. It was an insult to me and to the tribe. I cancelled the meeting upon hearing this news. We have since filed a lawsuit for the immoral and illegal issuance of the easement and suspension of the environmental impact study.”

So the Trump administration is not only not in contact with the tribe but it has refused opportunities to be in contact with the tribe.

It is no surprise that the Trump administration lied about this. They have lied about everything else, including the biggest lie of all regarding Keystone XL and DAPL, and that is the claim that nobody has protested the two pipelines.

As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told Wells Fargo last week,

“A handful of millionaires and billionaires in the fossil fuel industry might benefit, but this pipeline is a disaster for the rest of us.”

And that is the key to Donald Trump’s support for an act that violates the sacred treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux.

In fact, what Trump is doing is more akin to what his pal Vladimir Putin is doing to Ukraine than to the rule of American law.

The Trump administration has been caught in an easily disproved lie once again. That Donald Trump and his energy secretary both stand to profit from the construction of these pipelines only makes the situation more appalling.

Then again, it might be too much for Americans to expect a man to show concern for tribal sovereignty who shows so little concern for American sovereignty.

Photos: Screen grab ABC News