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The first two leaks are of partial transcripts of phone calls between Trump and other world leaders. How many people have access to those transcripts? And who working for Trump could possibly think it’s a good idea to leak out transcripts that show Trump attempting to bully two staunch allies? This explanation, making the rounds on Twitter Thursday morning, doesn’t exactly help Trump, either.

Karen DaltonBeninato tweeted: “It was at the end of a long day & he was tired & fatigue was setting in.” CNN on White House’s response to Trump’s hanging up on Aussie PM.

The third leak is, to me, perhaps the most baffling. White House press secretary Sean Spicer spent a decent chunk of his briefing on Wednesday disputing media reports that Hardiman and Gorsuch had both been encouraged to come to Washington in a sort of “Cannonball Run”-like competition to fill the vacant seat on the highest court in the country. Which makes this sentence – and its sourcing – from The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush all the more amazing:

Three administration officials who did not want to be identified said Judge Hardiman hit the road to Washington to help them maintain the illusion that the selection process was still competitive

“Three administration officials who did not want to be identified said Judge Hardiman hit the road to Washington to help them maintain the illusion that the selection process was still competitive.”

Three. Administration. Officials. These are not people opposed to Trump. This is not the loyal opposition. These are people who work within Trump’s administration, people he and his team hired to help him run the country. And this trio of people are confirming information that makes it very clear the president wanted to run his Supreme Court announcement like a cliffhanger episode of reality TV.