Thread by @atrupar

The White House's first press briefing since July 2 will begin any minute. Follow me for a video thread.

Sanders is now 40 minutes late and counting

We're underway with @PressSec

Asked about Trump's bizarre comment earlier Wednesday that Russia is no longer targeting the US, Sanders walks it back, says "he was saying no to answering questions." #lulz

Asked about the Maria Butina indictment, Sanders deflects by attacking the media for wondering (on social media) if she was photographed in the Oval Office.

Sanders doesn't rule out allowing Russia investigators to question Americans 👀

Sanders on Republicans who are worried about Trump's trade war: "The president is focused on long-term economic principles... this is short-term."

Sanders pretends that Trump is gravely worried about election security, then pivots to attacking Obama.

"Let's remember that this didn't happen under President Trump's watch. This happened under the Obama administration."

Sanders still can't point to a single specific agreement that was reached between Trump and Putin during their secret meeting.

Asked why Trump bashes Obama instead of Putin for Russia's attack on US democracy, Sanders says "the president has been tougher on Russia than anybody."

Under questioning from @jdawsey1, Sanders struggles to explain why Trump refused to criticize Putin publicly when he had the chance in Helsinki. Insists that Trump thinks it's better if everybody gets along.

Sanders can't explain why Trump would think even for a second that it's a good idea to send Robert Mueller's team to Russia to work with Russian investigators

Sanders can't explain why Trump still thinks "other people" besides Russian hackers were responsible for interfering in the 2016 election

Asked to explain the White House having to clean up ill-considered statements from Trump on consecutive days with implausible explanations, Sanders can't

Sanders on why it took Trump a full day to attempt to walk back his defense of Putin: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

lolol Sanders can't even confirm that Trump followed through on his promise and told Putin during their secret meeting in Helsinki to not meddle in American elections this year

In an unusual twist, after Sanders refused to allow @HallieJackson to ask a follow-up question, @Jordanfabian gave the floor back to Jackson.

The briefing is over. Hard to believe, but Sanders was even more evasive and uninformative than usual today. Lots of dodges, deflections, and implausible explanations.

Here's full clip of @HallieJackson asking Sanders about White House's implausible walk-backs of Trump's comments, Sanders trying to move on without allowing her to ask a follow-up, and @Jordanfabian then giving floor back to Jackson.

Not normal -- White House doesn’t rule out letting Russia interrogate U.S. citizens thinkprogress.org/sanders-trump-…

Sarah Sanders’ attempt to spin Trump’s bizarre Russia comment makes absolutely no sense thinkprogress.org/sanders-spin-t…

Sarah Sanders thinks you're dumb. Her spin of Trump's bizarre Russia comment proves it. thinkprogress.org/sanders-spin-t…