This administration is just freaking awful. The lengths they will go to in order to avoid criticism is just astounding. There has been some brazen BS spouted by this administration. I am not even sure I saw such arrogance during the time in Bill Clinton was in office (though Clinton likely benefitted from the lack of social media and even most people still being on dial-up).

The latest episode goes back to something that took place nearly three years ago. The State Department has their own YouTube account where they routinely post briefings. During this particular one in December of 2013, then spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News James Rosen if officials ever lie to the public to protect national security. This is what she said:

“James, I think there are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that,” Psaki replied to Fox News reporter James Rosen.

That portion of the video was edited out of what the State Department posted that day. The missing video was actually only discovered three weeks ago and when the State Department was confronted about it, they said it was merely a “glitch.”

That turned out to be bogus:

Spokesman John Kirby’s announcement contradicted the position held by the department for the last three weeks, during which officials said the video was missing because of a “glitch.”

And then there’s this:

Kirby insisted that the person who made the edit only remembers that he or she got a call from someone at the State Department, who was passing on a request from the departments’ Public Affairs Bureau. But he said the person who received the call didn’t remember who the caller was, and doesn’t know who in that bureau made the request.

Guess who worked in Public Affairs Bureau at the time? That’s right. Jen Psaki.

It hasn’t been alleged that Psaki, she of the infamous hashtag diplomacy photos, was the one who asked for the video to be edited. I smell a rat. She may not have made the phone call. But it seems to me she likely made the call to have it edited.

Naturally, like many incompetent government employees, Psaki was promoted and works in the White House.

Here’s the video of current State Department spokesman, John Kirby admitting what happened:

Kirby says not much more will happen as there were no rules governing what was done. That’s typical.

The worst thing is this administration does this kind of thing without any shame whatsoever. Psaki likely said something she shouldn’t have and instead owning up to it, appears to have gotten some flunky to edit out that part of the video. When called on that, they flat out lied about it.