Dana Milbank

The Government is Desperately Trying to Turn Lies into Truths
The routine, extravagant efforts to convert fiction into fact remind me of the work of the great con artist Stephen Glass 20 years ago, when we both worked at the New Republic. Glass partially or wholly fabricated 27 (literally) fantastic articles for the magazine before he was caught. Even more stunning was the web of deceit he employed to cover up his fraud once editor Chuck Lane (now a colleague in The Post’s opinions section) began asking questions: fake notes, fake memos, fake business cards, a fake website, fake voice mail and even the use of his brother to pose as a fake source.

The difference, of course, is that Glass wasn’t running the country. As Trump is discovering, the administration’s backfilling of his untruths keeps the con going for only so long.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-government-is-trying-to-turn-trumps-lies-into-truths/2019/01/28/1ad3a89e-2349-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html?utm_term=.3a3316832093