Monday was a bad day for Donald Trump - so bad in fact he seemed determined to forget it (and eight others) before it was even over.
Despite these attempted feats of memory trickery, the president couldn’t escape the reality of what occurred.
Why so bad? Well...
1) His Associates Are Being Investigated By The FBI
FBI Director James Comey finally confirmed he is investigating whether Donald Trump’s associates coordinated with Russian officials in an effort to sway the 2016 presidential election.
Although that was the big news, it wasn’t the most remarkable section of the House Intelligence Committee hearing.
2) He Got A Fact-Checking Ass-Whooping In Realtime
In an apparent attempt to deflect from what the public was hearing, the official Twitter account of the President tweeted the following.
Comey was asked about the content of the tweet as the hearing was ongoing.
He said: “I’m sorry. I haven’t been following anyone on Twitter while I’ve been sitting here.”
Senator Jim Himes then read one of the tweets aloud. He added: “This tweet has gone out to millions of Americans. Is the tweet, as I read it to you, is that accurate?”
Comey responded by directly contradicting Trump, saying: “It certainly wasn’t our intention to say that today.
“That’s not something that was looked at.”
Oof.
3) His Wiretapping Accusations Against Obama Were Rubbished
To the surprise of virtually no one, Comey said there was no evidence that these now-infamous tweets have any basis in reality.
4) Sean Spicer’s ‘No Regrets’ Got Another Slap Down
Remember last week when Sean Spicer said “I don’t think we regret anything” in relation to repeating a claim that GCHQ wiretapped Trump on behalf of Obama?
As well as eliciting an unprecedented denial from GCHQ itself, the chief of the NSA also confirmed there was nothing to the story.
Incidentally, the man who originally made the claim, Fox News’ Andrew Napolitano, has been pulled from the network.
5) Whilst We’re On The Subject Of Sean Spicer...
During a press briefing after the intelligence hearing, Spicer addressed the issue of former Trump campaign director, Paul Manafort, who stepped down after reports he received $12.7 million in secret cash payments pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Obviously with the announcement the FBI is investigating links between Trump associates and Russia, Manafort may well find himself under the microscope.
Spicer tried his best to spin it.
Erm...