Raj Shah Makes Debut at Press Briefing

White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah is making his debut at the podium today, delivering his first press briefing where he’ll likely face questions about statements he made in the past. On Tuesday, we told you that before joining the Trump administration, Shah called Donald Trump “a deplorable” and referred to the release of the Access Hollywood tape as “some justice,” while working at the RNC. “U wanna hear something a little f--ked up?” 33-year-old Shah allegedly wrote in an email to another RNC staffer shortly after the tape was leaked. “I’m kinda enjoying this, some justice. I honestly don’t think it’s the worst thing he’s done but he somehow got passes for the other acts.” A senior WH official said that Shah had previously informed “his superiors in the administration” about the messages. Communications Director Hope Hicks replied in a statement that read, in part, “Perhaps if the leakers trying to undermine him were as talented and smart as Raj, they would be here fighting for the American people every day, rather than trying desperately to remain relevant by spreading information that Raj himself shared many months ago.” In addition to addressing this, Shah will likely also face more questions about the budget deal reached in the Senate, ousted White House staffer Rob Portman, VP Mike Pence and the U.S. Olympic team, misleading and untruthful tweets from 45, North Korea, and whatever additional breaking news between now and the 1P briefing. He is the first Indian American to hold the position. We’ll be tuned in. More here.