Political analyst: John Kelly was 'grasping at straws' with FBI building attack on Rep. Wilson

New York Times writer and MSNBC political analyst Nick Confessore took exception to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders' contention at Friday's press briefing that reporters shouldn't question White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's word because he is a "former four-star general."

On Thursday, after giving a moving account of losing his son, Kelly launched a vicious personal attack against Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL). The retired general called Wilson an "empty barrel" that "makes the most noise" even as he seemed to corroborate her version of events with regard to Trump's call to the widow of fallen U.S. Army Green Beret La David Johnson.

Confessore pointed out that the video from the 2015 event described by Kelly does not remotely resemble Kelly's account. Kelly accused Wilson of grandstanding and interrupting the solemn occasion of an FBI building's dedication to two fallen agents to boast about her fundraising prowess.

"He is a former four-star general but he's a current chief of staff at the White House," said Confessore. "He led a press briefing yesterday" -- meaning Kelly set aside the mantle of nonpartisan general when he became a political operative and did the president's bidding by carrying out a political hit on Wilson.

"His account is in dispute," Confessore said. "You know, I watched that video and I saw a pretty routine dedication ceremony where the local politicians from the district hand out some love to their colleagues and talk about how it got done. It did not seem particularly self-aggrandizing to me, certainly not by the standards of Washington."

He concluded, "It seemed like a pretty typical ceremony and it seems like Kelly is grasping at straws to try to get some way to discredit this congresswoman."

Watch the video, embedded below: