A Mind-Spinning White House Press Briefing
Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “The Hitler comparison offered up by White House press secretary Sean Spicer was a terrible analogy, phrased terribly, at a terribly inconvenient time. It’s made worse by the casual relationship the Trump White House has had with facts, and with findings of U.S. intelligence agencies. Remember the context here: The comment stemmed from a Trump administration effort to put pressure on the Russians to accept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s involvement in last week’s chemical attack. Assad has done awful, horrible things, and he did those things whether Hitler did anything similar. The Russians, of all people, do not need lessons about Nazi atrocities; one can imagine President Vladimir Putin’s amusement regarding this particular lecture.”
“Back to the broader case, the Trump administration is saying that intelligence conclusions about Assad’s involvement, and, possibly, Russian knowledge of the regime’s weapon capabilities, must be respected. This comes from the administration of the same president who questioned the findings and motivations of intelligence agencies when it came to revelations about Russian election interference. This case was mind-spinning in its complexities even without a Nazi history lesson.”
Quote of the Day
“We just had to scare everyone out to vote.”
— Kansas GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold, quoted by BuzzFeed News, on yesterday’s special election.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Run for President
Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “unexpectedly filed to run in the country’s May presidential election, contradicting a recommendation from the supreme leader to stay out of the race,” the AP reports.
“Ahmadinejad’s decision will upend an election many believed would be won by moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who negotiated the nuclear deal with world powers… Many hard-liners in Iran seek a tough-talking candidate to rally around who can stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump.”
Trump’s Sudden Shift on Russia Leaves Heads Spinning
New York Times: “Even in a presidency marked by unpredictability, the head-spinning shift from coziness to confrontation has left Washington and other capitals with a case of geopolitical whiplash. The prospects of improving Russian-American relations were already slim given the atmosphere of suspicion stemming from Kremlin meddling in last year’s election, but the détente once envisioned by Mr. Trump has instead deteriorated into the latest cold war.”
GOP Infighting Imperils Agenda
“Three months into the new Congress, some Republicans are fearful that their failure to repeal ObamaCare could spell doom for the rest of President Trump’s legislative agenda,” The Hill reports.
“Some Capitol Hill Republicans have envisioned the nightmare scenario for 2017, and it goes like this: No ObamaCare repeal. No tax reform. No trillion-dollar infrastructure package. No border wall.”
“It’s a striking change from the period after Election Day, when GOP leaders vowed that the new unified Republican government would ‘go big, go bold’ and deliver for the American people.”
Melania Trump Will Receive Payment In Libel Case
“The Daily Mail and Mail Online will pay damages to settle a libel claim brought against them by the U.S. first lady, Melania Trump, over false claims about her work as a professional model,” the Guardian reports.
The statement said the article published in a double page spread and online last summer included “false and defamatory claims” about Mrs. Trump which “questioned the nature of her work as a professional model and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling.”
The amount of damages were not disclosed in court, although Sky News understands the total payment of damages and costs is believed to come to less than $3 million.
Ryan’s Clout In Doubt After Health Care Failure
Bloomberg: “The abrupt death of the repeal effort, its short-lived rebirth and then a pause for a two-week recess has left Republicans adrift — unclear where their long-promised repeal effort stands, whether Ryan will reassert himself in the House and what President Donald Trump will demand of them next.”
“The challenge for Ryan as part of a unified Republican government is how to handle an administration that has a bold but vague agenda and narrow legislative experience. Unrealistic White House demands risk derailing the year’s legislative agenda and undermining Ryan’s leadership in the House.”
“But it’s hard to say no to the president of your own party. And if Ryan pushes back too much, he risks getting cut out of the process.”
Manafort Ukraine Payments Confirmed
“Last August, a handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine with dollar amounts and dates next to the name of Paul Manafort, who was then Donald Trump’s campaign chairman.”
“Now, financial records newly obtained by the Associated Press confirm that at least $1.2 million in payments listed in the ledger next to Manafort’s name were actually received by his consulting firm in the United States. They include payments in 2007 and 2009, providing the first evidence that Manafort’s firm received at least some money listed in the so-called Black Ledger.”
Mike Allen: “Manafort and his spokesman, Jason Maloni, have maintained the ledger was fabricated and said no public evidence existed that Manafort or others received payments recorded in it.”
GOP Wins Special Election In Kansas
Ron Estes (R) narrowly won the special election to fill the seat vacated by CIA director Mike Pompeo in a district that President Trump carried by 27 points, the New York Times reports.
“Republicans currently hold the House. Democrats would need to gain 24 seats by the 2018 midterm elections to retake it. There are four special elections for House seats this year for seats held by Republicans.”
Trump Won’t Say If He Still Backs Bannon
Michael Goodwin: “Washington’s rumor mill is working overtime on the fate of aide Steve Bannon, who is said to be at the center of the rampant White House in-fighting. When I asked the President Tuesday afternoon if he still has confidence in Bannon, who took over the campaign in mid-August, I did not get a definitive yes.”
Said Trump: “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve. I’m my own strategist and it wasn’t like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary.”
He added: “Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will.”
O’Reilly Goes Off Air at Fox News
Gabriel Sherman: “Embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly announced tonight that he is taking a vacation. O’Reilly’s decision to go off the air in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and advertiser boycott arguably has the appearance of a suspension, but O’Reilly worked to dispel that notion. He announced that he’d scheduled his trip ‘last fall’ — well before the New York Times reported he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims. A Fox News source told me O’Reilly plans to return to his show on April 24.”
“But according to four network sources, there’s talk inside Fox News that tonight’s show could be his last.”
Also interesting: “Two highly-placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O’Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father Rupert and older brother Lachlan are more inclined to keep him.”
Donald Trump, Then and Now
“President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your ‘powder’ for another (and more important) day!”
— Donald Trump, on Twitter, September 7, 2013.
“What I did should’ve been done by the Obama administration a long time before I did it. And you would’ve, I think Syria would’ve been a lot better off than it has been.”
— Trump, on Fox Business today.
Trump Will Propose ‘Two-for-One’ Deal on Infrastructure
Associated Press: “The Trump administration intends to propose a package of tax breaks meant to help spur $1 trillion in new spending on roads, bridges and other construction over the next decade. But as part of that bill, Trump also wants introduce measures to drastically shorten approval times for projects.”
“The strategy appears aimed at building support for an effort with little momentum in Congress. Democrats are critical of Trump’s focus on public-private partnerships, rather that more traditional funding, while many conservative Republicans have balked at the idea of a massive government investment.”
Axios: “Trumpcare is still a long way from passing, and the timeline for tax reform is quietly being pushed back. Infrastructure may actually be the easiest sell politically, but it’s caught up in a legislative logjam that won’t be broken so long as health care is in the way.”
Tillerson Asks Why U.S. Should Care About Ukraine
“With one offhand remark, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson left European diplomats befuddled at a gathering in Italy,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Tillerson: “Why should U.S. taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?”
“The question was sure to give pause to any European official fearful that President Donald Trump might ease sanctions and let the former Soviet state slip back into it Russia’s orbit, even as tensions with Moscow are running high.”
Classified Documents Contradict Nunes Claims
“After a review of the same intelligence reports brought to light by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and aides have so far found no evidence that Obama administration officials did anything unusual or illegal,” multiple sources in both parties tell CNN.
“Their private assessment contradicts President Trump’s allegations that former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice broke the law by requesting the ‘unmasking’ of US individuals’ identities. Trump had claimed the matter was a ‘massive story.'”
FBI Obtained Secret Court Order to Monitor Trump Adviser
“The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
“The FBI and the Justice Department obtained the warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that there was probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case Russia.”
“This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents.”
Trump Says He’ll Focus on Health Care Before Tax Reform
President Trump still wants to pass a health care bill before he turns to tax reform, Politico reports.
Said Trump: “We’re going to have a phenomenal tax reform, but I have to do health care first. I want to do it first to really do it right.”