Why Trump Accused Obama of Wiretapping
New York Times: “People close to the president say Mr. Trump’s Twitter torrent had less to do with fact, strategy or tactic than a sense of persecution bordering on faith: He simply believes that he was bugged in some way, by someone, and that evidence will soon appear to back him up.”
The Defeated Candidate Was the One Exonerated
Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “Then there’s the oddity of now knowing that both major candidates were under FBI investigation during the last campaign. The only one to pay a price was the one who was formally exonerated – not once, but twice.”
Will Democrats Filibuster Gorsuch?
NBC News: “As Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch enters his second day of confirmation hearings in the Senate, his fate is dependent upon the support of Democratic senators who are embroiled in partisan fighting over the politics of the high court and a controversial president. Democrats’ concerns could lead to an explosive fight on the Senate floor that would hold up his nomination and potentially force Republicans to enact the so-called ‘nuclear option,’ a procedural move that would blow up Senate rules to pass President Donald Trump’s nominee.”
“Operating in a hyper-partisan era with an unpopular new president, Gorsuch’s judicial leanings will be one area of focus for Democrats, but hard feelings felt by Democrats over Republicans blocking the last Supreme Court nominee and Gorsuch’s independence from President Donald Trump are other areas of concern. For now, it appears Republicans have the votes to get their nominee confirmed but it remains to be seen just how far they will need to go to get there.”
White House Deliberately Tried to Mislead Public
McKay Coppins: “If you watched James Comey’s sensational testimony on Capitol Hill Monday—or read about it in the ensuing avalanche of coverage from mainstream media organizations—you saw something extraordinary take place: For the first time, the FBI director publicly confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating whether President Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election… But if you happen to be one of the millions of Americans who gets your news—at least in part—from Trump’s presidential Twitter feed, you saw a very different story unfold Monday.”
“In an unprecedented—and somewhat surreal—attempt at real-time revisionism on the part of the White House, the official @POTUS Twitter account spent the afternoon live-tweeting the House Intelligence Committee hearing where Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers were testifying. Over the course of three hours, the presidential Twitter feed posted half-a-dozen video clips from the hearing, each with a brief description that aimed to advance Trump’s self-interested version of the Russia controversy.”
Why Trump Should Be Very Worried About the FBI
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A brief exchange at the end of FBI Director James Comey’s five hours of testimony should worry Donald Trump for the rest of his presidency.
House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) had a few final questions for Comey.
NUNES: I just want to make sure we get this on the record. Do you have any evidence that any current Trump White House or administration official coordinated with the Russian intelligence services?
COMEY: Not a question I can answer.
NUNES: I figured you were going to say that, but I just wanted to make sure we got it on the record. How about counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway?
COMEY: It’s the same answer. And as I said earlier, I constantly want to ask people, don’t over interpret the fact that I say I can’t comment. I’m not going to comment on anybody.
By saying that, Comey put the White House on notice: Everyone was being investigated under what Nunes himself said was a “big gray cloud” hanging over the White House.
As Benjamin Wittes notes, “there is an open-ended Russia investigation with no timetable for completion, one that’s going hang over Trump’s head for a long time, and one to which the FBI director is entirely committed.”
One Trump insider tells Mike Allen: “You flush people out by making a comment like that. You let it sit there, then later go get everybody’s email and texts [to see how they reacted to it]. This is how you get a lot of people having to hire lawyers. … It’s what makes people ask: Why do you want to work in a place like that?”
It’s worth noting that Trump had an opportunity to hit back at Comey at a rally last night in Kentucky but chose not to make any mention of it.
FBI Probe Looking Into Far-Right Websites
“Federal investigators are examining whether far-right news sites played any role last year in a Russian cyber operation that dramatically widened the reach of news stories — some fictional — that favored Donald Trump’s presidential bid,” McClatchy reports.
“Operatives for Russia appear to have strategically timed the computer commands, known as ‘bots,’ to blitz social media with links to the pro-Trump stories at times when the billionaire businessman was on the defensive in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, these sources said.”
“Investigators examining the bot attacks are exploring whether the far-right news operations took any actions to assist Russia’s operatives.”
Trump Gets Warm Reception In Kentucky
Louisville Courier-Journal: “President Donald Trump was met with thunderous approval on a campaign-style stop in Louisville Monday, offering a familiar blend of promises to restore jobs, cut taxes, rebuild the nation’s ‘crumbling infrastructure,’ strengthen the military and stop illegal immigration.”
Said Trump: “We will build a great border wall. We will stop radical Islamic terrorism. We are going to drain the swamp of government corruption. We are going to keep our promises.”
“But one of the biggest cheers of the night erupted when Trump promised to restore the nation’s struggling coal industry, which has hit Kentucky especially hard with job losses — a pledge most experts believe is unlikely because of an abundance of cheaper natural gas and the costs and pollution of coal.”
GOP Leaders Add Sweeteners to Sell Repeal Bill
“House Republican leaders are making a last-ditch attempt to win enough support to pass their Obamacare repeal, revealing an expansive series of changes to the bill on Monday night designed to woo wary GOP lawmakers,” Politico reports.
“But it is still unclear whether the changes are enough to win over the 216 Republicans needed to pass the measure in a high-profile vote planned for Thursday. GOP leadership insiders and White House officials firmly believe the changes will corral the necessary votes. But several rock-ribbed conservatives emerged from a closed-door session Monday night vowing to vote against the bill, and bragging that they have the votes to block it.”
David Nather: “So after all of that talk about big changes to the House Obamacare replacement bill, Republican leaders skipped some of the biggest ones they could have made. They did give some concessions to conservatives and moderates in the manager’s amendment they released last night, but they also did a lot of punting. That means we will still have lots of drama between now and Thursday night.”
Trump Has a FBI Problem
“From Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, history suggests that it is never a good thing for a president to have the FBI, with its nearly infinite resources and sweeping investigative powers, on his tail,” Politico reports.
“FBI Director James Comey’s promise to the House intelligence committee Monday to ‘follow the facts wherever they lead’ in the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between the Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia during last year’s election amounted to an ominous guarantee, barely two months into Trump’s term, that institutional forces beyond any president’s control will force the facts of the case to light, whatever they are.”
New York Times: “By the afternoon… Comey had systematically demolished his arguments in a remarkable public takedown of a sitting president.”
Roger Stone Under Scrutiny
“In President Trump’s oft-changing world order, Roger J. Stone Jr., the onetime political consultant and full-time provocateur, has been one of the few constants — a loyalist and self-proclaimed ‘dirty trickster‘ who nurtured the dream of a presidential run by the developer-turned-television-star for 30 years,” the New York Times reports.
“But two months into the Trump presidency, Mr. Stone, known for his pinstripe suits, the Nixon tattoo spanning his shoulder blades, and decades of outlandish statements, is under investigation for what would be his dirtiest trick — colluding with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton and put his friend in the White House.”
Flashback Quote of the Day
“Obviously, we all understand the importance of this presidential race. I would just ask everybody this: Can this country afford to have a president under investigation by the FBI? Think of the trauma that would do to this country.”
— Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), criticizing Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally on November 1, 2016.
Trump Has Had the Worst Start Ever
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told the Washington Post that, “This is the most failed first 100 days of any president.”
Said Brinkley: “To be as low as he is in the polls, in the 30s, while the FBI director is on television saying they launched an investigation into your ties with Russia, I don’t know how it can get much worse.”
He added: “There’s a smell of treason in the air. Imagine if J. Edgar Hoover or any other FBI director would have testified against a sitting president? It would have been a mind-boggling event.”
Tillerson Will Skip NATO Meeting
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “plans to skip an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers for a U.S. visit by the Chinese president and will travel to Russia later in the month, a step allies may see as putting Moscow’s concerns ahead of theirs,” Reuters reports.
FBI Probe Could Hurt Trump’s Clout in Congress
President Trump’s credibility “came under fire during a marathon hearing on Capitol Hill featuring FBI Director James Comey, which could threaten the president’s ability to deliver votes on two of his most important goals: passing a new health-care law and getting Judge Neil Gorsuch confirmed as a Supreme Court justice,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Comey appearance also threatens to further erode Mr. Trump’s job-approval ratings, possibly giving Republicans in more moderate districts an incentive to keep their distance from the president as the FBI investigation plays out.”
Ivanka Trump Gets West Wing Office
“Ivanka Trump, who moved to Washington, D.C., saying she would play no formal role in her father’s administration, is now officially setting up shop in the White House,” Politico reports.
“The powerful first daughter has secured her own office on the West Wing’s second floor — a space next to senior adviser Dina Powell, who was recently promoted to a position on the National Security Council. She is also in the process of obtaining a security clearance, and is set to receive government-issued communications devices this week.”
Few Like the GOP Health Care Bill
A new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds the public opposes the GOP health care bill by a 21-point margin ― 45% to 24% ― with 31% unsure.
The GOP plan also is on the wrong side of a significant gap in intensity, with just 5% strongly favoring the bill, and 32% strongly opposed.
Freedom Caucus Chair Still Opposed to Health Care Bill
President Trump’s team is doing its utmost to sell Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) on its Obamacare replacement bill, “but the Freedom Caucus leader ain’t buying it,” Axios reports.
Said Meadows: “After investing hours and hours and hours of trying to find common ground between our moderate members and conservative members, and believing, because of the White House’s engagement in the process, that we could find common ground; I’ve now reached a conclusion that our leadership is going to put forth a bill that does not address any of the concerns in a meaningful way and will dare us to vote against it.”
