memeorandum: Trump won't release his tax returns because people don't care, top adviser says (John Wagner/Washington Post)

2:15 PM ET, January 22, 2017

Top Items:

Crowd Scientists Say Women's March in Washington Had 3 Times as Many People as Trump's Inauguration — Composite image by Joe Ward based on video from Urdu Voice of America — The women's march in Washington was roughly three times the size of the audience at President Trump's inauguration, crowd counting experts said Saturday.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, The Slot, Business Insider, Shareblue, NBC News, New Urban Legends, TheBlaze, The Week, New York Magazine, USA Today and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

Trump Attacks News Media Over Reporting on Crowd Sizes — WASHINGTON — President Trump and his staff spent their first full day in the White House waging a bitter war against the news media over depictions of the crowd at the inauguration on Friday. — In a pair of angry public appearances …

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

Conway: WH Spox Wasn't Lying, He Was Just Offering ‘Alternative Facts’ — Senior Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway said in an interview Sunday morning that White House press secretary Sean Spicer wasn't lying about crowd size at the President's inauguration—he was just giving “alternative facts.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:

Trumpism Corrupts: Spicer Edition — White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks in the press briefing room on January 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C.. — The first official White House press conference is on Monday, but Sean Spicer called a Very Special Presser Saturday evening. Why?

Discussion: Politico

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump won't release his tax returns because people don't care, top adviser says — A senior aide to President Trump said Sunday that he has no plans to release his tax returns, a marked shift from Trump's pledge during the campaign to make them public once an audit was completed.

Alexandra Jaffe / NBC News:

Kellyanne Conway: WH Spokesman Gave ‘Alternative Facts’ on Inauguration Crowd — Conway: Press Secretary Gave ‘Alternative Facts’ 3:39 — Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, said the White House press secretary gave “alternative facts” when he inaccurately described …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Political Wire, Business Insider and The Week

ABC News:

‘This Week’ Transcript 1-22-17: Kellyanne Conway, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Chuck Schumer — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR ‘THIS WEEK’ on January 22, 2017 and it will be updated. — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: Spicer then left the briefing room without taking any questions.

Discussion: Politico

Politico:

WikiLeaks calls out Trump for refusing to release tax returns — WikiLeaks on Sunday took President Donald Trump to task for refusing to release his tax returns and offered to post them online, after a senior adviser said definitively that Trump would not be publicly disclosing the documents.

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News and Mediaite

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Trump's real war isn't with the media. It's with facts.

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones and Nielsen

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds

Discussion: Raw Story, RedState, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, The Week, Washington Post, Mother Jones, twitchy.com and alicublog

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump attacks Time reporter for mistake about MLK bust

Discussion: Washington Post, TheBlaze, IJR, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Mashable, ThinkProgress and Mediaite

Bloomberg:
Trump Spokesman Accuses Media of False Inaugural Reporting

Discussion: ABC News

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump Changes Course After Denouncing Protesters — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST): — President Donald Trump is doing a quick about-face about the protests that swept through Washington and around the world on Saturday.

Discussion: Politico and The Republic

Reuters:
UK PM May promises frank talk with Trump after women protest

Discussion: The Week

Bloomberg:
Trump Team in Talks with U.K. on Post-Brexit Trade Deal

Discussion: TheBlaze

Christopher Hope / Telegraph:
Watch | Trumps attend interfaith prayer service

Discussion: Axios and Politico

NBC News:

Ex-CIA Boss Brennan, Others Rip Trump Speech in Front of Memorial — President Trump Praises CIA, Attacks Media in Agency Visit 2:31 — Donald Trump traveled to CIA headquarters Saturday to offer reassurance to the workforce after he spent weeks criticizing American intelligence …

Discussion: The Hill and Hullabaloo

Ryan Browne / CNN:
Trump to CIA: ‘I am with you 1,000%’

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Townhall.com and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump wages war against the media as demonstrators protest his presidency

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, IJR, NPR and Hit & Run

Burgess Everett / Politico:

McCain and Graham back Tillerson — After weeks of agonizing over Rex Tillerson's ties to Russia, John McCain and Lindsey Graham said Sunday that they will vote for President Donald Trump's secretary of state nominee, essentially clinching approval for Tillerson.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Axios

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:
McCain Will Vote Yes on Trump's Secretary of State Nominee Rex Tillerson

Discussion: Associated Press and Mediaite

Burgess Everett / Politico:
McCain and Schumer: Don't end Russian sanctions without Congress

Discussion: ABC News

New York Times:

Pictures From Women's Marches Around the World — Crowds in hundreds of cities around the world are gathering Saturday in conjunction with the Women's March on Washington, expected to be the largest inauguration-related demonstration in American history.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, AOL, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Independent and Chicago Tribune

Z. Byron Wolf / CNN:
Comparing Trump's inauguration crowd to the Women's March

New York Daily News:
Half a million people show up for Women's March on Washington as others flock to sister marches across globe

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Los Angeles Times:
Women's marches live updates: Millions march in L.A. and around the world following Trump's inauguration

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Arizona Republic, CNN, The Atlantic, Business Insider, The Guardian, NPR, IJR, Sputnik International, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Mashable

Bloomberg:
Women's Marches Flood Cities Worldwide on Trump's First Day

Discussion: Mashable, LGBTQ Nation, twitchy.com, NPR, ThinkProgress, PRI, TalkLeft, CBS DC, Business Insider, ABC News, The Guardian, Politicus USA and DCist

Max Kutner / Newsweek:
INAUGURATION AND WOMEN'S MARCH, BY THE NUMBERS

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, IJR, Vox, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, ABC News, RedState and AOL

Washingtonian:
Photos: Scenes from the Women's March on Washington

Discussion: Axios, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and AOL

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Scenes from a pussy riot — Who knew President Trump's lewd 2005 “Access Hollywood” video, particularly his ugly “grab 'em by the pussy” line, would start a movement? A lot of political observers thought it would sink his presidential candidacy — wrong — but few might have predicted …

Discussion: Power Line

Quinta Jurecic / Lawfare:

President Trump Speaks at CIA Headquarters — The day after his inauguration, President Donald Trump addressed CIA employees at the Agency's headquarters. Video of his remarks is available below courtesy of The Washington Post, along with a transcript courtesy of CSPAN.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, The Week, Balloon Juice, Washington Post and Politico