memeorandum: Pence fought against releasing records as Indiana governor (AP Story/Associated Press)

3:35 AM ET, March 5, 2017

Top Items:

Julian Sanchez / Just Security:

Tapping Trump? — Once again, Donald Trump has kicked off a media firestorm with a series of early-morning Tweets, this time leveling the serious accusation that “President Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower” just prior to the presidential election. — Terrible!

Discussion: emptywheel, RedState, ABC News, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Last Refuge, Politicus USA, The Hill, Snopes.com, Vox, BizPac Review, The Guardian, Balloon Juice and CANNONFIRE

Bradley P. Moss / Politico:

Trump's Wiretap Rant Betrays Ignorance of the Law — President Donald Trump set the political and national security community on fire Saturday morning, starting the day with a four-part Twitter rant alleging that former President Barack Obama had “tapped” his phones during the presidential campaign.

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The Associated Press Springs to Obama's Defense — After President Trump accused Barack Obama of wiretapping his phones during the election campaign, the Associated Press hurried into print a defense of the former president: … No one fits a lot of details into a tweet …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Last Refuge

New York Times:

Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump on Saturday accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of having tapped his phones at Trump Tower the month before the election, calling Mr. Obama on Twitter a “bad (or sick) guy.”

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Graham: 'I'm very worried' about Trump's wiretapping accusation

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Week, ThinkProgress and IJR

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Donald Trump was a conspiracy-theory candidate. Now he's on the edge of being a conspiracy-theory president.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Hill, RedState, Raw Story, Mediaite, TheBlaze, The Guardian, Fox News Insider, The Moderate Voice, BizPac Review, CBS New York, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, CBS Miami, twitchy.com, Mother Jones and Althouse

CNN:
Trump falsely accuses Obama of wiretapping his phone

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Top Obama adviser to Trump: ‘No president can order a wiretap’

Discussion: LifeZette, Washington Post, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Politicus USA, KTLA, NBC News, CBS Philly, Politico, twitchy.com, RedState, ThinkProgress and The Gateway Pundit

Javier E. David / CNBC:
Trump accuses predecessor of ‘McCarthyism,’ wire-tapping during general election; Obama camp denies

Discussion: Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, CANNONFIRE and Politicus USA

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:

Trump flashes anger over Sessions recusal, Russia stories in tense Oval Office meeting — Before heading off to his so-called “winter White House” in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, President Donald Trump summoned some of his senior staff to the Oval Office and went “ballistic,” senior White House sources told ABC News.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Business Insider, New York Magazine and The Mahablog

Kristina Webb / Palm Beach Post:

Trump mingles with Mar-a-Lago guests outside charity ball — President Donald Trump mingled with guests outside a charity ball at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Saturday night. — As attendees danced inside the ballroom where the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute held its gala, the president was spotted nearby …

CNN:

Trump angry and frustrated at staff over Sessions fallout — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump is extremely frustrated with his senior staff and communications team for allowing the firestorm surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions to steal his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress, sources tell CNN.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump fumes over Sessions' recusal from Russia probe — President Donald Trump, increasingly frustrated with his White House rollout, vented to top aides on Friday over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from any investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones and New York Times

Jennifer Medina / New York Times:

Deportation Arrest Highlights Tensions in Los Angeles on Immigration — LOS ANGELES — Shortly after dropping off his youngest daughter at school, Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez saw lights flashing from a black car following him, signaling for him to pull over. The car was unmarked and Mr. Avelica …

Discussion: Associated Press

Adolfo Flores / BuzzFeed:
A 13-Year-Old Girl Sobbed While Recording Her Immigrant Father Get Arrested By ICE Agents

Discussion: The Root

Andrea Castillo / Los Angeles Times:
Immigrant arrested by ICE after dropping daughter off at school, sending shockwaves through neighborhood

Discussion: AOL, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and KTLA

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation — A Pentagon plan for the coming assault on Raqqa, the Islamic State capital in Syria, calls for significant U.S. military participation, including increased Special Operations forces, attack helicopters and artillery …

The Seattle Times:

Sikh man in Kent says he was told ‘Go back to your own country’ before he was shot — Kent police are looking for a gunman who allegedly walked onto a man's driveway and shot him, saying “go back to your own country.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump expected to sign new executive order on travel ban on Monday — President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Monday a new executive order on his controversial travel ban at the Department of Homeland Security, according to senior government officials familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Political Wire and Axios

AP Story / Associated Press:

Pence fought against releasing records as Indiana governor … INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly stonewalled media requests to view public records when he was Indiana's governor, including emails about state business distributed from a private AOL account that was hacked last year.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mashable and IJR

Breitbart:

Violent Alien Escapes After Attacking Border Agent, Tucson Police Refuse To Help — A management-level supervisor of the Tucson Police Department reportedly refused to assist U.S. Border Patrol agents in a search for an escaped criminal alien who assaulted a federal agent.

Neil Munro / Breitbart:

Obama's State Department Sponsored 2016 Meeting of Russian Ambassador with Sen. Sessions — President Barack Obama's Department of State sponsored the July event in Ohio where Sen. Jeff Sessions met the Russian ambassador for the second time in 2016, according to the organizers of the event.

Discussion: The Guardian and IJR