memeorandum: FBI asked Justice Department to reject Trump claim: report (Rebecca Savransky/The Hill)

10:55 PM ET, March 5, 2017

Top Items:

Trump Seeks Inquiry Into Allegations That Obama Tapped His Phones — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump, a day after leveling a widely disputed allegation that President Barack Obama had ordered the tapping of his phones, demanded a congressional inquiry into whether Mr. Obama abused …

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

FBI asked Justice Department to reject Trump claim: report — FBI Director James Comey reportedly asked the Justice Department this weekend to publicly reject President Trump's claims that former President Barack Obama — wiretapped Trump Tower before the election.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, The Last Tradition, Lawfare, RedState, Sputnik International, NBC News, Daily Wire, The Last Refuge, The Daily Caller, WAVY-TV, TheBlaze, twitchy.com, CBS Los Angeles, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, The Atlantic and Raw Story

Brian Ross / ABC News:

With tweetstorm, Trump may have exercised exclusive declassification authority — In tweeting accusations that former President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of his campaign, President Donald Trump potentially made public the existence of Top Secret wiretaps - a move that would be a federal crime …

Discussion: RedState

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Former Bush attorney general: Trump right that there was surveillance … Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Sunday said that President Trump is likely correct that there was surveillance on Trump Tower for intelligence purposes, but incorrect in accusing former President Barack Obama

Discussion: IJR

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Trump's charge that he was wiretapped takes presidency into new territory — Donald Trump's presidency has veered onto a road with no centerlines or guardrails. — The president's accusation Saturday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had tapped his phone “during the very sacred election process” …

Kailani Koenig / NBC News:

Former DNI James Clapper: ‘I Can Deny’ Wiretap of Trump Tower — WASHINGTON — Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Sunday denied any suggestion that Trump Tower communications were wiretapped before the election. — For the part of the national security apparatus that he oversaw …

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, NBC News, AOL, The Last Tradition, Politico, CNBC, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh and Washington Post

Christopher Ruddy / Newsmax:

Trump and Democratic Smokescreens — When I woke up Sunday, I thought the morning news shows would all be talking about the unusual, perhaps dangerous, decision of the Obama administration to wiretap the offices of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. — I've been watching Chuck Todd's “Meet the Press” as I write this.

Discussion: Business Insider and twitchy.com

Pam Key / Breitbart:
Mark Levin on Trump Wiretapping Claims: ‘The Evidence Is Overwhelming’

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Media Matters for America

Daniel Nussbaum / Breitbart:
Barbra Streisand: ‘Donald Trump is Making Me Gain Weight’

Discussion: The Hill, Instapundit, The Last Tradition, The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Pelosi: Trump's Obama claim an ‘authoritarian’ tactic

Discussion: Political Wire

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Rubio: Whether Trump's claims are true will become clear ‘over the next few days’

Discussion: Hot Air, RedState and Politico

Associated Press:
The Latest: Official says FBI wants Trump claim rejected

Discussion: Politico

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
FBI Director Comey asked Justice officials to refute Trump's unproven wiretapping claim

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Monthly, NBC News, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, NPR and The Hill

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Clapper denies wiretap of Trump Tower

Discussion: ABC News, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Mediaite, The Week and The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:
THE LATEST: OBAMA INTEL DIRECTOR ON WIRETAP: ‘I CAN DENY IT’

Discussion: New York Post

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Inside Trump's fury: The president rages at leaks, setbacks and accusations — President Trump spent the weekend at “the winter White House,” Mar-a-Lago, the secluded Florida castle where he is king. The sun sparkles off the glistening lawn and warms the russet clay Spanish tiles …

Discussion: Mother Jones

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Knives are out for Reince — With the White House struggling to gain its footing almost two months into Donald Trump's presidency, administration officials are increasingly putting the blame on one person: Reince Priebus. — In interviews, over a dozen Trump aides, allies …

Discussion: Raw Story

Riley Beggin / ABC News:

Franken: 'We don't know what the Russians have on Donald Trump' — Democratic Sen. Al Franken said President Trump's assertion that former President Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower during the 2016 election campaign are “just ridiculous and a distraction.”

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
It's literally pay to play at Mar-a-Lago

Discussion: Palm Beach Post and Outside the Beltway

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Russia is the slow burn of the Trump administration, and it's not going away

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico and The Daily Caller

Thomas James Brennan / Reveal:

Hundreds of Marines investigated for sharing photos of naked colleagues — The U.S. Department of Defense is investigating hundreds of Marines who used social media to solicit and share hundreds — possibly thousands — of naked photographs of women service members and veterans.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Verge, fox4kc.com, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Axios:

Schumer's plan to stop the wall — Chuck Schumer has concluded that denying President Trump his wall is perhaps the surest major defeat Democrats can hand the President in his first year. — Trump needs 60 Senate votes to fund construction of his “great wall” along the Southern border.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Kristine Phillips / Washington Post:

Thousands of ICE detainees claim they were forced into labor, a violation of anti-slavery laws — Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were forced to work for $1 day, or for nothing at all — a violation of federal anti-slavery laws — a lawsuit claims.

New York Times:

Leashes Come Off Wall Street, Gun Sellers, Polluters and More — WASHINGTON — Giants in telecommunications, like Verizon and AT&T, will not have to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers' Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and NRA-ILA

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

Patrons Walk Out As Ala. Official Pushes Voter ID At Selma Anniversary Service — After Alabama's Secretary of State John Merrill promoted the state's voter ID law at a church service held Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of a civil rights milestone in Selma, patrons walked out.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and William J. Barber, II

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

The Obama Camp's Disingenuous Denials on FISA Surveillance of Trump — President Trump's early Saturday morning tweeting has exploded to the forefront an uncovered scandal I've been talking about since early January (including in this weekend's column): The fact that the Obama Justice Department …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line and Daily Wire