memeorandum: Leakgate Finds Its Joe McCarthy (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr/Wall Street Journal)

9:55 PM ET, March 22, 2017

Top Items:

CNN:

US Officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians — Washington (CNN)The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign, US officials told CNN.

Discussion: Power Line, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Towleroad, Mediaite, Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Stranger …, Occupy Democrats and Politicus USA

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Leakgate Finds Its Joe McCarthy — On Trump-Russia links, Rep. Schiff tries to fool the public with randomness. — If Donald Trump tweeted his accusations about President Obama wiretapping Trump Tower to get the media off his alleged ties to Russia, then Democrats at Monday's hearing …

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Comey Is Now the Most Powerful Person in Washington

Discussion: Power Line

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Poll: By 2 to 1 margin, registered voters reject Comey

Discussion: IJR, Hot Air, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Austin Wright / Politico:

Nunes claims some Trump transition messages were intercepted — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes declared Wednesday that members of Donald Trump's transition team, possibly including Trump himself, were under inadvertent surveillance following November's presidential election.

Tom LoBianco / CNN:

House Intel chairman: Trump's personal communications may have been collected — Its chairman said Wednesday Trump's communication might have been part of ‘incidental collection’ — (CNN)House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's personal communications …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Business Insider, Hot Air, Booman Tribune, Politicus USA, Shareblue, Taylor Marsh, Jamie Dupree, TheBlaze and Axios

Bloomberg:

Nunes Says Trump Team Conversations Caught in Surveillance — Republican says 'I'm actually alarmed' conversations picked up — Disclosure may bolster Trump's claim he was under surveillance — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence community …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Balloon Juice and Vox Popoli

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
What Devin Nunes's Bombshell Does and Doesn't Say

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Axios and Real Clear Politics

Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Schiff: I have ‘grave concerns’ over Nunes's surveillance claim

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
GOP chairman: Surveillance was collected about Trump transition team

Discussion: Politico, Patterico's Pontifications and Hit & Run

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Nunes ‘Unmasking’ Report Vindicates Trump Claims on Surveillance

Discussion: CNN, Geller Report and RedState

Jim Newell / Slate:

There's a secret, cynical reason Paul Ryan can't give conservatives what they want on the American Health Care Act. — You cannot fault House conservative holdouts for a lack of clarity in their refusal to support the American Health Care Act. Each one I spoke with on Tuesday made the same point …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

White House moves to tweak health care bill to win over conservatives — White House officials are moving to eliminate broad coverage requirements for health insurers in the Obamacare repeal bill in a bid to win over holdout members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and STAT

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Mike Lee: Senate parliamentarian told me it's possible to push harder on repealing Obamacare regulations

Discussion: Washington Post and Hot Air

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Conservatives claim votes to stop GOP Obamacare repeal

Discussion: ABC News, CNBC, TheBlaze, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite, Daily Kos, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Stranger …, Balloon Juice and The Huffington Post

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The latest health care cut Republicans are weighing, explained

Discussion: Politico

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Defying Trump, Freedom Caucus insists they'll oppose GOP ObamaCare replacement

Discussion: Politico and RedState

The Hill:
Trump woos right with promise of Senate changes to ObamaCare replacement

Discussion: The Daily Signal

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Rubio ducks questions about supporting House Obamacare repeal

Discussion: RedState and Shark Tank

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Democrats weigh deal to let Gorsuch through — A group of Senate Democrats is beginning to explore trying to extract concessions from Republicans in return for allowing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to be confirmed, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

While Gorsuch was testifying, the Supreme Court unanimously said he was wrong — Awkward. — About 40 minutes after Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch began his second day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, all eight of the justices he hopes to join said a major disability decision Gorsuch wrote in 2008 was wrong.

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic, USA Today, New York Times, Reuters, New York Magazine, Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos and CNN

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Joviality at Neil Gorsuch's Hearing Masks Drama Behind the Scenes

Discussion: Washington Post, Refinery29, SCOTUSblog, NPR.org and Politico

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Democrats sharpen attacks on Gorsuch after Supreme Court rebuff

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CNN, ABC News, Vox, Bloomberg, SCOTUSblog and Washington Free Beacon

Rep. Daniel Donovan / Staten Island Advance:

Why I will vote ‘no’ on the American Health Care Act — Rep. Daniel Donovan will vote “no” on the current Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro) — Since my first day serving in Congress I made a commitment to weigh the impact …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Congressman Lou Barletta, NBC News and The Republic

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Approval wanes for GOP health bill

Discussion: The Hill, Morning Consult, Hot Air, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, AOL, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Manafort had plan to benefit Putin government — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed …

Discussion: Shareblue, Booman Tribune, Shakesville, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad, Little Green Footballs, The Atlantic and Washington Post

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Paul Manafort Tried to Help Russian Oligarch Suspected of Mob Ties Get a US Visa

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Washington Post, CBS New York, IJR, BillMoyers.com, NBC News and The Root

New York Daily News:

Racist Maryland man who fatally stabbed black New Yorker admits his intent to kill African-American men — The 28-year-old man busted for fatally stabbing a black stranger in Midtown on Tuesday has told cops he came the city from Baltimore to kill African-Americans, sources said.

Discussion: New York Post, New York's PIX11, Raw Story, Gothamist, Mediaite, AOL and The Root

Daniel Prendergast / New York Post:
Well-dressed suspect in fatal stabbing surrenders to cops

Discussion: Gothamist

Shawn Cohen / New York Post:
White supremacist accused of murder says he came to NYC to kill blacks

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Times of Israel

Fox News:

UK Parliament terror attack: 4 people killed, including cop and alleged assailant; 20 injured — DEVELOPING - Four people, including a London police officer who was stabbed and the alleged assailant, were killed after a terror attack that saw more than 20 people injured outside the Parliament building on Wednesday.

Washington Post:
Attacker kills 3, injures 20 in vehicle and knife assault near British Parliament, according to officials

Discussion: National Review, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Signal

New York Times:
Deadly Attack Near U.K. Parliament; Car Plows Victims on Westminster Bridge

Discussion: Daily Mail, NBC News, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The FADER, Gothamist, AOL, The Stranger … and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Secret Service asked for $60 million extra for Trump-era travel and protection, documents show — The U.S. Secret Service requested $60 million in additional funding for the next year, offering the most precise estimate yet of the escalating costs for travel and protection resulting …

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Politicus USA, Business Insider and Raw Story

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
White House jumper caught on fence: report

Discussion: TMZ.com, RedState and BizPac Review

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed:

Prosecutors Are Extracting Data From More Than 100 Locked Phones Seized During Inauguration Day Arrests — Police detain a demonstrator on January 20, 2017 — WASHINGTON — Prosecutors are extracting data from more than 100 locked cell phones seized during arrests in downtown Washington …

Discussion: The Verge

P.R. Lockhart / Mother Jones:

Congressional Black Caucus Shows Trump Its Policy Vision for Black America — In the lead-up to their meeting today with President Donald Trump, Congressional Black Caucus leaders said they would focus on explaining what African Americans stand to lose under a Trump presidency.

Discussion: Axios and Daily Kos

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
Trump meets Black Caucus and vows action on drug prices

Discussion: ABC News and Mother Jones

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

Republicans lied about healthcare for years, and they're about to get the punishment they deserve — It's hard to decide which would be the more politically damaging outcome for Republican politicians: passing the American Health Care Act, and therefore owning the premium increases …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog and Vox

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Chelsea Clinton to get lifetime achievement award — Chelsea Clinton will be honored with a Variety's lifetime achievement award next month, the magazine announced Tuesday. — The 37-year-old former first daughter, a vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, is rumored to be eyeing a run …