memeorandum: Is Obamacare a Lifesaver? (Ross Douthat/New York Times)

1:55 AM ET, March 30, 2017

Top Items:

FBI Director James Comey tried to reveal Russian tampering months before election — U.S. JAMES COMEY FBI RUSSIA 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION — FBI Director James Comey attempted to go public as early as the summer of 2016 with information on Russia's campaign to influence …

Discussion: The Week, RedState, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, Al Jazeera English, The Slot and Joe.My.God.

CNN:

Nunes, Comey clash on whether FBI chief invited to House Russia investigation — Intel on Russia: We will get to bottom of this — Washington (CNN)House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and FBI Director James Comey can't seem to agree on whether the former invited the latter …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post and The Hill

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Devin Nunes Is Dangerous — Representative Devin Nunes obviously fancies himself Jason Bourne. To sneak onto the White House grounds for that rendezvous with an unnamed source last week, he switched cars and ditched aides, vanishing into the night. — But Senator Lindsey Graham looks at him and sees a different character.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Hill and Just Security

Tom LoBianco / CNN:
Senate intelligence leaders: 20 people to be questioned, first hearing Thursday

Discussion: CNBC, New York Times, Joe.My.God., Occupy Democrats, The Atlantic, IJR, Towleroad and The Week

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
Sean Spicer's kiss of death: ‘Phenomenal’

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Fox News:
Former Obama official discloses rush to get intelligence on Trump team

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Power Line, Townhall.com, twitchy.com, YouTube and SARAH PALIN

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Nunes tries to blame Democrats for troubled Russia probe

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad, RedState, Axios, Hot Air, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., Progress Pond and New York Magazine

Adam Kelsey / ABC News: What we don't know about Nunes' White House grounds visit

Yashar Ali / New York Magazine:

What George W. Bush Really Thought of Donald Trump's Inauguration — The inauguration of Donald Trump was a surreal experience for pretty much everyone who witnessed it, whether or not they were at the event and regardless of who they supported in the election.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, Political Wire and Mashable

New York Times:

Ivanka Trump, Shifting Plans, Will Become a Federal Employee — Ivanka Trump, the elder daughter of President Trump, is becoming an official government employee, joining her husband in serving as an unpaid adviser to her father in the White House. — Ms. Trump already has an office in the West Wing …

Rich Lowry / Politico:

The Crisis of Trumpism — Trumpism is in crisis. — This isn't a function of poll numbers, or the Russia controversy, or any other melodrama of the past three months, but something more fundamental: No officeholder in Washington seems to understand President Donald Trump's populism …

Bloomberg:

House GOP Weighing Another Try on Obamacare Vote Next Week — Two Republicans say leaders discussing new vote after setback — Trump and Ryan pulled the bill last week, citing lack of votes — House Republicans are considering making another run next week at passing the health-care bill …

Discussion: Hot Air, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Is Obamacare a Lifesaver? — Now that the Republican Party has beclowned itself on health care, now that Obamacare repeal lies in rubble, now that every G.O.P. policy person who ever championed a replacement plan is out wandering in sackcloth and ashes, wailing, “The liberals were right about my party …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Mother Jones

Tom Perriello / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed I lost my seat in Congress because I voted for Obamacare. I don't regret that decision at all

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones and FiveThirtyEight

Nan Aron / USA Today:

Don't torpedo Senate rules for Gorsuch: Nan Aron — If a nominee for a lifetime job on our highest court can't get 60 votes, don't go ‘nuclear.’ Change the nominee. — For four days this month, court-watchers were glued to C-SPAN or the web for the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Campaign for America's Future and FAIR

Damon Linker / The Week:
The futility of filibustering Neil Gorsuch

Discussion: NPR, Online Library …, Hot Air, Instapundit, Townhall.com, Power Line and Politico

U.S. Department of Justice:

State Department Employee Arrested and Charged With Concealing Extensive Contacts With Foreign Agents — A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, of Washington, D.C., and an employee of the U.S. Department of State, with obstructing an official proceeding …

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, NPR, AOL, Daily Wire and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
State Dept. employee accused of misleading FBI in China case

Discussion: Politico

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

House votes to restrict EPA's use of science — The House voted Wednesday to restrict the kind of scientific studies and data that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use to justify new regulations. — The Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act, or HONEST Act, passed 228-194.

Discussion: Politicus USA and Joe.My.God.

T.C. Sottek / The Verge:

The 265 members of Congress who sold you out to ISPs, and how much it cost to buy them — They betrayed you for chump change — Republicans in Congress just voted to reverse a landmark FCC privacy rule that opens the door for ISPs to sell customer data. Lawmakers provided no credible reason …

Discussion: Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Ezra Klein / Vox:

70 days in, Donald Trump's presidency is flailing — Trump's campaign rewarded him for breaking the rules. His presidency has punished him for it. — During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump broke every rule of politics — and he won anyway. — He dominated the Republican primary by running against the Republican Party.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and New York Magazine

Eric Wolff / Politico:

Energy Department climate office bans use of phrase ‘climate change’ — A supervisor at the Energy Department's international climate office told staff this week not to use the phrases “climate change,” “emissions reduction” or “Paris Agreement” in written memos, briefings or other written communication, sources have told POLITICO.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, Axios and AOL

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Who is ‘Source D’? The man said to be behind the Trump-Russia dossier's most salacious claim. — In June, a Belarusan American businessman who goes by the name Sergei Millian shared some tantalizing claims about Donald Trump. — Trump had a long-standing relationship with Russian officials …

Sarah Karlin-Smith / Politico:

After pledging to solve opioid crisis, Trump's strategy underwhelms — As a candidate, Donald Trump promised rural towns and states hit hard by opioid addiction that he'd solve the epidemic ravaging their communities. “We will give people struggling with addiction access to the help they need,” Trump vowed in October.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Vox and New York Magazine

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

White House signals it can live without border wall funds — The White House indicated Wednesday that President Trump could go along with a government funding bill that does not include money to begin building his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. — Senate Republicans are not planning …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart and RedState

Houston Chronicle:

Beto O'Rourke to challenge Ted Cruz in Texas' 2018 Senate race — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat and ex-punk rocker who pulled a stunning upset to win his House seat six years ago, plans to declare his candidacy on Friday for the Senate seat held by Ted Cruz, according to Democratic sources in Texas.

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, The Daily Caller, Townhall.com and Washington Times

Kelsey Snell / Washington Post:

Hill Republicans trying to avert a shutdown need Democrats — and Trump — Congressional Republicans are working aggressively to craft an agreement intended to keep the government open past April 28, but their bid to avert a shutdown hinges on courting Democrats wary of President Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire

Media Matters for America:

Trump Ally Alex Jones: “The Head Of The Jewish Mafia Is George Soros” — CALLER: I've noticed since the very beginning that the two main guys out there at the forefront of all of this are Senator John McCain and Lindsey Graham, saying everybody's a Russian agent, trying to derail the Trump presidency.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Moderate Voice

Ramin Setoodeh / Variety:

Chelsea Clinton: ‘I Am Not Running for Public Office’ (EXCLUSIVE) … Since the election, there's been endless chatter that Chelsea Clinton might follow in her parents' footsteps. But in an interview with Variety, she quashed those rumors. — “I am not running for public office,” Clinton said.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KTLA, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Politico, Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Slot, Political Wire, AOL and Althouse

The Jakarta Post:

Indonesian man found dead in belly of 7m-long python — An Indonesian man has been found dead inside the belly of a seven-meter-long python, a local media reports. — Akbar Salubiro had not been seen since setting off to harvest palm oil in a remote village on the island of Sulawesi.

Discussion: Boing Boing, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, WGN-TV, FOX6Now.com and Snopes.com

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

How to lose friends and ‘exfoliate’ people — Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is caught between 2 worlds, and his friends are cutting ties — Signing up to carry out Donald Trump's vision of America has come at a cost to many of the president's closest allies.

Allum Bokhari / Breitbart:

Fewer than 1 percent of papers published in scientific journals follow the scientific method, according to research by Wharton School professor and forecasting expert J. Scott Armstrong. — Professor Armstrong, who co-founded the peer-reviewed Journal of Forecasting in 1982 and the International Journal …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

David Daleiden / The Center for Medical Progress:

PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S POLITICAL CRONIES FILE DISCREDITED CHARGES AGAINST DAVID DALEIDEN — The bogus charges from Planned Parenthood's political cronies are fake news. They tried the same collusion with corrupt officials in Houston, TX and failed: both the charges and the DA were thrown out.

Sharon Bernstein / Reuters:

North Carolina lawmakers reach deal to repeal transgender bathroom law — North Carolina Republican lawmakers said late on Wednesday they had reached a deal to repeal the state's controversial law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identities.

Discussion: The Week

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Interior secretary hints border wall could be on Mexican land — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday said America can't give away the Rio Grande to Mexico in the process of building President Trump's signature border wall, implying the structure could wind up standing partially on Mexican land.

Discussion: BBC, Salon, Business Insider, E&E News, WTVR-TV, FOX6Now.com, FOX31 Denver, The Mahablog, The FADER, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Occupy Democrats, RedState, CNN and Outside the Beltway

Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:

Dems Could Take House in 2018 — GOP majority looks shaky with Trump deeply unpopular, Democrats highly energized, and vulnerable Republicans facing tough votes. — The defeat of the Republicans' health care overhaul was a painful reminder …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Liberal Values

U.S. Department of Justice:

Former Deputy Executive Director Of Port Authority Sentenced To 24 Months In Prison, Former Deputy Chief Of Staff In N.J. Governor's Office To 18 Months — Misused Government Property to Punish Fort Lee Mayor for Not Endorsing Gov. Christie's Re-election — NEWARK, N.J. - A former top official …

Discussion: Washington Post

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Trump not concerned about Mar-a-lago costs, criticism — President Trump isn't concerned about the rising costs associated with his regular trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., the White House press secretary said Wednesday. — Sean Spicer addressed the topic during his briefing …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Joe.My.God. and RedState