memeorandum: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spends his first weeks isolated from an anxious bureaucracy (Anne Gearan/Washington Post)

9:45 AM ET, March 31, 2017

Top Items:

Mike Flynn Offers to Testify in Exchange for Immunity — Former national security adviser tells FBI, the House and Senate intelligence committees he's willing to be interviewed in exchange for deal, officials say — WASHINGTON—Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser …

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

Devin Nunes and the Tragedy of the Russia Inquiry — Last week, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Devin Nunes, announced dozens of intelligence reports that inappropriately included details on President Donald Trump's transition.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hill, CBS News, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Axios and Washington Monthly

Alex Whiting / Just Security:

Flynn's Public Offer to Testify for Immunity Suggests He May Have Nothing to Say — The Wall Street Journal is reporting that former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn told the FBI and Congress that he is willing to testify in exchange for immunity. But it's not a serious offer …

Discussion: Infowars, CNBC, Daily Mail, France 24, Balloon Juice, NBC News, The Week and Business Insider

Mike Allen / Axios:

1 big thing: Trump, baffled and brooding — Trump, during an opioid and drug abuse listening session Wednesday n the Cabinet Room with Chris Christie, Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos / AP's Evan Vucci — President Trump brought his chaos …

Discussion: Political Wire, Raw Story, Mediaite, TheBlaze and USA Today

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

Three White House officials tied to files shared with House intelligence chairman — At least three senior White House officials including the top lawyer for the National Security Council were involved in the handling of intelligence files that were shared with the chairman …

Discussion: NBC News, CNN, Business Insider and ThinkProgress

Tim Mak / The Daily Beast:

Things Go From Bad to Worse for Devin Nunes and Team Trump — Evidence is growing that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes engaged in an elaborate charade last week when he went to brief the president about what he spun as an alarming development: the U.S. government had spied on some of his top aides.

Discussion: Just Security, New York Times, NBC News, The Week, Daily Kos, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, Washington Post, Axios, The Guardian and ThinkProgress

Barton Gellman / The Century Foundation:

Is the Trump White House Spying on the FBI? — Today's news about Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and his two White House sources has serious implications for all three of them. The implications may be more serious for the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's relationship with Russia.

Max Greenwood / The Hill: Pelosi on Nunes: 'I've never seen behavior this bizarre'

New York Times:
2 White House Officials Helped Give Nunes Intelligence Reports

Associated Press:
Michael Flynn in talks with Congress, wary of prosecution

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Michael Flynn Offers to Testify Before Congress in Exchange for Immunity

Discussion: USA Today, The Week, Daily Mail, Hot Air, Towleroad, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Politicus USA, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Guardian and Daily Kos

Adam Entous / Washington Post:
Flynn offers to cooperate with congressional probe in exchange for immunity

Discussion: The Week

Sarah Posner / Washington Post:
Today's Russia hearings actually revealed something new and important

Discussion: The Week, New York Times, The Last Refuge, NBC News, Politico, Raw Story and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Flynn seeks immunity for testimony

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KFOR-TV, CBS New York and Political Wire

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Trump's failing presidency has the GOP in a free fall — In the aftermath of the GOP health-care debacle came a revealing act of candor. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan admitted that his party, which controls the House, Senate and White House, is not yet a “governing party” because it could not …

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Democrats in Trump territory in no mood to deal — The 12 Democrats who represent House districts won by Donald Trump were supposed to be easy marks for the deal-making new president. — Instead, they're giving him the stiff-arm. — “I do come from a district that did flip to Trump …

Discussion: Washington Post, BizPac Review, The Week, IJR, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, The Last Tradition and Fox News Insider

Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal:

The House Un-Freedom Caucus — After the health-care failure, it's time for Republican voters and donors to rethink their political support. — On the night of Nov. 8, 2016, after it was clear that Donald Trump had upset Hillary Clinton, there was broad agreement that one word described the American electorate's purpose: change.

Adam Kinzinger / New York Times:
How the Freedom Caucus Is Undermining the G.O.P.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Guardian and The Gateway Pundit

Emma Dumain / Post and Courier:
South Carolina U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford: Trump threatened to back primary challenger against me

Discussion: New York Magazine, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, The Week, Politico, Axios and Political Wire

Rep. Ken Buck / The Hill:
Governing means supporting AHCA

Discussion: Politico, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Deadline

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spends his first weeks isolated from an anxious bureaucracy — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson takes a private elevator to his palatial office on the seventh floor of the State Department building, where sightings of him are rare on the floors below.

Discussion: National Review, Axios, The Week, New York Magazine, Raw Story and Business Insider

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Diplomats instructed to ‘avoid eye contact’ with Tillerson: report — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has remained relatively removed from President Trump's administration and his own department, a new report by The Washington Post says, adding that many diplomats have yet to meet him and some have been told to avoid eye contact.

Discussion: RedState and twitchy.com

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

The Prince of Oversight — When Donald Trump's now-notorious Access Hollywood tape first leaked in October last year, Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz reacted to the news the way he usually does—he got himself in front of a camera, and fast. — Within hours after the story broke …

Discussion: The Week

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
GOP rep: Trump ‘not off to a great start’ on Benghazi documents

Discussion: RedState

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Mistakes, He's Made a Few Too Many — Crisis will inevitably strike, so America needs stability and strength. Will Trump be ready? — Near the end of the campaign I wrote a column called “Imagine a Sane Donald Trump,” lamenting that I believed he was crazy, and too bad.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:

Cyber expert drops Senate intel bombshell: Russia targets Trump with fake news because he'll repeat it — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — A cybersecurity expert testified that Russian “bots” pushed their disinformation campaigns during times when President Donald Trump was likely …

Oliver Willis / Shareblue:
Intel hearing bombshell: Cyber expert says “Commander-in-Chief used Russian ‘active measures’...against his opponents”

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Monthly

Aaron Rupar / ThinkProgress: Former FBI agent details how Trump and Russia team up to weaponize fake news

David Ferguson / Raw Story:
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — At Thursday …

Discussion: CBS News

Ashley Feinberg / Gizmodo:

This Is Almost Certainly James Comey's Twitter Account — Digital security and its discontents—from Hillary Clinton's emails to ransomware to Tor hacks—is in many ways one of the chief concerns of the contemporary FBI. So it makes sense that the bureau's director, James Comey …

Discussion: Political Wire, Motherboard, Boing Boing, FiveThirtyEight, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, Raw Story, AOL, Mediaite and Newsweek, more at Mediagazer »

Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:

Can Steve King be defeated? History says probably not — For all the indignation ignited by his latest controversial statements, U.S. Rep. Steve King remains virtually unbeatable in his ardently conservative northwest Iowa congressional district. — That's the consensus of Iowa Republicans inside …

Snopes.com:

Did Evelyn Farkas Just Leak Information Confirming President Obama Spied on President Trump? — Evelyn Farkas' 2 March 2017 MSNBC interview was decoupled from its context involving a 1 March 2017 article about efforts to preserve Obama-era intelligence. — By

Discussion: The Week, Media Matters for America, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Last Refuge and Breitbart

Daniel Gross / Slate:

There's No Such Thing as a Job Americans Won't Do — “These jobs, Americans don't want,” Gene Myers, the CEO of Thrive Home Builders, told CNBC real estate reporter Diana Olick earlier this week, in a well-done piece on a labor shortage that is contributing to a construction and housing shortfall in Denver.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Forbes

Sophia Tesfaye / Salon:

Privacy payback: Protesters want to publish browsing histories of Republicans who voted to strip privacy rights — Crowdsourcing efforts have cropped up to purchase lawmakers' browsing history if President Trump signs the bill — Angry internet users have targeted Republican lawmakers …

Discussion: Washington Post, Snopes.com, The Slot, Techdirt, Mashable and AOL

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

The Empty Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing — The Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was just plain embarrassing, and not only for the nominee. But let's begin with him, skipping over his Republican enablers, who had nothing to do but lob softball questions and praise his answers.

Discussion: Daily Kos and SCOTUSblog

Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:
First two Democrats back Trump's Supreme Court pick

Discussion: The Week

Raleigh News & Observer:

HB2 repeal compromise clears Senate, heads to House — RALEIGH — The state Senate on Thursday approved a compromise bill that repeals House Bill 2 but restricts future anti-discrimination ordinances in cities and counties. — Opposition and support for the bill did not fall along party lines in the 32-16 vote.