memeorandum: First on CNN: New terrorist laptop bombs may evade airport security, intel sources say (CNN)

12:50 AM ET, April 1, 2017

Top Items:

Intelligence official who ‘unmasked’ Trump associates is ‘very high up,’ source says — The U.S. intelligence official who “unmasked,” or exposed, the names of multiple private citizens affiliated with the Trump team is someone “very well known, very high up, very senior in the intelligence world,” a source told Fox News on Friday.

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit and The Lid

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

What Devin Nunes Knows — Team Obama was spying broadly on the incoming administration. — California Rep. Adam Schiff may not offer much by way of substance, but give him marks for political flimflam. The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was so successful at ginning …

Discussion: Breitbart and Just Security

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Trump's White House struggles to get out from under Russia controversy — President Trump entered his 11th week in office Friday in crisis mode, his governing agenda at risk of being subsumed by escalating questions about the White House's conduct in the Russia probe — which the president called a “witch hunt.”

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, CBS News, NBC News, Political Wire, CNBC, Shareblue, Deadline and Business Insider

Austin Wright / Politico:

Schiff slams White House after reviewing controversial intelligence — Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday he still has deep concerns about the Trump administration's handling of classified intelligence following a trip to the White House to review key documents for himself.

Discussion: ABC News, The Atlantic and Daily Wire

NBC News:

Michael Flynn's Immunity Request Rejected By Senate Intelligence Committee — The Senate Intelligence Committee turned down the request by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's lawyer for a grant of immunity in exchange for his testimony, two congressional sources told NBC News.

New York Times:

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Still Benefiting From Business Empire, Filings Show — Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, President Trump's daughter and son-in-law, will remain the beneficiaries of a sprawling real estate and investment business still worth as much as $741 million …

Discussion: The Hill and NPR

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Bannon earned more than half a million dollars from entities tied to GOP donors — Steve Bannon, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, earned more than half a million dollars last year from entities linked to a pair of major conservative donors, according to documents released …

Discussion: Axios and ABC News

New York Times: Who's Worth What at the White House: The Financial Disclosures

Matea Gold / Washington Post:
Trump's closest aides hail from ranks of financial elite

Discussion: Mediaite

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Ahead of release of financial disclosures, Trump administration brags about how many wealthy people it has

Discussion: Political Wire

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

An Obamacare adviser walks into the Trump White House... Multiple sources tell me that former Obama adviser Zeke Emanuel was at the White House Thursday, meeting with staff about what comes next on health care. I'm told the meeting included a discussion of funding for reinsurance …

Discussion: The Hill and Morning Consult

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Hannity sides with Freedom Caucus over Trump

Discussion: Roll Call, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Daily Signal, Doug Ross, Towleroad, FiveThirtyEight and IJR

Mike Allen / Axios:
1 big thing: Trump, baffled and brooding

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, The Daily Signal, Morning Consult, Washington Monthly, CNBC, Red Alert Politics, New York Magazine, Salon, Hullabaloo, Shakesville, TheBlaze, USA Today, Shareblue, New York Times, Raw Story, Political Wire and Hot Air

Senator Claire McCaskill:

Gorsuch: Good for Corporations, Bad for Working People — This is a really difficult decision for me. I am not comfortable with either choice. While I have come to the conclusion that I can't support Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court—and will vote no on the procedural vote and his confirmation …

Discussion: Politico, Vox, Washington Post, Business Insider, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Axios and Reuters

Associated Press:
Democratic Supreme Court opposition grows; Schumer warns GOP

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico and Power Line

National Review:

Pence and Prudence — Traditional Christians face a double standard. — I've heard numerous versions of this story, but I'll go with the one reportedly told by Dr. Abraham Twerski, a renowned psychiatrist and Orthodox rabbi. (I've trimmed and paraphrased it a bit.)

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall.com:
Now the Left Thinks Pence's Rule to Never Dine Alone With Women Besides His Wife Is Illegal

Discussion: SARAH PALIN, TheBlaze and BizPac Review

Joanna L. Grossman / Vox:
Vice President Pence's “never dine alone with a woman” rule isn't honorable. It's probably illegal.

New York Times:

‘Penis Seat’ Causes Double Takes on Mexico City Subway — A seat in a subway car in Mexico City's metro system caused a stir earlier this year. There were awkward glances. Visible discomfort. Baffled looks. Some laughs. And of course, the inevitable pictures from passenger's camera phones.

Discussion: Althouse

David Ferguson / Raw Story:

You're the puppet: Spicer revives Trump's unhinged attacks on Clinton as Russia scandal grows — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — At his Friday afternoon White House briefing, President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer made the jaw-dropping assertion that former Secretary …

Discussion: CNN

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Putin spokesman: US-Russia relations ‘maybe worse’ now than Cold War

Discussion: Hot Air, Business Insider, Fox News Insider, SARAH PALIN, ABC News, twitchy.com and The Week

Richard Greenberg / NBC News:

Obama Officials Made List of Secret Russia Probe Documents To Protect Them … LATEST POSTS FROM INTEL DESK — Obama administration officials were so concerned about what would happen to key classified documents related to the Russia probe once President Trump took office that they created …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Raw Story and Occupy Democrats

Tom Winter / NBC News:
Did Giuliani Try to Cut Deal Between U.S. and Turkey for Iranian?

Discussion: Raw Story

Anita Kumar / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

1 in 3 voters give President Trump a grade F — WASHINGTON — After more than two months in office, America's new president, Republican Donald Trump, got a grade of F from 1 in 3 voters, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll. — By contrast, the same number graded predecessor Democrat …

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Wire, Daily Mail, AOL and The Daily Caller

The Guardian:

Michael Flynn: new evidence spy chiefs had concerns about Russian ties — US and UK officials were troubled by Moscow contacts and encounter with woman linked to Russian spy agency records — US intelligence officials had serious concerns about Michael Flynn's appointment …

Discussion: Raw Story

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Five questions investigators want to ask Michael Flynn

Discussion: Salon, New Yorker, RedState, Breitbart and Political Wire

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Grassley asks State for details on Clinton's security clearance — (R-Iowa) is asking the State Departments for details on the security clearances of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — and her top aides. — Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter this week …

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Concha / The Hill:
AP reporter disputes Washington Post's Tillerson eye-contact report

Discussion: Heat Street, Hot Air, IJR, Refinery29, SARAH PALIN and RedState

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The road to single-payer health care — Repeal-and-replace (for Obamacare) is not quite dead. It has been declared so, but what that means is that, for now, the president has (apparently) washed his hands of it and the House Republicans appear unable to reconcile their differences.

Discussion: Instapundit

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine: The GOP's Favorite Health-Care Idea Is to Stick It to Mothers

Andrea Peyser / New York Post:

Nikki Haley is kicking anti-Semites in the UN to the curb — MORE FROM: … Nikki Haley, the “new sheriff in town,” is taking no guff from anti-Semites disguised as Israel-haters infesting the United Nations, that den of obscene bigots and butcher-lovers that sits, like a giant middle finger pointing …

CNN:

First on CNN: New terrorist laptop bombs may evade airport security, intel sources say — Intel played significant role in Trump administration's decision to prohibit travelers from 10 airports in 8 countries from carrying laptops and other large electronic devices on planes

Discussion: twitchy.com

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The latest attempt to validate Trump's wiretapping claim? An Obama official who left in 2015. — It has been tricky for President Trump and his allies to retroactively figure out how to explain his tweets about then-President Barack Obama wiretapping Trump Tower.

Discussion: New York Times, NBC News, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, vice, Business Insider, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, The White House, KTLA, The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America and Daily Wire

Jeffrey Lord / The American Spectator:
Exclusive: Evelyn Farkas Statement for The American Spectator: Video ‘A Wild Misinterpretation’ of Her Comments

Discussion: New York Times, Power Line, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and NewsBusters

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Republicans' views of blacks' intelligence, work ethic lag behind Democrats at a record clip — Over the last two decades, there has never been a bigger divide between white Republicans and Democrats when it comes to views of the intelligence and work ethic of African Americans, according to the new General Social Survey.

Peter Holley / Washington Post:

After ‘classy’ N.C. restaurant bans kids, critics fume — and reservations surge — The final straw was a little girl using an iPad with the volume on high, a device her parents refused to turn down despite repeated requests from the staff at Caruso's, an upscale Italian restaurant in Mooresville, N.C.

Discussion: Mother Jones, TheBlaze and FOX6Now.com

Caitlin Dewey / Washington Post:

GOP lawmaker: The Bible says ‘if a man will not work, he shall not eat’ — One lawmaker is citing a godly reference to justify changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) recently quoted the New Testament to question the strength of current work requirements.