Two weeks ago, President @realDonaldTrump—who was vacationing at Mar-a-Lago at the time—ignited a political and legal firestorm when he libelously accused former President Obama of wiretapping him.
Trump's unfounded allegation—which was apparently inspired by some bullshit that he read at Breitbart—drew immediate condemnation, and was vehemently denied by everyone in a position to know.
Nevertheless, he persisted.
Trump demanded that Congress investigate the charge, and the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees were happy to oblige.
Meanwhile, Trump's White House spin doctors continued to press his case—making outlandish claims, and alienating some of America's closest allies in the process.
When all was said and done, no evidence had emerged to support Trump's (original) allegation—because none exists.
God only knows how many people Meals on Wheels could've served with all of the money wasted on this "witch hunt."
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Joy Ann Reid (MSNBC), Katty Kay (BBC), & Robert Costa (Washington Post).
Face The Nation: White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).; House Minoeity Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Roundtable: Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post), Kimberly Strassel (Wall Street Journal), Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic) & Ruth Marcus (Washington Post).
This Week: Secretary of Health & Human Services Tom Price; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX); Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX); Christopher Ruddy (Newsmax); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Sara Fagen, Maggie Haberman (New York Times), Roland Martin (TV One) & Terry Moran (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: White House Economic Adviser Gary Cohn; Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Roundtable: Jason Riley (Wall Street Journal), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Michael Needham (Heritage Action for America) & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Secretary of Health & Human Services Tom Price; Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR); Roundtable: Former South Carolina State Rep. Bakari Sellers (D), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Democratic Strategist Jen Psaki & Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the H-1B visa program (preview); a report on the famine in South Sudan (preview); and, a visit to "Sesame Street" (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor Will Forte; Basketball Analyst Jay Bilas; Chris Hayes (MSNBC); Musician Charlie Benante.
Tuesday: Actor Dax Shepard; Actress Hannah Simone; Band Hey Violet; Musician Nicko McBrain.
Wednesday: Actress Kristen Bell; Actor Bill Nighy; Musical Duo Aquilo; Musician Nicko McBrain.
Thursday: Actor Jake Gyllenhaal; Comedian Whitney Cummings; Rapper Post Malone featuring Quavo of Migos & Metro Boomin; Musician Nicko McBrain.
Friday: TBA.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Egyptian Satirist Bassem Youssef & Trump's African-American Omarosa Manigault; Tuesday: Dahlia Lithwick (Slate); Wednesday: Actor Michael Pena; Thursday: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Elsewhere...
We learned that Paul Ryan's dream of destroying Medicaid dates back to his time in college.
Speaking to National Review editor Rich Lowry at an event hosted by the conservative magazine, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the case for the American Health Care Act by presenting it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cut Medicaid spending.
"We've been dreaming of this since I've been around," Ryan says, before interrupting himself to clarify exactly how big of an opportunity this is, "since you and I were drinking out of kegs."
AHCA's Medicaid rollbacks would cost 14 million people their health insurance coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But those 14 million people are people who only got Medicaid coverage relatively recently. Ryan's youthful dream refers to provisions of the law that will cap per capita spending for the millions of other lower-income Americans who get Medicaid coverage.
We also discovered that...
Sean Hannity tried to teach Juan Williams about gun safety (or something) by pointing a gun at him.
Last year, after ending one of his many spirited on-air arguments with liberal contributor Juan Williams, Hannity pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Williams, according to three sources with knowledge of the incident. He even turned on the laser sight, causing a red dot to bob around on Williams' body. (Hannity was just showing off, the sources said, but the unforeseen off-camera antic clearly disturbed Williams and others on set.)
"Sean Hannity has been trained in firearm safety since he was 11 years old and has a license to carry a gun in five states, including New York," Fox News said in a statement to CNNMoney. "The situation was thoroughly investigated and it was found that no one was put in any danger." (The spokesperson said the incident took place in October 2016.)
The Fox News spokesperson also provided the following statements from Hannity and Williams.
"While discussing the issue of firearms, I showed my good friend Juan Williams my unloaded firearm in a professional and safe manner for educational purposes only," Hannity's statement read. "Every precautionary procedure that I have been trained in since the age of 11 was followed. I've had a conceal carry permit in five states for all of my adult life. Any other interpretation of this is outright false reporting."
"This incident is being sensationalized -- everything was under total control throughout and I never felt like I was put in harm's way," Williams' statement read. "It was clear that Sean put my safety and security above all else and we continue to be great friends."
Meanwhile...
The braintrust at "Fox & Friends" determined that being pro-journalism is anti-Trump.
"Fox & Friends" did a pretty convincing impression of the White House spin factory Tuesday with the following report by Heather Childers:
Media bias on full display. Newspapers now cashing in on t-shirts splashed with anti-President Trump rhetoric. The Washington Post offering this shirt, which says "democracy dies in darkness." The L.A. Times selling shirts that say "journalism matters," and the Chicago Tribune's featured the line "speaking truth to power since 1847." The shirts being sold for around 20 bucks.
Apparently touting the importance of journalism in a democratic society makes these news outlets opponents of President Trump. That's the kind of twisted logic presented by the likes of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway — except it came from Fox News.
Media companies are trying to convince Americans that the press is, in fact, vitally important. Being pro-journalism does not make the press anti-Trump.
I report, you decide.
– Trix