This week, the ninth of @realDonaldTrump's shitshow of a presidency, was easily his worst.
It began with FBI Director James Comey's public testimony confirming the existence of a counterintelligence investigation into numerous Trump campaign officials' (alleged) collusion with Russia, and ended with Trump's first major legislative defeat.
But that's not to say Trump's week was entirely bad.
After spending all of his time at Monday's hearing decrying leaks, House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes held a series of bizarre press conferences at which he leaked classified information regarding the (supposed) "incidental collection" of Trump transition team communications.
This enabled Trump to (falsely) claim partial vindication over his bullshit wiretapping accusation.
Also, too... he got to sit in a truck and honk the horn like a big boy.
Fun and games aside, though, Trump's Russia problem won't be going away any time soon.
Really, he'd better hope that he's more skilled at the art of the plea deal than he is at the art of the legislative deal.
Ten weeks into the @realDonaldTrump adminsitration, the truth is beginning to catch up with the White House—and the truth is, these are not very bright guys (plus Ivanka), and things got out of hand. [1]
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: CBO Director Mick Mulvaney; Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA); Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT); Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); California Gov. Jerry Brown (D); Roundtable: Eliana Johnson (Politico), Joy Ann Reid (MSNBC), Tom Brokaw (NBC News) & Radio Host Hugh Hewitt.
Face The Nation: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR); Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC); Former Secretary of State George Schyultz; Roundtable: Jamelle Bouie (Slate), Ronald Brownstein (National Journal), Ben Domenech (The Federalist) & Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post).
This Week: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC); EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt; Trump Campaign Adviser Roger Stone; Roundtable: Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos, "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd, Maggie Haberman (New York Times) & Jonathan Karl (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus; Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi; Roundtable: Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Susan Page (USA Today), Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) & Charles Lane (Washington Post.
State of the Union: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R); Roundtable: Former South Carolina State Rep. Bakari Sellers (D), Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) & Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the 2015 terrorist attack in Garland, Texas (preview); a report on "fake news" and bots (preview); and, a report on a grade school chess program in Franklin County, Mississippi (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actress Lily Tomlin; Actress Jane Fonda; Actor Jay Chandrasekhar; Singer-Songwriter Aimee Mann.
Tuesday: Actor Hank Azaria; Actress Kate Walsh; Performers Circus 1903.
Wednesday: Actress Emma Roberts; Actor Ken Jeong; County Music Singer Luke Bryan; Singer Dierks Bentley.
Thursday: Actress Marisa Tomei,; Actor Hugh Dancy; Rock Band Broken Social Scene.
Friday: Actress Susan Sarandon; Singer-Songwriter Joey McIntyre; Comedian Robert Klein.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Director John Singleton; Tuesday: Helene Cooper (New York Times); Wednesday: Musical Artist René Pérez Joglar; Thursday: Chris Hayes (MSNBC).
Elsewhere...
A bunch of Congressional Democrats trolled Trump bigly.
A group of Democratic members of Congress are playing the clever acronym game again.
One of the latest to be introduced and to target the Trump administration: the "Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act."
Yes, the "MAR-A-LAGO Act."
The legislation would require the publication of White House visitor logs, something that was done regularly by the Obama administration but has since ended since President Trump took office. It would also mandate the release of visitor logs at other locations where the president conducts business -- for example, Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort that he has recently called the Southern White House.
Introduced by Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Tom Carper of Delaware and Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, it comes after the president spent five weekends in Mar-a-Lago since his inauguration.
And, in other news...
A former Colorado GOP chairman was charged with voter fraud.
The 2016 election was just a month away when Steve Curtis, a conservative radio host and former Colorado Republican Party chairman, devoted an entire episode of his morning talk show to the heated topic of voter fraud.
"It seems to me," Curtis said in the 42-minute segment, "that virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats."
On Tuesday, Colorado prosecutors threw a wrench into that already dubious theory, accusing Curtis of voter fraud for allegedly filling out and mailing in his ex-wife's 2016 ballot for president, Denver's Fox affiliate reported.
Curtis, 57, was charged in Weld County District Court with one count of misdemeanor voter fraud and one count of forgery, a Class 5 felony, according to local media.
Lock him up!
– Trix