For the past 18 months, despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary, President @realDonaldTrump had steadfastly denied that there was any collusion between his presidential campaign and the Russians who hacked the 2016 election.
But that all changed this week, with Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, arguing that collusion might not even be a crime (fact check: collusion is, in fact, a crime called "conspiracy to defraud the United States").
Trump was quick to embrace this novel legal theory, taking to Twitter to share the new talking point with his millions of followers.
He then called on his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions—who is recused from the Russia investigation—to immediately put an end to the so-called "witch hunt."
It's probably just a coincidence that this abrupt shift in legal strategery occurred right as Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was facing trial.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO); Former FBI Agent Clint Watts; Republican Strategist Mike Murphy; Roundtable: Republican Strategist Al Cardenas, Helene Cooper (New York Times), Robert Costa (Washington Post) & Eliana Johnson (Politico).
Face The Nation: White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Obama Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; Roundtable: Mark Landler (New York Times), Paula Reid (CBS News), Leslie Sanchez (CBS News) & Seung Min Kim (Washington Post).
This Week: Trump Lawyer Jay Sekulow; Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D); Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R); Roundtable: TBD.
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Cody Wilson (Defense Distributed); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Karl Rove, Jason Riley (Wall Street Journal), Susan Page (USA Today) & Hillary Clinton Advisor Phillip Reines.
State of the Union: Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D); Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA); Roundtable: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Rep. Nanette D. Barragán (D-CA), Democratic Strategist Karen Finney & Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on medical professionals who put themselves to in danger to save lives in Syria (preview); a report on the rising number of lawsuits over San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower (preview); and, an interview with Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Chris Hayes (MSNBC); Actor Rob Corddry; Singer-Songwriter Regina Spektor.
Tuesday: Actor Joe Manganiello; Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).
Wednesday: Jim Acosta (CNN); Actress Nina Dobrev.
Thursday: Actress Issa Rae; Actor Darren Criss; Comedian Ronnie Chieng.
Friday: TBA.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams (D); Tuesday: Actor Rob Corddry; Wednesday: Rapper Big Boi; Thursday: Parkland Students Emma Gonzales & Matt Deitsch.
Elsewhere...
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) continues to tout a fake award that Sacha Baron Cohen gave him.
Sacha Baron Cohen's new Showtime series has made monkeys out of a number of conservative activists and politicians — including one Pennsylvania lawmaker who apparently remains clueless that he was duped weeks later.
Cohen's "Who Is America?" presented a fake pro-Israel award to a number of political figures called "70 at 70" on behalf of a non-existent Israeli TV outlet called "Yerushalayim Television," Think Progress reported Friday.
Cohen's team told its unsuspecting victims they were being honored for their "significant contributions to the State of Israel."
But weeks after the setup was revealed, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was still listing the award on his campaign website.
Perry lists the fake prize — incorrectly calling it "70 for 70" — on his "Awards and Recognition" page next to his 2018 "True Blue Award" from the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council and his 2010 Leadership Award from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, the liberal website reported.
Meanwhile...
Donald Trump Jr. continues to flaunt his stupidity.
In a video posted Thursday by the pro-Trump One America News Network, Jack Posobiec -- a prominent right-wing voice online who supported the Pizzagate hoax -- spoke with Donald Trump Jr., who compared the present-day Democratic Party to Nazis and disparaged history taught by academics.
"I've been out hearing the left talking about all these things, fascism, Nazism on the right," Trump Jr. said. "And when you look at the actual history of how these things evolved, and when you actually look at that platform versus the platform of the modern left, you say wait a minute, those two are really heavily aligned and, frankly, contrary to the right."
He warned people against saying something "because someone told you that in a history class" because academia had been influenced by the left.
"You see the Nazi platform in the early 1930s and what was actually put out there ... and you look at it compared to like the DNC platform of today, and you're saying, man, those things are awfully similar, to a point where it's actually scary," Trump Jr. said.
Oy vey.
– Trix
