This is the Wall Street Journal headline that sent shock waves through the Washington DC last night — “Mike Flynn Offers to Testify in Exchange for Immunity”.
The WSJ story followed on the heels of the New York Times story “2 White House Officials Helped Give Nunes Intelligence Reports.”
Add to all of this – the White House has invited the house and senate intelligence committees to the White House to view classified information.
It’s Friday morning, the last day of March, and once again the 71 day old Trump administration is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
All the weekend talk shows have plenty of fodder to analyze.
In the meantime, here are some of the headlines making news today:
The only tweet from the president this morning:
AP: TRUMP FACES QUESTIONS OF INTERFERENCE IN INVESTIGATIONS
President Donald Trump is facing new questions about political interference in the investigations into Russian election meddling following reports that White House officials secretly funneled material to the chairman of the House intelligence committee.
Trying to fend off the growing criticism, Trump’s top lawyer invited lawmakers from both parties to view classified information at the White House. Thursday’s invitation came as The New York Times reported that two White House officials – including an aide whose job was recently saved by President Donald Trump – secretly helped House intelligence committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes examine intelligence information there last week.
The Hill: Trump: Flynn ‘should ask for immunity’ in Russia ‘witch hunt’
President Trump is defending former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s offer to testify in ongoing probes of Russian hacking of the 2016 election in exchange for legal immunity.
Trump wrote on Twitter early Friday morning that investigation had become “a witch hunt,” echoing language used by his former campaign adviser’s attorney.
Newsday: Trump White House spoon-fed Nunes’ surveillance ‘find,’ report says
Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked last week if the White House had led Devin Nunes to documents suggesting the Donald Trump transition had come under “incidental” surveillance — a discovery Nunes urgently shared with the president. Spicer depicted that scenario as ridiculous.
“I don’t know why,” Spicer said, the House Intelligence Committee chairman would “come down here to brief us on something that we would have briefed him on.”
New York Times: 2 White House Officials Helped Give Nunes Intelligence Reports
A pair of White House officials helped provide Representative Devin Nunes of California, a Republican and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, with the intelligence reports that showed that President Trump and his associates were incidentally swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies.
The revelation on Thursday that White House officials disclosed the reports, which Mr. Nunes then discussed with Mr. Trump, is likely to fuel criticism that the intelligence chairman has been too eager to do the bidding of the Trump administration while his committee is supposed to be conducting an independent investigation of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election.
Bloomberg TV: In today’s “Morning Must Read,” Bloomberg’s Tom Keene highlights comments from Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake on information behind the inquiry into Russia’s ties to the U.S. election. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Kevin Cirilli on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
| Thursday, March 30 |
| Race/Topic | Poll | Results | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| President Trump Job Approval | Gallup | Approve 38, Disapprove 57 | Disapprove +19 |
| President Trump Job Approval | Rasmussen Reports | Approve 44, Disapprove 56 | Disapprove +12 |
| President Trump Job Approval | PPP (D) | Approve 40, Disapprove 53 | Disapprove +13 |
| Congressional Job Approval | PPP (D) | Approve 11, Disapprove 68 | Disapprove +57 |
| Public Approval of Health Care Law | PPP (D) | For/Favor 52, Against/Oppose 37 | For/Favor +15 |
