The Note: Priebus asks the FBI to refute Trump Russia reports

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February 24, 2017

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Priebus asks the FBI to refute Trump Russia reports

The Big Story

The Russia affair gets a new twist with the revelation that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute reports that Trump campaign officials were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents prior to the election. There are questions of propriety here: The FBI is supposed to be able to conduct its investigations independently, without any White House involvement. And the bureau isn't supposed to play politics by commenting on active investigations, as Clinton campaign vets remember too well. There is also irony: Priebus was asking the FBI to comment without names attached, while decrying as "fake news" stories that rely on such sourcing. What's more, the willingness to employ the FBI for political battle demonstrates when Trump advisers cast the media as the "opposition party," it's more than words. "Every day, it's going to be a fight," White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday at CPAC. Added Priebus, sitting slightly uncomfortably to Bannon's left: "If the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it can't be stopped." It appears that in this battle, there's no resource of the federal government that the White House considers off-limits.

The Sleeper Story

The best thing to happen to Obamacare might have been Donald Trump. A new Kaiser tracking poll has the approval rating for the Affordable Care Act up to 48 percent – the highest it's been in some 60 such polls. Lawmakers, of course, are hearing about that newfound popularity firsthand at raucous town halls that are developing into mirror-image opposites of the famous Tea Party events that hurt the bill's popularity back in 2009 and 2010. With President Trump's address to Congress coming on the eve of the month slated for repeal/replace, it may be that Republicans have lost critical momentum around what they all once agreed would be their top priority. Former House Speaker John Boehner's statements on the difficulty the GOP will have in undoing Obamacare is a clue to the anxiety Republicans are feeling right now about their promise of repeal.

The Shiny Story

Jared and Ivanka strike again! According to The Wall Street Journal, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump prevailed on the president to remove language critical of the Paris climate accord from an impending executive order on environmental issues. This is the second time we've learned of the couple's private, moderating influence. They also succeeded in blocking an effort to rescind protections for LGBTQ employees. (Though they were notably absent from stories about the school-bathroom regulation that was rescinded this week.) Per the Journal: "One White House official said both Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump have been considered a moderating influence on the White House's position on climate change and environmental issues." That's an interesting detail for a White House official to confirm. But might it be a little too cute to tag the couple as the "moderating" – read, liberal-leaning – influence inside a White House (plus a Cabinet) stuffed with strong conservatives? As The New York Times' Jonathan Martin tweeted, "Funny how all the leaks about Jared/Ivanka seem aimed at reassuring liberal NYC friends *we're trying*."

TLDR

Conservatives may have not always supported Donald Trump during the campaign, but that's long over now and the president and his administration's highest level advisers will all greet CPAC beginning today likely getting a very warm reception. Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and Vice President Pence are up today while President Trump speaks tomorrow.

WH chief of staff urged the FBI to dispute Trump Russia report:

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus made a personal appeal to a top FBI official to dispute reports that multiple senior members of President Trump's campaign had communicated with Russian agents during the 2016 election, a senior White House official confirmed to ABC News on Friday. Priebus had reached out to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe in an effort to knock down reports of talks between campaign officials and Russia following a New York Times report on the matter last week, the official said. Priebus only made the request after the FBI had told the White House there were accuracy issues with the Times' report, the official said. More from ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN: http://abcn.ws/2kTZirA

President Trump to address conservatives at CPAC

President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday at 10:20 a.m., his fifth time addressing the gathering of right-wing organizers and activists. Trump's appearance Friday marks the fourth visit by a sitting president, notes ABC's ADAM KELSEY. http://abcn.ws/2lgq2yB

This week on 'This Week'

George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., exclusively on "This Week" Sunday. And the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter, Rasmussen Reports political analyst Amy Holmes, former Clinton Labor Secretary and UC Berkeley professor Robert Reich, and New Yorker editor David Remnick.