The Note: Nunes' crisis of credibility

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March 28, 2017

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Nunes' crisis of credibility

The Big Story

It has come to this: With allegations swirling that rock the foundations of democracy, the White House is being investigated by the FBI, which is controlled by the Trump administration's own Justice Department, and there's a congressional committee whose chairman keeps popping up at the White House. This is becoming a crisis of credibility for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, who maintained that his visit to the White House "grounds" the day before he briefed President Trump was above board and had "nothing to do with Russia." Democrats have now almost universally turned on the California Republican, demanding he be removed from either the investigation or the entire committee. GOP leadership on Capitol Hill seems to be calculating that calls for a special commission or a new committee will blow over. But that won't happen as long as this news faucet drips. If this bucket needed any more filling, Trump is claiming that the questions the FBI confirmed a week ago that it's looking into are essentially bogus. "Trump Russia story is a hoax," the president tweeted late Monday.

The Sleeper Story

After a setback that put a spotlight on what he can't do, don't lose sight of what the president can, and is, doing. A president who's rebuffed in Congress typically turns to executive orders with a new level of interest. And President Trump never had to be convinced of the power of his own pen. Trump is expected to sign a sweeping executive order today that takes a big step toward "obliterating his predecessor's environmental record," in the words of The Washington Post. This quote, from a "senior administration official" who briefed reporters, tells you much about the mindset of the new environmental agenda: "He's made a pledge to the coal industry and he's going to do whatever he can to help those workers." Then there's Attorney General Jeff Sessions' fresh threat against sanctuary cities, with billions of federal dollars on the line and his claim that "countless Americans would be alive today" if those policies had never been initiated. Moves like these are harder to focus public attention on and harder to organize around, but could be more consequential than bills and laws.

The Shiny Story

Tweeting Trump was back Monday night, attacking old enemies and new ones, and making us all wonder where the lines between Machiavelli and #MAGA are being drawn. In questioning why the House Intelligence Committee isn't investigating Hillary Clinton, the president turned to his surest political foe – a standby to attack whenever he needs or wants his base back. More potentially interesting is his decision to go after the House Freedom Caucus for, in his words, being "able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." Republican-on-Republican violence is always intriguing, particularly given the fact that GOP leadership will need support on key votes just to keep the government operating in the coming weeks. At a more fundamental level, remember that Trump's attacking the Freedom Caucus is Trump's attacking the Trumpian wing of his own party in Congress. The president may want a fight with the Clintons, but he's getting one with himself.

TLDR

Democrats are demanding House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes step down or recuse himself from any investigations involving the president's campaign and possible ties to Russia, but the chairman says no and his visit to the White House grounds the day before that bombshell news conference was appropriate.