This week, President @realDonaldTrump finally admitted what most Americans have known all along—he's a big fat liar.
For more than a month, Trump played coy about whether or not he had, in fact, taped his conversations with James Comey, the FBI director he fired in an effort to (allegedly) obstruct justice.
To be sure, it was a bold strategy, but one that clearly has not paid off for him.
Trump's efforts to "bluff" Comey into telling the truth about their interactions directly led to the appointment of a special prosecutor, and may very well have increased his legal exposure.
Simply put, he was too clever by half.
Fortunately for Trump, unlike Richard Nixon, he has a compliant Republican Congress ready and willing to run interference for him, in the hope of being able to deprive poor people of health care and lower the tax burden on rich people.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI); Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH); Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI); Roundtable: Mark Leibovich (New York Times Magazine), Helene Cooper (New York Times), George Will (Washington Post) & Hallie Jackson (NBC News).
Face The Nation: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV); Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA); Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Adam Entous (Washington Post); Mark Bowden (The Atlantic); Roundtable: Ben Domenech (The Federalist), Michael Duffy (TIME), Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post) & Amy Walter (Cook Political Report).
This Week: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME); Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway; Roundtable: "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd, Republican Strategist Lanhee Chen, Julie Pace (Associated Press) & Neera Tanden (Center for American Progress).
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY); Secretary of Health & Human Services Tom Price; Roundtable: Michael Needham (Heritage Action for America), Jennifer Griffin (Fox News), Republican Strategist Josh Holmes & Bob Woodward (Washington Post).
State of the Union: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R); Secretary of Health & Human Services Tom Price; Roundtable: Republican Strategist Amanda Carpenter, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) & Rep. André Carson (D-IN).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on articifical intelligence (preview); and, an interview with Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani, who may be heading to the MLB (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor Michael Keaton; Actress Zoe Kazan; Actor Tom Shillue.
Tuesday: Actor Eric Stonestreet; Retired Tennis Player John McEnroe; Musical Artist Lillie Mae.
Wednesday: Actor Josh Duhamel; Actor Justin Bartha; Theoretical Physicist Brian Greene.
Thursday: Actress Naomi Watts; Actress Ari Graynor; Hip Hop Group Swet Shop Boys.
Friday: TBA.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday-Thursday: Reruns.
Elsewhere...
An intern for Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) had some rather unkind words for Paul Ryan and the British.
GOP Senator Tom Cotton's intern is not shy about spouting off incendiary comments, as the young Republican calls Speaker Paul Ryan "a cuck" and the British "faggots."
In a recorded conversation with this reporter, Hill intern "Nate" blasted Ryan for not having a hardline immigration stance, saying "Paul Ryan is a cuck, he's a cuck, get him out" and "Paul Ryan: cuck first and Yankee second."
This intern has a long record with the GOP, as he has worked in the Arkansas senator's office since January, worked for the Republican Party of Kentucky and lead the Western Kentucky University College Republicans — per his Facebook page.
He continued his conversation with this reporter by saying "Americans are the superior race to everyone in the world... we're superior people" — his evidence for such an assertion came from America's wartime record. Nate then brought up the Revolutionary War during this rant and called the British "faggots" and American defector Benedict Arnold "a homoesexual."
Meanwhile...
Trump continued to stock his administration with the very best people.
Before William C. Bradford was appointed by the Trump administration to run the Energy Department's Office of Indian Energy, he tweeted a slew of disparaging remarks about the real and imagined ethnic, religious and gender identities of former president Barack Obama, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, TV news host Megyn Kelly and Japanese Americans during World War II.
The Trump official's tweets came before he joined the administration and include a response to a story about Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, urging Iowans to vote against Trump ahead of a 2016 presidential caucus there, in which Bradford said: "Who is this little arrogant self-hating Jew to tell anyone for whom to vote?"
Bradford also had some choice words for Obama in December 2016 — one month after Trump beat Hillary Clinton to become president. Referring to an unclear "mission in Tehran," Bradford asked, "How else can a Kenyan creampuff get ahead?"
Bradford, whose Twitter handle at the time was @Brute_Bradford, also seemed concerned that Obama might try to stay in office past January 2017 and need to be forced out.
And, in other personnel news...
Former Apprentice contestant turned White House staffer Omarosa has taken to referring to herself as "The Honorable Omarosa Manigualt."
White House aide Omarosa Manigault's invitation to members of the Congressional Black Caucus last week probably wasn't going to go over too well anyway, but the way she signed off didn’t help her case.
After asking them to attend a meeting with her boss, President Trump, the former reality TV star signed the missive: "The Honorable Omarosa Manigault."
"Multiple CBC members said they were put off … saying she hasn't earned that title nor has she helped raise the profile of CBC issues within the White House as promised," Politico reports.
They're backed up by some etiquette experts. The bible of all things correct, "Emily Post's Etiquette," allows that the title "The Honorable" "causes considerable confusion." But it decrees that a White House aide, with the title of assistant to the president and communications director for the Office of Public Liaison, isn’t entitled to it. The honorific is reserved for "the President, the Vice President, United States senators and congressmen, Cabinet members, all federal judges, ministers plenipotentiary, ambassadors, and governors," who get to use the title for life. State senators and mayors are "The Honorable" only when in office.
Still, even if Omarosa was eligible to be addressed as "The Honorable," Emily Post decrees that it’s unseemly for anyone to refer to themselves that way.
There's no honor among thieves.
– Trix