This week, America celebrated the one-year anniversary of the appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate allegations of obstruction of justice and collusion by @realDonaldTrump and (family) members of his presidential campaign.
To date, the investigation—which was born in a "Crossfire Hurricane"—has resulted in criminal charges against 19 people (5 of whom have pleaded guilty) and 3 companies.
Clearly, there is nothing to see here—especially if you choose not to look, like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has done.
As far as Trump and his allies are concerned, the real scandal is the investigation itself, and they're determined to do everything in their power to undermine it—regardless of the consequences.
While Trump's detractors are quick to claim that this indicates consciousness of guilt, his defenders are just as quick to note that they really don't fucking care.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Dirty Trickster Roger Stone; Roundtable: TBA.
Face The Nation: National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow; Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo; Author Jon Meacham; Roundtable: Reihan Salam (National Review), Amy Walter (Cook Political Report), Jamelle Bouie(Slate) & Anne Gearan (Washington Post).
This Week: National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow; Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R); Father of Parkland Victim Fred Guttenberg & Mother of Newtown Victim Nicole Hockley; Roundtable: TBA.
Fox News Sunday: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Incoming NRA President Oliver North; Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Republican Strategist Josh Holmes & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R); Roundtable: Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Republican Strategist David Urban, Conservative Commentator Linda Chavez & Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the power of Google (preview); and, a report on fraudulent blood-testing company Theranos (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor Zachary Quinto; Actress Vanessa Bayer; New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet.
Tuesday: Actor Andrew Garfield; Rock Band the Kills.
Wednesday: Actor Jason Bateman; Author Stephen King,; Vocalist Jim James.
Thursday: Actress Anne Hathaway; Author David Sedaris; Comedian Ahmed Bharoocha.
Friday: Rerun.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: The Best of Desi Lydec Vol. 2; Tuesday: The Best of Ronny Chieng Vol. 2; Wednesday: The Best of Dulce Sloan; Thursday: The Best of Michael Kosta.
Elsewhere...
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) left no stone unturned in his search for the real cause of rising sea levels.
A member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology evinced skepticism about climate change during an exchange with a witness about rising sea levels.
On Wednesday, at a hearing titled "using technology to address climate change," Brooks began by raising a broad question about rising ocean levels to the witness panel.
Philip Duffy, president of Woods Hole Research Center, said in response to the question that "the last 100-year increase in sea-level rise, as I mentioned earlier, has clearly been attributed to human activities, greenhouse gas emissions."
Brooks interjected and rephrased his question again, asking if there "are other factors."
"What about erosion?" Brooks offered during the exchange. He added: "Every time you have that soil or rock, whatever it is, that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise because now you've got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up."
Duffy responded that he did not believe that explained sea-level rise.
And, in other "news"...
Bret Baier was saddened by accusations that Fox News is biased.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier said in an interview with The New Yorker that was published Friday that "it pains me" when he hears his network referred to by critics and competitors as "state TV" for the Trump administration.
In the piece, The New Yorker mentions Baier as attempting to maintain journalistic integrity while working in an environment that "often" celebrates President Trump.
"On a network that often outright celebrates the President, Baier has tried to maintain a reputation as a hard-questioning newsman," the piece read. "And he said in our interview that 'it pains me' to hear Fox called 'state TV' for the Trump Presidency."
Baier on Thursday told "The View" that Fox News is criticized unfairly and asked those who haven't seen his program, "Special Report," to tune in three times and provide him direct feedback on email or Twitter on whether the show "covers all sides fairly" or not.
"If you watch my show, you know, some of the loudest critics of Fox don’t watch my show," Baier said. "We're on the news side and there's an opinion side. I say to people, just watch my show three times and drop me an email or a tweet and tell me what you think... I'm going to cover all sides fairly so people can make up their minds."
I report, you decide.
– Trix