Sponsored by SEIU | On its 12th day of existence, here's where we stand on Trump's allegation that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign AND allegations his associates had ties with Russia during the presidential campaign. One U.S. senator says he'll subpoena the Trump administration to get the evidence they haven't yet provided it happened. A House lawmaker …
 
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On its 12th day of existence, here's where we stand on Trump's allegation that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign AND allegations his associates had ties with Russia during the presidential campaign.

wiretappingtweets

One U.S. senator says he'll subpoena the Trump administration to get the evidence they haven't yet provided it happened.

(Justin Lane/EPA)

A House lawmaker doesn't think that evidence is coming. He said Wednesday “clearly the president was wrong” about this whole wiretapping thing.

Another senator said he won't even schedule a committee hearing to install the Justice Department's No. 2, Rod Rosenstein, until the FBI tells Congress what it's investigating about Russia and Trump's ties. He went so far as to call Trump law enforcement officials “liars” for not being forthcoming about their evidence. (Bernie Sanders supporters know how I feel about that word.)

What do these lawmakers have in common? They're Republicans — some quite powerful — who are also quite frustrated with the Trump administration right now. (In order of mention above, the lawmakers are: Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.) and Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley (Iowa).)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - FEBRUARY 14: Chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) speaks to reporters at the United States Capitol on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Nunes said that he will not be investigating if President Trump knew that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn spoke with Russian officials about easing sanctions, he was interestedin investigating leaks to the press. (Photo by Pete Marovich For The Washington Post)

Chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)

Their frustrations with the White House can be summed up thusly:

1) Trump's tendency to make baseless claims and throw it onto Congress to investigate. After voter fraud allegations and this whole wiretapping thing, Republicans are daring Trump to put up or shut up. “The subtext,” writes The Fix's Aaron Blake: “You can't just make these claims and then ask us to deal with the fallout.”

2) The FBI's caginess on whether it's investigating Trump's ties to Russia. The FBI won't confirm the investigation The Washington Post and other organizations have reported. Republicans in Congress would very much like to launch their own various investigations into Russia meddling in the election — and possibly Team Trump's ties — but they feel like the FBI is stonewalling them by withholding what it knows.

Presidents and Congress don't always get along, but this is an unusual amount of discord.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 1: President Donald Trump, right, meets with Republican leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-KY), center, and Kevin McCarthy(R-CA), left, at the White House on March, 01, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Trump, Congress and a bunch of blue ties. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Trump needs Congress. They're the ones that pass the laws he just might want to run on in 2020, like repealing Obamacare or rewriting the tax code.

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Right now, he's not just alienating people who already don't like him (cough Graham cough), he's alienating one of his most important allies in Nunes. He's the one heading a major congressional investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election that just may delve into alleged Trump ties.

All of this drama could explode Monday, when the House Intelligence Committee will hold a rare public hearing with FBI Director James B. Comey. Consider Monday's hearing nothing less than a proxy battle between an increasingly exasperated Congress and their president.

Speaking of Obamacare repeal, Republicans' effort could be doomed already.

As of Wednesday afternoon, I count 60 GOP lawmakers who have serious concerns about an Obamacare reform bill.

Republicans can only spare 21 defections in the House and two in the Senate, soooo 60 is not the number they want to see. It's difficult to see how legislators close the gap between conservatives who think it doesn't go far enough to repeal Obamcare and moderates who are concerned it goes too far in taking away people's health insurance.

If this bill does crash and burn, there are three big losers:

1) Trump: Trump hasn't really taken ownership of the bill, but his campaign promises speak for themselves:

TrumpHC
2) All the other Republicans who promised to get rid of Obamacare: House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) recently told reporters he thinks this moment is “the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare.”

3) The rest of Republicans' agenda: Pretty much every Republican in Washington wants to repeal Obamacare. If they can't get this done, what will they be able to accomplish?

Conspiracy theory alert: Did Trump leak his own tax returns?

President Donald Trump holds up the Historically Black Colleges and Universities HBCU Executive Order after signing it, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, in the Oval Office in the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Not Trump's tax return. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Let's argue about it, just for fun.

MAYBE! The snoozer of a 2005 tax return journalist David Cay Johnston released Tuesday night to MSNBC spurred some to wonder if Trump himself leaked it. That kinda makes sense, says The Fix's Callum Borchers: It'd certainly direct away from all the health care and Russia coverage.

NOT LIKELY says WaPo's Philip Bump. A New York tax lawyer explained to him there are lots of people who might have copies of this return — like any bank Trump had ever requested a mortgage from. Logic would then dictate “there is a higher likelihood that someone who obtained Trump’s tax return in some way passed it to Johnston than Trump did himself.”

Yeah, okay, logic does deflate this otherwise tantalizing conspiracy theory. But the fact we're not entirely putting it past our president to leak one of his tax returns is fascinating enough, no?

LOLz. (giphy.com)

LOLz. (giphy.com)

 
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