Republicans Still Looking for Direction

FEB 24 2017, 8:53 AM ET
by CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY and CARRIE DANN

... In this honeymoon phase, the GOP's most significant legislative priorities are, well, in trouble. On Obamacare, former House Speaker John Boehner dropped this truth bomb: "[T]hey'll fix Obamacare. I shouldn't call it repeal and replace because that's not what's going to happen. They're basically going to fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it." And on tax reform, President Trump seemed to warm to House Speaker Paul Ryan's plan in a Reuters interview, but those encouraging words from Trump might be a little too late given .. solid GOP opposition ...

... "The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations."

... what's worse — the White House asking the FBI to publicly knock down a story, or the FBI pulling aside a top White House official to comment on the big story of the day? Just ask yourself: If you substituted Clinton's and Lynch's names for Priebus' and McCabe's, would the congressional hearings already be scheduled?

... "NBC News was told by law enforcement and intelligence sources that the NYT story WAS wrong — in its use of the term 'Russian intelligence officials.' Our sources say there were contacts with Russians, but that the US hasn't confirmed they work for spy agencies. We were also told CNN's description of Trump aides being in 'constant touch' with Russians was overstated. However, our sources did tell us that intelligence intercepts picked up contacts among Trump aides and Russians during the campaign" ...

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/republicans-congress-are-still-looking-direction-trump-n725141