News Reporter: The Daily 202: Antonin Scalia’s ghost casts a long shadow over Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court hearing

Antonin Scalia's ghost casts a long shadow over Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court hearing

Donald Trump's nominee for Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, listens to opening statements during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

BY JAMES HOHMANN

with Breanne Deppisch

THE BIG IDEA: The first day of the confirmation hearing for Neil Gorsuch often felt like a referendum on the man he has been nominated to replace.

Thirteen months after Antonin Scalia's death created a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the Senate Judiciary Committee finally met to consider a successor. Last year's Republican blockade of Merrick Garland ensured that the 2016 election would be relitigated this week. President Trump repeatedly promised to nominate justices in the mold of Scalia if he won, and Gorsuch fits that bill.

Senators dropped Scalia's name at least 55 times during just the first four hours. Almost every Republican on the panel quoted him admiringly during his opening statement, including Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Nearly every Democrat bemoaned the consequences of landmark decisions for which he provided the pivotal fifth vote, from Citizens United to Heller.

There was rare bipartisan consensus that Scalia was a larger-than-life figure of profound significance. Republicans characterized Scalia as a model justice and praised Gorsuch as just the man to carry his mantle. Democrats agreed Trump's nominee will follow in Scalia's footsteps, but they think that should be disqualifying.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said "Scalia demonstrated how much one justice can impact and shift the gravity of the court": "No justice in recent memory has so fundamentally influenced the trajectory of the Supreme Court or our approach to reading the law … Scalia's passing marked a watershed moment for the future of our judiciary. … Now fortunately, the president has nominated a jurist who believes in the rule of law."

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) lamented that Scalia's "rigid" ideology has "infected the bench": "While no one can dispute (his) love of the Constitution, the document he revered looks very different from the one that I have sworn to support and defend."

Antonin Scalia and Neil Gorsuch on a 2014 fishing trip on the upper Colorado River near Kremmling, Colo. (Courtesy of Glenn Summers)

-- Gorsuch tried to downplay the ideological dimensions of this clash during his opening statement. He identified his "legal heroes" as the two more pragmatic justices he clerked for: Byron White and Anthony Kennedy. "Justice Scalia was a mentor, too," Gorsuch acknowledged. "He reminded us that words matter, that the judge's job is to follow the words that are in the law, not replace them with those that aren't."

The judge asserted that he and Scalia, who had become a good friend, didn't agree on everything. But the only example he cited related to their shared love of fly-fishing. "The justice fished with the enthusiasm with a New Yorker," Gorsuch quipped. "He thought the harder you slap the line on the water, somehow the more the fish love it."

All 11 Republican behind the dais laughed. None of the nine Democrats did. That reflected how polarized SCOTUS fights have become generally since Scalia was confirmed unanimously 31 years ago, but really it underscored just how much the well has been poisoned since Republicans refused to take up Barack Obama's nomination of Garland. That obstruction, while risky, turned out to be a political masterstroke that may ensure conservative dominance of the judicial branch for another generation.

Cruz says Gorsuch's nomination has 'super-legitimacy'

"February 13 of last year was a devastating day for those of us who revere the Constitution and the rule of law," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), referring to when Scalia died in his sleep during a hunting trip. "Justice Scalia was one of the greatest justices to ever sit on the court. He was a trailblazing advocate for the original meaning of the Constitution."

Cruz, who campaigned heavily on the Supreme Court and cited this vacancy as his primary rationale for ultimately endorsing Trump, praised Gorsuch for "channeling" Scalia. He called both men "brilliant," with "impeccable" academic and judicial records. "Had his vacant seat been filled by Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, Justice Scalia's legacy would have been in grave danger," said Cruz. "We would have seen a Supreme Court majority that viewed itself as philosopher kings. … We would have seen our democratic process controlled by five unelected lawyers here in Washington."

Day 1 of Gorsuch's confirmation hearing, in about three minutes

-- The Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation put Gorsuch on Trump's shortlist precisely because of his steadfast devotion to Scalia's school of constitutional interpretation during a decade on the Denver-based 10th Circuit appeals court.

Fearful they might wind up with another moderate in the mold of David Souter, conservative activists demanded that the president pick someone with a long paper trail. Especially because Republicans control the Senate majority, and seem willing to go nuclear to change the rules of the body, the groups would not accept any stealth candidate who might turn out to be ideologically squishy.

Based on the 2,700 cases he's decided over the past decade, no one doubts that Gorsuch will instantly move the center of gravity on the Supreme Court to the right, which is why the partisan battle lines have already hardened so much despite his sterling academic credentials.

Two political scientists who analyzed all the judge's decisions concluded that Gorsuch's voting behavior puts him to the right of Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas, and by a substantial margin. "The magnitude of the gap between Gorsuch and Thomas is roughly the same as the gap between (Sonia) Sotomayor and Kennedy during the same time period," Ryan Black from Michigan State and Ryan Owens from the University of Wisconsin at Madison wrote in a post published yesterday. "In fact, our results suggest that Gorsuch and Scalia would be as far apart as (Stephen) Breyer and (John) Roberts." They predict he will be the most conservative justice on the court.

Key figures on the right and in the corporate world expect Gorusch will be an even more reliable vote to advance their agenda than the sometimes iconoclastic Scalia, especially when it comes to the deconstruction of the administrative state. Their investment in a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to pressure red state Democrats who are up for reelection in 2018 to support Gorsuch reflect this confidence. In fact, conservatives have outspent liberals in the Gorsuch fight by a margin of 20-to-1, per Paul Kane.

Sen. Feinstein 'deeply disappointed' that Merrick Garland never got Supreme Court hearing

-- Monday's debate about Gorsuch kept coming back to the broader philosophical split over Scalia's legacy. "He led the most important legal revolution in our lifetimes, tethering judicial interpretation to the written text," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). "What a concept!"

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, introduced Gorsuch to the committee as an "originalist." "Judge Gorsuch recognizes that the judiciary is not the place for social or constitutional experimentation, and that efforts to engage in such experimentation delegitimizes the court," he said. "As he has said, this overwhelming addiction to the courtroom as this place to debate social policy is … bad for the country."

Democrats noted that this was the sort of rhetoric segregationists also used to decry decisions like Brown vs. Board of Education. "I find this originalist judicial philosophy to be really troubling," said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the committee. "In essence, it means that judges and courts should evaluate our constitutional rights and privileges as they were understood in 1789. At the time of our founding, African Americans were enslaved, it was not so long after women had been burned at the stake for witchcraft, and the idea of an automobile, let alone the Internet, was unfathomable. If we were to dogmatically adhere to originalist interpretations, then we would still have segregated schools and bans on interracial marriage. Women wouldn't be entitled to equal protection under the law, and government discrimination against LGBT Americans would be permitted."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), the Democrat on the Judiciary Committee who is most open to breaking ranks, nonetheless marveled at how often Gorsuch has been compared to Scalia since he was nominated: "It's because of Supreme Court decisions that gay men can no longer be criminally prosecuted for engaging in consensual relationships, that loving same-sex couples can get married in every state in our union, that women cannot be denied attendance at one of the nation's premier military academies, that juveniles and intellectually disabled people can no longer be executed and that millions of Americans who obtained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act have been able to keep it. These cases impacted the lives of millions of real Americans, and Justice Scalia … dissented in every one of them!"

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) quibbled that it is misleading to refer to Gorsuch or Scalia as originalists. He argued that their records show they're activists who routinely read more into the Constitution than is there. "The Second Amendment uses the military term 'arms' and talks about 'militias,' but never mind that when the gun lobby wants something," he said. "Find me a founding father who planned a big role for corporations in American elections, or one who would have countenanced the steady strangulation of the civil jury (with the move toward mandatory arbitration) without so much as a mention of the Seventh Amendment."

Durbin: Gorsuch nomination 'part of a Republican strategy to capture our judicial branch'

-- If Republicans see this as Scalia's seat, Democrats made clear time and time again that they see it as Garland's seat. Democrats attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell by name for declining to even sit-down with Garland and their Republican colleagues on the committee for refusing to hold a hearing, let alone a vote. Franken called it "a truly historic dereliction of duty" and "a tactic as cynical, as it was irresponsible." Whitehouse said Gorsuch will no longer get "the benefit of the doubt."

"Your nomination is part of a Republican strategy to capture our judicial branch of government," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Gorsuch.

Republicans made no apologies. Cruz argued that the presidential election "was essentially a referendum" on Trump's list of 21 potential nominees, which he said made it "the most transparent process in the nation's history" and means that Gorscuh's nomination "carries with it a super legitimacy." "The American people played a very direct role in helping choose this nominee," he said.

Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) noted that Trump received three million fewer popular votes than Trump, so there is no mandate. "Some likened it to the action of the tyrannical kings who claim that they have sole control," he said, referring to the Garland blockade. "In fact, this unprecedented obstruction is one of the greatest stains on the 200-year history of this committee."

Flake said it would be unfair for Democrats to punish Gorsuch for the way the GOP treated Garland. The Arizona Republican noted that Gorsuch called his fellow judge soon after Trump selected him, which he said was a classy gesture. "That says a lot about the man," said the Arizonan.

Sen. Graham says Democrats can't show Gorsuch is unqualified for Supreme Court

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) defended the election-year obstruction, arguing that Democrats would have done exactly the same thing if the shoe had been on the other foot. "I don't feel like any injustice has been done to anybody here," he said.

Graham has a lot of credibility because he voted for both Elena Kagan and Sotomayor. "I remember after I voted for Ms. Kagan, the headline in The Washington Post was: 'This will ensure that Graham gets a primary challenge,'" he recalled. "They were right! That's not the only reason … but that was the main reason, and I made it through just fine."

The South Carolina senator recalled that Scalia was confirmed 98-0 in 1986 and Ruth Bader Ginsburg made it through by a vote of 96-3 in 1993: "How did we go from being able to understand that Scalia was a well-qualified conservative and Ginsburg was a well-qualified liberal? … I hope … we turn around and go back to where we were because what we're doing is going to destroy the judiciary over time."

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet introduced Gorsuch to the committee because both hail from Colorado. He praised him but stressed that he's undecided about how to vote. He recognizes that a vote for Gorsuch would be a major blow to any 2020 presidential hopes he might have. "It is tempting to deny Judge Gorsuch a fair hearing because of the Senate's prior failure," Bennet told his Democratic colleagues. "But two wrongs never make a right."

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Here's what's in the House Republicans' amended plan to revise the ACA

-- GOP leaders unveiled changes to their health care legislation last night that they believe will win over enough members to secure its passage through the House later this week. Mike DeBonis reports: "The changes addressed numerous GOP concerns about the legislation, ranging from the flexibility it would give states to administer their Medicaid programs to the amount of aid it would offer older Americans to buy insurance. They are the product of two weeks of negotiations that stretched from the Capitol to the White House to [Trump's] Florida resort." The bill's proponents also appeared to overcome a major obstacle after members of the House Freedom Caucus declined to take a formal position against the bill – ending weeks of threats to tank the legislation. Their neutrality gives the bill a better chance of passage when the bill is expected to hit the House floor later this week.

"They're already whipping with a whip that's about 10 feet long and five feet wide," Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows said of leadership efforts to win support for the effort. "I'm trying to let my members vote the way that their constituents would want them to vote. … I think they're all very aware of the political advantages and disadvantages." Trump is also expected to throw his weight behind the bill in a meeting today with GOP lawmakers. "Some of the changes unveiled Monday were made to placate conservatives, such as accelerating the expiration of the ACA's taxes and further restricting the federal Medicaid program," DeBonis writes. "But a major push was made to win moderate votes, including a maneuver that House leaders said would allow the Senate to beef up tax credits for older Americans who could see major increases in premiums under the GOP plan."

There are signs that the altered bill will get the support it needs among moderate House lawmakers: Rep. Tom MacArthur, who previously bucked leadership in an earlier procedural vote, said that he was "satisfied enough that I will support the bill," citing assurances that the bill would do more for older and disabled Americans covered under Medicaid.

-- Trump went to Capitol Hill this morning to pitch the House GOP during a private meeting, putting considerable weight behind the Ryan proposal. "We're gonna have a real winner," Trump told reporters at the end of the session. "There are going to be adjustments but I think we'll get the vote on Thursday." Trump brought senior adviser Steven K. Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller with him. (Robert Costa, Kelsey Snell and David Weigel have more from inside the room.)

-- The front page of today's New York Times has details on the new Cornhusker Kickback: "House Republican leaders, trying to lock down the votes of wavering upstate New York Republicans, inserted a last-minute special provision in their health care bill that would shift Medicaid costs from New York's counties to its state government. The move — one of a number of late changes designed to gain more votes — would affect New York State only. It could save county governments outside of New York City $2.3 billion a year. But it could shift costs to state taxpayers or deny New York that same total in matching federal aid if the state continues to require those counties to contribute to the cost of Medicaid. Upstate New York Republicans, backed by local government officials, pressed for the measure over the angry opposition of New York's Democratic governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. Republican leaders were in no position to oppose the demands of back-bench House members as they scrounged for a majority of votes."

-- The Trump administration is recommending a 1.9 percent raise for federal civilian employees slated to take effect next January, Lisa Rein scoops: Federal employee unions called it paltry given the hits the workforce has taken to pay and benefits in recent years while fiscally conservative budget watchers were caught off guard, given the president's pledge to shrink the size of government.

GET SMART FAST:

The United States is banning carry-on electronic devices for passengers arriving from certain Middle Eastern countries. Word of the ban was first made public in a tweet from officials at Royal Jordanian Airlines, and later confirmed by two sources. (Lori Aratani)
Britain's government said it will trigger Article 50 next week, delivering a letter that will "officially" give notice of its plans to withdraw from the European Union. The never-before-used mechanism for a country to leave the 28-member-bloc will set off a two-year negotiation for London and remaining members of the union to agree on the terms of the exit. (Griff Witte)
Norway has unseated Denmark for the title of the happiest country on Earth, according to the annual World Happiness Report. Also among the top-ranking countries: Iceland, Switzerland, Canada and New Zealand. The United States has fallen several places on the list, failing to crack the top 10. (Amy B Wang)
Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren, known for her aggressive rants on politically-charged topics, has been suspended for a week by her network, The Blaze, after she described herself as pro-choice on ABC's "The View." "I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and say I'm for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies," she said on the show, causing an outcry on the right. (CNNMoney)
The Supreme Court rejected Sen, Bob Menendez's attempt to dismiss corruption charges against him, delivering a major blow to the New Jersey Democrat as he seeks to avoid a criminal trial. Attorneys for Menendez said the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal was "disappointing," but maintained that he will be "vindicated when all the facts are heard at trial." (Politico's John Bresnahan)
Rep. Jim Renacci (R) announced he will run for governor of Ohio next year. He faces a crowed GOP field, which is likely to include Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted, to succeed John Kasich. The four-term lawmaker has signaled he intends to brand himself as an outsider and emphasize his work as a businessman. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye said she will "fully cooperate" with an ongoing investigation into the corruption scandal that led to her impeachment. Park appeared at a Seoul prosecutor's office a few hours ago to face questioning about the scandal for the first time. She has lost her immunity from prosecution, and could face criminal charges relating to abuse of power. (Anna Fifield)
Time and People announced that they will not hold their annual White House Correspondents' Dinner party this year. The move follows the cancellations of several other high-profile parties, as well as Trump's own announcement that he will skip the dinner. (Politico)
A Tennessee man who was shot while pointing a spring-loaded BB gun at police officers last year at the Capitol Visitor Center – triggering lockdowns at the White House and across the entire Capitol complex -- was sentenced to 14 months in prison. His charges stem from the March 2016 incident, as well as another lesser-known offense when he disrupted House lawmakers a few months earlier. (Spencer S. Hsu)
Meanwhile, a Virginia man arrested after driving to a White House security checkpoint this past weekend and telling guards that his truck contained a bomb was ordered to undergo a mental competency examination, and remain jailed until a hearing later this week. If convicted, authorities said the 29-year-old could face up to 10 years in prison. (Spencer S. Hsu)
Martin McGuinness, the Irish revolutionary-turned-statesman who negotiated a sweeping peace treaty with Britain and later climbed to the top of the province's political system, died at 66. The news comes just two months after McGuinness resigned from his post as deputy first minister. (Harrison Smith)
Authorities are intensifying the manhunt for a Tennessee teacher who was accused of kissing a 15-year-old student – and then apparently abducting her during an investigation into his inappropriate activity. Police say they have gone nearly a week without a credible tip and say the two could be "anywhere." (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.)
An 18-year-old boy is defending his decision to jump into crocodile-infested waters to impress a girl. His spontaneous decision made headlines around the world -- and nearly cost him his life – but it also earned him a movie date with his crush, so he's chalking the experience up as a "win." "Haters gonna hate," he said. (Peter Holley)

Comey, Rogers testify on alleged Russian interference in U.S. election

THERE'S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:

-- FBI Director James Comey acknowledged that the bureau is conducting a counterintelligence probe into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign – an extraordinary disclosure that could reach deep into the White House and potentially last for months. Ellen Nakashima, Karoun Demirjian and Devlin Barrett report: "The [announcement] came near the beginning of a sprawling, 5½ -hour public hearing before the House Intelligence Committee in which Comey also said there is 'no information'" that supports Trump's tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping the Trump Tower. He said investigators have looked 'carefully inside the FBI' and found nothing to support the claims, and added that the Justice Department also asked him to tell the committee that the agency also has no such information." (Read the transcript of his full testimony here.)

Comey repeatedly refused to answer whether specific individuals close to the president have fallen under suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. "So we don't wind up smearing people who may not be charged with a crime," he explained. The FBI traditionally does not disclose the existence of an investigation, "but in unusual circumstances, where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so," he said.

Nunes to Comey: You've put 'a big gray cloud' over Trump administration

-- Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) urged Comey to reveal as soon as possible if and when the bureau receives information that clears any of its targets, saying the disclosure of an ongoing FBI investigation is putting "A BIG GRAY CLOUD" over the White House. "The faster you can get to the bottom of this, it's going to be better for all Americans," Nunes said. Comey said the investigation began last July and that, for a counterintelligence probe, "that's a fairly short period of time."

Rep. Himes asks Comey, Rogers about Trump's tweets

-- As the hearing was going on, Trump offered live commentary from his presidential twitter account – sending out an apparent dig at Comey, as well as a tweet suggesting again that Obama officials were behind the leaks. "Comey refuses to deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia," Trump wrote over an unflattering picture of his FBI director, who had his eyes closed. The president also tweeted that, "The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process."

Reading the tweet aloud to Comey, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) asked: "Is that accurate?" Comey replied that the president was misunderstanding his testimony: "We've offered no opinion … on potential impact because it's not something we looked at."

-- "The president's tweets throughout the day were misleading, inaccurate or simply false," WaPo Fact Checker Glenn Kessler writes. "The gravity of the disclosures might have called for a more restrained response, as the White House's well of credibility is only so deep. But the president chose another approach — which clearly backfired, tweet after tweet." (Read Glenn's full blow-by-blow here.)

Here, Trump tried to insert Clinton and the DNC into the debate:

Spicer's perplexing claims about the Russia hearing and investigation

A WHITE HOUSE UNDER SIEGE:

-- At the White House, Sean Spicer attempted to defend his boss by bizarrely claiming that top Trump officials -- including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn – played bit parts in his ascent to the presidency. In Spicer's alternative reality, Manafort was a virtual nobody, someone who "played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time." In fact, Manafort was Trump's campaign chairman and de facto manager for five months last year. He professionalized the Trump effort, made sure he won the delegates he needed at the convention and laid the foundation for the general election phase of the campaign. Anyone who paid any attention to the news last year knows this.

Kellyanne Conway and Paul Manafort huddle as Trump speaks during a meeting at Trump Tower last summer. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

NEW THIS MORNING:

-- A Ukrainian lawmaker released new documents allegedly showing that Manafort laundered payments from the party of a disgraced ex-leader of Ukraine using offshore accounts in Belize and Kyrgyzstan. Andrew Roth reports: "The new documents may revive questions about the ties between the Trump aide, Paul Manafort, and the party of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, who has been in hiding in Russia since being overthrown by pro-Western protestors in 2014. He is wanted in Ukraine on corruption charges. Manafort, who worked for Yanukovych's Party of Regions for nearly a decade, resigned from Trump's campaign in August after his name in connection with secret payments totaling $12.7 million by Yanukovych's party."

Follow the money: "Serhiy Leshchenko, a lawmaker and journalist, released a copy of an invoice on letterhead from Manafort's Alexandria, Va.-based consulting company from Oct. 14, 2009 to a Belize-based company for $750,000 for the sale of 501 computers. On the same day, Manafort's name is listed next to a $750,000 entry in the 'black ledger,' which was viewed as a party slush fund. The list was found at the party headquarters in the turmoil after Ukraine's 2014 revolution. Leshchenko alleges that Manafort falsified an invoice to the Belize company in order to legitimize the $750,000 payment to himself."

-- McClatchy, "FBI's Russian-influence probe includes a look at far-right news sites," by Peter Stone and Greg Gordon: "Federal investigators are examining whether far-right news sites played any role last year in a Russian cyber operation that dramatically widened the reach of news stories - some fictional - that favored [Trump's] presidential bid … Operatives for Russia appear to have strategically timed the computer commands, known as 'bots,' to blitz social media with links to the pro-Trump stories at times when the billionaire businessman was on the defensive in his race against [Clinton] ... The bots' end products were largely millions of Twitter and Facebook posts carrying links to stories on conservative internet sites such as Breitbart News and InfoWars, as well as on the Kremlin-backed RT News and Sputnik News, the sources said. ... [Now], investigators examining the bot attacks are exploring whether the far-right news operations took any actions to assist Russia's operatives."

-- Trump's longtime informal adviser Roger Stone said in a radio interview that the mentions of him at the Russia hearing amounted to "red-baiting and "fear mongering." CNN reports: His remarks follow a series of questions posted to Comey by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who repeatedly referenced some of Stone's public statements during the campaign, specifically his contact with the hacker "Guccifer 2.0," who claimed responsibility for last year's DNC hacking. "Chairman Schiff is engaging in the worst kind of red baiting, fear mongering, it's the new McCarthyism, and it's mudslinging," Stone said on SiriusXM radio's "The Wilkow Majority." "Any inference that my brief and now totally public exchange with Crufficer [sic] … who is alleged to be a Russian asset, is A) benign in its content, and more importantly, takes place at a time after the hacking and publication of the DNC documents by WikiLeaks."

Rogers on alleged Russian interference: 'This behavior is not likely to stop'

-- While Dems focused on potential collusion between Trump officials and Russia, Republicans tried to make the debate about leaks to the media. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who led the Benghazi inquest into Hillary Clinton, suggested (richly) that the leaks were "political." He was especially upset about a Feb. 9 piece in The Post that Trump's then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had discussed the subject of sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, even though he had denied it. Flynn subsequently lost his job. Gowdy asked Comey whether the intelligence community had shared such information with Obama or his attorney general, Loretta Lynch. Comey declined to comment.

The president also focused on the leaks:

Rex Tillerson in Seoul. (Reuters/Jung Yeon-Je)

-- Rex Tillerson is flying to Russia next month. Carol Morello reports that the secretary will go to Moscow right after he flies to Italy for a meeting of ministers from the Group of Seven countries: "The White House appears to be trying to tackle the controversy head on by dispatching Tillerson, who conducted oil negotiations with Russia when he headed ExxonMobil. ... Often, U.S. and Russian diplomats meet in a third country, so they do not convey the impression either is catering to the other." Tillerson has been notably absent from several meetings with foreign leaders, causing some to question he has much influence over foreign policy. He's skipping a meeting with foreign ministers of NATO countries a week before his foray to Russia, likely so that he can join Trump for meetings with the Chinese in Florida.

Andrew Napolitano visits Trump Tower for a meeting with the president-elect in December. (Albin Lohr-Joines/EPA/Pool)

-- Andrew Napolitano will be kept off the air at Fox News "indefinitely," following his inaccurate claims that British intelligence intercepted Trump's communications at Obama's request, which the president repeated and has caused an international incident. People familiar with the situation told the Los Angeles Times that "the senior judicial analyst" will not allowed on "any time in the near future." He has not appeared since last Thursday.

Trump listens to Angela Merkel during their joint press conference. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

ANALYSIS:

-- "On the 60th day of his presidency came the hardest truth for Donald Trump. He was wrong," Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker write. "The FBI director whom Trump celebrated on the campaign trail as a gutsy and honorable 'Crooked Hillary' truth-teller testified under oath what many Americans had already assumed: Trump had falsely accused his predecessor of wiretapping his headquarters during last year's campaign. Trump did not merely allege that [Obama] ordered surveillance on Trump Tower, of course. He asserted it as fact, and then reasserted it, and then insisted that forthcoming evidence would prove him right. But in Monday's remarkable, marathon hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Comey said there was no such evidence. ... For Trump, Comey's testimony punctuates what has been a troubling first two months as president. The episode threatens to damage Trump's credibility not only with voters, but also with lawmakers of his own party whose support he needs to pass the health-care bill this week in the House."

"There's a smell of treason in the air," says presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. "Imagine if J. Edgar Hoover or any other FBI director would have testified against a sitting president? It would have been a mind-boggling event."

-- "Within the White House, a number of Mr. Trump's advisers — including the press secretary, Sean Spicer, who has himself repeated unsubstantiated claims of British spying on Mr. Trump — have told allies that Mr. Trump's Twitter habits are making their jobs harder." the New York Times' Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman report. "Most politicians, perhaps any other politician, would have backed away from the Russia story, [for example], and left the defense to surrogates … But this president, a proponent of do-it-yourself crisis communications with boundless self-confidence in his capacity to shape the story, seems determined to hug his Russian hand grenade. The problem, from the perspective of Mr. Trump's beleaguered political fire brigade, is that the president insists on dealing with crises by creating new ones — so surrogates, repeating talking points the president himself ignores, say they often feel like human shields."

-- "For Trump to continue to make the case that he was wiretapped by Obama, you must believe that the current FBI director is lying in a public, nationally televised congressional hearing," The Fix's Chris Cillizza writes. "And that the former director of national intelligence was lying. And that Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, is lying that Britain was not involved in a wiretapping program at the behest of the American government. That's a very, very, very, very tough sell."

-- "I've previously argued that not every untruth deserves to be branded with the L-word, because it implies intent and somebody can state an untruth without doing so knowingly," New York Times columnist David Leonhardt writes. "[George W. Bush] didn't lie when he said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and Obama didn't lie when he said people who liked their current health insurance could keep it. They made careless statements that proved false (and they deserved much of the criticism they got). But the current president of the United States lies. He lies in ways that no American politician ever has before. He tells so many untruths that it's time to leave behind the textual parsing over which are unwitting and which are deliberate — as well as the condescending notion that most of Trump's supporters enjoy his lies. Caveat emptor: When [Trump] says something happened, it should not change anyone's estimation of whether the event actually happened. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. His claim doesn't change the odds. ... The big question now is not what Trump and the White House are saying about the Russia story. They will evidently say anything. The questions are what really happened and who can uncover the truth."

Trump takes aim at Colin Kaepernick

THE TRUMP ROAD SHOW:

-- POTUS flew to Kentucky for a "Make America Great Again" rally last night, where he urged congressional lawmakers to quickly deal with health care – a move that he told the crowd would allow him to get on with renegotiating trade deals and cutting taxes. John Wagner reports: Appearing at what was billed as a campaign rally, Trump cited home-state Sen. Rand Paul, one of the Republicans in Congress who have been vocally resisting the health-care plan put forward by the House GOP and embraced by the new president. 'I happen to like, a lot, Senator Rand Paul. I do,' Trump told the crowd. 'I look forward to working with him so we can get this bill passed in some form, so that we can pass massive tax reform, which we can't do until this happens.' Earlier in his speech, Trump made a similar pitch on trade deals, arguing that health care needs to be cleared from the agenda before he can start renegotiating deals he said have put the United States at a disadvantage."

Trump made no mention of Comey's Capitol Hill testimony. "We're in the heartland of America, and there is no place I would rather be than here with you tonight," Trump said at the outset of his remarks, after taking the stage to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A."
The president also took aim at Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem. "There was an article today that reported that NFL owners don't want to pick him up because they don't want to get a nasty tweet from [Trump]," he said. "Do you believe that? I just saw that. … I said if I remember that one, I'm going to report it to the people of Kentucky, because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag, right?" Trump was a frequent critic of Kaepernick during the campaign, suggesting at one point that he should maybe "find a country that works better for him."
Mitch McConnell spoke earlier in evening, where he received a mixed reaction from attendees – drawing both boos and applause when his name was announced. After taking the stage, Trump told the crowd that McConnell is "on our side." And the audience cheered.

Ivanka Trump takes on unpaid West Wing role

TRUMP, INC.:

-- The president dropped 208 spots on Forbes' annual list of billionaires, with the magazine estimating his net worth has dropped by $1 billion – or 40 percent – since becoming president. That's not because he signed over his companies to his sons, since he is still technically the owner: rather, the estimated loss comes from real estate he owns in Midtown Manhattan, including Trump Tower and eight other buildings. (Jonathan O'Connell)

-- Ivanka Trump is moving into her very own West Wing office, a move that even the White House acknowledges has no modern precedent. Danielle Paquette reports: "[Ivanka] will not be on the government payroll or officially bound by its ethics rules, but she said in a statement … that she will 'voluntarily' follow those restrictions. She also acknowledged the unusual nature of her emerging role. 'I will continue to offer my father my candid advice and counsel, as I have for my entire life,' Ivanka Trump in a statement. 'While there is no modern precedent for an adult child of the president, I will voluntarily follow all of the ethics rules placed on government employees.' On Monday, NBC reported that Ivanka has banned her eponymous brands from advertising anything with her image. But extracting the first daughter's likeness from her products may prove difficult."

The Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

-- "'He's baaaack!': Trump's visits to Mar-a-Lago are stretching Palm Beach's budget and locals' patience," by Abby Phillip and Lori Rozsa: "Trump's trips are forcing a brewing budgetary crisis for Palm Beach County, which faces the prospect of millions of dollars in unexpected costs associated with helping to secure the president's luxury estate. County officials are warning about the ballooning costs associated with paying time and a half to sheriff's deputies to secure the president's exclusive members-only club — a price tag that is already more than $1.5 million — and county commissioners are pleading with federal officials to step in and relieve the financial burden." County Commissioner David Kerner has proposed a solution: levying a "special benefit" fee on Mar-a-Lago to recoup some of the cost: "The alternative, according to Kerner, is raising taxes for everyone or making cuts to the budget. Doing that could imperil proposals to allocate more county money to combat opioid abuse and to hire more sheriff's deputies next year."

Marine Le Pen, France's National Front leader, reacts with father Jean-Marie Le Pen after being reelected. (Reuters/Robert Pratta)

TRUMP'S NEW WORLD ORDER:

-- "France's National Front co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen says the battle is already won," by James McAuley: "These days, Jean-Marie Le Pen, [a convicted Holocaust denier and patriarch of France's National Front], struggles to walk. But his ideology is on the move. … As populist fervor soars in Europe and the United States, politicians and analysts have struggled to explain what has been labeled a dramatic new challenge to the established order. But the National Front is anything but new, and the [proposals] that draw headlines today … are things Le Pen has preached for decades. Now, people are listening. 'After all, they can say, 'Le Pen was right,'' he said recently … But conforming to the truth has never quite been the mission of Jean-Marie Le Pen, and this, analysts say, is precisely the power of the revolution he started in the 1970s. He may be a godfather of Europe's radical and populist right, but for many, his principal contribution to political life has been the establishment of an alternate reality where facts are always fluid."

-- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned after visiting the White House on Monday there are "better ways" to defeat the Islamic State than sending combat troops. His remarks come as the U.S. has stepped up the deployment of ground troops to Syria and elsewhere in the region, as the Iraqi army moves deeper into Mosul and a complex array of forces prepares for an offensive on the Islamic State's de facto capital of Raqqa. (Carol Morello)

Kim Jong Un looks at a rocket warhead tip after a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile. (KCNA/via Reuters/File)

-- Two U.S. defense officials said the rocket engine tested Sunday by North Korea could possibly be used in an eventual intercontinental ballistic missile. The engine test came on the final day of Rex Tillerson's trip to Asia, where he suggested "nothing was off the table" when it came to dealing with the rogue state. (CNN)

-- "The Trump administration on Monday also opened up its first line of attack on so-called sanctuary cities, naming jurisdictions that decline to detain immigrants who could be subject to deportation," CNN's Tal Kopan reports: "The Trump administration on Monday opened up its first line of attack on so-called sanctuary cities, naming jurisdictions that decline to detain immigrants who could be subject to deportation. The report lays out 206 declined "detainers" that were registered in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement databases during the week of January 28 to February 3. Detainers are requests by ICE to local law enforcement agencies to hold certain individuals ICE believes could be deported for up to an extra 48 hours beyond the criminal process so they can be picked up by ICE. DHS also lists the 10 counties that regularly do not comply with such requests that had the most declined detainers, and includes a table listing scores of counties, cities and agencies that have policies to not cooperate with ICE in various ways."

-- "It is difficult to overestimate the geopolitical risks of this moment — or the (both disturbed and eager) global scrutiny now being given to the American president," Post columnist Michael Gerson writes. "Aggression is growing along the westward reach of Russian influence and the southern boundary of Chinese influence. Intercontinental nuclear capacity may soon be in the hands of a mental pubescent in North Korea. In the Middle East, a hostile alliance of Russia and Shiite powers is ascendant; radical Sunnis have a territorial foothold and inspire strikes in Western cities; America's traditional Sunni friends and allies feel devalued or abandoned; perhaps 500,000 Syrians are dead and millions of refugees suffer in conditions that incubate anger. Every new administration has a shakeout period. But this assumes an ability to learn from mistakes.

The sum total? "Foreigners see a Darwinian, nationalist framework for American foreign policy; a diminished commitment to global engagement; a brewing scandal that could distract and cripple the administration; and a president who often conducts his affairs with peevish ignorance. Some will look at this spectacle and live in fear; others may see a golden opportunity."

Tom Price speaks with American Conservative Union Chairman Matthew Schlapp on March 10. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:

-- "How two old-school Washington insiders became the cool kids of Trumpism," by Ben Terris: "The day after a tape of [Trump] bragging about sexually assaulting women went public in October, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, appeared on Fox News to defend him. A minute after his segment ended, his wife and fellow pundit, Mercedes, called to say it might be time to take a break from television. Matt had done a fine enough job. He had signaled his continued support for the GOP nominee while also denouncing [his language] … But under the circumstances, it just looked bad, Mercedes told him. And the Schlapps had their five daughters to think about. So Matt and Mercedes, members of the Republican establishment who had been defending Trump longer than most, drove to Victory Farm, their weekend home in Virginia, to ponder whether to stick with him. They split a bottle of wine and debated well into the night. The decision was unanimous. 'We decided to double down,' Matt said."

-- "She thought she'd saved her daughter from MS-13 by smuggling her to the U.S. She was wrong," by Michael E. Miller: "Maria Reyes sent for her daughter, Damaris, when she was 12 to protect her from El Salvador's gang violence. It found her in the Washington suburbs instead."

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Your word of the day:

Supporters of Hillary Clinton were aghast at the Comey testimony yesterday:

From Hillary Clinton's ex-spokesman:

Some re-upped tweets from Trump surrogates that seem ironic now (see the dates they were sent):

And this reminder from a Post scribe:

On Ivanka's new office in the West Wing:

A candid reply from a Republican strategist and admaker:

From Ted Cruz's former communications director:

A liberal writer:

Eric and Lara Trump are expecting a baby boy in September:

There were lots of jokes about Spicer's claim that Manafort played a "limited" role in the Trump campaign. He was the chairman and called most of the shots for months.

From the lead Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee:

This point was made repeatedly:

Some were pleased with conservative lawmakers' performance questioning Comey:

Perhaps strangest of all, from the state-sponsored Russia TV station:

It was a late night on the Hill for reporters trying to figure out where the House Freedom Caucus would be on the leadership House GOP bill:

GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:

Children inside a shelter their family made from timber, corrugated iron and plastic sheeting, in Afghanistan's Laghman Province.

-- "Nearly 16 years since invading Afghanistan, the United States has no standardized process for making compensation payments to the families of thousands of Afghan civilians killed or injured in U.S.-led military operations," Reuters reports. "It first started paying the families of Afghan victims as a way to counter Taliban militants who were doing the same. America's approach to compensation is arbitrary by design as it tries to negotiate Afghanistan's cultural and regional sensitivities as a foreign military force. But civil activists say the system is unfair and confusing for often poor and uneducated Afghans." From one advocate: "A man in Kandahar may get $4,000 for his damaged car while a woman in Gardez gets $1,000 for her dead child. Civilians deserve better."

HOT ON THE LEFT:

"Sean Spicer wants you to know that Trump's golfing is strategic and/or not happening," from Philip Bump: "President Trump seems to be getting a bit sensitive about his leisure activities. When he was a candidate and, before that, an anti-Obama bomb-thrower on social media, Trump repeatedly criticized [Obama] for hitting the links. On the campaign trail, he was explicit: Elect Donald Trump as president and the era of a president who goofs around on the golf course is over. 'I'm going to be working for you. I'm not going to have time to go play golf,' he said in Virginia last August. Now that he's president? Different tune. Trump has on 10 different occasions traveled to golf clubs that bear his name in Florida — one out of every six days he's been in office. Trump went to his golf clubs Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend … On Saturday, the White House released a statement saying that Trump 'spent the early morning and afternoon on issues concerning the Department of Veterans Affairs and the military.' In the not-early morning, he was at Trump International Golf Club, [where he posed for photos]."

HOT ON THE RIGHT:

"Suspect in rape at Maryland school was stopped 7 months ago by Border Patrol," from Dan Morse and Donna St. George: "One of the two suspects accused of raping a 14-year-old student at Rockville High School was picked up by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Texas seven months ago, determined to have illegally entered the country, and issued a notice to appear in immigration court, federal officials said Monday. The suspect, Henry Sanchez-Milian, 18, arrived in Montgomery County around that same period, according to records filed at Montgomery County District Court. He was placed in ninth grade [alongside the other suspect]." They are both accused of pushing a 14-year-old student into a stall where they "took turns attacking" her, according to court documents.

DAYBOOK:

At the White House: Trump is back to the White House to sign S. 442. In the afternoon, Trump will host a legislative affairs group meeting before heading to the National Building Museum and making remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner.

Pence will host a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, before joining Trump as he signs S. 442. In the afternoon, Pence will deliver lunch remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee's March meeting and participate in the Senate Republican Policy Luncheon. Later, he will join Trump for the legislative affairs group meeting.

On Capitol Hill: The House and Senate are in.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"We had nothing to do with the wiretap," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi joked to Trump in the Oval Office.

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- Another warmer day ahead! Although you may want to pack your umbrella. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: "A few early morning showers are possible, especially south and east of the city. Otherwise, cloudy conditions should dominate the morning, giving way to partly cloudy weather this afternoon. Assuming we get the sunshine, temperatures warm strongly into the 60s. There's a chance, though, that clouds will stick around which will keep highs cooler."

-- Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are planning to reintroduce a bill this afternoon to grant federal recognition to six Indian tribes in Virginia, who were among the first to greet English settlers in 1607. If approved, the proposal would give the tribes access to federal funding for housing, education, and medical care. It would also, its sponsors say, help right a long-standing wrong. (Joe Heim)

-- The Wizards lost to the Celtics 102-110.

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Watch Sesame Street's brutal Trump parodies: