The Daily 202: Trump fills the job of White House communications director – with himself

The Daily 202: Trump fills the job of White House communications director – with himself

-- White House cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce said he will return to the NSA — becoming the latest senior national security adviser to depart Trump’s team since John Bolton took over as national security administrator. Ellen Nakashima reports: “Joyce, who was detailed to the White House from the NSA at the start of the Trump administration, has served more than 25 years at the spy agency, [where he] headed the elite hacking or ‘offensive’ division … which penetrated networks overseas to gather foreign intelligence.”

-- The government’s chief ethics watchdog said the EPA broke the law by installing a $43,000 secure phone booth inside the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt without notifying lawmakers. Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report: “In an eight-page letter to lawmakers, [Government Accountability Office] general counsel Thomas H. Armstrong said the agency failed to notify lawmakers that it was exceeding the $5,000 limit for agency heads to furnish, redecorate or otherwise make improvements to their offices. In addition, Armstrong wrote, the agency also violated the federal Antideficiency Act, ‘because EPA obligated appropriated funds in a manner specifically prohibited by law.’”

ALAN DERSHOWITZ IS LOSING IT! 

-- Frequent Fox News guest and Trump defender Alan Dershowitz called out Hannity on the omission during his show. “I really think you should have disclosed your relationship with Cohen,” Dershowitz said. “It was minimal,” Hannity responded. “I understand that, and you should’ve said that,” Dershowitz replied. (The Hill)

-- White House cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce said he will return to the NSA — becoming the latest senior national security adviser to depart Trump’s team since John Bolton took over as national security administrator. Ellen Nakashima reports: “Joyce, who was detailed to the White House from the NSA at the start of the Trump administration, has served more than 25 years at the spy agency, [where he] headed the elite hacking or ‘offensive’ division … which penetrated networks overseas to gather foreign intelligence.”

-- The government’s chief ethics watchdog said the EPA broke the law by installing a $43,000 secure phone booth inside the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt without notifying lawmakers. Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report: “In an eight-page letter to lawmakers, [Government Accountability Office] general counsel Thomas H. Armstrong said the agency failed to notify lawmakers that it was exceeding the $5,000 limit for agency heads to furnish, redecorate or otherwise make improvements to their offices. In addition, Armstrong wrote, the agency also violated the federal Antideficiency Act, ‘because EPA obligated appropriated funds in a manner specifically prohibited by law.’”

-- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke formerly hosted a radio show where he invited on a birther as a guest, questioned Obama’s college record and engaged with other fringe, conspiratorial viewpoints. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reports: “[Zinke] interviewed fellow former Navy SEAL and political activist Larry Bailey … [a] co-founder of the anti-Obama group Special Operations Speaks, [who said] falsely that Obama wasn't born in the United States. … Bailey then claimed without evidence that a black Muslim man arranged for Obama to get admitted to Harvard Law School and that he paid for schooling with a grant from the Saudis. ‘I'd like to see his transcripts. I'd like it definitive,’ Zinke responded. In another radio interview in April 2013, Zinke discussed a conspiracy theory about the Boston bombing terrorist attacks that alleged a third person, a Saudi national, was involved in the attack. [His guest] also linked Michelle Obama to the Saudi national — a conspiracy floated on fringe websites following the attack.”

-- The Interior Department’s inspector general ruled that Zinke’s chartered travel “generally followed relevant law, policy, rules, and regulations” — with one exception. From Darryl Fears: “[The investigation] showed that an exorbitantly priced charter flight from Las Vegas to Montana last year ‘could have been avoided’ had the department’s ethics officials known [Zinke’s] true reason for speaking in Vegas. In a report released Monday, the [IG] determined that ethics officials who reviewed the trip before the secretary’s departure ‘likely would not have approved’ it as an official event since it ‘did not mention Zinke’s position as Interior secretary or the activities of the DOI.’ Had the speech in Las Vegas … been rejected as an agency-sanctioned event, that would have eliminated the need for the $12,357 chartered flight from Las Vegas to Kalispell, Mont.”

-- Senate Republicans plan to advance Mike Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state even if he receives an unfavorable recommendation in committee. From Politico’s Elana Schor and Burgess Everett: “After a confirmation hearing marked by contentious exchanges with Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — one of 15 members of the minority who backed Pompeo to lead the CIA — became the fifth Democrat on the panel to announce he would vote no. Coupled with opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), unified resistance to Pompeo from the committee’s 10 Democrats would deal him an unfavorable recommendation, but top Republicans are still vowing to ensure his confirmation. ‘He’s got the votes once he gets to the floor,’ Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP leader, told reporters.”

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