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White House press secretary Sean Spicer on March 16 said President Trump "stands by" allegations he made that President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap on him in 2016. Trump has provided no evidence for the claims. (Reuters)

White House press secretary Sean Spicersaid Thursday thatPresident Trump stands by his allegation that former president Barack Obama ordered wiretapping surveillance of Trump Tower last fall, despite statements from the leaders of congressional investigationsthat no evidence had been found to support the claim.

In a remarkably combative exchange with reporters at his daily news briefing, Spicer was asked whether Trump still believes Obama ordered the alleged surveillance effort.

He stands by it, Spicer said,going on to assail journalists for the way they have reported on the controversy.

Earlier Thursday, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said their investigation into the matter so far has turned up no evidence that the U.S. government hadconducted surveillance on Trump Tower in New York, either before or after the election on Nov. 8.

[Key senators say they have no evidence that Trump Tower was wiretapped]

Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016, read the statement by Sen.Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the committee chairman, and Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the committee's ranking Democrat.

In a Fox News Channel interview on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that he based his initial accusation on news reports that referred to wiretapping generally. Hesaidthat information would soon be revealed that could prove him right.

I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks, Trump told Fox host Tucker Carlson.

Spicer refused to say whether Trump was relying on classified information to base his claims, and pointed repeatedly to news articles and widespread, open source material.

The president said last night that there would be additional information coming forward, Spicer said. There are a ton of media reports out there that indicate that something was going on during the 2016 election.

He added that he believed the president would ultimately be vindicated.

Spicer spent nearly 10 minutes reading a litany of news stories, including from conservative reporters and the New York Times, that discuss reports of inquiries into the president's campaign aides and Russian officials. But it did not appear that any of the reports confirm that Trump Tower was wiretapped.

Asked whether the president has directed the Justice Department to provide information in support of his claim to the relevant congressional committees, Spicer said that he had not.

I think the appropriate process is to allow the House and Senate to do this so that it doesn't appear that we are interfering, Spicer said. We're allowing that process to play through.

At one point, Spicer quoted a report from Fox News alleging that Obama relied on British intelligence to gain access to transcripts of conversations involving Trump. Spicer would not say if the president had raised the allegation with Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, a close ally of the United States.

All we're doing is literally reading off what other stations and people have reported, Spicer said. We're not casting judgment on that.

In response to the allegations, which were first made by Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano this week, the British intelligence agency GCHQ responded flatly denying any such surveillance occurred.

"Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then President Elect are nonsense," the agency said. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."

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Spicer says Trump 'stands by' unproven allegation that Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower - Washington Post

Former President Barack Obama is in an exclusive Polynesian resort for the next month. No, really. This is true. He has arrived in the far South Seas for 30 days of languid palms, bright sunshine and sparking waters. Will he start writing his multimillion-dollar memoir, visit a nearby turtle sanctuary or kite surf? That remains to be seen, even as rumors percolate in the nations capital that Mr. Obama is planning a shadow presidency to counter President Trump and his administration. For now, though, it is time for an exclusive tropical retreat for the 44th president, who is traveling solo a fact that has sent the press looking for details and answers.

This week finds Obama spending the current leg of his retirement tour in beautiful French Polynesia. Obama reportedly landed in Tahiti, before traveling from the island to an even more exclusive locale: Marlon Brandos private resort at the Tetiaroa atoll, says Conde Nast Traveler, which has rated this gorgeous property as one of the most magnificent on the planet. It better be, with rentals starting around $2,100 to $11,000 a night. The accommodations at the eco-minded spot include private villas with luxury furnishings and baths; theres a treetop spa with waterfall, classic French cuisine and activities like lagoon exploration, biology tours and deep sea fishing.

It is quite something. Indeed, Brando discovered this exotic hideaway in 1961 while filming Mutiny on the Bounty, eventually buying the site six years later. Mr. Obama also is expected to visit nearby Bora Bora and other picturesque destinations during his stay.

No political meetings have been announced during Obamas stay. It is unknown if his daughters or wife, Michelle Obama, will join him on the island, reports Kelly McLaughlin, a Daily Mail correspondent who also wonders if Mr. Obama will get to work on his much-awaited memoirs now part of a $60 million deal for the former president and his spouse with Penguin Random House. Find the Brando Resort here

VOTERS TO GOP: OVERHAUL OBAMACARE WITH CARE

The public is often confused by coverage of the American Health Care act aka Trumpcare or Ryancare, depending on the day of the week or the mood of the news organization. As usual, much of the news media are opposed to whatever policies President Trump and his allies offer; conflicting or confusing coverage is a part of that bias. Meanwhile, a clear voter sentiment has emerged for all to consider.

Voters tend to agree that Obamacare is in big trouble but fear Republicans may go too far in trying to fix it, reports a new Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 likely voters. Nearly half (48 percent) agree with President Trumps recent statement that Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans, the pollster says.

But a nervous 43 percent disagree with that statement while 52 percent worry that changes to Obamacare may go too far.

A new Fox News poll had similar results, revealing that 54 percent of voters oppose the GOP health plan for assorted reasons. Two-thirds said it made too many changes in Obamacare, 21 percent said it didnt make enough changes, and 13 percent said they didnt know why they opposed the Republican solution.

HILLARY IN SCRANTON

The trajectory of former presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is always interesting but elusive. Assorted press reports indicate shes running for mayor of New York City in the fall. Press reports also indicate that shes not running for New York City mayor in the fall. There are revelations that Mrs. Clinton went to a Broadway show, or dined with a celebrity. Her rare tweets maybe one or two a week get ample press, as does her personal news, like future speaking engagements or a forthcoming book of her essays to be released this fall by a major publisher, along with a reissue of her 1995 bestseller It Takes a Village.

One thing we do know for sure is that Mrs. Clinton will be in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for a sell-out St. Patricks Day dinner organized by the Society of Irish Women, a group of dedicated Irish-American ladies. Mrs. Clinton was last in Scranton birthplace of her father, Hugh Rodham in August for a campaign stop, accompanied by then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden.

Will there be news, Trump-bashing, revelations? The hostesses of the dinner reveal nothing other than telling the local Scranton Times-Tribune that their first reaction once Mrs. Clinton agreed to appear at the event was, Oh, my God.

DAYS OF YORE

Our Constitution is to be celebrated not for being old but for being young.

Ronald Reagan, in his annual address to Congress on Jan. 27, 1987

FOXIFIED

This could be interesting: The spirited Fox News host Jesse Watters will sit down with President Trump for an interview to air Saturday at 8 p.m. EDT, set to cover pivotal subjects like the economy, tax reform, immigration policy and Trumpcare.

In the meantime, Fox News Channel bested all basic cable networks for the 10th consecutive week, according to Nielsen Media Research this week. Yes, that means Fox News outdid the likes of ESPN and HGTV. Additionally, Fox News programs made up 11 of the top 25 telecasts across the cable realm.

WEEKEND REAL ESTATE

For sale: Warren Buffets beach house, built in 1936 in Laguna Beach, California. Six bedrooms, seven baths, living and dining rooms, family rooms, interior patio; 3,588 square feet overlooking Emerald Bay, owned for the last 40 years by the Oracle of Omaha. Primarily white and marble interior, chefs kitchen, unique levels encompassing three stories, multiple fireplaces, oversize windows and window walls, recessed lighting and multiple skylights. Ocean-viewing deck, patio, balcony, pool, detached garage.

Priced at $11 million through VillaRealEstate.com; find the home here

POLL DU JOUR

61 percent of Americans feel more optimistic about their personal happiness; 88 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and 39 percent of Democrats agree.

53 percent feel more optimistic about their family financial situation; 82 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of independents and 28 percent of Democrats agree.

51 percent say President Trump has done more to fulfill campaign promises than other presidents at this point; 84 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats agree.

42 percent feel more optimistic about the direction of the country; 86 percent of Republicans, 40 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats agree.

40 percent think everything will be all right in the rest of the world; 51 percent of Republicans, 49 percent of independents and 28 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Fox News poll of 1,008 registered U.S. voters conducted March 12-14.

Churlish remarks, cheers, jeers to jharper@washingtontimes.com

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Obama in Paradise: He's in Tahiti for a month - Washington Times

Well, yes and no. The budget does boost spending for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Securityincluding $2.6 billion to build a border wall that Mexico was supposed to pay forwhile cutting funding by 28 percent for the Department of State. The proposal would eliminate programs such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the U.S. Institute for Peace. Assuming that this budget is enacted by Congress as writtenand there is scant chance of that happeningit would indeed represent a blow to soft power spending. But defense hawks are hardly content with its increases in hard power.

The top line defense number is impressive: $603 billion. And thats just the base budget; there is also $65 billion budgeted for the Overseas Contingency Operations fund used to support ongoing operations in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. But John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, believes that at least $640 billion is needed for the base budget to make up for the declining size and readiness of the U.S. armed forces. While Trumps defense budget is billed as a 10 percent increase from sequestration levels, it is actually only a 3 percent increase over President Obamas proposal. When this Trump defense budget was first unveiled, McCain complained, With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obamas budget. We can and must do better.

McCains complaints have been supported by well-respected conservative analysts such as Tom Donnelly and Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute who have written about Trumps Fake Defense Buildup, complaining that Trump is coming nowhere close to funding the ambitious increases in force size he promised during the campaign.

In truth, its hard to know exactly what Trump is proposing to do because the budget blueprint that was released is so general; it contains only two pages of discussion of each government department. Thus the budget raises more questions than it answers.

When it comes to the Department of State and international aid programs, the Trump budget calls for a 28 percent slash. But it begins by saying what wont be cut: It wont cut funding for new embassy construction and increased security. It wont cut $3.1 billion in aid to Israel. It maintains funding for President Bushs Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

So what gets cut? It reduces U.S. contributions to the United Nations and the World Bank, especially to the UNs climate-change initiatives. It reduces funding for States cultural exchange programs although it does maintain the Fulbright Scholars program. But mostly the budget engages in the kind of slight-of-hand that denizens of the Washington swamp have always favored. The budget claims, for example, that it refocuses economic and development assistance to countries of greatest strategic importance to the U.S. and ensures the effectiveness of U.S. taxpayer investments by rightsizing funding across countries and sectors. Whatever that means.

This simply looks as if the Trump White House is using foreign aid as a convenient cut to offset some of the increased Pentagon spending, even though there isnt nearly enough money in foreign aid to make up for even the modest defense budget increases that Trump is calling for. All foreign assistance, after all, amounts to $42.4 billion, which sounds like a lot but is only 1 percent of the federal budget.

Its easy to say in the abstract that you will cut foreign aid, but which countries specifically is Trump going to right-size? He already said there will be no cuts for Israel. Is he going to cut Afghanistan, thereby undermining its ability to fight the Taliban? Cut Egypt, thereby undermining its capacity to fight ISIS and other Islamic extremists, and to uphold a peace deal with Israel? Cut Iraq and Jordan and thereby undermine their ability to fight ISIS? Cut Pakistan and undermine the stability of a nuclear-armed state? Cut Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and other African states that are on the frontlines fighting against groups such as Boko Haram and al-Shabaab?

In fact, while there is a lot of waste in foreign aid spending, the major recipients are clearly of major strategic importance to the United States, and U.S. assistance does play a significant role in allowing them to fight our mutual enemies, so we dont have to put U.S. troops on the frontlines. As for the State Department, reviled as it often is, is also has a major role to play in expanding American power, which is why 120 retired generals and admirals released a letter calling for full funding for the State Department and foreign aid.

There is little sense that anyone in the Trump administration did much hard thinking about these difficult issues before producing this budget. Indeed its hard to know who could even tackle such an assignment given the dearth of any political appointees at the Departments of State and Defense below the cabinet level and the lack, before that, of any serious policy apparatus on the campaign.

Thus the budget appears to be nothing more than a representation, in numerical form, of the very vaguely stated preferences of a president who likes military power but has contempt for foreign-assistance programs. There has been too little thought given to what it will actually take to increase U.S. military power, what that power should be used for, and how the diplomatic and foreign aid initiatives of the U.S. government can support that grand strategy. The Trump budget gives the appearance of coming up with budget numbers out of more or less thin air, without doing the kind of hard, bottom-up analysis that is actually necessary to figure out how to use spending most effectively.

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The Obama 'Resistance' Blew It - Commentary Magazine

Obama was a special guest on the mystery challenge portion of the child cooking reality television competition. The episode was taped prior to inauguration when her husband, President Barack Obama, was still in office.

As the episode began, a man dressed in a suit, sunglasses and American flag pin brought host and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, an official-looking red phone. Ramsay placed a call, asking to speak to "the boss of the house ... no, not him, I need the real boss of the house."

The suit-clad man whispered something into his sleeve, and a screen came down from the ceiling, complete with fog special effects.

Then, she appeared on the screen.

"I'm Michelle Obama, and tonight, I am thrilled to deliver your next mystery box challenge. Please head back to your stations," the then-first lady said.

The final 14 young cooks in the competition, aged 8 to 13, gasped and shrieked with surprise, racing to their kitchen stations.

"I'm like, about to die. R.I.P. me, oh my God. I mean, Michelle Obama is a wonder woman and I look up to her so much. She is my idol," contestant Jasmine, 11, said.

Contestants lifted the lids of their weekly mystery boxes to reveal ingredients inspired by the White House kitchen garden.

"For your mystery box challenge, I'm asking all of you to come up with an original recipe that's healthy and follows the 'my plate' symbol, filing half your plate with fruits and veggies, and the rest with whole grains, lean protein and dairy," Obama instructed.

The challenge wasn't met with enthusiasm by all the young chefs.

"Michelle Obama wants me to cook vegetables. Not happening. I don't like vegetables, they're evil," said Donovan, 9 (Donovan was eliminated later in the episode).

But there was an incentive to a well-cooked vegetable: The winner of the mystery box challenge, Obama said, would win a trip to the White House to attend the annual kids' state dinner.

Then, the heat was on: The contestants had one hour to get cooking, slicing, dicing and creatively using the ingredients in dishes like a lemon branzino, parmesan quinoa and strawberry kale salad.

After a thorough look and tasting by the judges, the verdict was in. Only one contestant was White House-bound; 11-year-old Justise's pan-seared shrimp with sauted bell peppers, carrots, eggplant and quinoa won the mystery box challenge.

Justise attended Obama's final Kids' State Dinner in July 2016, per Fox spokeswoman Annie Geffroy.

Obama frequently used television and social media to promote her "Let's Move" initiative to encourage exercise and healthy eating for children. She appeared on PBS' "Sesame Street," Funny or Die's "Billy on the Street," and showcased her best mom dancing on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

And she went viral with a 2014 vine, saying, "Turnip? For what?" a play on the DJ Snake and Lil Jon song, "Turn Down for What."

Obama's healthy food legacy continues at the White House: First lady Melania Trump has promised to carry her garden torch.

"As a mother and as the first lady of this country, Mrs. Trump is committed to the preservation and continuation of the White House Gardens, specifically the first lady's Kitchen Garden and the Rose Garden," Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, senior adviser to the first lady, said in a statement to CNN last month.

The association's recommendations would roll back key provisions of the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," legislation spearheaded by Obama, and her "Let's Move!" campaign.

The rest is here:
Michelle Obama kales it on 'MasterChef Junior' - CNN

If youre a fan of the famous Obama-Biden memes, then you should be a fan of Pete Souza. For eight years, he was President Obamas official White House photographer and took thousands of photos to document our first black presidents time in officemany of which have since been turned into documentation of a different kind.

Now, Souza is joining in on the fun with his own obvious jabs at Trump. On Monday night, he posted a doctored photo to Instagram with the caption, Someone has been photoshopping one of my photos. For the record, it wasn't me. With Obama poised behind a camera in a microwave, the photo is clearly taking shots at Kellyanne Conway following her bizarre theory that Obama spied on Trump via microwaves.Mind you, Conway also invented a nonexistent massacre and gifted us the term alternative facts.

Luckily for us, Souza didnt stop there. On Tuesday, he posted a photo of Obama looking at his phone with the caption, Glad he only tweeted out facts with his device. Thats what I call a sick burn.

The photo he posted on Monday might take the cake, though, purely based on his explanation of it:

Remembering that day when the Affordable Care Act (yes, Obamacare) was signed into law in 2010. Wonder why some are pushing a repeal/replace law that will cause 15 million people to lose coverage, increase costs for lower income and elderly people, and give billions of tax benefits to the wealthiest? Maybe that is really the BFD.

If you were as confused as I was by the BFD reference, Mic political writer Emily C. Singer speculates its in reference to Bidens comment during a news conference that passing the ACA was a big fucking deal. Feeling the heat yet, Donald?

Like many of us, Souza is feeling the sting of no longer having Obama in office. On days like today, he writes, I miss hanging out with Bo. Dont we all, buddy. Dont we all.

Link:
Obama's Former Photographer Is Trolling Trump In The Best Way - GOOD Magazine