Devin Nunes will not say if he worked with the White House on his "secret memo." I think we know what that means.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

The Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee refused to answer when a colleague asked him if he had coordinated his incendiary surveillance memo with the White House, The Daily Beast has learned. 

During Monday’s contentious closed-door committee meeting, Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat, asked Nunes point-blank if his staffers had been talking with the White House as they compiled a four-page memo alleging FBI and Justice Department abuses over surveillance of President Trump’s allies in the Russia probe. 

According to sources familiar with the exchange, Nunes made a few comments that didn’t answer the question before finally responding, “I’m not answering.”

Well actually that sort of IS an answer, isn't it?

In the meantime even Trump's own FBI Director has come out against releasing this memo.

Courtesy of Bloomberg: 

FBI Director Christopher Wray told the White House he opposes the release of a controversial, classified GOP memo alleging bias at the FBI and Justice Department because it contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Wray was actually one of the few people  allowed to read the memo, so he knows what he is talking about. 

However that is not going to stop Trump:  

President Donald Trump was overheard Tuesday night telling a Republican lawmaker that he was “100 percent” planning to release the memo, which was written by staffers on the House Intelligence Committee and is aimed at raising questions about the validity of the investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia, now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

It should also be noted that reports are that Nunes himself has actually not read the classified documents that were used to write the memo, so he really does not know what the negative effect might be.

Of course he might not even really care.

Which leads us to this exchange: 

On Tuesday’s edition of Morning Joe, political analyst John Heilemann asked a question of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) that he readily admitted “under almost any other circumstances would be ridiculous and absurd, but under these circumstances I think is actually warranted.” 

“Is it possible that the Republican chairman of the House Intel Committee has been compromised by the Russians?” Heilemann inquired. “Is it possible that we actually have a Russian agent running the House Intel Committee on the Republican side?”

Murphy replied by saying: “I hope that’s not the case and I certainly have no information to suggest that it is.” 

Notably, he did not call the notion “ridiculous” or “absurd.” Instead, Murphy suggested that Nunes was “instinctually” acting to protect President Trump. 

“Doesn’t his behavior speak of that though?” Heilemann pressed on. “I’m not the first person who’s raised this. He’s behaving like someone who’s compromised and there are people in the intelligence community and others with great expertise in this area who look at him and say, ‘That guy’s been compromised.’”

I am trying not to go all "Alex Jones" here but I am beginning to wonder if there are not a number of Republicans who have been compromised by the Russians.

 I'm just saying.

Donald Trump Campaign: The Movie.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:  

Halfway into Donald Trump's first 100 days as President of the United States, and someone has already commissioned a cinematic treatment of the long and frequently absurd election that put him in office. 

HBO is set to chronicle the events of the recent presidential election, much as they did in 2012 telepic Game Change — only this time it will be expanded to a miniseries. Also like Game Change, the yet-to-be-titled project will be directed by Jay Roach and based on source material from Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The duo's book about Trump's stunning 2016 upset over Hillary Clinton is set to be published by Penguin Press. 

Game Change, itself a pseudo-sibling of 2000 election film Recount, didn't air until four years after the events depicted. It focused on the narrative from the side of John McCain's losing campaign — particularly the controversial figure of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, played by Julianne Moore. (Players from the Barack Obama side of election were mostly featured in historical footage.) 

“We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, whose work on their best-selling book Game Change set the bar for political reporting and storytelling inside a presidential campaign," HBO Films president Len Amato said in a statement. "Reuniting Game Change director and executive producer Jay Roach and Playtone producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman with Mark and John for a project based on their upcoming book promises to vividly capture the most unique and impactful event in modern American politics.”

Well what can I say, there was no doubt that this was coming.

After all, how could it not?

And I think that the folks who brought us Game Change are the perfect people to film this almost unbelievable tale. 

However I predict that no matter HOW accurately this team sticks to the facts of the campaign, that those who view it decades from now will simply assume that they took huge amounts of creative license and that surely things did not play out the way they are portrayed in the miniseries.

Showtime's "The Circus" certainly captured the mood of audience members during Sarah Palin's now infamous Wisconsin speech.

Courtesy of The Scoop: 

THE CIRCUS is produced in cooperation with BLOOMBERG POLITICS and features managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (co-authors of the New York Times best-sellers Game Change and Double Down, and co-hosts of the nightly political show "With All Due Respect" on Bloomberg Television) and noted campaign strategist Mark McKinnon. THE CIRCUS is produced by Left/Right, a part of RED ARROW Entertainment Group, for SHOWTIME. Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman serve as executive producers.

You gotta love the audience's reaction to Palins' "speechifying."

I wonder if Palin knew that she was talking to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the two men who wrote the great book "Game Change," that was then turned into an HBO movie starring Julianne Moore.

In fact didn't Moore win an Emmy for her portrayal of Sarah Palin in that movie?

Why yes she did.

In other Palin news of the day, a rapper that I have never heard of went off on Sarah Palin in a rather unnecessarily aggressive manner.

In response Palin tried to take the high road and asked if we could all just work together on something worthwhile, like condoning racism. Wait, what?

As it turns out Palin did not understand what the word "condoning" means (Yeah right!) and now the Facebook post has been corrected.

Hey look what do you expect from a person who went to five different colleges for a degree?

According to new book Bill Clinton was in no way impressed by Mitt Romney, and had a rather...colorful way of suggesting how lucky Obama was to be running against him.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:  

Bill Clinton said President Obama was "luckier than a dog with two d---s" for catching lucky break after lucky break during the 2012 presidential race while Republican challenger Mitt Romney crashed and burned in his campaign. 

"Romney's ineptness staggered Clinton," according to a new political tell-all about the contest, "Double Down," by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Politico reported. 

"He really shouldn't be speaking to people in public," Clinton said, according to the book, citing Romney's oratory weakness and embarrassing 47% comment that helped derail his bid. 

You know I don't think I would have chosen exactly those words to describe the President's  fortune with the Romney nomination, but I cannot fault Clinton's assessment of Mitten's constant stumbles and gaffes. At times it did almost seem that Romney was attempting to sabotage his own campaign.

I think I may have to buy this new book by Halperin and Heilemann, just like I did the last one. It seems clear that it contains some very interesting nuggets for political junkies like me.

Authors of "Game Change" prepare for sequel, as actors in HBO movie based on their book receive awards.

Courtesy of TV Newser:

 The authors of the book Game Change are working on a follow-up to their 2010 best-seller called Double Down: Game Change 2012. HBO, which aired a made-for-TV movie based on the first book, has already optioned the sequel for a movie. 

John Heileman and Mark Halperin will release Double Down: Game Change 2012 in Fall 2013. It will, not surprisingly, focus on the 2012 Presidential campaign between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

Okay I don't know about all of you, but I am going to watch the HELL out of this!

Even though we JUST finished celebrating Obama's victory and are now focusing on the life outside of politics, I am still quite fascinated with the behind the scenes stories of what happened in this last election cycle.

After all I thought there would not be much that I would find surprising about Sarah Palin in the original Game Change and boy was I wrong!

Speaking of the original book and the HBO movie based on it, there are apparently some more accolades coming to the actors that gave those riveting performances.

Courtesy of Politico:

Just one day after news of their next “Game Change” book, more good news for the book’s authors: The HBO movie based on their book, “Game Change,” picked up three nominations from the Screen Actor’s Guild, which were announced Wednesday in Los Angeles. 

Woody Harrelson was nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries” (he portrayed McCain strategist Steve Schmidt). Ed Harris was nominated in the same category for his portrayal of Sen. John McCain. Julianne Moore was nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries” (she portrayed Palin). 

(Insert obligatory Wasilla refrigerator reference here.)

Is today a great day to be covering politics and the Palin family or what?

Buried in at least one scene of the movie Game Change is this reference to questions about Palin's last pregnancy.

From my understanding the movie, much like the book, dos not really address babygate in any significant way. But that is not to say that they completely ignore it either.

Courtesy of Politico:

Two reporters who make cameos in the film are the “Game Change” authors themselves: Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. In one scene, Schmidt is holding court in a reporter scrum that includes Halperin and Heilemann. Schmidt angrily says, “In the last 24 hours, I have been asked questions by the national media that are outrageous and disgusting. I have been asked when [Palin]’s amniotic fluid stated to leak with regards to the last birth. It’s shameful.” To which reporter Heilemann cheekily replies, “So, when did it start leaking?” 

Okay in my opinion just watching THAT exchange alone makes this movie a must see.

Though to be honest I wish they would have a scene where Julianne Moore, playing Sarah,  reacts to the realization that the baby questions are not going away and she ends up throwing Bristol to the wolves in order to deflect the inquiries.


Now that would be riveting TV!