Politico

How President Trump Blew Up the Conservative Media

Months before Donald Trump blew up American politics with his surprise win in November, he did the same thing to the conservative media. Through much of the campaign, two very different media moguls with colliding visions for the Republican Party vied for Trump’s soul: Roger Ailes, the longtime president and CEO of Fox News, and Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of the populist online tabloid Breitbart...

In the Trump era, where the president has a media mogul by his side in the Oval Office and another on speed dial, the label of ["government affairs specialist"] might apply to much of the right-wing media. But the elite outlets of yore earned their status not just from their proximity to power, but also from the rigorous intellectual framework against which they measured the powerful. And the most significant implication of Bannon’s triumph may be the rise of a governing philosophy that shifts along with the unpredictable man at its center.

Trump lawyer: ‘No right’ to protest at rallies

President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued in an April 20 court filing that protesters “have no right” to “express dissenting views” at his campaign rallies because such protests infringed on his First Amendment rights. The filing comes in a case brought by three protesters who allege they were roughed up and ejected from a March 2016 Trump campaign rally in Louisville (KY) by Trump supporters who were incited by the then-candidate’s calls from the stage to “get 'em out of here!”

Lawyers for Trump’s campaign have argued that his calls to remove the protesters were protected by the First Amendment. But the federal district court judge hearing the case issued a ruling late in March questioning that argument, as well as the claim that Trump didn’t intend for his supporters to use force. The ruling cleared the case to proceed into discovery and towards a trial. April 20’s filing by Trump’s campaign lawyers asks the judge to pause the proceedings and allow Trump’s legal team to appeal the ruling to a higher court “before subjecting the President to ‘unique’ and extraordinary burdens of litigation.”

Trump blows his deadline on anti-hacking plan

President-elect Donald Trump was very clear: “I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office,” he said in January, after getting a US intelligence assessment of Russian interference in 2016’s elections and promising to address cybersecurity. April 20, President Trump hits his 90-day mark. There is no team, there is no plan, and there is no clear answer from the White House on who would even be working on what. It’s the latest deadline President Trump’s set and missed — from the press conference he said his wife would hold last fall to answer questions about her original immigration process to the plan to defeat ISIS that he’d said would come within his first 30 days in office.

Sen Rubio's longest serving staff adviser leaves for TechNet

Sen Marco’s Rubio’s (R-FL) longest-serving paid adviser, Alex Burgos, is leaving the Republican’s Capitol Hill office to lobby and plot strategy for the technology industry. Burgos will officially begin work at TechNet — which bills itself as the “national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives” — on April 25 as its vice president of federal policy, government relations, and communications.

Democrats Plan to Use Privacy Rules as Political Ammunition (updated link)

The GOP's technology offensive, which has included rolling back the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules and will likely take aim at network neutrality next, has handed a potential political weapon to Democrats and consumer groups, who are eager to use it. "Voters across party lines understand the importance of personal privacy and are not going to be happy as they find out that Republican senators and Senate candidates used a party-line vote to put data including health and financial information for sale to the highest bidder," said Ben Ray, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Privacy Rules Overturned; Next Up, Title II?

The White House has already said President Donald Trump plans to sign the resolution using the Congressional Review Act to rescind the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules. That leaves an open question of how the agency and Congress will choose to address the issue in the future. In his reaction to the House vote, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai seemed to suggest his next step would be to undo Title II, rather than create new rules that align with existing ones at the Federal Trade Commission.

Title II classified broadband internet access service providers as common carriers and put them under the FCC's regulatory jurisdiction. It's the same policy that bolsters the network neutrality rules, meaning revoking Title II could be tied to rolling back net neutrality. House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) is in step with Chairman Pai on leaving privacy to the FTC. "I hope the FCC will take up and review what was done under the Wheeler regime on Title II," he said, referencing the previous FCC chairman. "Repealing Title II solves the whole problem. I think we gotta get this back to where we can legislate in this space, and take the bill we drafted a few years ago that would put into statute prohibitions on bad behavior, on throttling, and paid prioritization and blocking, there's bipartisan agreement on that. But when the Obama administration forced the FCC to go straight to Title II, that created all these problems."

FCC Chairman Pai Meets with House Commerce Committee Leaders on Rural Broadband

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai met with the House Commerce Committee's Rural Telecommunications Working Group to discuss expanding broadband access in rural communities. Some of the topics the group touched on included the Universal Service Fund, call completion and the FCC's 477 Form, according to a committee aide. "The meeting with Chairman Pai was an opportunity for a robust, bipartisan discussion about bridging the digital divide that too often exists between rural and urban areas," said Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH). "Reducing regulatory barriers and investing in deployment of broadband infrastructure will help more of our communities - especially rural communities - compete and stay connected in the 21st century economy."

President Trump gives cable news a ratings boost in 2017

Despite prognostications that cable news would suffer a ratings dip after the 2016 election, the ratings from the first quarter of 2017 are proving that Washington DC under President Donald Trump is now a must-see spectacle across the country. Fox News had the best quarter in cable news history for 24 hour viewership, topping even the final quarter of 2016, which included election night. Each hour "broke a network record" for ratings among 18-34 year old viewers, Fox News said in a news release. Fox was the number one channel on cable overall, beating the likes of ESPN, HGTV, Nickelodeon and USA network for overall viewers in both primetime and total day.

The Three Lame Stories the Press Writes About Every President

[Commentary] As if powered by a celestial mainspring, the press publishes the same three basic stories about every new presidential administration. Usually up first in their rotation is a breathless beat-sweetener about the incoming vice president. The second inevitable wave of stories claims that the administration is “rebooting.” March 27’s Washington Post brings us, on Page 1 above the fold, the third classic of the first 100 days of reporting: A story about the coming “reorganization“ of government—this time by Prince Jared, the president’s son-in-law.

FCC Chairman Pai Sticking With 2-for-1 Regulation Order

The White House has called for eliminating two regulations for every new one imposed, and though the policy doesn't apply to independent agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is sticking with the spirit of it. He told reporters that during his short tenure so far, the FCC has repealed, revised or tweaked what he described as outdated regulations. "I think the prism within which the FCC views any regulations that are on the books is: Do they continue to be necessary in the public interest and to promote competition in 2017," Chairman Pai said. "And if they don't, then we obviously want to modernize them to make sure that we're not standing in the way of investment or innovation or otherwise imposing more costs."

How the Conservative Media Became Trump’s Lapdogs

[Commentary] For years, conservatives breathlessly accused the media of being too easy on President Barack Obama and acting like a bunch of sycophantic boot-lickers for his administration. Turns out, some only wanted the chance to try it out for themselves once a Republican was in office.

The Trump Administration, with all its ethical mishaps and conflicts, presents conservatives the perfect opportunity to establish themselves as a tough, new vanguard of right-of-center journalism. Unfortunately, right-wing trolls and fanboys with press passes seem more interested in racking up brownie points with POTUS and nursing grudges against liberal media competitors. Sadly these media personalities—easily found in places such as Breitbart and Fox News—have become exactly what they hated their mainstream media foes for being: biased cheerleaders all too willing to ignore any misdeeds by the president in the name of helping him enact his agenda. Some of those who used to be the conservative movement’s most loyal government watchdogs are nothing but lapdogs now for President Trump.

[Amanda Carpenter is a CNN contributor, former Communications Director for Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Speechwriter for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).]

Can Big Bird survive President Trump?

President Donald Trump overcame more than a dozen Republican opponents, Hillary Clinton, an array of scandals and daunting electoral math to land in the Oval Office. But now, he may have finally met an opponent he cannot slay: Big Bird.

Republicans argue that they do not want to see the demise of the stations, only the demise of taxpayer funding for them. “The idea is that it can be privately financed,” said Paul Winfree, the White House’s director of budget policy and a Heritage Foundation alum. However, wealthy metropolitan areas would likely be able to continue to support their public stations, while poorer rural areas — places that lack access to quality news programming to begin with — would lose out. That could give pause to a number of Republican representatives. The universality of public broadcasting that supporters argue make it so crucial also make it tougher to eliminate for purely political reasons. There are many federal programs with far fewer fans — and far smaller budgets — whose elimination would be more politically palatable.

Sen Shaheen introduces bill to investigate Russian news outlet RT

Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is introducing a bill that would give the Justice Department additional authority to investigate Russia's English-language news outlet RT America for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The bill, called the Foreign Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement Act, would increase the Department of Justice’s power to compel organizations to produce information about their foreign connections and the sources of their funding.

Sen Shaheen said the bill comes in response to a report from the director of national intelligence about Russian influence in the 2016 election, part of which examined RT America. That report stated that RT News was skirting disclosure requirements by using a nonprofit structure and that RT's programming intended to advance stories that benefited Russian interests. “We have good reason to believe that RT News is coordinating with the Russian government to spread misinformation and undermine our democratic process,” Shaheen said in a statement. “The American public has a right to know if this is the case.”

EPIC Files FOIA for Docs on Trump-Pai Meeting

The relationship between new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and President Donald Trump is likely to continue to be a focal point for technology and telecommunications watchers. The pair met at the White House a week ago, one day before President Trump re-nominated Chairman Pai for another term. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is trying to pull back the curtain on that meeting, filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking “memos, briefing papers, emails and talking points” pertaining to their conversation.

Pai’s Calendar Shows Peek at Agenda

Federal Communications Commissioner Ajit Pai held a flurry of meetings with congressional Republicans and television broadcasters in the weeks before he took charge of the FCC, records obtained show — offering a flavor of his priorities and agenda as he sought the agency's top slot. His appointment calendar from Election Day to Jan. 25 shows then-Commissioner Pai kept in close contact with top GOP lawmakers, who are poised to play a key role in supporting and assisting with his deregulation agenda. He met with no congressional Democrats during that time frame, according to his schedule.

Chairman Pai also carved out a notable amount of time for broadcasters, an interest group that was frequently at odds with the previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. He met twice with Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the nation's largest TV station owners, and huddled with the chief executives of T-Mobile and DISH as well as leading industry trade groups. Commissioner Pai checked in with former-Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) on Dec. 5, after President Trump picked her to be ambassador to the United Nations. And if you’re looking to run across Chairman Pai at your daily power lunch, consider Oceanaire, Del Frisco’s and Charlie Palmer — three restaurants where he lunched with major communications trade group CEOs.

White House official terrorizes network green rooms

White House official Boris Epshteyn, a combative Trump loyalist tasked with plugging the president’s message on television, threatened earlier in 2017 to pull all West Wing officials from appearing on Fox News after a tense appearance on anchor Bill Hemmer’s show. Epshteyn, apparently, got in a yelling match with a Fox News booker after Hemmer pressed him for details of President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order cracking down on immigration from Muslim-majority countries — a topic he was not expecting to be grilled on. “Am I someone you want to make angry?” Epshteyn told the booker, the sources said. When he threatened to pull White House officials from the network, the fed-up booker had had enough. “Go right ahead,” the booker fired back, the sources said, aware that Epshteyn had no power to follow through on a threat that would have upended the administration’s relationship with a sympathetic news network. Ultimately, White House officials have continued to appear on Fox News, and the network said that it handled the flare-up professionally.

ABC News president: 'We’ve expressed our concerns' to White House over transparency

ABC News President James Goldston has pledged to “stand with our colleagues who cover the White House" and "protest” if the White House does not operate with transparency, he said in response to a petition imploring the broadcasting company to take a stand over the White House’s decision to exclude news organizations from a press gaggle Feb 27. “We’ve expressed our concerns to the White House that it operates in a way that’s open, transparent and fair,” Goldston said. “And we will continue to stand with our colleagues who cover the White House and to protest when any government official fails to live up to those standards.”

Earlier, Goldston received a petition signed by more than 230 former ABC News executives, correspondents, producers and other former staffers calling on him to refuse to take part in White House briefings if news organizations are barred from attending.

Republicans Split on Paid Prioritization

Paid prioritization appears to be a flashpoint as Republican leaders consider next steps on network neutrality.

On one side, some GOP lawmakers, like House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are OK with letting internet service providers cut deals with websites for faster access to consumers, a concept known as ‘paid prioritization.’ But other powerful Republicans, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) consider the practice harmful to consumers and want to make it illegal. Chairman Blackburn acknowledged she differs from Chairman Thune and House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) on the issue, but expressed confidence they can ‘talk it through.’

House Commerce Committee Chairman Walden Dines With Telecommunications Lobbyists

House Commerce Committee Chair Greg Walden (R-OR) was spotted dining with telecommunications lobbyists, among others, at the Trump International Hotel ahead of the President's address to Congress. The companies/organizations represented included AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, CTIA, and USTelecom.

Senate Commerce Committee Staff

The Senate Commerce Committee is adding Crystal Tully and Cort Bush to its staff ranks, a personnel influx that follows the departure of two of the panel's tech aides in the last couple of months. Tully, formerly an aide to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), will join the committee as a counsel, while Bush, who comes from Sen. Jerry Moran's (R-KS) office, will serve as a professional staff member.

Trump inspires encryption boom in leaky DC

Poisonous political divisions have spawned an encryption arms race across the Trump administration, as both the president’s advisers and career civil servants scramble to cover their digital tracks in a capital nervous about leaks. The surge in the use of scrambled-communication technology — enabled by free smartphone apps such as WhatsApp and Signal — could skirt or violate laws that require government records to be preserved and the public’s business to be conducted in official channels, several ethics experts say. It may even cloud future generations’ knowledge of the full history of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Conservative advocacy groups also denounce the use of encrypted technologies by career employees, comparing it to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of State. The House Science Committee has demanded an inquiry into the use of encryption by employees at the Environmental Protection Agency — although it has shown no similar curiosity about use of encryption in the White House.

Sean Spicer targets own staff in leak crackdown

Press secretary Sean Spicer is cracking down on leaks coming out of the West Wing, with increased security measures that include random phone checks of White House staffers, overseen by White House attorneys.

After Spicer became aware that information had leaked out of a planning meeting with about a dozen of his communications staffers, he reconvened the group in his office to express his frustration over the number of private conversations and meetings that were showing up in unflattering news stories. Upon entering Spicer’s office for what was described as “an emergency meeting,” staffers were told to dump their phones on a table for a “phone check," to prove they had nothing to hide. He explicitly warned staffers that using texting apps like Confide — an encrypted and screenshot-protected messaging app that automatically deletes texts after they are sent — and Signal, another encrypted messaging system, was a violation of the Presidential Records Act. Spicer also warned the group of more problems if news of the phone checks and the meeting about leaks was leaked to the media.

FCC’s Pai Wants to Lift Charter-TWC Condition

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants to eliminate an FCC mandate forcing Charter Communications to compete head-to-head with other broadband providers in one million new locations. A draft order circulated among commissioners would jettison that requirement, but preserve a condition calling for overall broadband buildout to two million new households. The requirements were part of the FCC's approval of the $67 billion Charter-Time Warner Cable-Bright House Networks merger in 2016. An FCC spokesperson said it’s more important for Charter to build out to unserved households than to take on competitors.

For conservatives, social media is a key battleground

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trevor Loudon, author of "Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress,” said: “The media is totally against the president. Hollywood is against the president. The radical left is against the president. He’s got all these forces against him. What we have is social media.” His call to action: “Get on Facebook, get on Twitter, and stand up.”

Ginni Thomas, the conservative journalist and activist (and, yes, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) said that given her “reverence for social media that gives us the power beyond the propaganda media to find the truth,” she was going to have speakers take turns "in order of who has the most Twitter followers." First up, with more than half a million followers: Milwaukee County Sheriff and conservative icon David Clarke. Going last, after Loudon (8,100 followers) and the Center for Security Policy’s Clare Lopez (6,100), was acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen (3,900).