The Morning Briefing: Another Austin Bomb, McCabe DOWN and Much, Much More

Good Monday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president receives his intelligence briefing
President Trump delivers remarks on combating the opioid crisis in Manchester, New Hampshire

Another explosion in Austin

Late last night, another package bomb detonated in Austin, Texas.

The Austin-Travis Country EMS tweeted Sunday night that there was a “critical incident” at Dawn Song Drive in Austin and medics were on their way to treat two males in their 20s with serious injuries.

“We do believe, based on what we’ve seen, that this was a bomb,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a 1:30 a.m. local time press conference.

Two victims were hospitalized and are in good condition. Developing…

McCabe DOWN

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Friday, following the recommendation of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Office of Inspector General referred McCabe to the OPR based on information discovered during its investigation of the handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal. We don’t know exactly what they found, but it was obviously serious enough to recommend firing him. McCabe blamed Trump for his firing despite the fact that his own peers issued the recommendation. Writes CNN:

The origin of his dramatic fall stems from an internal review conducted by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. That report — the details of which have not been publicly released — is said to conclude that McCabe misled investigators about his role in directing other officials at the FBI to speak to The Wall Street Journal about his involvement in a public corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation, according to a source briefed on it.

CNN reported on Wednesday that the findings in Horowitz’s report on McCabe were referred to the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, staffed with career officials, who recommended McCabe’s termination. McCabe, accompanied by his lawyer, tried making a last-ditch effort Thursday to avoid the firing, meeting with officials at the deputy attorney general’s office at the Justice Department for several hours while Sessions was traveling, but to no avail.

Former CIA director and current CNN employee John Brennan, who once controlled the most powerful surveillance and intelligence operation in the world, hit President Trump on Twitter. If you ever doubted that there was a group of senior government bureaucrats working against the election of Trump and the Trump administration, doubt no more.

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

Rand gets it. Can you believe the stones on this guy?

Rally ’round the corrupt McCabe

Democrats, never-Trumpers, and Republicans quickly mobilized to defend the fired McCabe because lying to the FBI is only an issue if you are Mike Flynn, not if you are “Andy’s office” McCabe or Hillary Clinton.

Senator Lindsey Graham, always a reliable turncoat, wants to have hearings on the McCabe firing. Rubio questions the timing of the McCabe firing. Democrats offer to hire McCabe so he can get his pension. But Rand nails it, saying, “I really think General Flynn was treated unfairly. I think Andrew McCabe did worse than General Flynn, frankly. Andrew McCabe lied about doing something illegal. He leaked classified documents.”

HE’S GONNA FIRE MUELLER

Moving right along, the next step following the McCabe firing was to claim that Trump is going to fire Mueller. Now, I admit, we’re overdue for our monthly TRUMP’S GONNA FIRE MUELLER storyline and here it is.

Congressional Republicans sounded alarm Sunday over President Donald Trump’s increasing belligerence toward special counsel Robert Mueller, but they offered no hint about what actions they might take if Trump attempts to fire him.

Trump’s personal lawyer tweeted that he hoped Sessions would shut down the investigation, which didn’t help the #resistance’s proclivity toward conspiracy theories.

“I pray that acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss, James Comey, based upon a fraudulent and corrupt dossier,” John Dowd said.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb said the White House is “not considering or discussing” firing Mueller.

Officials wanted Florida school shooter committed back in 2016

The recommendation to commit this maniac was never acted upon.

But more than a year earlier, documents in the criminal case against Nikolas Cruz and obtained by The Associated Press show school officials and a sheriff’s deputy recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation.

The documents, which are part of Cruz’s criminal case in the shooting, show that he had written the word “kill” in a notebook, told a classmate that he wanted to buy a gun and use it, and had cut his arm supposedly in anger because he had broken up with a girlfriend.

He also told another student he had drunk gasoline and was throwing up. Calls had even been made to the FBI about the possibility of Cruz using a gun at school.

The shooter would have had a hard time legally acquiring a gun had this happened. Who dropped the ball on this?

Historical picture of the day:

Socks the cat peers over the podium in the White House briefing room Saturday March 19, 1994. A White House groundskeeper was walking Socks when he stopped and lifted Socks to the podium. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)

Your daily WTF:

DC council member apologizes after blaming snowfall on Jewish bankers controlling climate

Other morsels:

Putin easily wins fourth term as Russia’s president, early results show

Trump campaign phased out use of Cambridge Analytica data before election

With a pause to pray, rescuers retrieve last of 6 killed in bridge collapse

Trump’s pick for secretary of state reportedly set up ‘kill teams’ of commandos at the CIA

California town seeks exemption from sanctuary state status

Illegal immigrants made 1.3 million identity thefts and IRS isn’t sure if cases were prosecuted

Al Sharpton’s Group And Black Lives Matter Team Up For Pro-Farrakhan Protest

MEDIA BIAS: I Suffered A Trial By Media At The Hands Of The Washington Post. I Was Presumed Guilty

Love triangle reportedly led to leak of Porter’s wife-beating accusations