The Russia House: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has offered to testify in the Russian election meddling investigations in exchange for immunity from prosecution, according to a report in the Washington Post. The paper says the House and Senate intelligence committees have not taken him up on the offer, and neither has the FBI.

Either Flynn knows he did something illegal, or is worried that he might take the fall for others who did. President Trump tweeted this morning, “Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!”

Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner told the Post, “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it.”  Flynn was fired from the White House after lying to Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

It’s just 71 days into the Trump presidency and already someone is talking plea deals.

In other news about the Russia mess, the NY Times reports that two White House officials helped House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to see classified documents revealing that President Trump and his associates were swept in US spying on foreign agents. Democrats have demanded that Nunes recuse himself from the investigation after he shard what he learned with President Trump.

Nunes has refused to reveal his sources within the White House and spokesman Sean Spicer has deflected reporters’ questions about it. “I never said I would provide you answers. I said we would look into it.”

1600: President Trump threatened right wing members of his own party via … what else … Twitter … over the collapse of the Republican health care bill. He wrote, “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan told reporters that Trump’s tweet is “constructive in 5th grade. It may allow a child to get his way, but that’s not how our government works.” — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh has abruptly quit her job. Walsh says she’s leaving to work for an outside group to push the Trump agenda. Seems likely there’s more to the story.

Occupied: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has signed a law repealing the state’s “bathroom bill” that restricted use of public restrooms to facilities assigned to birth gender, not gender identity. The Republican majority legislature relented after outrage over the law threatened the state with loss of major business and events, including the NCAA basketball tournament. The Associated Press calculated that the state stood to lose $3.7 billion over the next dozen years if the bill stayed in place.

Nation: An interstate highway overpass in a vital Atlanta interchange collapsed yesterday after a massive fire burned beneath the roadway. It happened at Interstate 85 where it meets State Highway 400.

Authorities said it appeared that what burned was a stack of PVC pipe, but they don’t know what ignited the fire. The road closure is causing a commuter nightmare.

World: Venezuela took a step closer to dictatorship yesterday when the country’s Supreme Court dissolved the elected National Assembly. The Court, which is controlled by President Nicolás Maduro, has routinely overturned laws passed by the legislature, and now has overturned the legislature itself. — South Korea’s deposed former President Park Geun-hye was arrested in connection with the corruption scandal that ended her four-year presidency.

Shoot: President Trump promised jobs and a welcoming environment for business, but he’s killing the gun business. Gun sales tend to be motivated by fear of changes in gun laws and President Obama was great for guns. Not the pro-gun Trump.

In particular, sales are down for semi-automatic assault rifles. A gun dealer told NPR, “The hunter doesn’t care who’s president. The revolver shooter or the target shooter or the competition shooter really didn’t care who was president. It’s the self-defense market and the people think certain guns may be tied to politics.”

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