THE WORST WING: Caught in the egregious error of discussing classified information on an unsecured chat line, Donald Trump’s national security team followed the tactics of their leader; they lied, denied, and blamed other people.

  Prior to the March 15th US attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen, targets, seventeen top administration officials were included in a text conversation plus one accidental participant … the editor of The Atlantic. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor, wrote about it without revealing the most secret information.

  Yesterday before the Senate Intelligence Committee the head of the CIA refused to acknowledge that the incident was a serious mistake and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at first refused to admit she was part of the chat on the unsecured app Signal, even though Jeffrey Goldberg over at The Atlantic has a record of the entire conversation.

  The chat was set up by Michael Waltz, the national security adviser. Either Waltz or a staff member mistakenly included Goldberg.

  Both Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe demurred on some of the facts, including whether they used personal unsecured telephones.  Gabbard said no classified information was shared, as if secret attack plans on a foreign country would not be classified. Ratcliffe said his use of the app was “lawful” while dodging on whether it was outright stupid.  

  Ratcliffe said that it was up to Hegseth, who held the classification authority, to determine what was appropriate to share in the conversation. It was Hegseth who gave a description of the attack plan, according to Goldberg, although Hegseth has since claimed that no classified information was shared.

  Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, described the whole incident as “sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior.” Several Congressional Democrats called for Hegseth and Walz to resign.

  President Trump called Goldberg, the accidental witness, “a sleazebag.”

  Following the bombing in Yemen, national security officials on the chat line celebrated themselves with emojis like teenagers.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

— Still aggrieved by what he claims was 2020 election fraud, President Trump signed an executive order requiring proof of US citizenship to vote in federal elections. His administration says the order is part of a crackdown on non-citizens voting, although there’s little proof that it happens enough to make any difference.

  The order also requires states to count their ballots on election day.

Trump said at the signing, “This country is so sick because of the election, the fake elections and the bad elections, and we’re going to straighten it out one way or the other.”

  Like other Trump orders Trump … for instance, ending birthright citizenship … the legality and authority of this one is questionable. But the order threatens to withhold federal funding from states that do not comply.

— Trump signed another executive order to eviscerate a major law firm in retaliation for one of its lawyers participating in the infamous “Russia, Russia, Russia” investigation against the President. This time he is punishing Jenner & Block, a prominent firm that once employed Andrew Weissmann, a longtime deputy to Robert Mueller, who conducted the investigation into Russian influence on Trump. 

  The executive order declares that many big law firms “take actions that threaten public safety and national security, limit constitutional freedoms, degrade the quality of American elections, or undermine bedrock American principles.”

— President Trump said during an interview on Newsmax that he is considering a compensation fund for the January 6^th rioters. “A lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” Trump said, adding that they “were treated very unfairly.”

— The CEOs of public broadcasting and NPR are expected to appear today at a Congressional hearing focused on whether they should continue to receive federal funding. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has accused the broadcasters of being anti-American, said, “I want to hear why NPR and PBS think they should ever again receive a single cent from the American taxpayer.”

CHEERIO: West Virginia this week became the first state to ban most artificial food dyes and two preservatives, citing their potential health risks. The law goes into effect in 2028, but prohibits products containing the dyes from being served in school meals starting this August.

  A variety of red, yellow, green, and blue dyes are used in such things as breakfast cereals, snack foods, bakery goods, and candies. One of the two banned preservatives has been described as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”

  At least 20 states are considering similar restrictions on food chemicals. They are in line with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spoken frequently about what he believes are the dangers of food dyes.

THE WAR ROOM: Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop combat in the Black Sea in a deal that may be hampered by Russian stipulations. They say they would abide by the deal only after restrictions are removed from its agricultural exports. Those penalties were imposed by the US and the European Union, requiring a good deal of process for removal.

THE SPIN RACK: A pilot and two girls survived for about 12 hours on the wing of an airplane after it crashed and was partially submerged in a frigid Alaska lake. The plane was found by other pilots and the three were rescued by the Army National Guard. —  Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas is under fire from Republicans for referring to Gov. Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels.” Abbott is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair.

BELOW THE FOLD: A video of college spring breakers interviewed on a Florida beach about government and history prompted the following answers; the Civil war was fought between East and West; the Pentagon building is square; the 2^nd Amendment is the right to vote; Asia is one of the states that borders Canada. A bikini-clad major in elementary education said that America won its independence from Spain.

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