ICYMI. Scott Pruitt tries to explain how he gave his aides pay raises after the White House told him no. “You run the agency,” Henry responded incredulously. “You don’t know who did this?”
LAWYER.COM. Even Lindsay Lohan is trolling Trump.
CABLE NEWS. Rachel Maddow tops Sean Hannity in March…
FACEBOOK. Company says it scans conversations on Messenger app: ‘The company told Bloomberg that while Messenger conversations are private, Facebook scans them and uses the same tools to prevent abuse there that it does on the social network more generally. All content must abide by the same “community standards.” People can report posts or messages for violating those standards, which would prompt a review by the company’s “community operations” team. Automated tools can also do the work.’
NO VALID REASON. American Medical Association sends letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis saying there’s “no valid reason” to ban transgender people from military. “The financial cost is negligible and a rounding error in the defense budget,” Madara writes. “It should not be used as a reason to deny patriotic Americans an opportunity to serve their country. We should be honoring their service.”
LATEST TERRIBLE IDEA. Militarize the border.
HUFFPOST. Everyone got the Pulse massacre story completely wrong.
MAIL NEWS. GOP lawmaker introducing legislation to mandate Trump-Pence portraits be displayed at post offices: “The proposal comes after a Staten Island resident alerted Donovan that a local post office put up photos of former President Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, but did not display photos of President Trump or Vice President Pence.”
COVER BOYS. Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy hit the cover of OUT, shirtless.
STATE TV. Sinclair broadcasts must-run segment praising Trump’s China tariffs: ‘The canned clip, a recurring “commentary” segment called “Bottom Line with Boris,” features former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn delivering administration-friendly talking points on the president’s proposed tariffs, which target countries like China.
CASTING. Ryan Murphy has cast Joan Collins in American Horror Story and is “interested” in Anjelica Huston.
ALMOST STARRED. Brokeback Mountain writer Diana Ossana says Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton were all considered to star in the film. “Nobody wanted Heath but me and [co-writer] Larry [McMurtry]. The studio felt he wasn’t macho enough.”
FUTURE DUCHESS OF THE DAY. Meghan Markle’s Tostitos commercial.
THIRSTY THURSDAY. Khadyon.
