Max Greenwood

The Washington Post pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claims that a report about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s conversations with a Russian ambassador was “fake news.” President Trump obliquely referred to the Post's story on Flynn that cited nine former or current officials, insisting the sources were made up. “Everything we published regarding Gen. Flynn was true, as confirmed by subsequent events and on-the-record statements from administration officials themselves,” Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a statement. "The story led directly to the general’s dismissal as national security adviser. Calling press reports fake doesn’t make them so.”

The White House is barring counselor Kellyanne Conway from television appearances after the high-profile aide made multiple on-air statements contradicting the Trump administration’s official stance.

Conway, who was recently a regular fixture on TV news, hasn’t appeared for an on-air interview since early last week. That Feb 13, she argued that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had the “full confidence” of President Trump. Flynn resigned from his post later that day amid revelations that he misled Vice President Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. And on Feb 21, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump asked for Flynn’s resignation. That directly contradicted Conway’s claim on NBC’s “Today” earlier that morning that Flynn had offered to step down. Conway was "off message," a White House source told CNN. Since then, Conway has sat for interviews on radio shows, but has been uncharacteristically absent from the television news circuit.

Robert Michel, the former House Republican leader who helped push President Reagan’s agenda through Congress, died Feb 17 at 93. Michel first took office in 1957 and spent nearly four decades in the House, before being replaced as the House GOP leader by conservative firebrand Newt Gingrich in 1994. The Illinois congressman was known for his affinity for consensus-building, rather than obstructionism. Through bipartisan cooperation, especially with former Democratic House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, Michel helped steer Reagan’s agenda of cuts to taxes and social welfare programs through the House.

The White House tightened up President Trump's lax social media security shortly after it was revealed that Trump’s official Twitter account, @POTUS, was linked to a personal Gmail account. The Gmail link could have allowed any hacker with access to the Gmail account to reset the Twitter password and gain control of the influential account.

A request to reset the password for the account earlier on Jan 26 revealed that Trump’s recovery e-mail was an address on Google’s widely used e-mail service. A TV Guide editor was the first to attempt the password reset. The Hill confirmed that the password could be reset through Gmail. As the hacks of Democratic Party-affiliated e-mail accounts allegedly perpetrated by Russian hackers recently revealed, personal accounts can be vulnerable to illicit access. Theoretically, a hacker could use the Gmail account to wrest control of the @POTUS handle for mischief or worse.

Breitbart’s national security editor will become the latest employee of the right-wing website to join the Trump Administration. Sebastian Gorka will likely serve on Trump’s National Security Council.

Gorka, who has worked for Breitbart since 2014, is known for his hardline stances on Islam and the War on Terror. He had also worked as a Fox News contributor, though the network terminated Gorka’s contract when executives learned of his new position in the administration. During the 2016 election, Gorka was a paid consultant for the Trump campaign. Gorka joins former Breitbart Executive Chairman Stephen Bannon, who is currently Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor, in the White House. On Jan 22, it was reported that Breitbart staff writer Julia Hahn would join the administration as a special assistant to the president. In that position, Hahn will work closely with Bannon.