* Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Josh Dawsey report that Scott Pruitt’s misuse of official resources just keeps getting bigger:
Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his executive scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chairman and chief executive of the fast-food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”?
A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with someone from the company’s legal department. Only then did he reveal the “opportunity” on his mind was a job for his wife, Marlyn.
“The subject of that phone call was an expression of interest in his wife becoming a Chick-fil-A franchisee,” company representative Carrie Kurlander told The Washington Post via email.
He’s just about at the point where he’s too much of an embarrassment for Trump to keep around.
* Ashley Parker, Robert Costa, and Josh Dawsey report that the pardon process in this White House continues to run smoothly:
President Trump is privately telling aides that he is strongly considering pardoning Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman serving a life sentence, after meeting with Kim Kardashian to discuss her case, as he becomes increasingly fixated on his ability to issue pardons.
The pardon for Johnson could come as early as Tuesday, and the paperwork was being finalized Tuesday morning, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Trump’s aides and associates see Kardashian’s celebrity imprimatur as crucial and alluring to the president.
But the potential pardon of Johnson has caused consternation in the West Wing, with top advisers — including chief of staff John F. Kelly and White House counsel Donald McGahn — disturbed by the process, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
Kelly has reviewed Johnson’s background and her 1996 conviction — she was sentenced to life in prison on drug possession and money laundering charges — and is not convinced she deserves a pardon, an administration official said. And McGahn has also argued against the possible pardon as an unnecessary action by the president, a second official said.
From what I’ve heard, Johnson probably deserves a pardon. But what about all the people with meritorious claims who don’t have Kim Kardashian or Sly Stallone to advocate for them?
* Alice Ollstein reports that the latest report from the Medicare and Social Security trustees shows that, oddly enough, the Trump tax cuts have not caused an economic boom that strengthened the programs’ financial position, as the administration said they would. Weird.
* Jonathan Chait examines photos of the rally Trump held today and finds almost no Eagles fans (the attendees looked more like hastily-assembled Republican staffers), not to mention the fact that President Trump clearly does not know the words to “God Bless America.”
* And Maria Danilova reports that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ school safety commission will not be examining the role guns play in kids not being safe at school. Because that would be crazy.