A Ton of Americans Don't Really Care About the Russia Probe

Welcome to WHAT NOW, a morning round-up of the news/fresh horrors that await you today.

A huge chunk of the American public is indifferent about special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election and can’t make heads or tails of the recently released, much-hyped memo written by Congressman Devin Nunes.

In a survey released Wednesday by Politico/Morning Consult, three in 10 voters said they think the contents of the Nunes memo—which President Trump somewhat hilariously claimed “totally vindicates” him—are “mostly true,” while 22 percent said it’s mostly false. But a staggering 48 percent said they don’t know or have no opinion about the story, which dominated the news for days.

The shruggie emoji extends to the poll’s findings about whether the investigation has been handled fairly. Thirty-nine percent said it’s been handled “very” or “somewhat” fairly while 35 percent said it’s been handled either “not too fairly” or “not fairly at all,” a split which could be explained by simple partisanship. But 26 percent have no opinion at all—a very large number for something that has been such a dominant part of the political debate.

None of this should feel too surprising, as the national conversation about the Mueller probe has been murky at best and largely muddled by efforts either to discredit the investigation entirely (see: the Nunes memo) or to predict that it will topple Trump’s presidency. Both seem divorced from reality.

WHAT ELSE?

• Trump wants to have a massive old-fashioned military parade, telling top military officials in a secret briefing room: “I want a parade like the one in France,” The Washington Post reported.
• A budget deal seems to be materializing, as the House passed a short-term spending bill to fund the government through March 23 and the Pentagon for one year. Now the bill heads to the Senate on the day before the deadline for another government shutdown, a possibility Trump seemed enthused about on Tuesday.
• Meghan McCain said the president called to say he would stop attacking her father, John McCain. Whatever you say!