The Washington Post reports: Alabama’s closely watched U.S. Senate race is a neck-and-neck contest as voter concerns about personal moral conduct weigh on the candidacy of Republican Roy Moore, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll. With less than two weeks to go, support for Democrat Doug Jones stands at 50 percent vs. Moore’s 47 percent support among likely …

The New York Times reports: The Senate passed the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades early Saturday, with Republicans lining up to approve an overhaul that will touch almost every corner of the United States economy, affecting families, small business owners and multinational corporations, with the biggest benefits flowing to the highest-earning Americans. Senators voted 51-49, as Republicans approved the …

CNN reports: Republicans say they have the votes! They’re going to pass a massive tax reform bill Friday night that would permanently lower corporate tax rates and undo the Obamacare individual coverage mandate. And a bunch of other stuff. We’re not exactly sure about everything it would do yet. Why? Because we haven’t read the tax reform bill. Nobody has. …

Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester says he just got handed the 479-page tax and in a video just posted to Twitter, he rages that the bill even includes illegible “hand-scribbled policy changes.” “This is unbelievable. We’re doing massive tax reform on an absolutely incredible timeline. This is going to affect everybody in this country. This is going to shift money …

“It’s impossible to overstate what a big deal this is. Once again today, this moves closer to the Oval Office. And we see the unraveling of all the lies. The president’s lies, the vice president’s lies, the attorney general’s lies, and we see an administration that has a nonstop proclivity to lying, now we’re seeing the criminal consequences of it.” …

Via Mediaite: Fox News’ Shep Smith today, in reacting to the Michael Flynn plea agreement, said, “The list of people who lied is getting longer and longer.” Smith spoke with Wall Street Journal associate editor John Bussey, who agreed with Smith that there are important lingering questions about Flynn and why he lied and why President Trump gives Russia “a …

Reuters reports: U.S. Republican Senator Bob Corker said on Friday he cannot support a sweeping tax bill that Senate Republican leaders have said has enough votes to pass. “At the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen …

“This is probably the tip of a prosecutorial iceberg, so to speak. It’s a nightmare for Donald Trump, because General Flynn was his constant companion on foreign policy and national security matters from June of 2015 to the time the President fired him. “Another downside for the president is this keeps the Russia story front and center at a time …

But nothing about Michael Flynn so far. The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says media speculation that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will leave his job soon is “fake news.” Trump is responding on Twitter to widespread reports attributed to White House officials describing a plan to oust Tillerson and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Trump says …

Tickity tock: Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Trump, will meet with Senate Intelligence Committee staff this month as part of the panel’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the committee’s chairman, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that Trump Jr. would speak to staff. CNN previously reported that Trump Jr. …

Bloomberg reports: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s guilty plea Friday for lying to the FBI is alarming news for Donald Trump. But the first person it’s likely to jeopardize will be the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Two former officials with the Trump transition team who worked closely with Flynn say that during the last days of the Obama administration, …

The Hill reports: A prominent Republican LGBT advocacy group is out with an ad opposing embattled Republican Roy Moore, calling on “good Christians” to reject him ahead of Alabama’s special Senate election. The ad from Log Cabin Republicans features people praying at church and around a dinner table, saying that politicians are “attacking our values, our churches, our children.” “It’s …

Homocon Matt Drudge, the longtime darling of right, seems to be enjoying today’s news for some reason, having posted exclamatory links to well-known fake news outlets like CNN, NBC, ABC, and the Daily Beast. Notably missing (so far) from Drudge’s coverage of the still unfolding scandal are any links to Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, Sputnik News, or RT – all of …

Politico reports: Rep. Blake Farenthold used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by his former spokesman — the only known sitting member of Congress to have used a little-known congressional account to pay an accuser, sources told POLITICO. Lauren Greene, the Texas Republican’s former communications director, sued her boss in December 2014 over allegations of gender discrimination, …

The Washington Post reports: In a statement, White House lawyer Ty Cobb said, “The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel’s work demonstrates …

HOLY CRAP. ABC News reports that Michael Flynn promised “full cooperation to the Mueller team” and is prepared to testify that as a candidate, Donald Trump “directed him to make contact with the Russians.” More from ABC: The general told confidants about his decision to plead guilty in the last 24 hours, according to people close to Flynn, who say …

Talking Points Memo reports: When you’re ramming a massive tax bill through Congress at record speed, there are bound to be a few speed bumps. But after some drama on the Senate floor Thursday night, with a handful of Republican deficit hawks withholding their votes over concerns the bill would blow a $1 trillion hole in the federal deficit and …

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate reports: A former state senator could face up to life in prison after pleading guilty to child sex trafficking. Former Sen. Ralph Shortey, 35, entered a guilty plea Thursday after being caught with a 17-year-old boy at a motel. On March 9, the Moore Police Department was called shortly before 1 a.m to the Super 8 …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn is expected to plead guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about his post-election discussions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. A plea hearing for Flynn, the first Trump administration official charged in the ongoing Russia probe, has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C. federal court, …

CNN reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn with “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia’s ambassador. Bloomberg reports: Flynn is scheduled to appear at a plea hearing in a Washington D.C. court at 10:30 a.m. The charge against Flynn, 58, adds another …