Roundup is back, friends. Sorry it’s been a while. With that said, let’s dig in.
1) HB 2 claims its latest victim: the Duke basketball team.
Those of you who watched the NCAA tournament Sunday might not have been thinking about former (it still feels good to say that) governor Pat McCrory. Here at the INDY, we try to think of him as little as possible. But after suffering through UNC’s near-loss and South Carolina’s upset win over Duke, we started to wonder: Would the Blue Devils still be dancing if HB 2 hadn’t cost North Carolina the chance to host the first weekend of the Big Dance?
Hear us out.
Duke came into its matchup with the Gamecocks a ten-point favorite. And had the game been played in Greensboro, as it would have had HB 2 never happened, the Blue Devils would have done their thing in front of a pretty friendly crowd—on a court Coach Mike Krzyzewski has won many a game on. But North Carolina’s controversial bathroom bill resulted in the games being moved to Greenville, South Carolina—tilting the home court advantage in favor of a Cinderella South Carolina squad that enjoyed a home-game-like atmosphere as they earned a shocking upset and the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16.
Not to take anything away from the Gamecocks. They played a great game and Duke shot the ball terribly from the three-point line. But Greensboro has always been friendly to the Blue Devils. Guess we’ll never know.
2) Supreme Court hearings begin today.
President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch, will take questions from the Senate today, but things aren’t expected to heat up much just yet. From TheNew York Times:
Though much of the week will focus on Judge Gorsuch’s parrying of questions from senators, his first day is more of an introduction — a chance to cast himself as a fair-minded and dispassionate jurist and to set the tone for the days that follow. Democrats may supply a counternarrative.
The Times wrote a solid primer, so click here.
3) FBI Director James Comey set to talk about … stuff.
We’re not quite sure how far he’ll go when he discusses Russia and Trump’s wiretapping claims against former president Barack Obama, the British government, and household appliances, but the FBI’s top guy—the same one who threw a haymaker at Hillary Clinton right before the election—is expected to say, well, something this morning.
From CNN:
The bizarre saga of President Donald Trump’s claims that he was wiretapped by President Barack Obama last year reaches a dramatic climax Monday with FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee.
It’s a moment of political theater that could end in humiliation for Trump, with Comey expected to say that there was no wiretapping, debunking allegations that Trump has repeatedly refused to withdraw.
The hearing could also shed light on the state of FBI investigations into the extent of Russian meddling in the election campaign. Republicans hope Comey will state that there is no evidence of collusion between Trump aides and officials from Moscow, a move that could begin to break up a cloud of Russian intrigue that has stifled the early weeks of the administration.
What’s that, you asked? Did Trump attempt to preempt this testimony with a tweet rant?
Looks like Duke fans aren’t the only ones having a bad morning.