Article snippet: The TAKE with Rick Klein The battle against the "deep state" is looking fairly shallow at the moment. Thursday's meeting, arranged by the White House, where Department of Justice officials are prepared to share classified information with two Republican (and only Republican) members of Congress, represents an unprecedented effort by conspiracy theories into political discourse. (Late Wednesday, the White House and DOJ gave in to Democrats’ demands that they not be excluded and scheduled a separate, second briefing two hours later for Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, known as the "Gang of 8.") Trump is calling it "Spygate." Really, though, it’s an evidence-free suggestion that the Obama Justice Department had an undercover operative informing on Trump’s campaign. "I hope it's not true. But it looks like it is," the president said Wednesday. Actually, based on publicly available information and what former officials have said, it looks to be not true. By talking it up, Trump is really hoping that people will believe it might be. It highlights an odd twist surrounding extends deeper into its second year. The investigation could wind up being quite bad for Trump, of course. But talking it up – where it may have come from, where it may be going – looks good for the president at the moment. The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks A federal judge decided yesterday that the president cannot selectively block some Americans from receiving ... Link to the full article to read more