memeorandum: An Award for Bill Clinton Came With $500,000 for His Foundation (Deborah Sontag/New York Times)

4:50 PM ET, May 29, 2015

Top Items:

Dennis Hastert paid to conceal sexual misconduct, sources say — Indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was paying an individual from his past to conceal sexual misconduct, two federal law enforcement officials said Friday. — One of the officials, who would not speak publicly …

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:

Investigators Considered Second Alleged Victim In Hastert Investigation But Didn't Include In Indictment — The Illinois Republican is accused of lying to the FBI and evading reporting requirements on cash payments he made. — Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images — What We Know So Far

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, OpenSecrets.org, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Week, Mediaite, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, The National Memo, CANNONFIRE, Politico, Liberaland, Hinterland Gazette, The Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

So What Did Hastert Do? — “The Coach”, former House Speaker turned high-priced lobbyist, is the target of a mysterious indictment. The Times has some details (and attaches the indictment) and the WaPo has some speculation that is informative for its omissions. [BREAKING UPDATES below]

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times and Booman Tribune

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Creepy C-SPAN Caller To Hastert: Do You ‘Remember Me From Yorkville?’ (VIDEO) — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) got a strange call from an Illinois resident last year in a C-SPAN segment that surfaced in light of allegations that he agreed to pay $3.5 million in hush money to an individual from the town of Yorkville.

Discussion: TVNewser and Associated Press

NBC News:

Dennis Hastert Paid to Hide Sexual Misconduct With Student: Official — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert paid a man to conceal sexual misconduct while the man was a student at the high school where Hastert taught, a federal law enforcement official told NBC News on Friday.

Discussion: The Atlantic and Patterico's Pontifications

New York Times:

Payments by Hastert Linked to Report of Sexual Abuse — WASHINGTON — J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, was paying a man to not say publicly that Mr. Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, according to two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an F.B.I. investigation into the payments.

Discussion: Bloomberg View

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Welcome To The Martin O'Malley Moment

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Bloomberg Business, Booman Tribune, Political Wire and Hinterland Gazette

Monique Garcia / Chicago Tribune:
Hastert statue shelved at Illinois Capitol

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and Chicago

Michael Tarm / Associated Press:
The Few Clues In Hastert Indictment

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CANNONFIRE, Daily Kos and Reuters

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Americans Choose “Pro-Choice” for First Time in Seven Years — Story Highlights — PRINCETON, N.J. — Half of Americans consider themselves “pro-choice” on abortion, surpassing the 44% who identify as “pro-life.” This is the first time since 2008 that the pro-choice position …

Discussion: Politico, RH Reality Check, Religion News Service, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, The Federalist, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, PoliticusUSA, LifeNews.com, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Deborah Sontag / New York Times:

An Award for Bill Clinton Came With $500,000 for His Foundation — To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Petra Nemcova, a Czech model who survived the disaster by clinging to a palm tree, decided to pull out all the stops for the annual fund-raiser of her school-building charity, the Happy Hearts Fund.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Mediaite, Fox News, National Review, The Daily Caller, American Spectator, Hot Air, Bloomberg Business, The Week, Althouse and Politico

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

If Hillary becomes president, who will make her obey the law? — A President Hillary Clinton would have far more power to set up a secretive system of communications than a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Who could tell her no? (AP Photo) — Last year, before Hillary Clinton's …

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
The Hillary Clinton Paradox

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Cafe Hayek

Joe Conason / Politico:
The fake Clinton scandals are back

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, Slate, The National Memo, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Mail and Liberal Values

Katie McDonough / Salon:

Bernie Sanders exposed! A shocking look at his views on rape and violence against women — Mother Jones senior reporter Tim Murphy has a profile out this week on Bernie Sanders' “long, strange trip” from a “restless political activist” to mayor of Burlington, Vermont and now a presidential bid.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, CNN, Shakesville, Mediaite, BarbWire.com and mrctv.org/videos

Dan Merica / CNN:

Bernie Sanders distances himself from ‘dumb’ 1972 essay on rape — Bernie Sanders wrote about rape fantasies in 1970s 06:17 — New York (CNN)Bernie Sanders' campaign tried on Thursday to distance the presidential candidate from a 1972 essay in which he wrote — among other things …

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, National Review, Daily Mail, The Hill, BREITBART.COM, Jezebel, Seven Days, Taylor Marsh, Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Vox and BuzzFeed

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Rand Paul's money problem — Behind the Kentucky senator's NSA ‘filibuster’ lies a desperate quest for cash. — In a presidential campaign defined by billionaire sugar daddy donors, Rand Paul has a problem: He doesn't seem to have one. — While his rivals cultivate wealthy backers …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Bloomberg Business, Hot Air and Washington Monthly

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Pro-Paul group unleashes fiery attack ad

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

Politico:

Lincoln Chafee to announce presidential run on June 3 — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee will officially enter the presidential race on June 3, a source with knowledge of his plans told POLITICO. — He'll make the announcement in a speech he's scheduled to deliver next Wednesday …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Towleroad News #gay, OnPolitics, The Week and The PJ Tatler

David Wasserman / FiveThirtyEight:

The Supreme Court Could Give The GOP Another 8 Seats In Congress — This week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by conservative activists in Texas that could redefine the principle of “one person, one vote” as we know it. And if the Court sides with the plaintiffs …

Discussion: Election Law Blog, Political Wire and AMERICAblog News

Rasmussen Reports:
Most Democrats Think Illegal Immigrants Should Vote

Discussion: American Spectator and Hot Air

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:

U.S. Economy Contracted 0.7% in First Quarter — The economy got off to an even weaker start this year than first thought, the government reported Friday, as economic activity contracted amid a disappointing trade picture and continued caution on spending by businesses and consumers alike.

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Truth Revolt, Scared Monkeys, Washington Monthly and The Week

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. GDP Swings to Contraction in First Quarter

Discussion: Forbes, Outside the Beltway and NPR

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

CNN's Jake Tapper won't moderate panel discussion at Clinton Global Initiative confab — CNN anchor Jake Tapper has pulled out of his scheduled duties moderating a panel on workforce investment at the upcoming Clinton Global Initiative America Meeting in Denver from June 8-10.

Discussion: Mediaite

Matt Richtel / New York Times:

Windshield Devices Bring Distracted Driving Debate to Eye Level — In a widely watched YouTube video, a man is driving around Los Angeles when his phone rings. On a small screen mounted on the dashboard, an image of the caller, the man's mother, appears. — But there's an optical twist …

Discussion: Boing Boing and Eschaton

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Insecure American — America remains, despite the damage inflicted by the Great Recession and its aftermath, a very rich country. But many Americans are economically insecure, with little protection from life's risks. They frequently experience financial hardship …

Daniella Silva / NBC News:

Beer Giant Stops Production to Give Water to Storm Victims — Beer giant Anheuser-Busch stopped production at its Georgia brewery this week to instead produce drinking water for those affected by a deadly bout of historic flooding and storms in Texas and Oklahoma.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, US News, Washington Post, The Week and BizPac Review

Jeff Rathke / US Department of State:

Rescission of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism — Press Statement — Director, Office of Press Relations — Washington, DC — In December 2014, the President instructed the Secretary of State to immediately launch a review of Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism …

Discussion: Telegraph, Daily Mail, Common Dreams, mrctv.org/videos and The Week

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Thousands of websites block Congress in Patriot Act protest — Thousands of websites are blocking Congress's access to their sites in a show of force to protest the Patriot Act. — Led by the online activist group Fight for the Future, more than 10,000 sites have added code that redirects …

Discussion: Raw Story, Guardian and Business Insider