Top Items:
John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Indicted On Federal Charges — The Justice Department charged the Illinois Republican Thursday for evading reporting requirements and lying to the FBI as part of a scheme to pay off the victim of “prior bad acts.” — Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
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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. — Background from the Times:
Discussion:
Washington Post
Monica Davey / New York Times:
U.S. Accuses Ex-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Paying to Hide ‘Misconduct’ — CHICAGO — J. Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has been charged with lying to the F.B.I. and making cash withdrawals from banks in a way that was designed to hide …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly 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:
Associated Press, BuzzFeed and TVNewser
Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Welcome To The Martin O'Malley Moment
The Note: Welcome To The Martin O'Malley Moment
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Political Wire and Baltimore Sun
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:
The Hill, Hinterland Gazette, Shakesville, Political Wire and BarbWire.com
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Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
Let's Not Crucify Bernie Sanders for His Sexual-Fantasies Essay
Let's Not Crucify Bernie Sanders for His Sexual-Fantasies Essay
Discussion:
NewsBusters, Hot Air, Mediaite, alicublog and Twitchy
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:
Bloomberg Business, Hot Air, Political Wire, Althouse and Politico
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:
Bloomberg Business, NBC News, Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Hot Air
Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Trump stokes 2016 talk, schedules ‘major announcement’ — Donald Trump will make a “major announcement” on June 16 at New York City's Trump Tower before heading to New Hampshire the next day, according to WMUR-9 in New Hampshire. — The schedule adds to the speculation Trump will run …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Hot Air
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Joe Otterson / The Wrap:
Donald Trump Has ‘Foolproof’ Plan to Defeat ISIS - But He Won't Share It (Video)
Donald Trump Has ‘Foolproof’ Plan to Defeat ISIS - But He Won't Share It (Video)
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Huffington Post
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:
The Moderate Voice, Politico, PoliticusUSA, The Federalist, LifeNews.com and The Huffington Post
Joe Conason / Politico:
The fake Clinton scandals are back — The right's newest crusade has an old fake villain. — Lead image by AP Photo. — Has Washington learned nothing from Whitewater? The Clintons have spent their entire political lives in the capital dogged by one fake scandal after another.
Discussion:
Slate, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Liberal Values, Taylor Marsh and Daily Mail
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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 …
S.V. Dáte / National Journal:
Jeb Bush's History of Outsourcing His Campaign So He Can Raise Big Money — In 1998, the Republican Party of Florida paid for his TV ads, polling, and campaign staff salaries as he ran for governor — As Jeb Bush circa 2015 considers pushing the campaign finance envelope by offloading expenses …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Sam Youngman / Lexington Herald-Leader:
Comer concedes to Matt Bevin, ‘enthusiastically’ supports GOP nominee for governor — Significant update: Agriculture Commissioner James Comer conceded to the GOP nominee Matt Bevin Friday morning, solidifying the Bevin-Jack Conway contest to replace outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear.
Scott Johnson / Power Line:
Thoughts from the ammo line — Ammo Grrrll stands and delivers Psychotic Ninnies, Circa 1975. She writes: — Last Friday I referred to the Psychotic Ninny Wing of the feminist movement. In the beginning they were a relatively small part of the legitimate push for equality and expanded opportunities for women.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Tunku Varadarajan / Politico:
The reign in Spain is no longer on the wane — King Felipe and Queen Letizia, an “in touch” duo that's trying to keep together a weakened kingdom. — MADRID — Spain has been magnificent at giving birth to painters and poets, impressive at minting novelists, chefs and soccer players, but thoroughly inept at producing good kings.
ACLU:
PICKING UP THE PIECES — When Officer Rod Webber quickly approached the car that Hamza Jeylani was sitting in, the 17-year-old hit record on his cell phone.1 Moments earlier, Jeylani and three friends were pulled over by the officer after making a U-turn in a church parking lot in South Minneapolis …
Discussion:
Guardian, American Civil Liberties Union, ThinkProgress and Common Dreams
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:
Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway and The Week
Gina Tron / The Daily Beast:
Man Threatens Suicide, Police Kill Him — Justin Way was in bed with a knife. His girlfriend called a non-emergency number to try to get him into a hospital. Minutes later, cops shot him dead. — On May 11, Justin Way was drinking and threatening to hurt himself.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Mediaite, Hit & Run and Boing Boing
New York Times:
Let Patriot Act Provisions Expire — Barring a last-minute compromise, congressional authorization for the program the government uses to sweep up Americans' phone records in bulk will lapse on Sunday. That would be perfectly fine. — The looming expiration of a handful of provisions of the Patriot Act …
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and Techdirt
Chris Solari / Lansing State Journal:
Husband, wife sink rare back-to-back aces at same hole — When Tony and Janet Blundy go golfing, their competitive streaks can come out. — But on Sunday, the husband and wife from Portland was celebrating one another's success. They achieved an extremely rare feat, with holes-in-one on consecutive shots at the same hole.
Discussion:
Fox News Insider and ABC News