memeorandum: Rubio, Bush and Paul Are Clinton's Top Opponents in Swing States Poll (Margaret Talev/Bloomberg Business)

6:45 AM ET, June 17, 2015

Top Items:

Martin Matishak / The Hill:

Issa escorted out of Benghazi deposition — Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) tried to crash former Hillary Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal's deposition before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Tuesday. — Issa marched into the closed-door deposition …

Discussion: CNN, Balloon Juice, The Last Refuge, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Bob and Chez Show and Politico

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Blumenthal says he didn't write Libya intel he sent Clinton — Sidney Blumenthal did not write or know the source of any of the Libya intelligence he passed on to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Blumenthal told House Benghazi investigators on Tuesday, according to sources in the room.

Discussion: Vox, The Last Refuge and Washington Post

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Donald Trump Elbows His Way into the Republican Clown Car

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, No More Mister Nice Blog, alicublog, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg Business, The BRAD BLOG, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Hot Air and New York Times

NBC News:
First Read: Jeb's Electability Challenge

Discussion: Advocate, Vox, FishbowlDC, Talking Points Memo and Power Line

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Donald Trump hopes to go from TV to campaign trail - CNNPolitics.com

Discussion: The Huffington Post, CNNMoney, Salon, The BRAD BLOG, San Antonio Current, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ABC News and American Spectator

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Neil Young to Donald Trump: Don't Rock in My Free World — The rocker also endorses Bernie Sanders. — When Donald Trump strode on to the stage at Trump Tower on Tuesday to announce that he would enter the Republican race for president, a rock and roll anthem blared: Neil Young's “Rockin' in the Free World.”

Discussion: NBC News, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABC News, Mediaite and Raw Story

P. J. O'Rourke / The Daily Beast:

Garish Tastes, Awful Hair: Donald Trump Is America — He's the king of bad taste in a country that loves bad taste. And all the candidates (him included) are pygmies anyway. Go, Donald! — Who are these jacklegs, highbinders, wirepullers, mountebanks, swellheads, buncombe spigots …

Discussion: National Review, McClatchy Washington Bureau, NBC News, Politico, The Federalist and Ed Driscoll

Tim Hanrahan / Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump Transcript: ‘Our Country Needs a Truly Great Leader’ — Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he was running for president in 2016, a move that threatens to upend the already crowded Republican primary field. In his speech, Mr. Trump offered a blistering critique of the Obama administration and of politicians in general.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Bloomberg View, Business Insider, Mashable, The Bob and Chez Show and Bloomberg Business

Randy Lewis / Los Angeles Times:

Neil Young: Donald Trump ‘not authorized’ to rock in the free world — Billionaire Donald Trump, a Republican, announced his bid for the presidency with Neil Young's “Rockin' in the Free World” blasting in the background, and once again a political candidate has associated himself with a rock star without the endorsement of said star.

Discussion: The Week

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Pushing Someone Rich, Donald Trump Offers Himself

Discussion: Daily Kos, Politico, Outside the Beltway and UT San Diego

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
Why Donald Trump Isn't A Real Candidate, In One Chart

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Slantpoint, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Mark Halperin / Bloomberg Business:
Donald Trump: An Announcement Like No Other

Discussion: Hot Air, ABC News, Little Green Footballs, neo-neocon and The Moderate Voice

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress: Watch Donald Trump Go Full Nativist In Presidential Campaign Launch

Tim Hanrahan / Wall Street Journal:
Why Donald Trump Is Important, in One Chart

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Post

Washington Post: Full text: Donald Trump announces a presidential bid

Mark Schultz / Raleigh News & Observer:

Teacher, vice principal resign over gay fable — Teacher Omar Currie reads a copy of a complaint a parent filed after he read the book 'King & King" to his third grade students at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School. The school has upheld the use of the book, but a parent has appealed the superintendent.

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Raw Story, Associated Press, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Bjorn Lomborg / USA Today:

What Pope Francis should do to really help the poor: Bjorn Lomborg — How can we best aid the world's most vulnerable? — Pope Francis's concern for the poor is clear, so it is understandable that climate change is the topic of his forthcoming Encyclical — a Papal letter that is sent out to the world.

Discussion: American Thinker, Power Line and EcoWatch

Margaret Talev / Bloomberg Business:

Rubio, Bush and Paul Are Clinton's Top Opponents in Swing States Poll — The findings may ramp up the rivalry between two Florida sons, Bush and Rubio. — t margarettalev — Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Rand Paul are leading the Republican pack as most electable against Democrat Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Politico

Erin McClam / NBC News:

‘I Definitely Am Not White’: Rachel Dolezal Breaks Silence — Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP chapter leader who resigned after she was accused of lying about her race, refused to concede that she had deceived anyone and flatly told NBC News on Tuesday: “I identify as black.”

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story, Advocate, The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Warren Throckmorton, Vogue, ABC News and CBS Seattle

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / TIME:
Let Rachel Dolezal Be as Black as She Wants to Be

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, bet.com and Washington Post

Paul Lewis / Guardian:

Senate passes torture ban despite Republican opposition — Despite 21 Republican senators rejecting push to prevent future administrations from enacting Bush-era CIA torture programs, bipartisan amendment passes — More than 20 Republican senators rejected a ban on the use of cruel …

Discussion: LewRockwell, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress and The Agonist

Politico:
GOP rife with tensions over Obamacare-SCOTUS response

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, PoliticusUSA, US News and Talking Points Memo

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Jeb Bush knocks Pope on climate change push — He makes a little news during his foray into New Hampshire. — DERRY, N.H. — A day after pledging to run, and run hard, in every state, Jeb Bush started off with the relatively easy road through New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

St. Louis Cardinals Investigated by F.B.I. for Hacking Astros — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past two decades, for hacking …

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:

What I learned from covering the Bushes for more than 30 years — If anyone should be feeling an overwhelming sense of Groundhog Day this presidential election, c'est moi. — Frankly, I've been covering Bushes for so long, I feel like I ought to be parachuting out of airplanes.

Discussion: Progress Pond

Cory Bennett / The Hill:

Oversight chair wants officials fired over hack — House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) called on President Obama to fire at least two top officials from the embattled Office of Personnel Management (OPM) over their role in the massive data breach that has rattled the government.

Asbury Park Press:

LIVE NOW: Press conference on Asbury Park shooting — Live video from the Asbury Park Press / APP.com — ASBURY PARK - An eyewitness said he saw an off-duty Neptune Township police officer shoot a woman following a violent encounter that began with a car crash at the corner of Ridge and Sewall avenues.

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and Raw Story

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Amazon Experiments With Citizen Deliveries — Move would help Web retailer manage the shopping experience, rising shipping costs — In its ceaseless quest to speed delivery, Amazon.com Inc. wants to turn the U.S. into a nation of couriers. — The Seattle retailer is developing …

Discussion: Mashable, Guardian, Consumerist and The Verge