memeorandum: GOP congressmen call for new independent counsel, to probe Clinton again (David Weigel/Washington Post)

7:25 PM ET, July 5, 2016

Top Items:

Remarks prepared for delivery at press briefing. — Good morning. I'm here to give you an update on the FBI's investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a personal e-mail system during her time as Secretary of State. — After a tremendous amount of work over the last year …

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Hillary Clinton's email problems might be even worse than we thought — (Yana Paskova for The Washington Post) — Here's the good news for Hillary Clinton: The FBI has recommended no charges be brought followings its investigation of the former secretary of state's private email server.

David Weigel / Washington Post:

GOP congressmen call for new independent counsel, to probe Clinton again — Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) became the first Republican to call for a new, independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of email during her years at the State Department, saying in a statement …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Gregory Krieg / CNN:

Sanders supporters melt down over FBI's Clinton decision — Watch the FBI refute Clinton email claims — (CNN)It's not only Donald Trump and Republicans expressing their indignation at the FBI's decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified materials on a private email server.

Discussion: Allen B. West and The Gateway Pundit

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Hillary Clinton Isn't Getting Indicted. Here's Why. — Tuesday morning, FBI Director James Comey announced that his agency's investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's handling of a private email server while she was Secretary of State has come to a close.

Discussion: The Hill, Allen B. West, LawNewz, USA Today, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, VICE and alan.com

Mark Landler / New York Times:

F.B.I. Director James Comey Recommends No Charges for Hillary Clinton on Email — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Shadowproof, Guardian, Brendan Nyhan, Complex, FiveThirtyEight, Taylor Marsh, Dorf on Law, WNEP-TV, LawNewz, Engadget, John C. Wright's Journal, The Week, Media Matters for America, Mashable, TalkLeft and Israel Matzav

The FBI concluded what many Americans:

The FBI concluded what many Americans have known for quite some time, which is that Hillary Clinton's conduct as Secretary of State and her mishandling of classified information was disgraceful and unbecoming of someone who aspires to the presidency. There is simply no excuse …

Discussion: Politico

Andrew McCarthy / National Review:

FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook — There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code …

Discussion: The American Spectator, Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Power Line, Questions and Observations, neo-neocon, Heat Street and Hot Air

Michael Scherer / TIME:
FBI Says Hillary Clinton Claim on Reading Emails Was False

Discussion: Politico

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite: FBI Director Shades Everyone Freaking Out About Clinton Emails: ‘Opinions Are Irrelevant’

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
FBI Recommends No Charges Should Be Filed Against Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Associated Press, Politico, Allen B. West, Lawyers, Guns & Money and BizPac Review

Dana Schwartz / The New York Observer:

An Open Letter to Jared Kushner, From One of Your Jewish Employees — My name is Dana Schwartz and I'm an entertainment writer at the Observer, the paper owned by your publishing company. On July 2, as I'm sure you're aware (and have probably been wringing your hands about for the last three days) …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, The Times of Israel, Guardian, CNN, VICE, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Week, Media Matters for America, American Prospect, The Atlantic, RedState and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Paul Ryan: Trump Needs To Get It Together After ‘Anti-Semitic’ Tweet

Discussion: Mother Jones

Ashley Feinberg / Gawker:
Trump Campaign Blames Anti-Semitic Tweet on “Microsoft's Shapes”

Discussion: New York Magazine, Vox, Jezebel, Scripting News and Althouse

Tracy Crane / News-Gazette:

Flag burning leads to Urbana man's arrest — What's your opinion? Submit a Letter to the Editor here — URBANA — Within hours of a Fourth of July Facebook post showing him burning an American flag, a 22-year-old Urbana man found himself under arrest and under fire — from all corners of the Internet.

Discussion: FOX2now.com, Washington Post, alan.com, NPR, Raw Story, KTLA, BizPac Review and FOX31 Denver

Fernando Alfonso III / Forbes:
Illinois Man Charged With Desecrating American Flag After Posting Photos On Facebook

Discussion: US News, Hit & Run and LawNewz

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

Why President Obama Campaigning For Clinton Is Historic — No president has campaigned strongly for his chosen successor in at least 100 years. — Today's event, with President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and one-time rival, in North Carolina is remarkable for that reason.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Politico, CNN, New York Magazine and Associated Press

Jay Caruso / RedState:

Sarah Palin Calls #NeverTrump “Traitors.” Here's Why She Can Sod Off — And to think there was a time I was one of Palin's biggest defenders. Now she's gone so far off the deep end, she's taking up for Donald Trump and daring to use the language Trump's most ardent supporters …

Discussion: Sarah Palin, Judicial Watch, Daily Wire, The Last Refuge and Jezebel

Selim Algar / New York Post:

Trump supporter: ‘Mexican restaurant refused to serve me’ — An Orange County woman claims she was tossed from a Mexican restaurant Sunday, not for too much tequila — but for too much Trump. — Esther Levy, 61, of Warwick, said an employee at the popular Cancun Inn eatery in Sugar Loaf chucked …

Discussion: alan.com, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, The Mike Gallagher Show, CBS New York and Gothamist

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

Nate Silver is happy to be wrong — Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump a 19 percent chance of becoming president - and that makes him a little nervous, as well it should. — No, it's not because he failed to predict Trump's albino-swan victory in the Republican primaries …

Discussion: Washington Post and ImmigrationProf Blog

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Ryan meeting with House officials on investigation of Democratic sit-in on gun legislation — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plan to meet Tuesday afternoon with House officials to decide whether to conduct a formal investigation of the behavior …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic

New York Times:
House G.O.P. May Seek to Punish Democrats for Gun Control Sit-In

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Common Dreams and Washington Post

Chicago Tribune:

Chicago police investigate Pirates infielder in sexual assault claim — Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang sits in the dugout during a game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on May 29, 2016. — Chicago police are investigating a sexual assault allegation …

Discussion: Bleacher Report, Deadspin and The Big Lead

Margaret Wente / Globe and Mail:

The bullies of Black Lives Matter — Toronto's legendary Pride Parade is a festival of inclusiveness - a good-natured rainbow coalition that embraces every letter of the LGBTQ alphabet. It's so inclusive that even straight people march in it. Its message is: Loud, proud and unbowed.

Discussion: Heat Street, CBC News and Drudge Retort

CNN:

Rio police tell tourists they won't be able to protect them — Rio de Janeiro (CNN)The Olympic Games are just 31 days away — and Rio de Janeiro is in crisis. — Violence is on the rise and police officers are at loggerheads with the government after claiming they've not been paid for months.

Discussion: AOL, Deadspin, The Big Lead, Complex and The Week

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama: ‘Sasha tweets’ but that doesn't make her qualified to be president … President Obama on Tuesday used his daughter's social media use to mock Donald Trump — During his first campaign appearance for Hillary Clinton — , Obama said Trump is just as qualified to serve as president as his 15-year-old daughter Sasha.

Franklin Foer / Slate:

Putin's Puppet — If the Russian president could design a candidate to undermine American interests—and advance his own—he'd look a lot like Donald Trump. — Vladimir Putin has a plan for destroying the West—and that plan looks a lot like Donald Trump.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Magazine, The Nation and Wall Street Journal

WKOW 27:

Gov. Scott Walker will speak at Republican National Convention — PLATTEVILLE (WKOW) — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has accepted a highly-coveted invitation to speak at the upcoming Republican National Convention later this month. — Walker confirmed news of the speaking engagement …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, The Week and Politico

TMZ.com:

I'm Worried Future Will Murder Russell Wilson — Russell Wilson is in real danger of being murdered by Future ... so claims Russell's fiancee, Ciara. — Ciara just filed legal docs in her defamation lawsuit against baby daddy Future, in which she lays out various threats Future has made.

Discussion: NBCSports.com, The Big Lead and Stereogum

Giovanni Legorano / Wall Street Journal:

Bad Debt Piled in Italian Banks Looms as Next Crisis — Brexit vote compounded strains in banking system burdened by sour loans; ‘Italy is the patient that is sickest’ — MILAN—Britain's vote to leave the EU has produced dire predictions for the U.K. economy.

Discussion: Mother Jones and AOL

Peter Wehner / New York Times:

The Theology of Donald Trump — SINCE Donald Trump assures us that the Bible is his favorite book, it's worth asking: Just what is his theology? — After Mr. Trump met with hundreds of evangelical Christians a couple of weeks ago, James Dobson, who is among the most influential leaders …

Discussion: Religion News Service, Right Wing Watch, Boing Boing, Politicus USA and Althouse

Christina Wilkie / The Huffington Post:

Newt Gingrich Is The Donald Trump Of Politics — Gingrich, a finalist to be Trump's running mate, leaves a trail of bankruptcies, lawsuits and unpaid debts. — National Political Reporter, The Huffington Post — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says he wants a running mate who …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Kara Swisher / Recode:

Comcast will let customers get Netflix on its set-top box (which is a very big deal) — The move means the once contentious pair are now pals. — Cable giant Comcast will allow popular web video streaming service Netflix onto its X1 platform, the companies confirmed after being asked by Recode about talks to do so.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Engadget, AOL, Investor's Business Daily and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

JP Carroll / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: This Is Trump's Foreign Policy, A Conversation With Top Trump Adviser Dr. Walid Phares — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “will not ask Japan or South Korea to invest in building nuclear weapons but he will speak with their leaders about how to create a safer …

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Politico and Patterico's Pontifications