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Trump Allies Plot Candidate Intervention After Disastrous 48 Hours — Key Republicans close to Donald Trump's orbit are plotting an intervention with the candidate after a disastrous 48 hours led some influential voices in the party to question whether Trump can stay at the top …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Townhall.com, Politico, RedState, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Mediaite, alan.com, The Week, Washington Post, Politicus USA, NBC News, Political Wire and Business Insider
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Senior GOP Officials Exploring Options if Trump Drops Out — Republican officials are exploring how to handle a scenario that would be unthinkable in a normal election year: What would happen if the party's presidential nominee dropped out? — ABC News has learned that senior party officials …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Bloomberg.com, New York Magazine, Liberal Values, Washington Post, AOL, WTVR-TV, KTLA, Reuters, Daily Wire, The Right Scoop and FOX31 Denver


Ally of Trump staffer Paul Manafort: The staff is ‘suicidal,’ he's mailing it in — Donald Trump's behavior in recent days, from criticizing the parents of a fallen American soldier to declining to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, has strained the nerves of his campaign staff as he falls behind in the polls.


GOP reaches ‘new level of panic’ over Trump's candidacy — The Republican Party was in turmoil again Wednesday as party leaders, strategists and donors voiced increasing alarm about the flailing state of Donald Trump's candidacy and fears that the presidential nominee was damaging the party …
Discussion:
Politicus USA and The Week


GOP Reels After Unprecedented 24 Hours From Trump — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — GOP, Trump go from ‘unraveling’ to ‘break glass’ mode
Discussion:
ABC News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Slate


Former top Gingrich ally calls Trump nom ‘mistake of historic proportions’ — Vin Weber, a key early lieutenant in the Newt Gingrich revolution that transformed the U.S. House of Representatives and the GOP, rejected the candidacy of Donald Trump on Wednesday as “a mistake of historic proportions” for his party.
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire


Donald Trump transcript: The Republican nominee in his own words — Republican nominee Donald Trump sat down with The Post's Philip Rucker for an interview at Trump National Golf Club on Aug. 2 following a rally at a nearby high school. This is a lightly edited transcript of the 50-minute interview.


Sources: Trump-world frustrated by their candidate — (CNN)Donald Trump aides and people close to his campaign are increasingly frustrated by his insistence on waging various fights that steer him off message. — Sources close to the campaign are describing a series of missteps that are trailing …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, New York Post, Guardian, Booman Tribune, Political Wire and Reuters

Gingrich blasts Trump's ‘very self-destructive’ behavior — Donald Trump's behavior over the past week has been “very self-destructive” to his campaign, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday, comparing the Republican nominee to a Hall of Fame quarterback who is in the midst of an interception-throwing slump.

Mike Pence ‘strongly’ endorses Paul Ryan, as Trump refuses to do the same
Discussion:
Political Wire, New York Times, Daily Kos, NBC News and Balloon Juice

Mike Pence Splits With Donald Trump on Paul Ryan Endorsement
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CNN, The Atlantic, Washington Post, Townhall.com, The Daily Beast, Daily Wire, ABC News, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Slate and Talking Points Memo

Pence: Trump ‘strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan’
Discussion:
RedState

Meg Whitman, Calling Donald Trump a ‘Demagogue,’ Will Support Hillary Clinton for President

Reports: Priebus ‘Apoplectic,’ Trump Aides ‘Suicidal’ After String Of Blunders
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, BizPac Review and Mediaite

What happens if a candidate—say Donald Trump—drops out of the presidential race
Discussion:
RedState and Talking Points Memo

Over the last 24 hours, Donald Trump has insulted his party's …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, TheStreet.com, Politico, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Raw Story and The Week

With Trump, Every Day is a New Buffet
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, InsideSources and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »


Trump denies asking why nukes aren't used — 's presidential campaign denied a report on Wednesday that the Republican presidential nominee had three times asked a foreign policy adviser why the U.S. could not use its vast nuclear arsenal. — “There is no truth to this,” …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mashable, alan.com, Joe.My.God., AOL, Hot Air and Infowars
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Obama Commutes Sentences Of More Than 200 People Serving Federal Sentences — Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images — WASHINGTON — President Obama commuted the sentences of 214 people serving federal sentences on Wednesday — the most commutations issued by a president in a single …
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New York Times, Daily Kos and The Week
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President Obama Commutes the Sentences of 214 Additional People — Today began like any other for 214 federal inmates across the country, but ultimately became a day I am confident they will never forget. This morning, these individuals received a message from the President: your application for clemency has been granted.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, ABC News and USA Today


George W. Bush Delivers Critique of Donald Trump's Policies — Former president stops short of putting his remarks in the context of the 2016 presidential campaign — Without naming Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, former President George W. Bush delivered an incisive critique …
Discussion:
AOL, Washington Free Beacon, The Federalist, The Daily Caller and RedState
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Georgia Republican says he might withhold electoral college vote from Donald Trump — I just finished a highly unusual telephone conversation with Baoky Vu, a naturalized U.S. citizen and longtime GOP activist in Georgia. — Vu will be on the November ballot as an elector …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Josh Blackman's Blog, Political Wire and The Resurgent


Hillary Clinton's Dueling Mandates: Praise Obama Record but Promise Change — Listen to Hillary Clinton, and it can seem like the best of times and the worst of times all at once. — In Omaha, Neb., on Monday, she ticked through facts and statistics showing how life has improved since the Great Recession …
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U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed — Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom — WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release …
Discussion:
New York Times, ABC News, Fox News, New York Post, Politico, Townhall.com, Washington Post, Jihad Watch, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NPR, Media Matters for America, Heat Street, Mediaite, Israel Matzav, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Kos, CBS New York, Pamela Geller, Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Breitbart, Daily Wire, Power Line, National Review, mrctv.org/videos, Scared Monkeys, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, twitchy.com, The Federalist, The Gateway Pundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politicus USA, MichelleMalkin.com, Business Insider, The Right Scoop, alan.com, Independent Journal Review, Althouse, Hot Air, The American Spectator, gopthedailydose.com, Fox News Insider, Grabien News RSS and Speaker.gov

Freedom Caucus Blasts House GOP Leaders For Kansas Rep's Primary Loss — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) released a scathing statement Wednesday morning blasting House GOP leaders for the primary loss of fellow Freedom caucus member Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), a fifth generation farmer who found himself without …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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A Tea Party Defeat in Kansas
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico and New York Magazine


How a Top GOP Lawyer Guided a Chinese-Owned Company Into U.S. Presidential Politics — Six days after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporate money in U.S. elections with its January 21, 2010, ruling in Citizens United, President Obama warned in his State of the Union address that it would …
Discussion:
Mother Jones


A Trump Victory Is a Scary Thought. A Disputed Loss Might Be Scarier. — Why his “rigged” comments are so corrosive and dangerous. — We have a tradition in the United States. When you lose an election, you take the L, and you move on. It's what John Adams did after he lost …


DC Metro Cop Arrested for Allegedly Trying to Assist ISIS — A veteran police officer with one of the nation's most prominent transit systems has been arrested for allegedly trying to help ISIS, ABC News has learned exclusively. — Authorities believe that while working …
Discussion:
Infowars, Washingtonian, Mediaite, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
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DC transit officer charged with aiding ISIS
Discussion:
Associated Press, BizPac Review, Hot Air, Sputnik International, The Week and The Right Scoop