memeorandum: Senate Intel panel to probe Trump team's ties to Russia (Evelyn Rupert/The Hill)

2:35 PM ET, January 14, 2017

Top Items:

Itay Hod / The Wrap:

Jennifer Holliday Pulls Out of Trump Inauguration, Apologizes to LGBT Community (Exclusive) — “I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgement,” Broadway legend writes in open letter provided to TheWrap — Jennifer Holliday has canceled her appearance at Donald Trump's inauguration event next week …

Discussion: USA Today, The Guardian, New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, Mediaite, Mashable, CBS New York, Towleroad, AOL and theGrio

Kevin Fallon / The Daily Beast:

Jennifer Holliday Pulls Out of Trump Inauguration, Apologizes to LGBT Community — Update: On Saturday morning Jennifer Holliday released a letter addressed to the LGBT community announcing that she will no longer be performing at the inauguration concert, apologizing for what she called a “lapse of judgment.”

Discussion: Associated Press, neo-neocon, Gothamist, AOL, Mediaite and New York Times

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Singer Jennifer Holliday pulls out of inauguration performance

Discussion: RedState

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:

Trump rips John Lewis: Worry about your ‘crime infested’ district — on Saturday morning returned fire on a top Democrat who said he was not a “legitimate president.” — A day after Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said Trump was not legitimate, the president-elect told him to worry about his own district instead.

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Lawmakers condemn Trump for attack on John Lewis — Lawmakers took to social media on Saturday to defend Rep. John Lewis's (D-Ga.) legacy after President-elect Donald Trump — launched an early-morning Twitter attack on the civil rights leader. — Pushing back against Trump's criticism that Lewis is …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NBC News, Political Insider blog and Politicus USA

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Trump rips John Lewis as Democrats boycott inauguration — Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. John Lewis on Saturday after the civil rights icon said he doesn't view Trump as a “legitimate president” — and the confrontation threatened to trigger a broader boycott of Trump's inauguration …

Discussion: alan.com, The Hill and CBS New York

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Trump Hits Back at John Lewis [Updated]

Discussion: The Guardian and Vox

Matt Rivera / NBC News:
John Lewis: 'I Don't See Trump as a Legitimate President'

Evelyn Rupert / The Hill:

Senate Intel panel to probe Trump team's ties to Russia — The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Friday that it will be launching a bipartisan inquiry into Russian intelligence activities, including looking into whether President-elect Donald Trump — 's allies were in contact with the Kremlin.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina:
Joint Statement on Committee Inquiry into Russian Intelligence Activities

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, Daily Kos, Mediaite, NPR and The Guardian

Elana Schor / Politico:
Intelligence Committee will investigate possible Russia-Trump links

Discussion: TheBlaze, CANNONFIRE, Political Wire, RedState, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress and The Guardian

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Dukakis: Trump needs to apologize to Clinton — Former Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis said in an interview Friday that President-elect Donald Trump — needs to get off Twitter and apologize to Hillary Clinton — “I mean he ought to be ashamed of himself for this kind of stuff …

Discussion: alan.com and twitchy.com

New York Times:
Democrats Confront F.B.I. Chief at Closed-Door Intelligence Briefing

Discussion: JustOneMinute and National Review

The Huffington Post:
Something Happened In A Classified Comey Briefing That Has Democrats Fuming

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, ABC News and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Open to Shift on Russia Sanctions, ‘One China’ Policy — President-elect Donald Trump suggested he would be open to lifting sanctions on Russia and wasn't committed to a long-standing agreement with China over Taiwan.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, NBC News, The Times of Israel, Infowars, Politico, The Week, Mediaite and BizPac Review

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:
Trump open to removing Russia sanctions

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller and The Times of Israel

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Democrats plot their D.C. departures for Trump inauguration — Many prominent Democrats and Republicans who opposed Donald Trump are fleeing Washington for the inauguration, heading far from the capital to plot anti-Trump strategy or simply avoid the pain of witnessing inauguration celebrations.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Political Wire and The Hill

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
WHIP LIST: Democrats boycotting Trump's inauguration

Discussion: Daily Wire

Annie Karni / Politico:

The Man Who Became Donald Trump — The code name for the operation was “Royal Water,” English for the Latin-named “Aqua Regia” acid, which is powerful enough to dissolve gold. — That was how the small group of Hillary Clinton aides clued in to the top-secret identity of the man …

Ralph Vartabedian / Los Angeles Times:

California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns — California's bullet train could cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated — as much as $3.6 billion more - according to a confidential federal report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Discussion: Hot Air, Althouse, East Bay Times, Mother Jones, KTLA and CBS Sacramento

The Independent:

Ex-MI6 agent's frustration as FBI sat on Trump file for months — Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who investigated Donald Trump's alleged Kremlin links, was so worried by what he was discovering that at the end he was working without pay, The Independent has learned.

Discussion: Politicus USA, Balloon Juice, emptywheel and Talking Points Memo

Armstrong Williams / The Hill:

Armstrong Williams op-ed: Dems, not Jeff Sessions, have the real race problem — It is an unfortunate truth that Democrats are not the examples of diversity and inclusion as much as they claim. — They portray themselves as the righteous warriors of truth and conviction, and they actually believe this “truth” to be self-evident.

Discussion: New York Post and Politico

Frank MacEachern / Westport Daily Voice:

Cops: Greenwich Republican Insulted Town Worker, Then Pinched Her Groin — GREENWICH, Conn. — A well-known Greenwich Republican called a town worker “nothing but a bloodsucking lazy union employee” and later reached in from behind to place his hand between her legs and pinch her in the groin area …

Discussion: Political Wire

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Human Rights Watch lists Trump as threat to human rights — Human Rights Watch is listing President-elect Donald Trump — as a threat to human rights, calling his campaign a “vivid illustration of the politics of intolerance.” — “Donald Trump's election as US president …

Discussion: RedState, Informed Comment and Common Dreams