memeorandum: Albright on Trump: Bannon ‘pulling the strings’ (David Cohen/Politico)

12:45 PM ET, February 5, 2017

Top Items:

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Sanders on Trump: ‘This guy is a fraud’ — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that President Donald Trump is “a fraud” and is working with Wall Street as he looks to roll back some banking regulations. — “It is hard not to laugh, to see President Trump alongside these Wall Street guys.

Discussion: Political Wire

Isaac Arnsdorf / Politico:

McConnell rebukes Trump's judge attack — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday distanced himself from President Donald Trump's positions on Russia, voter fraud and the travel ban, while criticizing the president for attacking a federal judge. — “It is best not to single out judges …

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 2-5-17: VP Mike Pence, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Sen. Ben Sasse

Discussion: The Week

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:
VP Mike Pence Did Not Ask Supreme Court Nominee About Roe V. Wade

Discussion: Associated Press

Isaac Arnsdorf / Politico:
Pence leaves door open to easing Russia sanctions

Discussion: ABC News and Mediaite

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:
Pence Defends Trump ‘Speaking His Mind’ About Federal Judge, Promises ‘All Legal Means’ to Challenge Ruling

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Axios, Hot Air, IJR, Politico, Washington Post, NBC News, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Business Insider, 6, CBS Boston, BizPac Review, Mother Jones, The Week, Common Dreams, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo and France 24

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Appeals court rejects Trump administration's request to restore travel ban — A federal appeals court early Sunday rejected the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to restore President Trump's travel ban on immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Discussion: RedState, alan.com and IJR

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Pence: Judge ‘certainly’ has right to halt travel ban — said a federal judge in Seattle “certainly” has the authority to halt President Donald Trump — 's travel ban, but insisted the administration would seek a stay of the order. — “He certainly does, and that's why the administration …

Discussion: AOL, Politicus USA and The Geller Report

Robert Barnes / LawNewz:
On Trial: Why Trump's Immigration Ban Will Win Over Seattle Judge's Nationwide Order

Discussion: Hot Air, The Last Refuge and The Gateway Pundit

Laura Jarrett / CNN:
DOJ appealing travel ban ruling

Discussion: Reuters, Common Dreams, The Gateway Pundit, MichelleMalkin.com, Raw Story, Mediaite, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and TheBlaze

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Appeals Court Denies Request For “Immediate” Order Bringing Back Trump's Travel Ban

Discussion: Power Line, NPR, Outside the Beltway and Politicus USA

John Fund / National Review: Round Two for the Supreme Court?

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Appeals Court Rejects Request to Immediately Restore Travel Ban

Julie Westfall / Los Angeles Times:

Hundreds of people showed up for a town hall with California's Rep. Tom McClintock, and things got intense — The scene inside and outside Rep. Tom McClintock's town hall meeting Saturday morning was at times raucous, and the California congressman ultimately was escorted out by police.

Discussion: Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Politico

Tampa Bay Times:

A Bilirakis gathering turns out to be strongly pro-Obamacare — PALM HARBOR — Rep. Gus Bilirakis issued the call to residents of his conservative district on Facebook: Come share your thoughts on the future of health care. — More than 200 people took the Republican congressman up on it …

Angela Hart / Sacramento Bee:

McClintock exits with police escort after raucous town hall meeting in Roseville — Facing a packed auditorium and raucous crowd, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock on Saturday defended his party's national agenda and voiced strong support for President Donald Trump's controversial executive actions …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Power Line, The Guardian, 6, Occupy Democrats, The Hill, Washington Post, Daily Kos and RedState

David Cohen / Politico:

Albright on Trump: Bannon ‘pulling the strings’ — Referring to him as President Donald Trump's puppet master, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright condemned the placement of Steve Bannon on the National Security Council. — “I think he's the person that's pulling the strings,” …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Democrats aim to make Steve Bannon a scarier Karl Rove — Democrats spent years turning George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove into a bogeyman whose mere mention sent liberals' blood boiling. Now, members of Congress are doing the same to top Trump hand Steve Bannon — but in much darker terms.

Discussion: Political Wire

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Steve Bannon's Book Club

Discussion: Axios

Adam Gopnik / New Yorker:

Trump's Radical Anti-Americanism — As the President rejects our foundational principles, all we can turn to is our instinct for shared defiance. — Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, the couple who did so much to bear witness to the terrible truths of the Second World War, came to town last week …

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Trump's DOJ lays out travel ban defense — Trump travel ban remains suspended for now — (CNN)Top Justice Department lawyers are now in charge of defending the Trump administration's hastily drawn up executive order, and they are assiduously avoiding President Donald Trump's blunt …

Discussion: NBC News, Deadline and Jamie Dupree

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Prosecute the Rioters — And make sure that we condemn them as well. — From time to time over the years, the eminent historian Daniel Pipes has lamented that treason, not just as a crime but as a concept, appears defunct in the West. The question of bringing treason charges against jihadists has been raised from time to time.

Lisa Riley Roche / Deseret News:

Mitt Romney: No regrets about criticizing Trump, but time to recognize his ‘strong start’ — PARK CITY — Mitt Romney said Friday he has no regrets about criticizing then candidate Donald Trump in a stinging speech last year but now sees the new president as having “obviously gotten off to a very strong start.”

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState and Mediaite

CNN:

Gorsuch nomination meets with positive reception — That's roughly the same share that said so about Samuel Alito in 2005 and Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 — Washington (CNN)Americans' first impressions of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch tilt positive, and a plurality say the Senate ought …

Discussion: Washington Post

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

How far can protesters go before the government steps in? — The protests of 2016, against pipelines and police shootings and a presidential candidate, have sparked lawmakers in eight states to consider bills boosting penalties for unlawful demonstrations. They include one that would protect drivers …

Discussion: Hot Air