memeorandum: Trump White House besieged by leaks (Niall Stanage/The Hill)

10:05 AM ET, February 9, 2017

Top Items:

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Trump: Blumenthal lied about Vietnam, ‘misrepresents’ what Gorsuch said — President Donald Trump attacked the military record of Sen. Richard Blumenthal Thursday morning, suggesting that the Connecticut lawmaker misrepresented his conversation with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Political Wire

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Blumenthal: We're careening ‘toward a constitutional crisis’ … (D-Conn.) on Thursday warned that the country is heading toward a “constitutional crisis,” moments after President Trump attacked him for sharing Trump's Supreme Court nominee's concerns with the president's attacks on judges.

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

New York Sun:

The Gorsuch Gaffe — Talk about disheartening. That's the word President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, is using to describe President Trump's remarks in respect of the riders of the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals. The president is upset …

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch calls Trump's tweets ‘disheartening’ — Trump rips federal judge who halted travel ban — Washington (CNN)Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch told a US senator Wednesday that President Donald Trump's tweets about the judiciary are “demoralizing” and “disheartening.”

Discussion: Axios, Hot Air, Mediaite, Roll Call, The Week, Towleroad, Business Insider, The Hill, TheBlaze, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, BuzzFeed, AOL, RedState, The Guardian, Political Wire, Joe.My.God., National Review, Washington Post and Reason

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Trump contradicts Gorsuch spokesman, accuses Blumenthal of misrepresenting comments

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, ABC News, Washington Post and Joe.My.God.

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Supreme Court Nominee Calls Trump's Attacks on Judiciary ‘Demoralizing’

Discussion: The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal and Vox

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch says Trump's attacks on judiciary are ‘demoralizing’

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, TheBlaze, New York Times, The Atlantic, twitchy.com, Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite and The Hill

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Warren's moment galvanizes the left — Warren had been debating the qualifications of her Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions, to be attorney general — Washington (CNN)Democrats searching for a new rallying cry might have Senate Republicans to thank for their newest line: “She persists.”

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Silencing Sen. Elizabeth Warren ‘was long overdue’ — The Massachusetts senator on Tuesday was ruled to be in violation of Senate rules for impugning another senator. — (CNN)Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says the silencing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor Tuesday was “long overdue.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, AOL, Real Clear Politics, TheBlaze and The Atlantic

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Senate confirms Sessions as attorney general — The Senate voted Wednesday night to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions — (R-Ala.) as attorney general, capping a vicious debate that left Democrats and Republicans alike seething at times. — No Republicans went against Sessions in the 52-47 vote.

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, New York Times, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, The Other McCain, his vorpal sword, Chicago Tribune, The Stranger …, The Week and RedState

Julia Limitone / Fox Business:
Dr. Alveda King: Sen. Warren Used the King Name to Stir Up Emotions

Discussion: New York Times, AOL and Politico

CNN:
Jeff Sessions confirmed to be the next attorney general

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Above the Law, IJR, alan.com and AOL

New York Times:
Jeff Sessions Confirmed as Attorney General, Capping Bitter Battle

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner, Occupy Democrats, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications and CNN

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Senate confirms Jeff Sessions as attorney general

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Rewire, Boing Boing, United States Senator …, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune and Mashable

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Trump White House besieged by leaks — 's White House has sprung a remarkable number of leaks since his inauguration. — The question is where they're coming from. — Barely a day goes by without some unusual tale emerging from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Recent examples in a single …

Discussion: Daily Wire

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Want You to Know They Are Friends — “We're just finishing,” Steve Bannon told me. “Reince is giving me my daily back massage.” — The two men burst into a fit of conspiratorial laughter. — “Off the record!” Reince Priebus said. — “Off the record!”

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Trump struggling to fill one of the worst jobs in Washington — Controlling the message coming out of Donald Trump's White House may seem like an impossible task — and it's one that many are hesitant to try right now. — The White House has gone without a full-time communications director since …

Discussion: The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Fernanda Santos / New York Times:

She Showed Up Yearly to Meet Immigration Agents. Now They're Deporting Her. — PHOENIX — For eight years, Guadalupe García de Rayos had checked in at the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office here, a requirement since she was caught using a fake Social Security number during …

Discussion: USA Today, BizPac Review, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, AOL, New York Magazine, twitchy.com, Business Insider, The Last Refuge and Althouse

Nigel Duara / Los Angeles Times:

Longtime Phoenix resident in U.S. illegally detained in early display of Trump executive order's reach — An executive order by President Trump has expanded deportation priorities to include any immigrants in the country illegally who had been convicted of a criminal offense, regardless of its severity.

Discussion: Fox News and KTLA

Holly Yan / CNN:

Sean Spicer cites Atlanta terror attack that never happened — (CNN)Another high-profile Trump administration official has made statements about a terror attack that never occurred. — This time, it's Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Three times in one week, Spicer alluded to a terror attack in Atlanta by someone from overseas.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Occupy Democrats and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

Katie Mettler / Washington Post:
Spicer claims he ‘clearly meant Orlando’ after citing mystery Atlanta terrorist attack three times

Discussion: alan.com, The Week, Political Insider blog and Gothamist

Matthew Claiborne / ABC News:
Sean Spicer on Citing Atlanta Terror Attack That Never Happened: I ‘Clearly Meant’ Orlando

Discussion: Business Insider and Political Insider blog

Bloomberg:

Trump's Oval Office Tweets Force CEOs to Choose Fight or Flight — The president crossed a new line with Nordstrom attack — Starbucks, Apple, Alphabet criticized immigration order — President Donald Trump is injecting himself into the daily business of U.S. companies to an unprecedented extent …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Politico, USA Today and Raw Story

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Ethics watchdog offers to help Nordstrom sue Trump under California Unfair Competition Law

Discussion: The Guardian, Mediaite, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, RedState and Joe.My.God.

Breitbart:
Exclusive — Women Nationwide Cut Up Nordstrom's Cards, Plan Boycotts After Political Decision to Drop Ivanka Trump Line

Rachel Abrams / New York Times:
T.J. Maxx Backs Away From Ivanka Trump as President Assails Nordstrom

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:

Twitter shares crater after ugly revenue miss, shockingly weak guidance — Twitter shares sank on Thursday after the social media company reported quarterly revenue that missed Wall Street's expectations, and issued guidance that fell far short of estimates.

Discussion: Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Will Jordan / Borderline:

Donald Trump's Approval Rating in Context — Just how bad is Donald Trump's approval rating, historically speaking? — It has already been pointed out that the current President rose to majority disapproval far more quickly than any other president, but I wanted to take a closer look …

Discussion: Washington Post

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Obama's party-building legacy splits Democrats — A painful Democratic rift over Barack Obama's political legacy is finally bursting into the open. — For years, the former president's popularity among Democrats stifled any public critiques of his stewardship of the party …

Discussion: Axios

William A. Galston / Wall Street Journal:

Chuck Schumer vs. the ‘Resistance’ — Rebelling against Trump is tempting, but moderation is the key to majority status.

Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:

Dallas County failed to report 5,842 votes cast in 2016 election — Thousands of ballots in Dallas County went uncounted on Election Day last November because of a mistake in how county officials reported their results to the Iowa Secretary of State's Office.

Marcus Thompson II / Mercury News:

Exclusive: Stephen Curry responds to Under Armour boss who supports Trump — Surprised, the Warriors star got an explanation directly from Kevin Plank, stands by his shoe company — Once again, Stephen Curry has found himself in the middle of a political issue.

Discussion: theGrio, Baltimore Sun, AOL, ProFootballTalk, USA Today and Mashable

USA Today:

Muslim U.S. Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad says she was held by U.S. Customs — Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first female Muslim American to medal for the United States in the Olympics, said Tuesday she was recently detained at U.S. Customs for two hours without explanation.

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

A fact-free debate on Trump's executive order — Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the 9th Circuit oral argument over President Trump's executive order was that lawyers for both sides seemed to know nothing about some of the most basic real-world issues surrounding the case. Two examples:

Discussion: Instapundit

Sidney Blumenthal / London Review of Books:

Sidney Blumenthal: The First Family — The most enduring blight left behind by Donald Trump, long after he has smashed things up, will be the pile of books devoted to trying to make sense of him. It will grow after investigative journalists have spent years diving for hidden records …

Ann Coulter / Breitbart:

A Maniac Is Running Our Foreign Policy! (It's Not Trump) — If only we were able to deport citizens, we could use Trump's new policy of excluding those who are “hostile” toward our country to get rid of Judge James Robart. — Judge Robart's veto of Trump's travel ban notwithstanding …