memeorandum: What Flynn's Resignation Really Means (Walter Russell Mead/The American Interest)

7:45 PM ET, February 14, 2017

Top Items:

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn — If we are to believe the Trump White House, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn just resigned because he lied about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the vice president. As White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway told NBC's …

New York Times:

F.B.I. Interviewed Flynn in Trump's First Days in Office, Officials Say — WASHINGTON — F.B.I. agents interviewed Michael T. Flynn when he was national security adviser in the first days of the Trump administration about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, current and former officials said on Tuesday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall.com, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, New Yorker, alan.com, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Hullabaloo, The National Interest, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Shakesville, The Week and The Mahablog

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Rand Paul on Flynn: ‘Makes no sense’ to investigate fellow Republicans — (CNN)Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday an investigation into the resignation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn would be excessive and it would not make sense to investigate other Republicans.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Richard Pollock / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: In Final Interview, Defiant Flynn Insists He Crossed No Lines, Leakers Must Be Prosecuted — In the final hours before his resignation, now-former White House National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn said he “crossed no lines” in his discussion with Russia's ambassador …

Discussion: CNN, The Intercept, Lawfare, Politico, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, US News, Mother Jones, PRI, Washington Post, The Guardian, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Raw Story, Axios, BizPac Review and Vox

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Trump Told Weeks Ago That Michael Flynn Withheld Truth on Russia — WASHINGTON — President Trump was informed weeks ago that his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had not told the truth about his interactions with Russia's ambassador and asked for Mr. Flynn's resignation …

Discussion: Hot Air

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

GOP Senate Intel Member: ‘Exhaustive’ investigation into Trump-Russia connections needed following Flynn resignation — (CNN)Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday called for an exhaustive investigation into connections between President Donald …

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Politico, The Week, RedState, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Raw Story, The Hill, NPR, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Dan Rather / Facebook:

Watergate is the biggest political scandal of my lifetime, until maybe now. It was the closest we came to a debilitating Constitutional crisis, until maybe now. On a 10 scale of armageddon for our form of government, I would put Watergate at a 9. This Russia scandal is currently somewhere around a 5 or 6 …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Former Obama Officials, Loyalists Waged Secret Campaign to Oust Flynn — The abrupt resignation Monday evening of White House national security adviser Michael Flynn is the culmination of a secret, months-long campaign by former Obama administration confidantes to handicap President Donald …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Resurgent and Mediaite

NBC News:

Mike Pence Told About Flynn Warning Two Weeks After Trump, White House — WH Confirms Trump Informed Weeks Ago About Flynn Misleading VP 1:00 — Vice President Mike Pence was informed of the Justice Department warning regarding former national security adviser Michael Flynn late on February 9 …

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

FBI needs to explain why Flynn was recorded, Intelligence Committee chairman says — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that the most significant question posed by the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn is why intelligence officials eavesdropped …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Daily Wire, BizPac Review, The Atlantic, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Lawfare, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Vox, Mashable and The Gateway Pundit

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

As Flynn Resigns, Priebus Future In Doubt As Trump Allies Circulate List of Alternate Chief of Staff Candidates — After GOP establishment forces inside President Donald Trump's White House forced out National Security Adviser retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, sources close to the president confirm …

Discussion: The Guardian, NBC News, Vox, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Vanity Fair, more at Mediagazer »

United States House Committee on Oversight …:

Chaffetz Probes White House's Handling of Sensitive Information — Letter requests information related to Mar-a-Lago event — WASHINGTON - Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asking …

Discussion: FOX40, IJR and New York Times

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
The Nationalist Right Is Coming for Reince Priebus

Discussion: The Guardian, Hudson Institute, New York Magazine and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Republican senators call for Russia investigation, Flynn testimony

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, The Geller Report, Rush, FiveThirtyEight and ThinkProgress

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
GOP chairman: Oversight won't investigate Flynn

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Politico, Little Green Footballs, BillMoyers.com, Breitbart, Washington Post, Committee on Oversight …, War in Context, Lawfare, Daily Kos, Vox, WTVR-TV, The Guardian, TheBlaze and Hit & Run

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
‘Unbelievable Turmoil’: Trump's First Month Leaves Washington Reeling

Discussion: Boing Boing and Hullabaloo

Walter Russell Mead / The American Interest:
What Flynn's Resignation Really Means

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Lawfare, Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, American Greatness, Shadowproof, Vox, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and The Week

Joe Concha / The Hill:
New York Times, Newsmax fall victim to fake Flynn Twitter account

Discussion: NewsBusters, Fox News Insider, Washington Times, BizPac Review, Hot Air, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump knew Flynn misled officials on Russia calls for ‘weeks,’ White House says

Discussion: Raw Story, AOL, The Nation, NPR and War in Context

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
Spicer: Trump Wasn't Told At The Time About Flynn's Sanctions Talk With Russia

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Lawfare, Little Green Footballs and CANNONFIRE

Howard Fineman / The Huffington Post: The White House Is Already In Flames

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
'That's the definition of treason': Democratic lawmaker levels serious charge against Trump administration

Discussion: Politico

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Schiff: More info coming soon on Flynn-Russia ties

Discussion: NPR, The Hill, Fox17 and Daily Wire

Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Michael Moore to Trump: ‘Vacate you Russian traitor’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Scarborough rips Conway as an ‘out of the loop’ liar after Flynn resignation

Discussion: Washington Post and Mediaite

John Parkinson / ABC News:
Chaffetz to investigate Mar-a-Lago but not Flynn's ties with Russia yet

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Associated Press, Axios and Washington Post

Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
With Michael Flynn Gone, Russia Sees a Different Trump

Discussion: Business Insider

Paul Joseph Watson / Infowars:
THE REAL REASON GENERAL FLYNN WAS FORCED TO RESIGN

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones and Towleroad

Christian Datoc / The Daily Caller: Mensch: Flynn Investigation Will Lead To Trump's Impeachment, ‘Sooner Rather Than Later’ [VIDEO]

Tasneem Nashrulla / BuzzFeed:

Kellyanne Conway Claims She Doesn't Know Who Retweeted A White Nationalist From Her Twitter Account — Kellyanne Conway wasn't really feeling the love Tuesday morning, after Today host Matt Lauer told her her responses made no sense when she appeared to dodge his repeated questions …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, AOL, TheBlaze, Towleroad, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Ethics office calls on White House to discipline Conway

Discussion: Politico and RedState

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Conway denies retweeting white nationalist

Discussion: Raw Story and Hot Air

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Ethics office: Conway committed ‘clear violation’ with Ivanka plug

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Racked, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, The Root, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

Russia Deploys Missile, Violating Treaty and Challenging Trump — Russia Deploys Missile That Violates Treaty, U.S. Says — Moscow is believed to have two battalions of a new cruise missile, and has deployed a fully operational unit despite U.S. protests. — THE UPSHOT

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, KTLA, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Gizmodo, Joe.My.God., Towleroad and The Week

NBC News:

Harrison Ford in Incident With Passenger Plane at California Airport — Actor Harrison Ford was involved in a potentially serious incident Monday in California as he was piloting his private plane, a single-engine Husky, NBC News has learned. — Ford, an experienced pilot who collects vintage planes …

Discussion: WTVR-TV, Mashable, Mediaite, Full Feed, KTLA, The Week, NBC News and Joe.My.God.

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

White House posts wrong versions of Trump's orders on its website — WASHINGTON — The White House has posted inaccurate texts of President Trump's own executive orders on the White House website, raising further questions about how thorough the Trump administration has been in drafting some of his most controversial actions.

Discussion: War in Context, Gizmodo and Mediaite

Jesse Singal / New York Magazine:

Donald Trump Just Broadcast a Dangerous Misconception About Autism Rates — Those who advocate for sound, evidence-based research about autism are extremely alarmed about Donald Trump, and for good reason: In addition to Trump's ties to Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced British doctor whose …

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump asks about autism in educators meeting

Discussion: Raw Story

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

Trump Invites a Cesspool of Fake News to Cover the White House. And I'm Not Talking About MSNBC. — To be fair, the press has largely brought this on themselves. I've already lost count of the stories reported by the media and retracted or modified substantially in the same day.