memeorandum: Humana Continues to Build Upon Proven Strategy Following Termination of Merger with Aetna … (Thomson IR)

9:05 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: Townhall.com, Washington Post, The Atlantic, New Yorker, USA Today, NPR, alan.com, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, The National Interest, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Shakesville and The Week

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, US News, New York Magazine, PRI, Mediaite, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Daily Wire, Washington Post, The Guardian, Axios and ABC News

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, Patterico's Pontifications, IJR, TheBlaze, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and The Resurgent

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 and CANNONFIRE

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, The Week, ThinkProgress, Politico, Daily Kos, RedState, Raw Story, NPR, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze and The Hill

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 …

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: WTVR-TV, IJR and New York Times

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 …

Discussion: Vox, CNN, CNNMoney, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Politico, Lawfare, The Hill, NBC News, Raw Story, Axios, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Resurgent, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, AOL, Just Security, Mother Jones and The Week

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:

The Nationalist Right Is Coming for Reince Priebus — Breitbart News has a target in its crosshairs following the departure of former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn from the White House in a cascade of scandal over his contacts with the Russian government: White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

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

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
FBI needs to explain why Flynn was recorded, Intelligence Committee chairman says

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Boing Boing and Hullabaloo

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

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

CNN:
Republican senators call for Russia investigation, Flynn testimony

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

Damon Linker / The Week:
America's spies anonymously took down Michael Flynn. That is deeply worrying.

Discussion: The American Conservative, The Daily Caller, Lawfare and Fox News Insider

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

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

Discussion: Politico

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, Vox, Lawfare, American Greatness and Shadowproof

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: The Hill, NPR, Fox17 and Daily Wire

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
In the early weeks of the new administration, the humbling of a president

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo and Politico

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

Discussion: Washington Post and Mediaite

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Raw Story and twitchy.com

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

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, Hot Air and Towleroad

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: Mediaite, WNEP-TV, Mashable, KTLA, The Week, Full Feed and NBC News

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

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

What Trump Is Doing Is Not O.K. — Thank God for the resignation in shame by Mike Flynn, President Trump's national security adviser. And not just because he misled the vice president and engaged in deeply malignant behavior with Russia, but, more important, because maybe it will finally …

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

Discussion: Business Insider

Daniel Benjamin / Politico:
Who Told Flynn to Call Russia?

Discussion: Washington Post

Jessie Hellmann / The Hill:

Humana to drop out of ObamaCare marketplace at end of 2017 — Health insurance company Humana announced Tuesday that it would leave the ObamaCare market in 2018. — The insurer said it would offer plans through 2017, but that the market has not stabilized enough to participate next year.

Discussion: Vox, CNBC, New York Times and Hot Air

Thomson IR:
Humana Continues to Build Upon Proven Strategy Following Termination of Merger with Aetna …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Axios

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.

Discussion: Mediaite, Joe.My.God., WTVR-TV, RedState, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

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: Raw Story, War in Context, Gizmodo and Mediaite