memeorandum: CARTOON GALLERY … Remember Michael Flynn? The national … (US News)

8:35 AM ET, February 17, 2017

Top Items:

Flynn in FBI interview denied discussing sanctions with Russian ambassador — Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country's ambassador to the United States before President …

CNN:

Harward says no to national security adviser role — A friend of Harward's said he was reluctant to take the job because the White House seems so chaotic — (CNN)Ret. Vice Admiral Bob Harward has turned down President Donald Trump's offer to be national security adviser, sources told CNN Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Politico

CBS News:

Vice Admiral Robert Harward turns down national security adviser job — Vice Admiral Robert Harward has rejected President Trump's offer to be the new national security adviser, CBS News' Major Garrett reports. — Sources close to the situation told Garrett Harward and the administration …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Reuters, CBS New York, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, The Week, CBS Philly, War in Context and ThinkProgress

Bryan Bender / Politico:
Harward turns down Trump's national security adviser offer

Discussion: RedState

William Cummings / USA Today:
Trump's pick to replace Flynn turns down offer

Discussion: The Week, Hot Air, Daily Wire, The Hill, BizPac Review, Instapundit, The American Conservative, Business Insider and Axios

John Walcott / Raw Story:
‘A sh*t sandwich’: Trump's choice for national security adviser reportedly turned down offer

Discussion: alan.com and New York Times

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

An amazing moment in history: Donald Trump's press conference — Trump: Press illegally gets information — Trump sparred with the press for over an hour, calling reports “fake news” but decrying the leaks that led to them — He touted his own poll numbers, victory over Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America, Associated Press and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Full Transcript and Video: Trump News Conference — President Trump on Thursday announced his new nominee for labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, during a news conference at the White House. Following is a transcript of that event, as prepared by the Federal News Service.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Atlantic, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Stranger …, The Last Tradition, The Guardian, Mother Jones, KTLA, Refinery29, The American Conservative, Mashable, New York Magazine, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Althouse and Politico

US News:

CARTOON GALLERY … Remember Michael Flynn? The national security advisor whose resignation Trump requested less than a month into his smoothly-running, totally-not-chaotic administration? He was doing his job, did absolutely nothing wrong except for lie to the vice president …

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, Vox, NBC News, Daily Kos and Refinery29

Congressman Elijah Cummings:
Cummings Issues Statement in Response to President Trump's Press Conference

Discussion: Daily Kos, AOL, RedState, Politicus USA and The Resurgent

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
Sorry media — this press conference played very different with Trump's supporters

Discussion: BizPac Review and Geller Report

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Donald Trump's combative, grievance-filled news conference, annotated

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Informed Comment, Vox, Media Matters for America, alicublog, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, FOX40 and FOX6Now.com

Jeff Stein / Vox:
9 things it's hard to believe the president of the United States actually just said

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values and ABC News

New York Times:

In 77 Chaotic Minutes, Trump Defends ‘Fine-Tuned Machine’ — WASHINGTON — President Trump, smarting from a series of crises, moved his surrogates aside on Thursday and assigned the rescue of his month-old presidency to the only spokesman he's ever really trusted — himself.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Week, Balloon Juice and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

A Jewish Reporter Got to Ask Trump a Question. It Didn't Go Well. — Jake Turx is a newly minted White House correspondent for a publication that has never before had a seat in the White House press corps: Ami Magazine, an Orthodox Jewish weekly based in Brooklyn.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, CNN and The Week

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Trump tells Jewish magazine's reporter to ‘sit down,’ blames anti-Semitism on ‘the other side’

Discussion: Washington Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Vox, The Hill, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Wall Street Journal:

Jared Kushner Delivers Critique of CNN to Time Warner Executive — Trump's son-in-law and adviser complains that coverage has been slanted against the president — Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, has expressed the administration's deep concerns about CNN's news coverage.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, The Week, Mediaite and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Erin Corbett / Raw Story: ‘Little Jared complaining about me’: Ana Navarro slams Kushner for complaints about her Trump coverage

BostonGlobe.com:

Christie says Trump made him order the meatloaf at meal together — TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says President Donald Trump made him order meatloaf when they dined together at the White House this week. — Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, joined Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Week and The Daily Caller

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Gov. Paul LePage on Trump: 'We got to tell him that the TV show's over and he's gotta move on now'

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo and RedState

John Podesta / Washington Post:

Trump's dangerous strategy to undermine reality — John Podesta, the chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, served as counselor to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. — President Trump's fake-news pivot isn't subtle.

Discussion: Politico

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Journalists Whisper at Trump's Crazy Press Conference: ‘This Is Insane’

Discussion: Daily Kos and American Greatness, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Bring On the Special Prosecutor

Discussion: Simple Justice, CNN, garnetnews.com, Hullabaloo, Salon, IJR, USA Today and Washington Post

BuzzFeed:

Trump Winery Seeks Even More Foreign Workers — The Virginia wine producer, owned by Eric Trump, is the latest Trump family business to seek foreign guest workers for US jobs. Latest request asks for 23 laborers, on top of six sought in December. — WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 16 …

Discussion: The Week, Balloon Juice and Raw Story

Mark Hensch / The Hill: Trump winery seeks more foreign help: report

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

Out of the loop: Rex Tillerson finds state department sidelined by White House — America's top diplomat is operating with senior staff positions left vacant, his deputy vetoed and foreign policy made by an ideological clique around Trump — Rex Tillerson began his first foreign outing …

Discussion: RT, Bloomberg and The Mahablog

Margaret Brennan / CBS News: State Dept. carries out layoffs under Rex Tillerson

CNN:

Officials: Mike Dubke to be named as White House communications director — Washington, D.C. (CNN)Crossroads Media founder Mike Dubke is expected to be named as White House Communications Director, two administration officials tell CNN. — The appointment is expected to be announced as early as Friday, the officials say.

Discussion: The Week and Washington Times

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Anti-Trump reporter gets unwelcome surprise

Discussion: IJR and The Guardian

Associated Press:

Chaffetz seeks charge of ex-Clinton aide in email inquiry — WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who has refused Democratic requests to investigate possible conflicts of interest involving President Donald Trump, is seeking criminal charges …

Discussion: Political Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sydney Brownstone / The Stranger …:

Detained Dreamer's Lawyers Say Government Doctored Legal Document to Try and Prove False Gang Affiliation — Daniel Ramirez Medina's lawyers say the government doctored his request to be removed from the Northwest Detention Center's gang unit. — Lawyers for Daniel Ramirez Medina …

Discussion: Seattle City Council Insight and Department of Homeland …

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

White House dismisses 6 over failed background checks — Several White House staffers were dismissed Thursday morning after failing FBI background checks, according to sources familiar with the matter. — Some of the aides were “walked out of the building by security” …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Trump family's elaborate lifestyle is a ‘logistical nightmare’ — at taxpayer expense — On Friday, President Trump and his entourage will jet for the third straight weekend to a working getaway at his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. — On Saturday, Trump's sons Eric and Don Jr. …

Discussion: Business Insider

Sheera Frenkel / BuzzFeed:

White House Staff Are Using A “Secure” App That's Really Not So Secure — Some senior officials are using a new messaging app that may not be as secure as it claims. “We would not recommend this app to someone looking for secure messaging,” one expert told BuzzFeed News.

Discussion: Axios

New York Post:

Bogus Times scoops on Trump, Russia are recycled propaganda — Take a deep breath and realize how precious little substance there is in all the breathless reporting about supposed skulduggery by President Trump, his team and the Russian government. If the nation's lucky …

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Ryan struggles to sell tax reform plan to fellow Republicans — Paul Ryan showed up to Senate Republicans' weekly lunch on Tuesday hoping to salvage a controversial pillar of his tax reform plan that would change how imports and exports are taxed. “Keep your powder dry,” the House speaker pleaded.

Discussion: Political Wire

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:

A Sign That Obamacare Exchanges Are Failing — Yet more bad news for Obamacare this week: Molina Healthcare lost $110 million on the exchanges last year, and the CEO told investors, “There are simply too many unknowns with the marketplace program to commit to our participation beyond 2017.”