Top Items:
CNN:
FBI refused White House request to knock down recent Trump-Russia stories — Washington (CNN)The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign …
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CNN:
White House effort to justify travel ban causes growing concern for some intelligence officials — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has assigned the Department of Homeland Security, working with the Justice Department, to help build the legal case for its temporary travel ban on individuals …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Darius Tahir / Politico:
Boehner: Republicans won't repeal and replace Obamacare — Former House Speaker John Boehner predicted on Thursday that a full repeal and replace of Obamacare is “not what's going to happen” and that Republicans will instead just make some fixes to the health care law.
Discussion:
RedState, Bipartisan Report, Washington Monthly, The Hill, YouTube, Mother Jones, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Morning Consult, Washington Post, Fortune, Vox, The Moderate Voice, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Business Insider, Rewire, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, Little Green Footballs, AOL, The Mahablog, Hot Air, TheBlaze, Mediaite, NPR, The Resurgent, The Huffington Post, Washington Times, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News Insider, The Week, Political Wire, Axios, Balloon Juice and CNBC
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Wall Street Journal:
Kushner, Ivanka Trump Pushed to Remove Words Critical of Climate Deal From Executive Order — Trump plans to issue orders aimed at rolling back Obama climate agenda soon; language critical of Paris accord removed — WASHINGTON—At the request of President Donald Trump's son-in-law …
Discussion:
Axios
RELATED:
Jeff Stein / Newsweek:
EXCLUSIVE: LISTEN TO CONTROVERSIAL WHITE HOUSE TERRORISM ADVISER SEBASTIAN GORKA'S ANGRY CALL TO A CRITIC — An embattled White House terrorism advisor whose academic credentials have come under widespread fire telephoned one of his main critics at home Tuesday night and threatened legal action against him, Newsweek has learned.
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo
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Jesse Singal / New York Magazine:
Sebastian Gorka Disagrees With His Own Government's Terrorism Statistics
Sebastian Gorka Disagrees With His Own Government's Terrorism Statistics
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Politico and Fox News Insider
Nicholas Evangelista / Project Veritas:
Project Veritas Releases Over 100 Hours of Audio From Inside CNN — · James O'Keefe Offers $10,000 Award for Content Which Exposes Media Malfeasance — · Anonymous Source Within CNN Provided Audio to Project Veritas — · More Audio Yet to be Released in a WikiLeaks Style Dump
Discussion:
Geller Report, Washington Post, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, RedState and CNNMoney
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Hadas Gold / Politico:
Project Veritas ‘CNN Leaks’ fall flat
Project Veritas ‘CNN Leaks’ fall flat
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Times, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Balloon Juice, Mediaite and Vox Popoli, more at Mediagazer »
BBC:
Not best of times for US - Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says the US is “not experiencing the best of times” - but the “pendulum” will swing back. — Speaking to BBC Newsnight in a rare interview, Justice Ginsburg reiterated the importance of the free press.
Discussion:
Western Journalism, The Daily Caller and Washington Times
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz's very strange prediction of an upcoming Supreme Court vacancy
Ted Cruz's very strange prediction of an upcoming Supreme Court vacancy
Discussion:
New York Magazine, RedState and Political Wire
Madeline Conway / Politico:
Ted Cruz predicts a Supreme Court seat will open up this summer
Ted Cruz predicts a Supreme Court seat will open up this summer
Discussion:
ABC News
New York Times:
Weakened Democrats Bow to Voters, Opting for Total War on Trump — WASHINGTON — Reduced to their weakest state in a generation, Democratic Party leaders will gather in two cities this weekend to plot strategy and select a new national chairman with the daunting task of rebuilding the party's depleted organization.
Discussion:
Mother Jones
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Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Even if Trump Is the Enemy, His Voters Aren't
Even if Trump Is the Enemy, His Voters Aren't
Discussion:
Shakesville, TheBlaze, Mediaite and Raw Story
David Weigel / Washington Post:
Alt-right leader expelled from CPAC after organizer denounces ‘left-wing fascist group’ — Richard Spencer, a founder of the alt-right movement that seeks a whites-only state and that strongly backed Donald Trump for president, was expelled from the Conservative Political Action Conference …
Discussion:
The Root and Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Bannon: Trump administration is in unending battle for ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’ — Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's reclusive chief strategist and the intellectual force behind his nationalist agenda, said Thursday that the new administration is locked in an unending battle …
Discussion:
The Atlantic and Common Dreams
Kansas City Star:
Suspect in Olathe shooting allegedly told bartender he killed two Middle Eastern men — The suspect in Wednesday night's triple shooting in Olathe allegedly told a bartender in Clinton, Mo., before he was arrested that he had killed two Middle Eastern men, The Star has learned.
Discussion:
FOX2now.com, Occupy Democrats, The Root, Balloon Juice, The Verge, Talking Points Memo and KCTV
Dow Jones Newswires:
‘You Have to Stop,’ Renaissance Executive Tells Boss About Trump Support — A clash involving Renaissance Technologies hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who supports President Donald Trump, and another executive of the firm, who opposes the president, reflects divides at other U.S. workplaces.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Business Insider and Tablet Magazine
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump wants to expand U.S. nuclear arsenal, make it ‘top of the pack’ — President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity.
Discussion:
ABC News, Axios, Washington Post, Mediaite, NBC News, Hullabaloo, TheBlaze and Politico
RELATED:
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’
Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’
Discussion:
Western Journalism, The Week and Hot Air
Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Closed-Door Events Become Minefields For GOPers Who Shirk Public Town Halls — Back home in their districts while Congress is in recess, some Republicans have ducked the raucous crowds at town halls in favor of more tightly controlled conference calls and private events.
Discussion:
Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Associated Press and Cincinnati.com
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David Weigel / Washington Post:
Republicans distance themselves from Trump's agenda at rowdy town halls
Republicans distance themselves from Trump's agenda at rowdy town halls
Discussion:
Political Wire, ABC News, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and New York Times
Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
Border Patrol Agents Stop Domestic Travelers at New York Airport — A search for a deportation target leads to a demand for travelers' “papers” at JFK — Passengers of a domestic Delta flight from San Francisco to New York were told to show their identity documents to uniformed agents …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Gothamist, Washington Post, Daily Kos and Shakesville
Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:
Here's Video of Marco Rubio Avoiding a Protester Today in Miami UPDATED … Update 3 p.m: Protesters managed to corner Marco Rubio at Florida International University today, too. They recorded their entire, intense encounter, which is embedded below. — Marco Rubio spent the first half …
Discussion:
Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post, Politico, U.S. Senator for Florida … and Orlando Weekly
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Rumana Ahmed / The Atlantic:
I Was a Muslim in Trump's White House — In 2011, I was hired, straight out of college, to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council. My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, The Guardian and Raw Story
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Law professors file misconduct complaint against Kellyanne Conway — A group of law professors from around the country has filed a professional misconduct complaint against White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, a graduate of George Washington University Law School who was admitted to the D.C. Bar in 1995.
Discussion:
Western Journalism and Raw Story
CNN:
An underground network is readying homes to hide immigrants — Los Angeles (CNN)A hammer pounds away in the living room of a middle class home. A sanding machine smoothes the grain of the wood floor in the dining room. — But this home Pastor Ada Valiente is showing off in Los Angeles …
Discussion:
TheBlaze
Alana Goodman / Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: Illegal fundraiser for the Clintons made secret tape because he feared being ASSASSINATED over what he knew - and used it to reveal Democrats' bid to silence him — DailyMail.com has obtained a video in which convicted illegal Clinton fundraisers Johnny Chung gave secret testimony while in fear of his life
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Joe Concha / The Hill:
New York Times launches major ad campaign: ‘The Truth’ — The New York Times will run its first-ever advertising during the Academy Awards this Sunday with a spot that appears to target the Trump administration titled “The Truth.” — The ad lists conflicting statements that all start with three words, “The truth is.”
Discussion:
MichelleMalkin.com, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com
Madeline Conway / Politico:
Spicer: Expect to see ‘greater enforcement’ of federal marijuana law — White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that he expects states to see “greater enforcement” of the federal law against marijuana use, a move that would be at odds with a growing number of states' decisions to legalize it.
Discussion:
ABC News, Snopes.com, Vox and The Stranger …
Washington Post:
France's National Front scandal has exposed the dirty little secret of Europe's far right — The chief political aide of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front party and candidate for the French presidential election, has just been put under investigation by French magistrates.
Howard Fischer / Arizona Capitol Times:
Arizona Senate votes to seize assets of those who plan, participate in protests that turn violent — Claiming people are being paid to riot, Republican state senators voted Wednesday to give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn bad — even before anything actually happened.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Occupy Democrats, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Root, Raw Story and Common Dreams
Fox News Insider:
Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes Dies at Age 66 — Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes has passed away at age 66 after a brief illness. — Colmes leaves behind his wife, Jocelyn Crowley, who issued the following statement: — Alan Colmes passed away this morning after a brief illness. He was 66-years-old.
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Spicer: Trump didn't mean ‘military operation’ literally — President Trump wasn't speaking literally when he described his deportation push as a “military operation,” according to his top spokesman. — “The president was using that as an adjective. It is happening with precision,” …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, RedState, Daily Kos and ABC News