Top Items:
Axios:
Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone and connected outside officials with reporters to try to discredit a New York Times article about Trump campaign aides' contact with Russia …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, The Hill, The Guardian, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, Raw Story, IJR, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Shakesville, New Yorker, emptywheel, Towleroad, The Week, NBC News and Politico, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Sean Spicer is losing his grip — Never let it be said that President Trump and his underlings don't work hard, especially when it comes to initiatives aimed at smearing and stymieing the White House press corps. Let's look at this crew's throughput over just the past three days.
Discussion:
Politico, IJR, Hit & Run, Vox, The Federalist, Raw Story, Fox News, The Root, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, BizPac Review, CNN and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump: 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years' … President Trump on Monday appeared to dismiss a question about his aides' alleged ties to Russia by saying he hasn't spoken to the country in a decade. — “I haven't called Russia in 10 years,” he told a reporter who asked him whether …
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Second-Ranking Senate Democrat Wants Independent Russia Probes
Second-Ranking Senate Democrat Wants Independent Russia Probes
Discussion:
ABC News
Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team's ties to Russia
House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team's ties to Russia
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, emptywheel, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Mother Jones
Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Exclusive — President Trump: Oscars ‘Were Focused so Hard on Politics’ They Could Not Get the Basics of the Ceremony Right — WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in the Oval Office, said that the Academy Awards failure on Sunday evening …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Axios, EW.com, The Week, The Guardian and Washington Post
RELATED:
Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
George W. Bush opens up on Trump's war with the media, Russia and travel ban — In his first in-depth interview since Donald Trump's inauguration, former President George W. Bush gave his take on the current commander in chief's first month in office, addressing Trump's attack on the media …
Discussion:
The Hill, NPR, Western Journalism, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, Politicus USA, Washington Post, AOL, Hot Air, The Week, IJR, TheBlaze, The Slot and Althouse
RELATED:
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Bush breaks with Trump, calls media ‘indispensable to democracy’
Bush breaks with Trump, calls media ‘indispensable to democracy’
Discussion:
Salon, ABC News, Associated Press, Shakesville and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »
Madeline Conway / Politico:
Trump: ‘Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated’ — President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” and again flirted with the idea that Republicans should let Obamacare “implode” so that Democrats shoulder the blame.
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
RELATED:
Soumya Karlamangla / Los Angeles Times:
With Obamacare in jeopardy, California considers going it alone with ‘single-payer’ system
With Obamacare in jeopardy, California considers going it alone with ‘single-payer’ system
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Instapundit
Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
Trump: ‘Nobody Knew That Health Care Could Be So Complicated’
Trump: ‘Nobody Knew That Health Care Could Be So Complicated’
Discussion:
The Mahablog and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Trump says “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated”
Trump says “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated”
Discussion:
Daily Kos, ACASignups.net, The Week and Axios
MJ Lee / CNN:
Freedom Caucus chair would vote against draft Obamacare repeal bill — Trump: health care is ‘unbelievably complex’ — Washington (CNN)Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told CNN on Monday that he will vote against a draft of the GOP Obamacare repeal bill that was leaked last week.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Fox17, KFOR-TV and Axios
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
GOP's New Plan to Repeal Obamacare: Dare Fellow Republicans to Block Effort — GOP lawmakers gamble that setting bill in motion to strike Affordable Care Act will help break through intraparty disagreements — WASHINGTON—Republican leaders are betting that the only way for Congress …
Discussion:
Vox, New York Magazine, CBS News, MarketWatch, ACASignups.net, Mother Jones, Axios, The Week, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, CNBC and Washington Post
Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:
The Sessions Effect: Trump DOJ Reverses Course In Major Texas Voter ID Case — For the last six years, the Justice Department has sided with the citizens and civil rights groups fighting Texas' voter ID law, which a federal judge at one point found to be intentionally discriminatory against black and Latino voters.
Discussion:
RedState, The Root, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times
RELATED:
Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Trump's DOJ dropping opposition to Texas voter ID law — President Trump's Justice Department is ending the government's opposition to a controversial voter ID law in Texas, according to a group involved in the case. — Danielle Lang, the Campaign Legal Center's deputy director of voting rights …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Western Journalism
Variety:
Oscars: Australian Producer Jan Chapman Devastated by Mistaken In-Memoriam Photo — Another Oscars Gaffe: In Memoriam Video Included Photo of Living Woman — Leading Australian producer, Jan Chapman was “devastated” by another mistake in the Oscars telecast.
Discussion:
TIME, Mediaite, Hot Air, AOL, The Guardian, TheBlaze, Washington Post, New York's PIX11, IJR, WCMH-TV, The Week, Fox News Insider, CBS Miami, 6abc.com and WREG-TV
Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump to propose 10 percent spike in defense spending, major cuts to other agencies — President Trump will propose a federal budget that would significantly increase defense-related spending by $54 billion while cutting other federal agencies by the same amount, an administration official said.
Discussion:
Reuters, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, Western Journalism, Common Dreams and New York Times
RELATED:
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Donna Brazile: ‘I was scared’ — ATLANTA — Donna Brazile has been through a lot — but nothing like the last eight months. — More than taking over a Democratic National Committee in crisis, more than seeing the party collapse from cruising victory to crushing defeat all in one night …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon and TheBlaze
RELATED:
Allison Sherry / Star Tribune:
New DNC chairman Perez wants to make Ellison ‘the face of the Democratic Party’
New DNC chairman Perez wants to make Ellison ‘the face of the Democratic Party’
Discussion:
National Review
Monica Davey / New York Times:
He's a Local Pillar in a Trump Town. Now He Could Be Deported. — WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. — Ask residents of this coal-mining crossroads about President Trump's decision to crack down on undocumented immigrants and most offer no protest. Mr. Trump, who easily won this mostly white southern Illinois county …
Julie Kelly / The Federalist:
Why I've Decided To Break Up With Bill Kristol — The first political campaign I volunteered for was the Bush-Quayle race in 1992. I had graduated from college a few years earlier and had big dreams of someday being the White House press secretary (I'm still available!).
ICE:
ICE arrests convicted criminal alien from the Dominican Republic after detainer not honored — NEW YORK — Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a Dominican national who had previously been removed from the United States …
Olivia Solon / The Guardian:
Scraping by on six figures? Tech workers feel poor in Silicon Valley's wealth bubble — But workers claim the high cost of living in the Bay Area has them feeling financially strained — didn't become a software engineer to be trying to make ends meet," said a Twitter employee in his early 40s who earns a base salary of $160,000.
Timothy Noah / Politico:
Puzder says ‘tsunami of fake news’ defeated him — Former labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder on Monday blamed “a tsunami of fake news” and a campaign by Democrats and the left for ending his nomination. — Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. …
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Leah Barkoukis / Townhall.com:
Unreal: Chicago Names City Street After Terrorist — In truly progressive fashion, Chicago renamed one of its streets after a terrorist. — Earlier this month Alderman Robert Maldonado submitted a proposal to name three blocks of a city street after Oscar Lopez Rivera …
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit
Kara Swisher / Recode:
Uber's SVP of engineering is out after he did not disclose he left Google in a dispute over a sexual harassment allegation — Amit Singhal, a highly regarded engineer in Silicon Valley, denied the claims after top execs at the search giant presented them to him.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, New York Times and Axios