Top Items:
Marie Le Conte / BuzzFeed:
Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London — Asked by BuzzFeed News if he'd been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn't remember what he'd been doing in the building. — Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Hill, CANNONFIRE and The Week
RELATED:
Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:
President Mike Pence Doesn't Sound Quite So Bad, Some Top Democrats Say — “I'd sleep easier with almost any other human being as president than Donald Trump,” said a former Obama speechwriter. And they won't say so publicly, but several elected Democrats told BuzzFeed News they would much prefer …
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Shakesville and The Week
Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Trump's ‘unofficial adviser’ Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange's home after CIA docs leaked
Trump's ‘unofficial adviser’ Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange's home after CIA docs leaked
Discussion:
Political Wire
Tom DiChristopher / CNBC:
EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming — EPA takes aim at CAFE standards: Scott Pruitt — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.
Discussion:
Reuters, ThinkProgress, Political Wire, Washington Post, NPR, Engadget, Mashable, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Shakesville, The Week, Axios and New York Times
New York Times:
How Many People Are Affected by Obamacare Premium Increases? (Hint, It's Fewer Than You Think) — SCROLL TO START — Republicans cite rising insurance premiums as a primary reason for repealing the Affordable Care Act. But only a narrow slice of the market was actually affected by the increases.
Discussion:
BostonGlobe.com and Raw Story
RELATED:
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Why Republicans Are Battling Republicans on Obamacare Repeal — WASHINGTON — Republicans are rarely as exercised as when they are fighting with themselves. — And as the House debates how to best dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a familiar array of interest groups with deep pockets …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Resurgent and Politico
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Resistance grows in Senate to House ObamaCare repeal bill
Resistance grows in Senate to House ObamaCare repeal bill
Discussion:
Politico and The Last Refuge
Adam Cancryn / Politico:
Obamacare repeal takes first step forward
Obamacare repeal takes first step forward
Discussion:
The Hill, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and New York Magazine
Jim Acosta / CNN:
Trump to conservative leaders: If this plan fails, I'll blame Democrats — Washington (CNN)In an Oval Office meeting featuring several leaders of conservative groups already lining up against the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump revealed his plan …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, Hot Air, CNBC, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, twitchy.com and Mediaite
RELATED:
Joe Concha / The Hill:
Breitbart editor slams ‘absurd’ story about dispute with Bannon over coverage
Breitbart editor slams ‘absurd’ story about dispute with Bannon over coverage
Discussion:
Mediaite, Business Insider and Axios
Rachael Bade / Politico:
Trump's Obamacare fallback: Blame the Democrats
Trump's Obamacare fallback: Blame the Democrats
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Washington Post
BuzzFeed:
Steve Bannon Helped Preserve DACA But Democrats And Activists Aren't Celebrating — They're bracing for what's coming: millions of deportations and further crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration doesn't want to talk about it.
Discussion:
Daily Wire and The Week
David Ovalle / miamiherald:
Hot story: Miami lawyer's pants erupt in flames during arson trial in court — A Miami defense lawyer's pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case. — Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client's car spontaneously combusted …
Discussion:
Above the Law, Outside the Beltway, Daily Wire, Raw Story and The Big Lead
Madeline Conway / Politico:
McConnell on Mexico paying for the border wall: ‘Uh, no’ — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday threw cold water on President Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall. — “Uh, no,” McConnell said flatly, asked whether he thinks Mexico …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Week and Mediaite
RELATED:
Michael Patrick Leahy / Breitbart:
Acting Director of USCIS Lori Scialabba Resigns at Homeland Security
Acting Director of USCIS Lori Scialabba Resigns at Homeland Security
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and IJR
Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:
Roger Stone's Russian Hacking “Hero” — Trump loyalist communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,” target of FBI probe — In the months before Election Day, a longtime confidante and political consultant for Donald Trump was in contact with the Russian hacking group that U.S. intelligence officials …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Root and Mediaite
RELATED:
Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
FBI has records of Trump trickster Roger Stone communicating with Russians behind DNC hacks: report
FBI has records of Trump trickster Roger Stone communicating with Russians behind DNC hacks: report
Discussion:
Progress Pond
Mark Molloy / Telegraph:
Burger-flipping robot replaces humans on first day at work — A burger-flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at a restaurant in California, replacing humans at the grill. — Flippy has mastered the art of cooking the perfect burger and has just started work at CaliBurger, a fast-food chain.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Hit & Run
Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Why the Russia Story Is a Minefield for Democrats and the Media — Russia scandals have bloodied the Trump administration. But it carries dangers for those reporting it — Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper appeared on Meet the Press this past weekend to discuss the Trump-Russia scandal.
Discussion:
twitchy.com
James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Jon Huntsman's strange odyssey to become Donald Trump's man in Moscow — THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump has blocked several people who opposed him during the campaign from getting jobs in his administration. So why has he reportedly chosen Jon Huntsman to be the U.S. ambassador to Russia?
Discussion:
New York Magazine, USA Today, NBC News, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Politico, AOL, ABC News, Fox News, Bloomberg and Sputnik International
RELATED:
Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Trump in ‘sell mode’ on health care
Associated Press:
Former Trump aide Flynn says lobbying may have helped Turkey — President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired from his prominent White House job last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work …
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine, The Week and Joe.My.God.
Emily Steel / New York Times:
Fox Is Said to Settle With Former Contributor Over Sexual Assault Claims — Last summer, as it wrapped up multiple settlements after the Roger Ailes sexual harassment scandal, Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, were trying hard to end the ugliest chapter in its 20-year history.
Discussion:
RedState, TVNewser, Deadline and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
The budget rule you've never heard of that ties Republicans' hands on Obamacare — Everything you ever wanted to know about reconciliation.
John Harwood / CNBC:
The Republican health-care bill threatens Trump's voters — “To the victor belong the spoils,” candidate Donald Trump reminded 2016 voters. But the House Republican health bill turns that old maxim on its head. — Instead of broadly rewarding Trump's backers, the House bill hands huge benefits …
Todd Shepherd / Washington Examiner:
IRS has 7,000 unreleased documents related to conservative and Tea Party targeting — The IRS has told a federal court that they've recently identified almost 7,000 more documents that could contain information on how the agency targeted the tax-exempt applications of Tea Party organizations …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
The White House is scrutinizing job candidates' old social media posts for criticism of Trump — As President Trump continues to build out his administration, many of his officials are having trouble filling vacancies in their departments because of questions about the loyalty of the people …
Discussion:
Axios, Bloomberg and Joe.My.God.
Iona Craig / The Intercept:
Women and Children in Yemeni Village Recall Horror of Trump's “Highly Successful” SEAL Raid — On January 29, 5-year-old Sinan al Ameri was asleep with his mother, his aunt, and 12 other children in a one-room stone hut typical of poor rural villages in the highlands of Yemen.
Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times:
Earthquake on the beach: Scientists think a 7.4 temblor could reach from L.A. to San Diego — A long crack splits the sidewalk in Huntington Beach, on top of the Newport-Inglewood fault. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) — The discovery of missing links between earthquake faults shows …
Kurt Schlichter / Townhall.com:
Hi, GOP: You Are Terrible and Obamacare Jr. Stinks — When Paul Ryan and his congressional clown car of alleged conservatives surprised us by just sort of dropping Obamacare Jr. on us, I wasn't surprised to see them trip all over their Guccis during the utterly inept roll out.
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
‘Superstar Firms’ May Have Shrunk Workers' Share of Income — For much of the last century it seemed that the slice of the total economic pie going to workers was — like the speed of light — constant. No matter what the economy's makeup, labor could collectively depend on taking home roughly …
ProPublica:
Meet the Hundreds of Officials Trump Has Quietly Installed Across the Government — A Trump campaign aide who argues that Democrats committed “ethnic cleansing” in a plot to “liquidate” the white working class. A former reality show contestant whose study of societal collapse inspired …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Week, ProPublica, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Axios
David Stern / Politico:
Authorities looked into Manafort protégé — U.S. and Ukrainian authorities have expressed interest in the activities of a Kiev-based operative with suspected ties to Russian intelligence who consulted regularly with Paul Manafort last year while Manafort was running Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
WEWS-TV:
Did Obama wiretap Trump Tower? Vice President Pence deflects question from News 5 — VP passes on chance to support Trump allegations — In an exclusive interview Wednesday afternoon between News 5's John Kosich and the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence deflected …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New York Times, CNN, The Root and Just Security