memeorandum: Sen. Rand Paul: I Talked to President Trump Last Night; He's ‘Very Open to Negotiation’ on Obamacare Repeal (John Hayward/Breitbart)

7:55 AM ET, March 11, 2017

Top Items:

Trump Abruptly Orders 46 Obama-Era Prosecutors to Resign — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday moved to sweep away the remaining vestiges of Obama administration prosecutors at the Justice Department, ordering 46 holdover United States attorneys to tender their resignations immediately …

Discussion: lohud.com, Washington Post, WJBK-TV, KTLA, New York Daily News, WiredPen, The Root, Vox, Business Insider, twitchy.com, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Politicus USA, Political Wire and The Hill

CNN:

Anger mounts over handling of US attorney firings — Washington (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked for the resignations of 46 US attorneys, igniting anger from officials who say they were given no warning about their dismissals. — The Justice Department announced the firings Friday afternoon …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Associated Press:

Attorney general seeks resignations of 46 US attorneys — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were appointed during prior presidential administrations, the Justice Department said Friday.

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, Power Line and Hot Air

Harry Siegel / The Daily Beast:

Bharara Yet To Resign, Despite Trump Ask — Preet Bharara, the crusading U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who was asked to submit his resignation letter Friday, along with the 45 other U.S. Attorneys held over from the Obama administration, has yet to do so, a federal law enforcement official tells The Daily Beast.

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Sessions asks 46 Obama-era US attorneys to resign

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review, Axios and Above the Law

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump team ousts Obama-appointed U.S. attorneys

Discussion: BuzzFeed, IJR, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Vox Popoli and Doug Ross

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml …: Jeff Sessions Asks All Remaining Obama-Appointed U.S. Attorneys To Resign

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

What's a legitimate news outlet? A new face in the White House press pool raises questions. — In an age of partisan media, the lines between “partisan” and “media” can sometimes blur. — Case in point: The pool reporter covering Vice President Pence on Thursday — that is …

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Fox News Radio correspondent confronts Gateway Pundit reporter in White House briefing room — A Fox News Radio correspondent confronted in the White House briefing room the White House reporter for a website that traffics in conspiracy theories, witnesses said on Friday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Oliver Darcy / Business Insider:
Drama in White House press room as Fox reporter vehemently denies he assaulted right-wing blogger

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Latest from Crooks and Liars and Little Green Footballs

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Sean Spicer's appalling answer about economic data shows how far we've lowered the bar for Trump

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, The Week and Axios

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Gateway Pundit Reporter ACCOSTED, HARASSED — Screamed At in White House Press Room: “Nazi... White Supremacist!”

Discussion: Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Steve Gorman / Reuters:

Trump's revised travel ban dealt first court setback — A federal judge in Wisconsin dealt the first legal blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on Friday, barring enforcement of the policy to deny U.S. entry to the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum in the United States.

Discussion: BizPac Review and The Daily Caller

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Revised Trump travel ban suffers first legal blow — President Donald Trump's revised travel ban executive order suffered its first legal setback Friday as a federal judge blocked the directive's potential impact on the family of a Syrian refugee living in Wisconsin.

Dino Grandoni / BuzzFeed:

Trump Appointee Who Tweeted About “Some Muslim Piece Of S**t” Is Out From Energy Department — A Trump campaign worker appointed to the Energy Department is a former massage therapist with a history of tweeting anti-Muslim remarks. — A massage therapist and former Trump campaign operative …

Discussion: Raw Story, Greentech Media, Axios, Hullabaloo and Salon

Darius Dixon / Politico: Energy Department parts company with Trump appointee who called Muslims ‘maggots’

Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:

“Civil War” Breaks Out At White House Over Trade... And Goldman Is Winning — Earlier this week, when we discussed Peter Navarro's jarring op-ed in the WSJ in which he alleged that the persistent US trade deficit “would put US national security in jeopardy”, we said that …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Financial Times:
White House civil war breaks out over trade

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly and Axios

Madeline Conway / Politico:
Trump taps private security director for White House job

Discussion: Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump's Mar-a-Lago is heaven — for spies — PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump relishes the comforts of his Mar-a-Lago estate for repeated weekends away from Washington, but former Secret Service and intelligence officials say the resort is a security nightmare vulnerable to both casual and professional spies.

The Daily Caller:

Flynn Paid Ex-FBI Agents, Behavior Analysts In Lobbying Work For Turkish Government — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lobbying work for the Turkish government involved payments to several former FBI officials and a retired admiral who served in a top intelligence role for the joint chiefs of staff.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Daily Kos, Betsy's Page and The Last Refuge

Associated Press:
Trump transition knew Flynn might register as foreign agent

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic and Daily Wire

Anna Schaverien / Telegraph:

Barack Obama receives standing ovation as he enjoys lunch with Bono in New York — Barack and Michelle Obama drew a crowd once again as they met with U2's lead singer Bono in New York on Friday for lunch. — Diners in Upland restaurant on Park Avenue took pictures of the former US president …

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Trump adviser admits to contact with DNC hacker — Roger Stone, President Trump's former campaign advisor, on Friday admitted to having private conversations with a hacker who helped leak information from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during last year's campaign.

Discussion: RedState

Andrew Blake / Washington Times:
Roger Stone, Trump confidant, acknowledges ‘innocuous’ Twitter conversation with DNC hackers

Discussion: Business Insider, TheBlaze and Engadget

TMZ.com:

Ciara — Car Accident in L.A. — 1:44 PM PT — Russell Wilson just let everyone know Ciara is ok, tweeting, “Momma Wilson & Baby Wilson are feeling great! God is good!” Ciara — who's pregnant and in her 3rd trimester — was involved in a car crash in L.A. moments ago ... TMZ has learned.

Discussion: Refinery29, The FADER, The Root and Full Feed

Simon Ostrovsky / CNN:

Ukraine lawyer seeks probe of alleged hacked texts of Manafort's daughter — Manafort pressed on ties to Kremlin (2016) — Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)A Ukrainian human rights attorney representing the victims of mass police shootings in Kiev in 2014 has asked prosecutors to investigate …

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

Liberal Democracy Is Suffering From a Concussion — Here's the latest in the assault on liberal democracy. It happened more than a week ago, but I cannot get it out of my consciousness. A group of conservative students at Middlebury College in Vermont invited the highly controversial author Charles Murray …

Discussion: National Review and Hot Air

Robert Jervis / Foreign Policy:

Rex Tillerson Might Be the Weakest Secretary of State Ever — There are five avenues to power at Foggy Bottom, and they're all blocked to the current man in charge. — While much of America's political class is transfixed by the debate about connections between Russia and the White House …

Patricia Cohen / New York Times:

Sean Spicer's Quick Twitter Reaction to Jobs Report May Break a Rule — The enthusiastic reaction of Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, was understandable on Friday when the Labor Department reported a gain of 235,000 jobs. “Great news for American workers,” he proclaimed, “in first report for @POTUS Trump.”