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EXCLUSIVE: Nazi-Allied Group Claims Top Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka As Sworn Member — Sebastian Gorka, President Trump's top counter-terrorism adviser, is a formal member of a Hungarian far-right group that is listed by the U.S. State Department as having been “under the direction …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Towleroad, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Raw Story and The Times of Israel
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Top Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka Stonewalled When Asked If He Belongs To A Nazi-Allied Group — “Send a request to White House press,” Gorka told BuzzFeed News. — Sebastian Gorka, a top national security adviser to President Trump, stonewalled when BuzzFeed News asked about a report that he belongs to a Nazi-allied group.
Discussion:
Addicting Info, AOL, Death and Taxes and The FADER


Sebastian Gorka Denies Reported Affiliations with Vitézi Rend — Lord knows I've had my differences with The Forward before. I have them still, and often. They rarely unsettle me, if only because robust disagreements, especially on things that matter, are what we journalists should seek, not shun.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, Washington Post and The Week


Jewish organizations call for Sebastian Gorka's resignation for ties to far-right group — 716 Shares — Jewish organizations called for the resignation of Trump aide Sebastian Gorka, after reports that Gorka has ties to a far-right group in Hungary. — The Forward reported Thursday that Gorka …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.


Trump federal budget 2018: Massive cuts to the arts, science and the poor — President Trump on Thursday will unveil a budget plan that calls for a sharp increase in military spending and stark cuts across much of the rest of the government including the elimination of dozens …
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Trump's budget calls for seismic disruption in medical and science research — President Trump's budget calls for a seismic disruption in government-funded medical and scientific research. The cuts are deep and broad. — They also go beyond what many political observers expected.
Discussion:
The Federalist, NPR, Vox, Common Dreams and Daily Kos

If you're a poor person in America, Trump's budget is not for you
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today, The Stranger …, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Daily Kos and Vox


Trump Budget Plan Declares War on ‘War on Poverty’ Programs
Discussion:
Politico, Business Insider and Raw Story

Trump's Steep Cuts Face Rebuff in Congress Even With GOP Control
Discussion:
Politico and Refinery29

A day in the life of a poor American under Trump's proposed budget
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Inside Higher Ed, Politico and Daily Kos

What's getting cut in Trump's budget
Discussion:
Vox, New York Times, Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos, The Resurgent, Consumerist, The Guardian, TheBlaze, RedState, The Week and Joe.My.God.

Trump wants to cut the NEA and NEH. This is the worst-case scenario for arts groups
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Media Matters for America, The Verge, AOL and Longreads, more at Mediagazer »

The Real Cost of Abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts
Discussion:
NPR


Mike Flynn Worked for Several Russian Companies, Was Paid More Than $50,000, Documents Show — Former Trump national security adviser had business connections with Russia beyond RT that hadn't been previously known — President Trump's former national security adviser, Mike Flynn …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Defense One and Axios
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Trump adviser Flynn paid by multiple Russia-related entities, new records show — Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser amid controversy over his contacts with Russia's ambassador, collected nearly $68,000 in fees and expenses from Russia-related entities in 2015 …
Discussion:
ABC News, ThinkProgress, CNN and The Week

Moscow paid $45,000 for Flynn's 2015 talk, documents show — RT, the Russian state-owned television network described by U.S. intelligence officials as “the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet,” paid $45,386 for former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Michael Flynn to fly …


Dem lawmaker: Trump might've leaked classified information — The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee suggested Thursday President Trump disclosed classified information during a Fox News interview the night before. — “In his effort to once again blame Obama …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Occupy Democrats and Deadline
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Trump says he will submit evidence of wiretapping to House committee ‘very soon’ — President Trump discussed his tweeted accusation that President Obama ordered “wires” at Trump Tower tapped during last year's presidential campaign in an exclusive interview with Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday.

Senate Intel leaders: No indication Trump Tower was tapped — The Republican chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday shot down President Donald Trump's claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in the run-up to the 2016 election.
Discussion:
Vox, ABC News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Daily Wire and Hot Air


Trump to Tucker Carlson: “I know” counties that voted for me will lose under the Republican health plan
Discussion:
New York Magazine, ABC News and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Paul Ryan: ‘No such wiretap existed’
Discussion:
The Root, The Verge, The Week, Media Matters for America, New York Times and Vox


Ex-President Obama Made ‘Surprise Visit’ to Hawaii, Just Days Before Judge Issued Travel Ban Ruling — Former president Barack Obama made a “surprise visit” to Oahu this week, just days ahead of a controversial ruling on President Trump's new travel ban executive order issued by a Hawaiian judge.
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5 Problems With The Hawaii Judge Halting Trump's Travel Ban
Discussion:
Politico, Take Care Blog, Josh Blackman's Blog, Power Line, Lawfare, National Review, Instapundit, WAVY-TV and The Last Tradition

Trump's attacks on judges who don't agree with him might be alienating the judges who do
Discussion:
ABC News and New York Magazine


Chelsea Clinton announces new picture book, She Persisted — Count Chelsea Clinton among the many people whom Elizabeth Warren inspired when she refused to be silenced in the Senate. — Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. President Bill Clinton …

Mulvaney justifies budget: We can't ask a coal miner to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — As they fleshed out the budget blueprint released Thursday morning by the White House, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney said officials from the administration …
Discussion:
ABC News, Reuters, Washington Post, CNBC, Vox, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, BillMoyers.com and The Week
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NIH, DOE Office of Science face deep cuts in Trump's first budget
Discussion:
Vox, The Incidental Economist and Washington Post

Can Big Bird survive Trump?
Discussion:
Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion


McDonald's tweets to Trump: ‘You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President’ — McDonald's' in a tweet on its corporate account called President Trump “a disgusting excuse of a President” on Thursday morning. — The tweet, which was briefly pinned to the top of the account before being deleted …
Discussion:
ABC News, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politico, BizPac Review, Althouse, Axios and CBS Philly

Why I'm Moving Home — COLUMBUS, Ohio — In recent months, I've frequently found myself in places hit hard by manufacturing job losses, speaking to people affected in various ways. Sometimes, the conversation turns to the conflict people feel between the love of their home and the desire to leave in search of better work.
Discussion:
Althouse


Paul: McCain “makes a really, really strong case for term limits” — Payback is a . . . Rand Paul. After John McCain, speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, accused Paul of “working for Vladimir Putin,” Paul had a crushing comeback on today's Morning Joe.
Discussion:
The Week
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Secret Service Agents Under Investigation for Taking Photos of Donald Trump's Sleeping Grandson — A source with knowledge of the information tells Mother Jones that two Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect Donald Trump III, President Donald Trump's grandson, took selfies with the eight year old while he was sleeping.
Discussion:
IJR, Mediaite, Death and Taxes and RedState


Lack of Oxford Comma Costs Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute — A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.

Stephen Bannon Is a Fan of a French Philosopher...Who Was an Anti-Semite and a Nazi Supporter — Stephen Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief strategist, recently spoke approvingly of the ideas of an anti-Semitic French intellectual who was sentenced to life in prison for cooperating with the Nazis during World War II.


Humpback whales are organizing in huge numbers, and no one knows why — It flies in the face of typical humpback behavior — The world is ending and only the whales know. At least, that's one explanation. Humpback whales are normally pretty solitary—scientists used to call groups of 10 to 20 “large.”
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight and AOL


Disciples of a False Prophet — The con Donald Trump committed on his voters is slowly coming undone. He is not honest. He is not a brilliant deal maker. He is not even competent. — His entire life, Trump has sold shimmer and called it silver. It was and is all an illusion …


Debt ceiling returns, creating new headache for GOP — The legal limit on how much the United States government can borrow returns on Thursday, potentially setting up an intense political battle in Congress. — Lawmakers will have until sometime this autumn to raise the debt ceiling …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Political Wire