memeorandum: The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency (Jane Mayer/New Yorker)

9:35 PM ET, March 17, 2017

Top Items:

Steven Swinford / Telegraph:

Watch | Spicer: GCHQ may have helped Obama spy on Trump — The US has made a formal apology to Britain after the White House accused GCHQ of helping Barack Obama spy on Donald Trump in the White House. — Sean Spicer, Mr Trump's press secretary, repeated a claim on Thursday evening …

New York Times:

Trump Offers No Apology for Claim on British Spying — WASHINGTON — President Trump refused to back down on Friday after his White House aired an unverified claim that Britain's spy agency secretly monitored him during last year's campaign at the behest of President Barack Obama …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Atlantic, Political Wire, Little Green Footballs, Media Matters for America, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Taylor Marsh, Sputnik International, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Washington Post, Axios and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
White House apologizes to British government over spying claims

Discussion: UPI, Washington Post, Hot Air, TheBlaze, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, CANNONFIRE, USA Today, Vox, Business Insider, Joe.My.God., Washington Free Beacon, RedState and IJR

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Trump drags key foreign allies into controversy over unproven wiretap claims

Discussion: Politico

Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Sean Spicer's absurd accusation against British intelligence is the scariest news this week

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Politicus USA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week and CNN

Rocco Parascandola / New York Daily News:

Laptop holding Trump Tower floor plans, Hillary Clinton email investigation info stolen from Secret Service agent — A laptop computer containing floor plans for Trump Tower, information about the Hillary Clinton email investigation and other national security information was stolen …

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, The Hill, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Death and Taxes, Mediaite, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Last Refuge, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, CNBC, RedState, Joe.My.God. and TMZ.com

Josh Margolin / ABC News:
Secret Service laptop with Trump Tower floor plans, details on Clinton email probe stolen in New York

Discussion: Fox News, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Mashable and AOL

CBS New York:
Secret Service Agent's Laptop Stolen In Brooklyn

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hot Air, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Gothamist and Talking Points Memo

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

Trump's budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why — Some people are complaining that the budget proffered by the Trump administration, despite its wonderful macho-sounding name, is too vague and makes all sorts of cuts to needed programs in favor of increasing military spending by leaps and bounds.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Occupy Democrats, Mashable, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, Business Insider and Patterico's Pontifications

The White House:

1600 Daily: Everything White House for 3/17/17 — Summary: Get news, events and updates from the White House here at 1600 Daily. — The Easter Egg Roll ticket lottery closes on Saturday, March 18th. Be sure to enter the lottery for tickets today. — WHITE HOUSE MEMO

Discussion: Washington Post, DCist, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, The Week and Politico

Robert Faturechi / ProPublica:

Fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Said to Have Been Investigating HHS Secretary Tom Price — Trump's head of the Department of Health and Human Services traded stocks of health-related companies while working on legislation affecting the firms. A source says Bharara was overseeing an investigation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, TheStreet.com, Daily Kos, The Week, Political Wire, Above the Law and Axios

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency … Last month, when President Donald Trump toured a Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, he saw a familiar face in the crowd that greeted him: Patrick Caddell, a former Democratic political operative and pollster who …

Matea Gold / Washington Post:

The Mercers and Stephen Bannon: How a populist power base was funded and built — The wealthy GOP donors and Trump's chief strategist collaborated on at least five ventures. — The champagne was flowing as hedge fund executive Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah hosted a reception during …

Vicky Ward / Highline:
The blow-it-all-up billionaires

Discussion: Axios

Shin Hyon-hee / The Korea Heald:

US says ‘strategic patience’ on NK is over — Tillerson says military option is on the table, calls China's THAAD retaliation ‘inappropriate, troubling’ — With Washington taking a North Korea policy overhaul, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday declared that the existing …

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Monthly, Daily Wire, twitchy.com, The Week, Daily Kos and Fox News Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:
A Top Adviser To Mike Pence Is An Investor In Favored Media Outlet

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Rex Tillerson Rejects Talks With North Korea on Nuclear Program

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
Tillerson says ‘all options are on the table’ when it comes to North Korea

Discussion: CNBC, Sputnik International, Hot Air, Common Dreams, The Guardian, BillMoyers.com, Mediaite, Raw Story and TMZ.com

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Judge denies request to apply previous travel ban block to Trump's revised order — The Seattle-based federal judge who blocked President Trump's first travel ban has denied a request from Washington and other states to apply that original injunction to the president's revised order.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and IJR

Wall Street Journal:
Kellyanne Conway's Husband Is Set to Lead Justice Department Division

Discussion: Raw Story and Axios

CNN:
DOJ provides wiretap documents to Congress

Discussion: Business Insider and Mediaite

Pierre Thomas / ABC News:
Justice Department complying with congressional surveillance probe

Discussion: Associated Press and Politico

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Paul Ryan says he fantasized about cutting health care for the poor at his college keggers — Meet the most insufferable frat boy in human history. — Oh, college! It's a time when young adults discover their professional interests, when they live alone for the first time …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Occupy Democrats, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week and Eschaton

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Paul Ryan says he's been “dreaming” of Medicaid cuts since he was “drinking out of kegs”

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:
Can Steve Bannon Save Trumpcare?

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Magazine and Axios

Madeline Conway / Politico:

In awkward exchange, Trump seems to ignore Merkel's handshake request — President Donald Trump, who made headlines for shaking hands with Japan's prime minister in front of reporters for a full 19 seconds, seemed to ignore German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she suggested that they exchange …

Discussion: Shareblue, BizPac Review, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
What Trump and Merkel have said about each other

Discussion: Associated Press, The Guardian, Politico and Death and Taxes

James P. Rubin / Politico:
The Leader of the Free World Meets Donald Trump

Discussion: ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, NPR, The Week and twitchy.com

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Trump cracks the whip on Obamacare, fueling GOP momentum — Rep. Robert Aderholt was among a bloc of conservatives threatening to tank the Republican health care plan when President Donald Trump summoned him to the White House on Friday. — At a meeting with more than a dozen other lawmakers wary …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Times, The Daily Signal, CNBC, New York Magazine and Talking Points Memo

John Parkinson / ABC News:
Some conservatives line up behind health care plan for vote next week

Discussion: Politico, Jamie Dupree, Talking Points Memo and Morning Consult

Ezra Klein / Vox: Does Donald Trump know what the GOP health bill does?

Media Matters for America:

NY Times Public Editor Helps Out An “Alt-Right” Harassment Campaign — What is wrong with Liz Spayd? — This morning, The New York Times' public editor fell for an “alt-right” harassment campaign against a reporter of color for the paper, devoting her entire column to scolding the writer over a tweet.

Liz Spayd / New York Times:
Snoop Dogg, Bow Wow and an Ill-Advised Retweet

Discussion: BizPac Review

Reuters:

Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings — A Reuters review found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida.

Discussion: Political Wire

Donna Brazile / TIME:

Donna Brazile: Russian DNC Narrative Played Out Exactly As They Hoped — Brazile is a Democratic political strategist — For weeks now, we've seen a steady stream — not just leaks — of information about possible contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Discussion: Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politico, Fox News Insider, Political Wire and TVNewser

Lawfare:

The Revolt of the Judges: What Happens When the Judiciary Doesn't Trust the President's Oath — It's been a busy 24 hours in the increasingly fascinating relationship between President Trump and the federal judiciary. — First, a federal district judge in Hawaii entered …

Discussion: RedState, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, neo-neocon, Take Care Blog, Josh Blackman's Blog, Instapundit, Politico, Forbes, National Review, Morning Consult, The Federalist and Raw Story

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel / Washington Post:

Trump administration rolls back protections for people in default on student loans — Days after a report on federal student loans revealed a double-digit rise in defaults, President Trump's administration revoked federal guidance Thursday that barred student debt collectors from charging high fees on past-due loans.

Discussion: The Atlantic and Occupy Democrats

Dakin Campbell / Bloomberg:

Cohn Offers Plan to Sell China Bank Stake to Avoid Conflict — Former Goldman president owns 23.4 million shares of ICBC — Stake is valued at more than $15 million, disclosure shows — Gary Cohn, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, disclosed a plan to sell his stake …

Liz Farmer / Dallas Morning News:

FBI arrests man accused of trolling Dallas journalist Kurt Eichenwald with seizure-inducing tweet — The FBI arrested a man accused of sending Dallas reporter Kurt Eichenwald a tweet that triggered an epileptic seizure. — The name of the suspect has not yet been released …