memeorandum: ‘He got tired of him’ — Telling Congress that he was … (Josh Dawsey/Politico)

5:30 AM ET, May 11, 2017

Top Items:

‘Enough Was Enough’: How Festering Anger at Comey Ended in His Firing — WASHINGTON — The countdown to President Trump's dismissal of James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, began last weekend, which the president spent stewing over Mr. Comey's testimony to Congress last week in which he provided …

Discussion: Power Line, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Boing Boing, Axios, New York Magazine and Politico

Washington Post:

How Trump's anger and impatience prompted him to fire the FBI director — Every time FBI Director James B. Comey appeared in public, an ever-watchful President Trump grew increasingly agitated that the topic was the one that he was most desperate to avoid: Russia.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week, CNN, Big League Politics, New York Times, CNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Axios, Boing Boing, Mediaite and Mashable

Jake Tapper / CNN:

Source close to Comey says there were 2 reasons the FBI director was fired — Washington (CNN)There are two reasons why President Donald Trump fired James Comey, according to a source close to the now-former FBI director: — Comey never provided the President with any assurance of personal loyalty.

Wall Street Journal:

Comey's Firing Came As Investigators Stepped Up Russia Probe — FBI director had been providing updates to top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee — WASHINGTON—In the weeks before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a federal investigation …

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Daily Kos, Boing Boing, Hot Air, Business Insider, Political Wire, Politico and CNN

New York Times:

An Open Letter to the Deputy Attorney General — Dear Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: — It's rare that any single person has to bear as much responsibility for safeguarding American democracy as you find yourself carrying now. Even before President Trump's shocking decision …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

David Choi / Business Insider:

Trump's deputy attorney general reportedly threatened to resign after being painted as the mastermind behind Comey's firing — While President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey came as a shock for many, one of the alleged architects of the dismissal was also reported …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and New York Times

New York Times:

Days Before He Was Fired, Comey Asked for Money for Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in money and personnel for the bureau's investigation into Russia's interference …

The Daily Beast:

White House Lawyers Warned Trump: Stay Away From Michael Flynn … White House lawyers have had to warn President Donald Trump repeatedly against reaching out to his fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, two people familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast.

Discussion: portal.liberalamerica.org, Vox, The Atlantic, New York Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Gizmodo

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

Why Trump expected only applause when he told Comey, 'You're fired.' — Donald Trump has always acted in the moment, with little regard for the past and proud contempt for the way things are usually done. — For half a century, he's believed that by refusing to be weighed down by precedent or procedure …

Discussion: Raw Story

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The Associated Press Goes Around the Bend on Comey — Associated Press news stories on controversial topics are generally adapted from Democratic National Committee press releases, but when the AP really wants to cut loose it labels its stories “AP Analysis.”

Discussion: LifeZette and The Daily Caller

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

The White House Story On Comey Just Gets Worse and Worse — Comey Comey Comey Comey. Let's catch up. Why exactly did Donald Trump fire the guy, anyway? … Right. Yesterday's official narrative was that, out of the blue, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein recommended Comey's termination, and Trump was like whatevs.

Discussion: USA Today, Discourse.net and McClatchy Washington Bureau

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

The Easy Tells of Comey's Canning — With Donald Trump, the tells are always easy. — When the president says, “I'm, like, a smart person,” you know he nurses deep insecurities about his intelligence. When he says, “I'm really rich,” you know that he knows that you know that, really, he probably isn't.

Reuters:
Comey infuriated Trump with refusal to preview Senate testimony: aides

Discussion: Mediaite, Political Wire and Axios

New York Times:
How Every Lawmaker Has Reacted to Comey's Firing So Far

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Vox and The Daily Caller

Joshua Keating / Slate: If It Happened There: Political Chaos as Regime Purges Powerful Security Chief

Bbauer / Lawfare:
How It Was Done: The Problem is Not Only That Trump Fired Comey, but How He Did It

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Times, The Week, ThinkProgress, Bloomberg and Detroit Metro Times

The Daily Beast: New FBI Boss Could Be More Controversial Than Comey

National Review:
The Comey Ouster — A combination photo of James Comey …

Discussion: Fox News and New York Times

Shimon Prokupecz / CNN:
First on CNN: Comey sends farewell letter to friends and agents

Discussion: The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Washington Times, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:
Inside the F.B.I., Stunned Agents Wonder About Future of Russia Inquiry

Discussion: Politicaldog101.Com, Business Insider and Washington Post

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
‘He got tired of him’ — Telling Congress that he was …

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News and Mediaite

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
More very bad news for Trump: His poll numbers just hit a bunch of new lows

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hill, CNBC, Business Insider, AOL, Outside the Beltway, Mashable, Joe.My.God., No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Shareblue, Washington Times, The Week and Political Wire

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Pelosi threatens to force vote on outside Russia probe

Discussion: TheBlaze

Mark Hensch / The Hill: Comey refused preview of Senate testimony to Trump: report

Michael R. Bloomberg / Bloomberg:
After Comey, Justice Must Be Served

Discussion: Shareblue, Politico, Washington Post, National Review, NY State of Politics, Vox, TheBlaze, The Guardian, Dallas Morning News, Axios and The Hill

Mike Levine / ABC News:
After Comey's firing, acting FBI chief jokes Benghazi controversy was ‘the good ol’ days'

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Take Care Blog, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Politico, Associated Press, neo-neocon, Vox and Right Wing Watch

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
‘There Is a Real Risk Here Things Will Spin Out of Control’

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Rachael Bade / Politico:
GOP scrambles to shield agenda from Comey fallout

Discussion: Washington Post, Politicus USA and ABC News

John Hayward / Breitbart: Gorka: Trump Fired FBI Director to Make a Statement After Comey's Latest Testimony

Brad Reed / Raw Story:
Chris Cuomo stunned as Kellyanne Conway says it's inappropriate to question Trump's Comey firing

Discussion: portal.liberalamerica.org

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Dershowitz: Comey Firing ‘Appropriate,’ No Special Prosecutor

Discussion: neo-neocon, Washington Examiner and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Carol Morello / Washington Post:

Presence of Russian photographer in Oval Office raises alarms — A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office on Wednesday during President Trump's meeting with Russian diplomats, a level of access that was criticized by former U.S. intelligence officials as a potential security breach.

Discussion: Gizmodo and The Week

Susan B. Glasser / Politico:

Russia's Oval Office Victory Dance — When President Donald Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office on Wednesday just hours after firing the FBI director who was overseeing an investigation into whether Trump's team colluded the Russians, he was breaking …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Mother Jones

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Trump holds auditions while Spicer's away — Press secretary Sean Spicer's absence from the briefing room on Wednesday comes at a tenuous time, as President Donald Trump has asked senior advisers for weeks if he needs to change the face of his administration, several White House officials and outside advisers to the president said.

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Raw Story, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Sean Spicer ‘spent several minutes hidden in the bushes’

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Week, Washington Post, Big League Politics, Shakesville, Politico, New York's PIX11, Mashable, The Root, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Axios and Talking Points Memo

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Anderson Cooper's eyeroll is all of us right now

Discussion: Townhall.com, Mediaite, The Root and TheBlaze

Clive Irving / The Daily Beast:

U.S. to Ban Laptops in All Cabins of Flights From Europe … The Department of Homeland Security will ban laptops in the cabins of all flights from Europe to the United States, European security officials told The Daily Beast. The announcement is expected Thursday.

Discussion: Mediaite, Lawfare, View from the Wing, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, CBS San Francisco, Daily Mail, Engadget, Mashable and Axios

GQ:

Dwayne Johnson for President! — No one gets up earlier than Dwayne Johnson. Or goes to bed later. Or is more awake during the hours in between. No one in Hollywood is more buff, more driven, or gets paid better. The man has so much charisma and ambition he can do anything.

Discussion: The Guardian, TheBlaze, Hot Air, KTLA, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Mediaite, Refinery29, KFOR-TV, CBS Philly, The Hill, Mashable, AOL, CBS San Francisco, Business Insider, The Federalist and IJR

Dustin Volz / Reuters:

Commentator who amplified Macron hacks given White House press access — A U.S. far-right online activist credited with initially sharing on Twitter hacked emails from the French presidential campaign of centrist Emmanuel Macron is the latest conservative media figure to receive White House access from the Trump administration.

sandiegouniontribune.com:

DUI suspect in hit-run crash that left boy, 6, badly hurt was deported 15 times — A Mexican citizen who has been deported 15 times was arrested in a hit-and-run crash that left a boy, 6, badly hurt over the weekend. (Courtesy of Cheryl Lake) — A drunken driving suspect in a hit …