memeorandum: In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred. (Michael S. Schmidt/New York Times)

2:40 AM ET, May 12, 2017

Top Items:

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred. — WASHINGTON — Only seven days after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the F.B.I. director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Politico, Business Insider, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Liberal Values, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Week, Axios, Washington Free Beacon and No More Mister Nice Blog

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

Trump's attempt to fix the Comey crisis made it worse — President Donald Trump spent many of the first 48 hours after he fired his FBI director grumbling to friends and associates about his lousy media coverage — and about the shortcomings of his senior aides.

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story, Bloomberg, ABC News, Mediaite and Political Wire

CNN:

White House: Removing Comey will help bring Russia investigation to end — (CNN)The White House said Thursday that removing FBI Director James Comey from his post may hasten the agency's investigation into Russian meddling. — “We want this to come to its conclusion …

Discussion: The Week, Axios, JONATHAN TURLEY, MSNBC, McClatchy Washington Bureau and TheBlaze

Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:

Trump Interview With Lester Holt: President Asked Comey If He Was Under Investigation — President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview Thursday with NBC News' Lester Holt, called ousted FBI chief James Comey a “showboat” and revealed he asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia.

Discussion: The Guardian, Vox, The Week, AOL, CNBC, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, NY State of Politics, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, Raw Story, The Root, Daily Mail, his vorpal sword, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Fox News Insider and Lawfare

NBC News:

My Dinner With Comey: Current and Former FBI Officials Dispute Trump Account of Meeting With FBI Director — Despite what President Donald Trump said earlier in the day, James Comey did not seek a dinner with the president to retain his job, one current and one former FBI official close to Comey told NBC News Thursday evening.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, New York Times, Raw Story, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, CNBC, Business Insider, Political Wire and The Week

CBS News:

Source: There is “whole lot of interfering” in Russia investigation — Although President Trump has now stated and written that fired FBI Director James Comey told him on three separate occasions that he was not the subject of an investigation, sources cast doubt on that claim.

Discussion: HuffPost and Politicus USA

WJLA-TV:

Deputy AG Rosenstein: 'I'm not quitting,' didn't threaten to quit over Comey firing — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Thursday, May 11, 2017 that he's not quitting, nor did he threaten to quit over his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey. (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — AA

Discussion: Washington Post, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Take Care Blog, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, ABC News, NBC News, IJR, Just Security, twitchy.com, Politico, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Mother Jones, JONATHAN TURLEY and Vox

NBC News:

Trump No Longer Expecting to Visit FBI Headquarters After Comey Firing: Officials — The White House has abandoned the idea of President Trump visiting FBI headquarters after being told he would not be greeted warmly, administration officials tell NBC News.

Discussion: CNBC, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, The Root, Politicus USA and Joe.My.God.

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump hates his press shop but loves Sanders — President Trump has found someone other than himself to blame for the bungled firing of James Comey: his press shop. — Trump believes the communications team let him down badly on Tuesday evening in the minutes and hours after his decision …

Discussion: Politico

Jim Acosta / CNN:

White House furious after being trolled with Russia Oval Office photos — Washington (CNN)The White House did not anticipate that the Russian government would allow its state news agency to post photographs of an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov …

Discussion: Washington Post, KTLA, The Atlantic, Mashable, Business Insider, IJR, Mediaite, The Mahablog, Hot Air, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon and Conservative News Today

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Trump has now admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Business Insider, Shareblue and Lawfare

Wall Street Journal:
Rosenstein Pressed White House to Correct the Record on Comey Firing

Discussion: Power Line, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Political Wire and Talking Points Memo

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post: Rosenstein role in Comey firing raises more questions than answers

Adrian Carrasquillo / BuzzFeed:
White House: “Oh My God, For The Billionth Time” Spicer Is Not Being Fired

Discussion: The Week, IJR and RedState

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Voters divided on Comey firing

Discussion: Morning Consult, Hot Air, Washington Post, portal.liberalamerica.org, Shareblue, CNN and ABC News

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump just decimated the White House's entire James Comey narrative

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The American Conservative, Princeton Election Consortium, Media Matters for America, New York Post and MSNBC

NBC Nightly News:
Watch Lester Holt's Extended Interview With President Trump

Discussion: Shareblue and Business Insider

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Trump said he was thinking of Russia controversy when he decided to fire Comey

Discussion: Axios and Politico

Madeline Conway / Politico:
White House: It wasn't inappropriate for Trump to ask Comey about investigation

Discussion: Politicaldog101.Com

Aaron Klein / Breitbart:
NBC's Lester Holt Interrupts Trump 9 Times in Less than 3 Minutes

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Week, CNBC and Business Insider

Ali Watkins / Politico:
Rosenstein meets with Senate Intel leaders after Comey firing

Discussion: AP News, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Axios, The Nation, The Atlantic, IJR, RedState and Outside the Beltway

Edward Morrissey / The Fiscal Times:
The Comey Firing Proves We Need Two Special Counsels, Not One

Discussion: National Review, US News, Above the Law and Hot Air

New York Times:
Acting F.B.I. director contradicts White House.

Discussion: Vox, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Mashable, Politicaldog101.Com, CBS News, Joe.My.God., New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, Politico and The Week

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Huckabee Sanders stands by claim FBI ‘rank and file’ lost faith in Comey

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Tara Palmeri / Politico:
In interview, Trump contradicts Pence on Comey

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, The Root, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, New York Times, CNN and Axios

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:

Trump wants ‘goddamned steam’ catapults on new aircraft carriers — President Trump said he has told the Navy to return to decades-old steam-powered catapult technology to launch aircraft from the new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers, rather than use a new digital launch system.

Discussion: The National Interest, Gizmodo, Political Wire, Business Insider and Mother Jones, more at Techmeme »

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
‘You have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.’ Trump targets the Navy's new aircraft catapult

Discussion: New York Magazine and bradford-delong.com

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Donald Trump has no idea what health insurance costs

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Economist, Common Dreams, Political Wire, Business Insider, Shareblue, The Hill, AOL, National Review, The Week, bradford-delong.com and New York Magazine

Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic: Trump Wants ‘Goddamned Steam,’ Not Digital Catapults on Aircraft Carriers

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:

Conway links Anderson Cooper's eye roll to sexism … White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Thursday appeared to accuse CNN's Anderson Cooper of sexism for rolling his eyes during an on-air interview with her. — “I face sexism a lot of times when I show up for interviews like that,” Conway said on “Fox & Friends.”

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Conservative News Today, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and TheBlaze

Dan Snierson / EW.com: Kellyanne Conway mocked in Family Guy Emmy campaign

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Trump Jr. shares tweet linking Clinton's firing of FBI director to death of Vince Foster

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Snopes.com and AOL

TIME.com:

From where the 45th President works, eats and sleeps, everything is going just great. Now if only everyone else would see it that way. A TIME exclusive — PHOTOGRAPHS BY BENJAMIN RASMUSSEN FOR TIME — In a few minutes, President Donald Trump will release a new set of tweets …

Discussion: Eater, The Federalist, Toronto Star, The Hill, Washington Post, Mashable, Gizmodo, RedState, The Daily Caller, theGrio, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, AOL and No More Mister Nice Blog

capitalgazette.com:

FBI raids office of Republican campaign consultant in Annapolis — The Baltimore Sun — The FBI raided the office of a Republican campaign consultant in Annapolis on Thursday, part of an investigation the firm's president said was tied to the 2013 Virginia governor's race.

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Magazine, IJR and CBS Baltimore

Jayne Miller / WBAL:
FBI searching Annapolis GOP fundraising firm

Discussion: The Root, Medium, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

The Feds have ‘Trump tapes’ akin to Nixon's ‘Watergate tapes’ — With President Trump acting increasingly like former President Nixon during the Watergate scandal coverup, there is one similarity between the two scandals that is not receiving the media attention it deserves.

Martin Longman / Washington Monthly:

Trump Names Racist to Co-Chair Voter Fraud Commission — On paper, Kris Kobach is the kind of guy you'd like to marry your daughter. An Eagle Scout who graduated summa cum laude and first in his department at Harvard, went on to get M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Oxford and a law degree from Yale …

Discussion: New York Times and Hullabaloo

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
President Trump launches commission on ‘election integrity’

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump creates voter-fraud panel that critics label a ‘sham’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Media Matters for America

Scott Wartman / Cincinnati.com:

9 victims alleged in sex charges against Tim Nolan — The Enquirer/Cara Owsley The Enquirer/Cara Owsley — A human trafficking and rape case against a former Northern Kentucky judge grew more bizarre at a tense arraignment and bond hearing Wednesday in Kenton County. — It started normally.

Discussion: Raw Story

Desiree Murphy / Entertainment Tonight:

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Harvey Speaks Out Following Leaked Email to Staff: 'I Don't Apologize About the Letter' — Steve Harvey is speaking out regarding the leaked memo he sent to staff, telling them not to “ambush” him in the hallways of his The Steve Harvey Show talk show.