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

10:55 PM ET, May 11, 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: ThinkProgress, Politico, Axios, Business Insider, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week and No More Mister Nice Blog

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 Moderate Voice, Washington Post, AOL, The Guardian, The Atlantic, CNBC, Business Insider, CBS New York, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, Mother Jones, NY State of Politics, The Root, Daily Mail, The Week, Daily Kos, Lawfare and Fox News Insider

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: MSNBC and TheBlaze

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

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

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

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: The Atlantic, Washington Post, KTLA, Business Insider, The Mahablog, Mashable, Mediaite, IJR, 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 — ‘When I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, “You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story.’ — Many Republicans — from White House staffers to members of Congress to conservative pundits …

Discussion: New York Times, Shareblue and Lawfare

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

Wall Street Journal:

Rosenstein Pressed White House to Correct the Record on Comey Firing — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pressed White House counsel Don McGahn to correct what he felt was an inaccurate White House depiction of the events surrounding FBI Director James Comey's firing.

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

Adrian Carrasquillo / BuzzFeed:

White House: “Oh My God, For The Billionth Time” Spicer Is Not Being Fired — Sources tell BuzzFeed News that press secretary Sean Spicer has drawn Trump's ire, and is sounding out aides and friends about replacing him. The White House pushed back hard on reports that Spicer's job is in danger.

Discussion: The Week, IJR and RedState

Tara Palmeri / Politico: Trump's attempt to fix the Comey crisis made it worse

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Considering Ex-Congressman Mike Rogers for FBI Director, Official Says

Discussion: ABC News, New York Magazine, Politico, Axios and Political Wire

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

Discussion: Shareblue and Business Insider

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Princeton Election Consortium and MSNBC

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

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, portal.liberalamerica.org, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, The Nation, ABC News, Axios, The Atlantic, RedState, Outside the Beltway and IJR

McClatchy Washington Bureau: Sources: Comey sought to expand Trump-Russia probe of former campaign officials

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

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos and Mediaite

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

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

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

Discussion: National Review, Above the Law, Hot Air and Washington Post

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

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

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

Discussion: Morning Consult, Axios, Washington Post, Hot Air, CNN and Shareblue

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

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

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
For Trump Supporters, the Real Outrage Is the Left's Uproar Over Comey

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Dara Lind / Vox:
Trump himself just confirmed his White House's story about Comey's firing was a lie

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, US News, Media Matters for America, New York Magazine, Take Care Blog and CNBC

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
Our Rendezvous With Authoritarianism Has Arrived

Discussion: Vox and Liberal Values

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 Hill, Washington Post, The Federalist, Gizmodo, RedState, Mashable, Mediaite, theGrio, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, AOL, New York Magazine and The Week

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: Political Wire, The National Interest, Gizmodo, Mother Jones, Business Insider and bradford-delong.com, 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

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

Economist:

What is Trumponomics and how does it differ from standard Republican economics? — Well it's an interesting question. I don't think it's ever been asked quite that way. But it really has to do with self-respect as a nation. It has to do with trade deals that have to be fair, and somewhat reciprocal, if not fully reciprocal.

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

Discussion: Political Wire, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, AOL and bradford-delong.com

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, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, 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

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

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

Discussion: ABC News and Talking Points Memo

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

Ari Berman / The Nation:
Trump's Commission on ‘Election Integrity’ Will Lead to Massive Voter Suppression

Discussion: Kansas City Star, Media Matters for America, Shakesville and ThinkProgress

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, IJR and New York Magazine

Jayne Miller / WBAL:
FBI searching Annapolis GOP fundraising firm

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

NBC News:
Trump Considering Former Rep. Mike Rogers for FBI Director

Discussion: Power Line, Politico and CNBC

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.

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and Robert Feder