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.
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Pamela Brown / CNN:
Source: Comey is ‘not worried about any tapes’ — Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey is “not worried about any tapes” of conversations between him and President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Friday, adding that “if there is a tape, there's nothing he is worried about” that could be on it.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Political Wire, Axios, Media Matters for America and Talking Points Memo
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.
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Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Vox, Raw Story, Bloomberg, Rewire, New York Times, Hot Air, Conservative News Today, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Need To Know Network, AOL, Business Insider, Axios, The Root, Joe.My.God., Taylor Marsh, Washington Free Beacon, NY State of Politics, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Politicus USA, CNBC, Political Wire, Daily Mail and Breitbart
Bwittes / Lawfare:
Et Tu Rod? Why The Deputy Attorney General Must Resign — President Trump speaks with Lester Holt on Comey's firing / NBC News — “He made—he made a recommendation,” Donald Trump said yesterday of his Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein in an interview with NBC News.
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Politico, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, The Week, Washington Post, The Hill, Salon, Red Alert Politics, Hullabaloo, New York Times, RedState, Betsy's Page, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, TVNewser, Newsweek, portal.liberalamerica.org, Power Line, Media Matters for America, The Root, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Political Wire
Pierre Thomas / ABC News:
Comey furious at lack of respect White House showed, sources say — Former FBI Director James Comey was furious at the lack of respect the White House showed him in the way he was fired, sources have told ABC News. — Associates say he is simmering at some of the comments directed …
Discussion:
portal.liberalamerica.org, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Associated Press and New York Times
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Warns Comey and Says He May Cancel Press Briefings — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday warned James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director he fired this week, if Mr. Comey leaks anything negative about the president and warned the news media that he may cancel all future White House briefings.
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Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Little Green Footballs, CNN, Shareblue, Mediaite, Raw Story, CNBC, CNNMoney, ThinkProgress, Axios, Just Security, Vox, KRON4.com, Mashable, fox13now.com, ABC News, Deadline, Fox 59, The Guardian, Media Matters for America, Joe.My.God., France 24, The Daily Caller, Refinery29 and Althouse
Paul Sperry / New York Post:
The real reason Trump canned Jim Comey — MORE FROM: … The straw that broke the camel's back for now-ousted FBI Director James Comey was the investigation he apparently wasn't doing. — President Trump's much-reported frustration with Comey almost certainly arose from the G-man's failure …
Andrew Buncombe / The Independent:
FBI agents change their Facebook profile photos to James Comey - a gesture normally reserved for slain colleagues
FBI agents change their Facebook profile photos to James Comey - a gesture normally reserved for slain colleagues
Discussion:
Al Jazeera English, Refinery29, Politicus USA and AOL
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
Why James Comey Had to Go — The FBI head's sense …
Why James Comey Had to Go — The FBI head's sense …
Discussion:
Instapundit
Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
FBI officials challenge Trump's account of dinner meeting with Comey: report
FBI officials challenge Trump's account of dinner meeting with Comey: report
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, New York Magazine and NBC News
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump's Comey fight spooks Capitol Hill — There is widespread concern among Congressional leadership about Trump's frame of mind in the wake of the Comey firing. — Senior Senate aide: “It has to stop ... never seen anything like this in my entire career.”
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Raw Story
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Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Trump's Comey firing sets off new round of leaks — President Trump is besieged by internal leaks as he tries to weather the fallout from his firing of FBI director James Comey. — Media reports about the run-up to Trump's decision paint him as isolated and consumed by anger and paranoia …
Discussion:
ABC News, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Hot Air and RedState
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:
ThinkProgress, Vox, Washington Free Beacon, The Guardian, Mediaite, IJR, CBS News, The Week, Fox Business, Raw Story, Associated Press, ABC News and Bloomberg
Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:
Defenders or enablers? — On the roster: Defenders or enablers? - Trump suggests there may be secret White House tapes - White House confirms shortlist to head FBI - Republicans mangling message on ObamaCare cuts - With garlic bread of despair and side salad of doom
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Examiner, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, The Atlantic, New York Times and Daily Kos
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Comey replacements: White House confirms shortlist to head FBI — The Trump administration is considering nearly a dozen candidates — a list that includes top current and former lawmakers as well as law enforcement figures — to replace fired FBI Director James Comey, a White House official briefed …
Discussion:
CBS Denver, KXAN-TV and The Daily Caller
Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP senators won't buck Trump on Comey firing
GOP senators won't buck Trump on Comey firing
Discussion:
ABC News, Just Security, Washington Post, Shakesville, Daily Kos, Political Wire and CNN
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy — Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed his federal prosecutors Thursday to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, NPR, Snopes.com, The Daily Caller, The FADER, The Week, National Review and rubber hose
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Sessions moves to lengthen drug sentences
Sessions moves to lengthen drug sentences
Discussion:
Axios, ABC News and No More Mister Nice Blog
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Top Dems call for report on Sessions's role in Comey firing
Top Dems call for report on Sessions's role in Comey firing
Discussion:
Political Wire and RedState
Charles J. Sykes / New York Times:
If Liberals Hate Him, Then Trump Must Be Doing Something Right — If there was one principle that used to unite conservatives, it was respect for the rule of law. Not long ago, conservatives would have been horrified at wholesale violations of the norms and traditions of our political system …
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News
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Timothy Egan / New York Times:
Who Will Save the Republic?
Adam Jentleson / Washington Post:
Senate Democrats can stop Trump's Russia scandal from becoming the new normal — We can't let Republicans forget for one moment what the nation is up against. — On the floor of the Senate on Wednesday morning, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set his legendarily methodical mind …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Mahablog and ABC News
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David Weigel / Washington Post:
The ‘Merrick Garland for FBI’ scheme shows why liberals lose — We live in a golden age of political stupidity, but I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this: The idea of pulling Judge Merrick Garland off the D.C. Circuit federal appeals court and into the FBI is one of the silliest ideas I've seen anyone in Washington fall for.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ABC News, Fox News and Vox
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Al Weaver / Washington Examiner:
Senators open to idea of FBI Director Merrick Garland
Senators open to idea of FBI Director Merrick Garland
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Fox Business and Washington Post
James Fallows / The Atlantic:
Five Reasons the Comey Affair Is Worse Than Watergate — The tangled affair now known as Watergate began 45 years ago, before most of today's U.S. population had even been born. (The median age of Americans is about 38, so most people in the country were born in 1979 or thereafter.)
Discussion:
Raw Story and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Aetna CEO in private meeting: “Single-payer, I think we should have that debate” — A top insurance executive signals openness to government-financed health care. — The chief executive of one of the country's largest health insurance companies says he is open to having a single-payer debate.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Axios and ACASignups.net
Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:
DON'T CALL ME CAITLYN: BABY NAME PLUNGES IN POPULARITY — WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't call me Caitlyn. — A year after Caitlyn Jenner announced her new name and gender, the popularity of the name Caitlyn plummeted more than any other baby name, according to Social Security's annual list of the most popular baby names.
Discussion:
Mediaite and Associated Press