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:
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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:
Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Raw Story
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:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Raw Story, RedState, Bloomberg, Vox, Rewire, New York Times, Hot Air, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Conservative News Today, The Week, New York Magazine, AOL, Politico, Axios, The Root, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, Joe.My.God., Business Insider, Mother Jones, NY State of Politics, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, CNBC, Politicus USA, Breitbart and Political Wire
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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, CNN, Shareblue, Mediaite, Raw Story, Vox, CNNMoney, ABC News, KRON4.com, RedState, fox13now.com, Deadline, Fox 59, France 24, Mashable, CNBC, Daily Kos, CBS New York, Common Dreams, CBS Miami, Refinery29 and Althouse
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.
Discussion:
Politico, The Week, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Hill, Salon, Red Alert Politics, Hullabaloo, New York Times, Betsy's Page, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TVNewser, Newsweek, portal.liberalamerica.org, Power Line, Media Matters for America, The Root, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Atlantic and ABC News
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:
Fox News, Washington Examiner 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, IJR, The Guardian, Mediaite, CBS News, The Week, Fox Business, Raw Story, Associated Press, ABC News, Bloomberg 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:
Politicus USA, Raw Story and Associated Press
Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
FBI officials challenge Trump's account of dinner meeting with Comey: report — Current and former FBI officials are contradicting President Trump's statement that former FBI Director James Comey asked to meet with the president to request to keep his job, according to a new NBC News report.
Discussion:
RedState, CNBC, NBC News and Politicaldog101.Com
Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP senators won't buck Trump on Comey firing — Democrats who thought the sudden dismissal of FBI Director James Comey would finally jolt Republicans to back a special prosecutor to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign are going to be sorely disappointed.
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Political Wire and CNN
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Top Dems call for report on Sessions's role in Comey firing — The top Democrats on two powerful House committees are calling for a report on possible disciplinary actions against Attorney General Jeff Sessions — for his role in FBI Director James Comey's firing.
Discussion:
Political Wire and RedState
Associated Press:
Trump to Comey: Better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of talks
Trump to Comey: Better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of talks
Discussion:
Politico, patribotics and CANNONFIRE
Paul Sperry / New York Post:
The real reason Trump canned Jim Comey
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
William Yeomans / The Hill:
Is Trump guilty of obstruction of justice? That depends ...
Is Trump guilty of obstruction of justice? That depends ...
Discussion:
Just Security, New York Magazine and Wall Street Journal
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, New York Magazine, Snopes.com, NPR, The FADER, The Daily Caller, The Week and National Review
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Sessions moves to lengthen drug sentences
Sessions moves to lengthen drug sentences
Discussion:
ABC News, No More Mister Nice Blog and Axios
Fox News:
Sessions' office releases memo to all 94 US attorneys calling for reversal of Holder-era policy
Sessions' office releases memo to all 94 US attorneys calling for reversal of Holder-era policy
Discussion:
Townhall.com, U.S. Department of Justice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and IJR
Laura Jarrett / CNN:
AG Sessions paves way for stricter sentencing in criminal cases
AG Sessions paves way for stricter sentencing in criminal cases
Discussion:
Political Wire
The Hill:
Trump lawyers claim his tax returns show no income from Russia with few exceptions — President Trump's lawyers on Friday said that a review of his last ten years of tax returns do not reveal “any income of any type from Russian sources” with some exceptions, but refused to release copies of his tax returns to verify such conclusions.
Discussion:
Axios, RedState, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, IJR, Hot Air, Shareblue and Mediaite
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Judas, Tax Cuts and the Great Betrayal — The denarius, ancient Rome's silver coin, was supposedly the daily wage of a manual worker. If so, the tax cuts that the richest 1 percent of Americans will receive if the Affordable Care Act is repealed — tax cuts that are, obviously …
Discussion:
Fox News Insider
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Timothy Egan / New York Times:
Who Will Save the Republic?
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.
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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
Eric Rasmusen / RealClearDefense:
Conventional Artillery and Nuclear Missiles in North Korea — A Game Theory Approach to Credible Threats — There has been much discussion of what a Second Korean War might look like. I think it is misguided. I am just a game theorist with a bit of Japan expertise …
Discussion:
Shot in the Dark and Real Clear Politics
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Gerry Mullany / New York Times:
Chinese Rappers Take Aim at American Antimissile System in South Korea
Chinese Rappers Take Aim at American Antimissile System in South Korea
Discussion:
Business Insider and The Daily Caller
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
David Weigel / Washington Post:
Republicans misstate, again and again on TV and at town halls, what's in their health-care bill — The American Health Care Act that narrowly passed out of the House earlier this month cuts $880 billion from Medicaid — but that won't affect anyone's coverage.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Consumerist
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:
Axios and ACASignups.net
Chris Cioffi / The Charlotte Observer:
High school takes back yearbooks with ‘Build that wall,’ other inappropriate quotes — ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — All of the yearbooks that had been distributed at the Richmond Early College High School near Rockingham have been taken back by the school after some senior quotes were deemed controversial, the school system says.
Discussion:
Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit