memeorandum: Fewest workers getting unemployment benefits in 28 years (Joseph Lawler/Washington Examiner)

12:55 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: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Politico, Axios, Taylor Marsh, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, Politicus USA, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberal Values and The Week

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: Raw Story and Mediaite

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Shareblue and Business Insider

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos and Mediaite

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

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and Politico

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

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

Discussion: Politicaldog101.Com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Power Line, Politico and CNBC

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, Mother Jones and Business Insider, 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

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

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

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

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: Raw Story, Robert Feder and New York Times

Robert Feder:
So long, Steve: Not everyone's sorry to see Harvey leave town

Discussion: ABC News, WGN-TV, New York's PIX11, WREG-TV, KTLA, IJR, AOL and The Root

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, New York Magazine and CBS Baltimore

Jayne Miller / WBAL:
FBI searching Annapolis GOP fundraising firm

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

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

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

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.