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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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:
RedState, Bloomberg, Vox, Washington Post, Raw Story, Rewire, New York Times, The Week, Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, Politico, The Root, Axios, AOL, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Joe.My.God., NY State of Politics, The Gateway Pundit, CNBC, Breitbart, Politicus USA, Political Wire and Daily Mail
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, The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite, Salon, Hullabaloo, Betsy's Page, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, RedState, TVNewser, Newsweek, portal.liberalamerica.org, Power Line, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Media Matters for America, The Root, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Atlantic and ABC News
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, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue, Washington Post, Vox, Mediaite, Raw Story, ABC News, CNNMoney, CNN, RedState, fox13now.com, Deadline, Fox 59, CNBC, Mashable, Daily Kos, CBS New York, Common Dreams, The Guardian and Refinery29
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:
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, The Guardian, IJR, Mediaite, The Week, Raw Story, Associated Press, ABC News, Political Wire and Bloomberg
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.”
Jake Tapper / CNN:
Comey was taken aback by Trump request for loyalty pledge — Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey was “taken aback” by President Donald Trump's request for a personal assurance or pledge of loyalty at a dinner shortly after he took office, a source close to Comey told CNN Friday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Wire, New York Times, The Atlantic, Common Dreams, New York Magazine and Business Insider
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, CNBC, NBC News and Politicaldog101.Com
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:
New York Magazine, NBC News, The FADER, National Review, The Daily Caller and The Week
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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
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 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
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:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, CNN, Shakesville and Political Wire
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Associated Press:
Trump to Comey: Better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of talks — President Donald Trump, in an apparent warning to his fired FBI director, said Friday that James Comey had better hope there are no “tapes” of their conversations. Trump's tweet came the morning after he asserted Comey had told …
Discussion:
Politico, patribotics and CANNONFIRE
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
New York Times:
The Trump-Russia Nexus — The acting director of the F.B.I. …
The Trump-Russia Nexus — The acting director of the F.B.I. …
Discussion:
Vox, Daily Kos, ABC News, Washington Free Beacon and The Federalist
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
Why James Comey Had to Go — The FBI head's sense of perfect virtue led him to ignore his own enormous conflicts.
Discussion:
Instapundit
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Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:
HHS Secretary Dr. Tom Price On The Senate Negoitations Ahead — HHS Secretary Dr. Tom Price joined me this morning to discuss the ongoing collapse of Obamacare and the negotiations with and within the Senate: — Audio: — 05-12hhs-price — Transcript:
Discussion:
Politico and Talking Points Memo
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
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, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Shareblue, Mediaite, Gizmodo and Politicaldog101.Com
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
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
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:
The Gateway Pundit
Tracy Withers / Bloomberg:
New Zealand Population Surges Most Since World Turmoil of 1974 — Record immigration drives 2.1% jump in year through March — ‘New Zealand is an island of calm in troubled waters’: Eaqub — The last time New Zealand's population grew this much, the world was reeling from an oil crisis …
Discussion:
Daily Mail
Françoise Mouly / New Yorker:
Barry Blitt's “Ejected” — “It's probably a bit of a leap,” Barry Blitt says, about his cover of the May 22, 2017, issue. “James Comey is six feet eight—he probably would have been happy to give up his seat in a cramped cabin.” — Françoise Mouly has been the art editor at The New Yorker since 1993.
Discussion:
CNBC, Gothamist, Mediaite, Mashable and Business Insider