memeorandum: Why the latest White House crisis is a really big deal (Stephen Collinson/CNN)

9:25 AM ET, May 16, 2017

Top Items:

Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador — President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, Axios, Politico, Reuters, Newsmax, Mother Jones, The American Mirror, USA Today, Raw Story, CNN, RealClearPolitics, New York Times, Just Security, CNBC, Tennessean.com, Fox News, The Guardian, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Daily Mail, Politicus USA, IJR, Daily Kos, CBS New York, Washington Post, Mashable, Vox, Washington Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, AOL, The Times of Israel, The Week, Informed Comment, Power Line, emptywheel, Washingtonian, Taylor Marsh, twitchy.com, RedState, Roll Call, Scared Monkeys, Shareblue, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, ABC News, TheStreet, France 24, CBS Philly, Talking Points Memo, PRI, TheBlaze, The Root, Little Green Footballs, Fox News Insider, Refinery29, Foreign Policy, The Gateway Pundit, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, The Last Tradition, Patterico's Pontifications, NPR, Outside the Beltway, Lawfare, Balloon Juice and Gizmodo

JGoldsmith / Lawfare:

Bombshell: Initial Thoughts on the Washington Post's Game-Changing Story — Donald Trump meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak / Russian Foreign Ministry — The Washington Post this afternoon published a stunning story reporting …

Discussion: RedState, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Mediaite, AOL, The Week, bradford-delong.com and Washington Post

David Brooks / New York Times:

When the World Is Led by a Child — At certain times Donald Trump has seemed like a budding authoritarian, a corrupt Nixon, a rabble-rousing populist or a big business corporatist. — But as Trump has settled into his White House role, he has given a series of long interviews …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

White House Staff ‘Hiding’ As Russia Chaos Engulfs West Wing … White House and administration officials are reeling at reports that President Donald Trump reportedly shared classified information with Russia's top diplomats during an Oval Office meeting last week.

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Magazine

Euan McKirdy / CNN:

Sally Yates: Russians had ‘real leverage’ over Michael Flynn — Watch Anderson Cooper's full, exclusive interview with Yates on CNN and CNN International Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on “AC360.” — (CNN)Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said former national security adviser Michael Flynn was in a …

Discussion: Politico and Political Insider blog

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Law Can't Stop Trump. Only Impeachment Can. — Shortly after the Washington Post's devastating report that President Trump “revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador” and “jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State,” Republicans in Congress began to weigh in.

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Politicus USA and The Atlantic

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Why the latest White House crisis is a really big deal — Trump's discussing classified information with the Russian foreign minister impacts his political standing and US national security interests — (CNN)Donald Trump's latest crisis — over his reported disclosure of highly classified information …

Discussion: WTVR-TV and The Week

BuzzFeed:

Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information To Russians During White House Visit — The president discussed classified national security information with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister last week, two US officials confirmed to BuzzFeed News. — President Trump revealed highly …

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Shared Intelligence Secrets With Russians in Oval Office Meeting — President Donald Trump shared sensitive intelligence obtained from a close U.S. ally with Russia's foreign minister and ambassador in a meeting last week, according to U.S. officials.

Discussion: The Week

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

Trump acknowledges ‘facts’ shared with Russian envoys during White House meeting — President Trump appeared to acknowledge Tuesday that he revealed highly classified information to Russia — a stunning confirmation of a Washington Post story and a move that contradicted his own White House team after it scrambled to deny the report.

Discussion: Politico, RedState, The Times of Israel, Instapundit, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:

The Terrible Cost of Trump's Disclosures — If The Washington Post is right, President Trump divulged highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador at a jovial meeting in the Oval Office. Here is why this is appalling, beyond even this president's usual standard.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, The Guardian, Gizmodo, The Week, New York Times, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Vox, Axios, Politicus USA, Mother Jones, CNBC, RedState, Mashable and Mediaite

New York Times:

Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally — WASHINGTON — President Trump boasted about highly classified intelligence in a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador last week, providing details that could expose the source of the information …

Discussion: Axios, CNBC, Washington Post, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, The Atlantic, CBS Boston, Vox, Mother Jones, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

CNN:
Congress' exasperated as White House in ‘downward spiral’

Discussion: Vox

Kristina Wong / Breitbart:
Deep State Leaks Highly Classified Info to Washington Post to Smear President Trump

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Mediaite, Just Security, Talking Points Memo, Power Line, Vox, Axios, RedState, The Last Tradition, Media Matters for America, TheBlaze and The Atlantic

John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:
Trump's Supposed Leak: The Worst Thing Yet?

Discussion: Washington Post and Politicus USA

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Pro-Trump media dismisses bombshell report the president shared classified info

Discussion: CNN, Axios, The Week, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Mediaite

Josh Meyer / Politico:
Trump's handling of classified info brings new chaos to White House

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story and Axios

Noor Al-Sibai / Raw Story: 'A grotesque violation of the president's oath': Law experts blast Trump for sharing classified intel with Russians

Austin Wright / Politico:
Republicans concerned about report Trump shared secrets with Russia

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vox, Daily Mail, Shareblue, CBS New York, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Media Matters for America, Refinery29, Mediaite, Axios, Politicus USA, Mother Jones, Fox News Insider and Mashable

Politico:
White House pushes back against report Trump shared classified info with Russians

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, CNN, Daily Kos, The Guardian, CNBC, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, twitchy.com, Bloomberg and The Hill

Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:
Russia Redux: Republican Senators Confront Another Trump Disaster

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Vox, CBS Philly, Axios and Mediaite

Ynetnews: US intel sources warn Israel against sharing secrets with Trump administration

Marina Marraco / WTTG-TV:

Family's private investigator: There is evidence Seth Rich had contact with WikiLeaks prior to death — WASHINGTON - It has been almost a year since Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in the nation's capital. There have been no solid answers about why he was killed until now.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, The Gateway Pundit and The Last Tradition

Malia Zimmerman / Fox News:

Seth Rich, slain DNC staffer, had contact with WikiLeaks, say multiple sources — The Democratic National Committee staffer who was gunned down on July 10 on a Washington, D.C., street just steps from his home had leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks, law enforcement sources told Fox News.

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite and Instapundit

Rachel Manteuffel / Washington Post:

When President Trump's bodyguard revealed Jim Mattis's private cellphone number — This Is Not Normal. It's a mantra among politics-watchers, an attempt to force ourselves to see clearly through the toxic levels of absurdity caking Washington these days. The poker-faced way the news …

Discussion: The Hill and RedState

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Disney Chief Bob Iger Says Hackers Claim to Have Stolen Upcoming Movie — He says the thieves demanded a ransom, which the company is refusing to pay. — Have real-life pirates taken aim at Disney? — Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed Monday that hackers claiming to have access …

Discussion: Breitbart, The Guardian, Mashable, Engadget, Daily Mail, RedState and Gizmodo, more at Mediagazer »

Anita Busch / Deadline:
Hackers Holding Disney's Latest ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ For Ransom

Discussion: Refinery29 and The Verge

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:

UploadVR sued over ‘rampant’ sexual behavior in the workplace and wrongful termination — UploadVR is being sued by the company's former Director of Digital and Social Media for sexual harassment, sex and gender discrimination and wrongful termination, TechCrunch has learned.

Discussion: Engadget, Gizmodo and The Verge

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Rahm Emanuel just wants Democrats to stop the madness — CHICAGO — When I asked Rahm Emanuel how he thinks Democrats around the country are doing in appealing to the middle class, he pretended he was about to pound the table with both hands: “That would be one physical expression,” he said.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

How Democrats Can Get Their Mojo Back — The great new dividing line in American life is the four-year college degree. The line runs through virtually every part of society. — The pay gap between college graduates and everyone else has soared in recent years. The unemployment gap has, too.

Sam Dorman / Washington Free Beacon:

Prominent Democratic Feminist Camille Paglia Says Hillary Clinton ‘Exploits Feminism’ — Camille Paglia is a woman of seeming contradictions. She's a lesbian who thinks homosexuality is not normal, a Democrat who often criticizes the party's 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Trump's trust problem — President Donald Trump was accused of leaking highly classified information to Russian officials, and White House officials wanted to fiercely rebut the charges. — But when senior national security officials issued statements Monday night, including from behind …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill and Political Wire

Yvonne Wenger / Baltimore Sun:

Rod Rosenstein says he's defending Constitution, not worried about reputation — “Many people have offered me unsolicited advice over the past few days about what I should do to promote my personal reputation,” said Rod Rosenstein. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)

Will Baude / Washington Post:

Reminder: The United States Code is not the law — As news reports circulate about the various candidates being interviewed to replace James Comey as director of the FBI, some of you may have flipped over to the United States Code to see what was what. If so, you might have found 28 U.S.C. 532: