memeorandum: Why liberal democracy only dies when conservatives help (Matt O'Brien/Washington Post)

4:10 PM ET, May 17, 2017

Top Items:

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

First Republican raises impeachment for Trump — (R-Mich.) on Wednesday said reports that President Trump pressed ousted FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation would merit impeachment if true, becoming the first Republican lawmaker to broach the idea.

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Refinery29, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, The Week, Shareblue, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, The Atlantic and Vox Popoli, more at Mediagazer »

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:

White House on edge: ‘We are kind of helpless’ — It was, in the words of one senior White House official, the worst day of Trump's presidency. — White House officials spent early Tuesday wondering who was leaking details of President Donald Trump's classified conversations with Russian officials …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Week, New York Magazine and Shakesville

USA Today:

Pretend Clinton did what Trump has done — Republicans in Congress and conservative media would be clamoring for investigations, if not impeachment: Our view — Imagine what would have happened had a President Hillary Clinton abruptly fired the man overseeing an investigation of her campaign's ties to a hostile foreign government.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, CNBC, CNN, New York Times and NPR

Dan Merica / CNN:

Trump to graduates: ‘No politician in history... has been treated worse’ — New London, Connecticut (CNN)President Donald Trump, amid his own swirling controversies, advised United States Coast Guard Academy graduates that while things aren't always fair, “you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight.”

Discussion: New York Times, Hit & Run, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Booman Tribune and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Mike Allen / Axios:

“Comey's revenge” may be far from over — Republicans close to the White House fear that yesterday's revelations could take President Trump into a legal or constitutional realm where his staff and supporters can't save him. — “A whole new door has opened,” said a well-known Republican operative …

Discussion: Politico, Hullabaloo, Just Security, Fox News Insider, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, New York Post, IJR, Weekly Standard, The National Interest, AOL, The Daily Caller and RT

Brian Beutler / New Republic:

Trump Has Really Screwed Himself This Time — He suggested he taped conversations with James Comey. Now, a memo by the former FBI director reveals damaging details about those conversations. — Last Friday, several days after firing FBI Director James Comey, President Donald Trump tweeted something …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Axios, Vox, The Guardian and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
The Criminal President? — After the revelations of the past 24 hours …

New York Times:
Comey Memo Fallout: Senate Committee Invites Comey to Testify

Washington Examiner:
GOP fears Trump will take the Republican Party down with him

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump: No politician has been treated worse by media than me

Discussion: RedState

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
First Republicans talk possibility of impeachment for Trump

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and NBC News

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The guy who predicted Comey's memos thinks the former FBI director may be trying to take down Trump

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Wire, Politico, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, The Atlantic and Common Dreams

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo: Murkowski: ‘May’ Be Time For Independent Probe On Trump-FBI-Russia

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Senate Intelligence Committee leaders demand Comey memos

Discussion: Breitbart, Media Matters for America, The Atlantic, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, New York Times, ABC News, HuffPost, Townhall.com, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Common Dreams, Gizmodo, Sputnik International, Salon and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Chuck Grassley:
Judiciary Committee Leaders Seek Copies of Reported Comey Memos and Possible Trump Tapes

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and TheBlaze

Jordain Carney / The Hill: Senate Intel panel asks Comey to testify publicly

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Trump claims ‘no politician in history’ has been ‘treated worse or more unfairly’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, New York Times, Politico, Mashable, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Chaffetz invites Comey to testify next Wednesday

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Here's why Comey couldn't just quit in February

Discussion: New York Magazine, Lean Left, Hot Air, Hit & Run, AOL and Axios

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The 25th Amendment Solution for Removing Trump — It was just three days and a lifetime ago that I wrote a column about Donald Trump's unfitness for the presidency that affected a world-weary tone. Nothing about this White House's chaos was surprising given the style of Trump's campaign, I argued.

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Hot Air, The Rush Limbaugh Show, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones and The Week

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Behind closed doors, House GOP “shellshocked” by Comey

Discussion: Vox

John Daniel Davidson / The Federalist: The Media Elite Is Indulging Dangerous Fantasies About Removing Trump From Office

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
On Ross Douthat and the 25th Amendment

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jeff Larson / ProPublica:

Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago — We tested internet security at four Trump properties. It's not good. — Two weeks ago, on a sparkling spring morning, we went trawling along Florida's coastal waterway. But not for fish. — We parked a 17-foot motor boat in a lagoon …

Discussion: The Week, more at Techmeme »

Gizmodo:
Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago. We Tested It.

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Russian State-Run Bank Financed Deal Involving Trump Hotel Partner — A Russian-Canadian developer put money into a Donald Trump hotel project in Toronto after receiving hundreds of millions from a deal involving Russian state-run bank VEB.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, AOL, Raw Story, The Guardian and The Week

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:

What Does Barack Obama Really Think of Donald Trump? 'He's Nothing But a Bullsh-ter' — She packs her own lunch, and he still isn't allowed to drive. Subscribe now for all about Michelle and Barack Obama's lives after moving out of the White House - only in PEOPLE

Discussion: The Root, Fox News Insider, Raw Story, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, IJR, Infowars, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Refinery29, AOL, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

David Remnick / New Yorker:

Is the Comey Memo the Beginning of the End for Trump? — Donald Trump, who may well have attempted to obstruct justice within just a few weeks of taking his oath of office, came to the Presidency with a wealth of experience in the art of deceit. He may know little of domestic or foreign policy …

Discussion: New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Indy Week, CNN, Mediaite, Political Wire, The Week, Shareblue, The Hill, Al Jazeera English, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, Breitbart, Mashable and The Atlantic

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
The Trump Presidency Falls Apart

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Shareblue, Washington Monthly, Politicus USA, The Week, Daily Kos and AOL

Reuters:
Embroiled in controversies, Trump seeks boost on foreign trip

Discussion: CNN, Shareblue, RedState, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Week and twitchy.com

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:

Jimmy Fallon Was on Top of the World. Then Came Trump. — Ambling onto the Art Deco set of “The Tonight Show” for his monologue rehearsal one Monday afternoon, Jimmy Fallon gave the crowd here at Studio 6B a warm, practiced welcome before trying out a new batch of jokes about the French election …

Discussion: The Guardian, The Daily Caller, AOL, Refinery29, IndieWire, Shakesville, Mashable and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Austin American-Statesman:

‘THIS IS CRAZY’: Austin man sues date for texting during movie — A man is suing a Round Rock woman for texting during a movie date at the Barton Creek Square theater, according to a petition filed in small claims court in Travis County. — Brandon Vezmar, 37, of Austin filed the claim Thursday against his date.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Refinery29, IndieWire, Mashable, AOL, Fox News Insider, TheBlaze, Daily Mail, EW.com, The Root, CBS New York and Washington Free Beacon

Matt O'Brien / Washington Post:

Why liberal democracy only dies when conservatives help — Liberal democracy is not dead, but it's not well. From Hungary to Poland to even the United States, far-right populists have won power, and, in a few cases, are busy consolidating it. — In some sense, it shouldn't be too surprising …

Bloomberg:

Trump Said to Rule Out Moving Israel Embassy to Jerusalem — The embassy will remain in Tel Aviv for now, official says — Administration seeks to avoid provoking Palestinians — President Donald Trump has decided not to immediately move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem …

NBC News:

Trump Gave Russians Secrets News Orgs Are Being Asked To Withhold — Some of the intelligence President Trump provided to Russian officials is so secret that American news organizations are still being asked not to report it, two U.S. officials told NBC News.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Story on DNC staffer's murder dominated conservative media — hours later it fell apart — It took only hours for one of the biggest stories in conservative media this week, which some outlets had chosen to focus on over news that President Trump disclosed classified information to senior Russian officials, to fall apart.

Discussion: DCist, Media Matters for America, Right Wing Watch, Raw Story, Washingtonian, The Week, BuzzFeed, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Politicus USA and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Judah Ari Gross / The Times of Israel:

Former Israeli spymasters rip into Trump, say Israel must reassess intel sharing — Shabtai Shavit says the US president is like a ‘bull in a china shop’; notes, ‘If tomorrow I were asked to pass information to the CIA, I would do everything I could to not pass it to them’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Week