Top Items:
Pamela Brown / CNN:
Comey prepped responses ahead of Trump discussions — (CNN)Ahead of discussions with President Donald Trump, Former FBI Director James Comey prepped with his team on ways to respond to anticipated questions so that he would not come across as confrontational during the ongoing Russia probe, according to an official close to Comey.
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NBC News:
Flynn, Manafort Are Key Figures In Russia Probe Mueller Will Lead — Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI's investigation into Russian campaign interference, which has just been taken over by a special counsel, four law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Mediaite, NBC News, New York Times, Raw Story, The Week, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and The Hill
Wall Street Journal:
The Special Counsel Mistake — Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.
Discussion:
The Last Tradition
Jchong / Lawfare:
Initial Reactions on the Appointment of Robert Mueller As Special Counsel — FBI Director Robert Mueller leads a briefing for President Obama on the Boston Marathon bombings, April 2013 / Official White House Photo by Pete Souza — There's a lot of reason to be cheered this evening …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNN and Vox
Washington Post:
Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election — The Justice Department has decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials seeking to meddle in last year's election …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Week, Refinery29, Shareblue, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, twitchy.com, New York Times, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Political Wire, KFOR-TV and TheBlaze
Cecilia Vega / ABC News:
Trump reaction to special counsel measured, says White House — Just prior to the Department of Justice's public announcement that former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to continue the investigation into Russian election interference, a group of senior White House …
Discussion:
Associated Press and Politico
CNN:
Inside an embattled Trump's most consequential evening of turmoil yet — Washington (CNN)No one inside the West Wing had to ask how the President's mood was on Wednesday afternoon as aides awaited his return from delivering the commencement address to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Week, Above the Law, TheBlaze and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Matea Gold / Washington Post:
New special counsel Robert Mueller has history of standing up to the White House
About / GotNews:
BREAKING: FBI Director James Comey Testified Under Oath May 3rd That The Trump Administration …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and RedState
Rebecca R. Ruiz / New York Times:
Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation
Discussion:
The Week, FiveThirtyEight, Take Care Blog, Daily Kos, Axios, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, Booman Tribune, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Hit & Run and Althouse
Nicole Gaudiano / USA Today:
GOP blocks House vote on independent Russia-Trump investigation
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Philip Shenon / Politico:
Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True
Discussion:
New York Times, ABC News, Axios and Outside the Beltway
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump considering Joe Lieberman for FBI director
Discussion:
Mediaite, Latest from Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo and Politico, more at Mediagazer »
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Trump turns to ex-campaign aides as scandals pile up
Discussion:
Mediaite and Associated Press
Mike Levine / ABC News:
Robert Mueller appointed special counsel to oversee probe into Russia's interference in 2016 election
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, Washington Free Beacon, RedState and Little Green Footballs
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Comey Memo Fallout: Mueller Is Named Special Counsel
Discussion:
CNN, New York Post, Vox, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Politico, Gizmodo, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, NPR, neo-neocon, Indy Week, ABC News, Hot Air, Fox News Insider, The Atlantic, IJR, AOL, The Guardian, New Republic and Right Wing Watch
New York Times:
Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House — WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Week, CNBC, TheBlaze, Politicus USA, Axios, Mother Jones and Washington Times
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Vera Bergengruen / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Flynn stopped military plan Turkey opposed - after being paid as its agent — WASHINGTON — One of the Trump administration's first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired - and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Axios, The Week, The Atlantic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Politico and ABC News
Adam Entous / Washington Post:
House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump — KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Root, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Take Care Blog, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, twitchy.com, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Mediaite, CNBC, Shakesville, The Week, The Times of Israel, KTLA, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Axios, The Guardian, NBC News, Political Wire and Balloon Juice
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Ashley Dejean / Mother Jones:
Report: Top GOP Lawmaker Was Recorded Saying He Thought Trump Was on Putin's Payroll
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Caller and bradford-delong.com
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians - sources — Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race …
Discussion:
Axios, The Atlantic, Mediaite and twitchy.com
Theodoric Meyer / Politico:
Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence — Not since the release of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Donald Trump bragged about groping women by the genitals, have some conservatives thought so seriously, if a bit wistfully, about two words: President Pence.
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Resurgent, The Last Tradition, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider and The Federalist
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Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Pence Takes Steps to Build War Chest as White House Stumbles
Discussion:
The Last Tradition
Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
Column Dear Vice President Pence: What are you thinking?
Discussion:
Fox News Insider
Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat — The classified information that President Donald Trump shared with Russian officials last week came from an Israeli source described by multiple U.S. officials as the most valuable source of information on external plotting by Islamic State.
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
‘The Flight 93 Election’ Crashes Again — In case you've had the pleasure of forgetting, “The Flight 93 Election” was the title of a portentous essay, published last September under a Roman pseudonym in The Claremont Review of Books, that declared the stakes for the United States in 2016 thus: “Charge the cockpit or you die.”
Discussion:
BarbWire.com
Michelle Kosinski:
This is How Your Government Responds to Unfavorable News Coverage — Monday night, as the story of the President giving classified information to the Russians was in full evolution, I get a call from this guy: — RC Hammond, the State Department's communications advisor, who had his facts wrong about what was reported and by whom.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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 …
EU Press Room:
Mergers: Commission fines Facebook €110 million for providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover — The European Commission has fined Facebook €110 million for providing incorrect or misleading information during the Commission's 2014 investigation under the EU Merger Regulation …
Discussion:
Forbes, New York Times, Daily Mail, Engadget, The Verge and Sputnik International, more at Techmeme »
Travis Waldron / HuffPost:
Fox Stands By DNC Murder Conspiracy Theory Even After Main Source Changes Story — Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman says she spent 10 months working on her story. — Fox News and its Washington, D.C., affiliate, Fox 5, are standing by their conspiracy-mongering reports …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Week, Newsweek and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »
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Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Family of slain DNC staffer demands retractions from Fox News, local TV station
Discussion:
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