memeorandum: How dangerous are the cracks emerging in Trump's wall of support? (Marc Fisher/Washington Post)

9:50 AM ET, May 18, 2017

Top Items:

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, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Week, AOL, Gizmodo and twitchy.com

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: Washington Post, Politico, Politicus USA, Media Matters for America, The Week, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic, CNBC, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Axios and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

The Special Counsel Mistake — Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.

Discussion: Infowars and The Last Tradition

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: Washington Post, RedState, Shakesville, Hot Air, IJR, Just Security, Raw Story, Axios, The Week, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Politico and ABC News

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

How Trump Learned About the Special Counsel on Russia — The Justice Department appointed Robert S. Mueller III, a former F.B.I. director, as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, announced on Wednesday.

Discussion: Politico

Philip Shenon / Politico:

Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True — The most daunting assignment in Robert Mueller's career in law-enforcement and public service might have arrived on Wednesday night, with his appointment as the special prosecutor in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 president campaign …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Axios and Outside the Beltway

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: The Hill, Balloon Juice, The Week, Above the Law, TheBlaze and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
The worst job in Washington right now: Working for Trump

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, Politico, The Week, Take Care Blog, New York Times, BuzzFeed, TheStreet, Sunlight Foundation, The Atlantic, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, Fox News Insider, New York Post and The Guardian

NBC News:
Flynn, Manafort Are Key Figures In Russia Probe Mueller Will Lead

Discussion: Geller Report, Bloomberg, CNBC, Mediaite, NBC News, New York Times, The Week, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Talking Points Memo

Cecilia Vega / ABC News:
Trump reaction to special counsel measured, says White House

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Politico and Axios

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
The Ghost of Mike Flynn

Discussion: The Week, Politicus USA, Raw Story and Axios

Washington Post:
Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election

Discussion: Common Dreams, Betsy's Page, The Hill, New York Magazine, The Week, Refinery29, Shareblue, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, Power Line, twitchy.com, Hot Air, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, Political Wire, KFOR-TV and TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca R. Ruiz / New York Times:
Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Politico, alicublog, The Federalist, The Week, Take Care Blog, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, The Atlantic, 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

Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Trump turns to ex-campaign aides as scandals pile up

Discussion: Mediaite and Associated Press

Matea Gold / Washington Post:
New special counsel Robert Mueller has history of standing up to the White House

Discussion: Lawfare and AOL

Mike Levine / ABC News:
Robert Mueller appointed special counsel to oversee probe into Russia's interference in 2016 election

Discussion: Politico, Scared Monkeys, Axios, Washington Free Beacon, RedState and Little Green Footballs

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 …

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, bradford-delong.com and Balloon Juice

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Neil Gorsuch will be the enduring symbol of a disastrous presidency. — Several hours after the New York Times reported on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had attempted to quash the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, conservative pundit Erick Erickson tweeted that …

Discussion: Salon, Infowars, The Daily Caller, CNN, Newsmax, Common Dreams and Refinery29

Theodoric Meyer / Politico:
Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence

Discussion: Breitbart, The Resurgent, The Last Tradition, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit and Business Insider

Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Pence Takes Steps to Build War Chest as White House Stumbles

Discussion: The Last Tradition

Erin McClam / CNNMoney:

Roger Ailes, who built Fox News into a powerhouse, dies at 77 — Roger Ailes dead at 77 — Roger Ailes, who transformed cable news and then American politics by building Fox News into a ratings powerhouse, died Thursday. He was 77. — The death was announced by his family and reported on Fox News Channel.

Discussion: New York Magazine, WPRI-TV and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:
Roger Ailes, Fox News founder and former chairman, dies at 77, family says

Discussion: Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

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.

Discussion: Althouse

About / GotNews:
BREAKING: FBI Director James Comey Testified Under Oath May 3rd That The Trump Administration …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and RedState

Alex Pfeiffer / The Daily Caller:

Pat Buchanan: It Isn't Watergate Yet, But How Long Can This Sustain? — Pat Buchanan says the nonstop uproar following Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey is not comparable to Watergate, but he does wonder if the Trump presidency can function with this level of drama.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Marc Fisher / Washington Post: How dangerous are the cracks emerging in Trump's wall of support?

Adriana Cohen / Boston Herald:

The media has lost its marbles — Just five months in, 2017 is going down in history as the year that gave us the worst media bias America has ever witnessed. — It's worse than slanted, it's flat-out rigged against our president and he knows it. Yesterday at the Coast Guard Academy …

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.

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Trump isn't a toddler — he's a product of America's culture of impunity for the rich — “When you're a star, they let you do it.” — Ross Douthat's column arguing for the superiority of “25th Amendment remedies” to impeachment for Donald Trump's various misdeeds is impressive in its ability …

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Kellyanne Conway cancels Fox appearance after special prosecutor announcement — Kellyanne Conway cancelled an appearance on Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday night after it was announced that a special prosecutor would be appointed to head up the investigation into President Trump's ties to Russia.

Discussion: RedState, The Week and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

Race between Democrats running for Virginia governor is neck-and-neck — RICHMOND — Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the party's gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last year's Democratic presidential race …

Discussion: Political Wire

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