Top Items:
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 …
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Michael Isikoff / Yahoo:
As investigators circled Flynn, he got a message from Trump: Stay strong — Late last month, fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn—under investigation by federal prosecutors, with his lawyer seeking immunity for him to testify to Congress-met with a small group of loyalists at a restaurant in the northern Virginia suburbs.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Shakesville, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, The Week, twitchy.com and Politicus USA
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:
Politico, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Axios, RedState, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Hot Air, Shareblue, IJR, National Review, Politicus USA, Media Matters for America, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Raw Story, The Guardian, TheBlaze, CNBC, Mother Jones, Refinery29, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, RedState, Politico, Raw Story, Just Security, Hot Air, Shakesville, IJR, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, The Week, New York Magazine, Axios and Mediaite
New York Times:
Deputy Attorney General to Appear in Rare All-Senate Hearing — 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:
The Hill, The Atlantic, JustOneMinute, Infowars, Raw Story, Take Care Blog, New York Magazine and Hit & Run
HuffPost:
You Need To Connect The Dots Between The Bombshell Michael Flynn Stories
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, The Week and NBC News
Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller
Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Chaffetz: Trump ‘probably’ shouldn't have hired Flynn
Discussion:
RedState
Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
The Ghost of Mike Flynn
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Daily Caller, Axios and TheBlaze
Annie Karni / Politico:
Trump weighs downsizing Spicer's public role — President Donald Trump is considering scaling back White House press secretary Sean Spicer's public role, according to several officials familiar with the president's thinking, as Trump also weighs a broader shakeup of his communications shop in the wake of several scandals.
Discussion:
Axios, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Bloomberg, Raw Story, White House Dossier, Mediaite, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, The Week and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »
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Rick Wilson / Washington Post:
If you work for Trump, it's time to quit — After the Comey firing and the Russia intel leak, the I'm-taking-one-for-the-team ship has sailed. — I've been a Republican political consultant for almost 30 years, and I've dispensed a lot of private advice.
Discussion:
Politicus USA
Annie Karni / Politico:
How Trump learned about the special prosecutor
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, Vox, TVNewser, ABC News, New York Magazine, Betsy's Page, USA Today and Althouse
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Advisers Urge Trump to Hire an Outside Lawyer
Discussion:
Political Wire
Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Trump ‘furious’ at Guilfoyle's bid for Spicer's job, 'She's using us'
Discussion:
Mercury News, White House Dossier, Mediaite and Media Matters for America
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
The worst job in Washington right now: Working for Trump
Discussion:
Just Security, Mediaite, New York Times, CNN, The Week, Take Care Blog, Politico, BuzzFeed, Liberal Values, McClatchy Washington Bureau, TheStreet and Sunlight Foundation
Wall Street Journal:
The Special Counsel Mistake — Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.
Discussion:
Infowars and The Last Tradition
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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:
Shareblue, Washington Post, New York Times, CNBC, Daily Kos, CNN, AOL, Vox and Axios
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 …
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Special Counsel Who Just Might Save Trump's Presidency
Discussion:
Geller Report, NBC News, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Times, Raw Story, Mother Jones and The Week
Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Chaffetz sees no ‘actual crime’ for special Russia prosecutor to investigate
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, ABC News, Daily Kos, New York Times, The Week and Above the Law
Rachael Bade / Politico:
Chaffetz to announce early departure from Congress — Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is expected to announce Thursday that he is resigning before the end of this congressional term, according to three sources familiar with his plans. — Chaffetz did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.
Discussion:
Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Week, The Daily Caller, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, The Resurgent and Washington Post
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Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:
Chaffetz to invite Comey to testify
Discussion:
ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit and The Week
Reuters:
Car slams into Times Square pedestrians, killing one, injuring others — A speeding car plowed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in New York City's busy Times Square on Thursday, killing one person and injuring a dozen, according to witnesses, and police said the incident did not appear to be an act of terrorism.
Discussion:
Washington Post
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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:
CNBC, Common Dreams, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Free Beacon, New York Magazine, WPRI-TV and Outside the Beltway
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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:
ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Media Matters for America, CNN, Balloon Juice, AOL, Daily Kos, Take Care Blog, Breitbart, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Mediaite, Gizmodo, The Root, CNBC, The Week, KTLA, The Guardian, Shakesville, bradford-delong.com, Axios, NBC News, Politicus USA and Political Wire
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 …
CNN:
Chris Cornell dead at age 52 — (CNN)Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died Wednesday night, his representative told CNN. — Cornell, 52, was in Detroit performing with Soundgarden, which had embarked on a US tour in April. His passing was “sudden and unexpected …
Discussion:
KFOR-TV, NPR, Deadline, National Review and Washington Post
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Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
House Dems Smash Fundraising Records Ahead of Midterms — House Democrats have already raised more money in online contributions this year ahead of the midterms than they did during all of 2015, the most recently comparable year, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee official told NBC News.
Discussion:
Politicus USA
Alvin Chang / Vox:
We tracked the Trump scandals on right-wing news sites. Here's how they covered it. — We're experiencing these historical events very differently. — The past week of Trump scandals for people reading mainstream news outlets has gone something like this: President Trump fired …
Discussion:
CNBC
Samantha Vicent Tulsa / Tulsa World:
Related coverage … After a tense nine hours of deliberations, a jury acquitted Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby of a first-degree manslaughter charge in the death of Terence Crutcher. — Jurors began deliberating about noon and the verdict was read about 9:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, Vox, NPR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Daily Caller
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