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, New York Magazine, CNBC, Shakesville, Mediaite, 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, Axios, Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, RedState, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, NBC News, Hot Air, The Week, National Review, IJR, Shareblue, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, Outside the Beltway, TheBlaze, The Guardian, CNBC, Mother Jones, Refinery29, 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, Axios, Politico, RedState, Hot Air, The Week, Shakesville, Just Security, IJR, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Magazine, The Atlantic and Mediaite
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Special Counsel Who Just Might Save Trump's Presidency
Discussion:
Power Line, Geller Report, NBC News, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, New York Times, Raw Story, The Week and Daily Kos
New York Times:
Deputy Attorney General to Appear in Rare All-Senate Hearing
Discussion:
The Hill, The Atlantic, Just Security, JustOneMinute, Infowars, Raw Story and Take Care Blog
HuffPost:
You Need To Connect The Dots Between The Bombshell Michael Flynn Stories
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, The Week and The Daily Caller
Adam Entous / Washington Post:
House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump
Discussion:
Vox, The Hill, ThinkProgress, Salon, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Media Matters for America, CNN, Balloon Juice, AOL, Take Care Blog, Daily Kos, Breitbart, twitchy.com, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Mediaite, Gizmodo and The Root
Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Chaffetz: Trump ‘probably’ shouldn't have hired Flynn
Discussion:
RedState
Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Politicus USA and Axios
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
Discussion:
Shareblue, Washington Post, New York Times, CNBC, Daily Kos, CNN, AOL, Vox and Axios
William Cummings / USA Today:
Special counsel vs. special prosecutor: What's the difference?
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, emptywheel and Daily Kos
Philip Shenon / Politico:
Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, New York Times, ABC News, Booman Tribune, Scared Monkeys, The Week, Yahoo and Washington Post
Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Kellyanne Conway cancels Fox appearance after special prosecutor announcement
Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Chaffetz sees no ‘actual crime’ for special Russia prosecutor to investigate
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, ABC News, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Week, Above the Law and New York Times
CNN:
Inside an embattled Trump's most consequential evening of turmoil yet
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Balloon Juice
Annie Karni / Politico:
How Trump learned about the special prosecutor
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, TVNewser, Vox, New York Magazine, ABC News and Betsy's Page
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, White House Dossier, Raw Story, Bloomberg, IJR, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
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Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Advisers Urge Trump to Hire an Outside Lawyer — WASHINGTON — Several White House advisers and personal associates of President Trump have urged him to hire an experienced outside lawyer to help him deal with issues arising from a surging controversy over whether his campaign had ties to Russia …
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Week and The Daily Caller
Michael Crowley / Politico:
Lieberman emerges as frontrunner for FBI post — Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is the frontrunner to be named FBI director, according to several White House officials and advisers. — Senior administration officials have told others in the last 12 hours …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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 and IJR
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WNYW-TV:
1 dead after car crashes into Times Square crowd
Discussion:
RT, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, WTVR-TV, KTLA, FOX6Now.com and Sputnik International
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.
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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, ABC News, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Week, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, The Resurgent and Washington Post
Jack Moore / Newsweek:
TRUMP CANCELS VISIT TO ANCIENT MASADA SITE AFTER ISRAEL REFUSES HELICOPTER LANDING — WORLD ISRAEL TRUMP — President Donald Trump has canceled a planned visit and speech at the ancient mountain fortress of Masada in Israel after authorities told him that he could not land his helicopter on top of the UNESCO-listed site.
Discussion:
The Hill, Mother Jones, Common Dreams and Haaretz
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Russia tried to take over Pentagon Twitter accounts: report — Russia tried to gain access to the Twitter accounts of Defense Department officials using messages carrying malware, according to Time magazine. — Russia is said to have sent messages to over 10,000 Pentagon Twitter users …
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
New York Times:
Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Audioslave Frontman, Dies at 52 — Chris Cornell, the powerful, dynamic singer whose band Soundgarden was one of the architects of grunge music, has died at 52. — Mr. Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit, said his representative, Brian Bumbery …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Detroit Free Press, FOX40, CBS Boston, Refinery29, The Atlantic, CBS Philly, The Week, Mashable, CBS Sacramento and Gothamist
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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 …
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
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