memeorandum: Senate Inquiries Narrow as Rosenstein Suggests Plan to Fire Comey Predated Memo (New York Times)

3:30 PM ET, May 19, 2017

Top Items:

Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say — The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation — WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Wire and Balloon Juice

New York Times:

F.B.I. Once Warned G.O.P. Congressman That Russian Spies Were Recruiting Him — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. warned a Republican congressman in 2012 that Russian spies were trying to recruit him, officials said, an example of how aggressively Russian agents have tried to influence Washington politics.

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week, KTLA, Political Wire and Shareblue

New York Times:

Anthony Weiner to Plead Guilty to Resolve ‘Sexting’ Inquiry — Anthony D. Weiner, the former Democratic congressman whose “sexting” scandals ended his political career and embroiled him in a tumultuous F.B.I. investigation of Hillary Clinton before the election, is to appear in a federal courtroom …

Julia Marsh / New York Post:

Huma Abedin finally files for divorce from Anthony Weiner — The long suffering wife of Human Abedin has finally filed for divorce against Anthony Weiner, just as her estranged husband pleaded guilty to sexting with a minor. — She brought an anonymous versus anonymous action in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday.

Discussion: RedState, Gothamist, IJR, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, AOL, Heat Street and TMZ.com

Lindsey Bever / Washington Post:
Anthony Weiner, disgraced former congressman, pleads guilty in ‘sexting’ case involving minor

Discussion: The Week, IJR, Balloon Juice and Patterico's Pontifications

Bwittes / Lawfare:

What James Comey Told Me About Donald Trump — The New York Times is reporting tonight: … I did not know this particular fact, but it doesn't surprise me at all. The principal source for the rest of this story is, well, me—specifically a long interview I gave to reporter Michael Schmidt …

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Comey Is Said to Have Become Unsettled by Interactions With Trump — WASHINGTON — President Trump called the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, weeks after he took office and asked him when federal authorities were going to put out word that Mr. Trump was not personally under investigation, according to two people briefed on the call.

Discussion: New York Magazine, CNBC, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Shakesville, Hot Air, KTLA, AOL, Mashable, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Mail, The Week, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Axios and ABC News

New York Times:
Senate Inquiries Narrow as Rosenstein Suggests Plan to Fire Comey Predated Memo

Discussion: The Hill, Lawfare, Just Security, ABC News, Washington Post and Politico

Fox News:
Rosenstein on Comey memo: ‘I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it.’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Bloomberg:
Rosenstein Defends Memo Condemning Comey Before Trump Fired Him

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Comey was ‘disgusted’ by hug with Trump

Discussion: RedState

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Tips for Leaders Meeting Trump: Keep It Short and Give Him a Win — WASHINGTON — As Saudi Arabia's leaders prepared to make a pitch to the White House for a visit by President Trump, a PowerPoint presentation was put together complete with slides describing Saudi demographics …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Raw Story, Daily Kos and The Week

Adam Taylor / Washington Post:

Will Melania Trump wear a headscarf in Saudi Arabia? Donald Trump circa 2015 seems to think she should. — In January 2015, President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia. It was a high-profile trip: Obama was there to attend the funeral of the late Saudi King Abdullah at a time when the …

Discussion: RT, Raw Story, AOL and The Gateway Pundit

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Fox News Fires ‘The Five’ Co-Host Bob Beckel Over Racist Comment — Fox News Channel is parting ways - again - with Bob Beckel, the co-host of its primetime program, “The Five.” — “Bob Beckel was terminated today for making an insensitive remark to an African-American employee,” the network said in a statement.

Discussion: CNNMoney, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, IJR, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Raw Story, AOL, TheBlaze and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Flood / The Wrap: Fox News Fires Bob Beckel After Racism Accusation

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Roger and Me — For the past six years, ever since I began researching a biography of Roger Ailes, there probably hasn't been a day when I haven't thought or talked about him. I considered Ailes to be the most consequential media and political figure of his generation — a modern-day Citizen Kane.

more at Mediagazer »

Isaac Chotiner / Slate:

We Live in the World Roger Ailes Broke — Roger Ailes, the former head of the Fox News Channel, passed away on Thursday at the age of 77. The news was announced via a statement from his wife, Elizabeth, who wrote that “his work in entertainment, in politics, and in news affected the lives of many millions.”

Discussion: Political Insider blog

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, FiveThirtyEight, Mediaite, CBS Chicago, USA Today, Refinery29, IJR, Common Dreams, The Week, Mashable and The Nation, more at Mediagazer »

Thomas E. Patterson / Shorenstein Center:

News Coverage of Donald Trump's First 100 Days — A new report from Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy analyzes news coverage of President Trump's first 100 days in office. — The report is based on an analysis of news reports in the print editions …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times, CNBC, The Daily Caller and Red Alert Politics

Heat Street:

Harvard Study Reveals Huge Extent of Anti-Trump Media Bias — A major new study out of Harvard University has revealed the true extent of the mainstream media's bias against Donald Trump. — Academics at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy analyzed coverage …

Discussion: Forbes, Washington Times, Infowars and Scared Monkeys

Paul Demko / Politico:

Trump said to favor move that could destabilize Obamacare — President Donald Trump has told advisers he wants to end payments of key Obamacare subsidies, a move that could send the health law's insurance markets into a tailspin, according to several sources familiar with the conversations.

Meghan Keneally / ABC News: Breaking down the tumultuous last 2 weeks in Washington

The Hill: Senators told of broadening Russia investigation

New York Times:

Julian Assange Rape Investigation Is Dropped in Sweden — STOCKHOLM — Prosecutors in Sweden said on Friday that they would drop their investigation into Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London five years ago after the authorities …

Discussion: The Guardian, The Week, IJR and Scared Monkeys, more at Mediagazer »

Karla Adam / Washington Post:
Sweden drops Assange rape allegation, but Britain says WikiLeaks founder still faces arrest

Discussion: Washington Monthly and RT

Mynewsdesk:
Statement on Julian Assange

Discussion: RT, The Verge, Gizmodo, Forbes, The Atlantic, Engadget, The Daily Caller, Heat Street and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

Democrats are falling for fake news about Russia — Why liberal conspiracy theories are flourishing in the age of Trump. — President Donald Trump is about to resign as a result of the Russia scandal. Bernie Sanders and Sean Hannity are Russian agents.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Biden disses Clinton: ‘I never thought she was a great candidate. I thought I was a great candidate.’ — Former vice president Joe Biden stirred the Democratic pot a little bit on Thursday night. — Appearing at the SALT hedge fund conference in Las Vegas, the possible 2020 presidential candidate weighed …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Hot Air, Shakesville, Political Wire and The Week

Matt Egan / CNN:
Biden isn't ruling out 2020 run for president

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, IJR, Refinery29, TheBlaze, Washington Times and The Daily Caller

Vaughn Hillyard / NBC News:

Source: Pence Never Informed About Flynn — Vice President Mike Pence has been kept in the dark about former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn's alleged wrongdoing, according to a source close to the administration, who cited a potential “pattern” of not informing the vice president and calling it …

Discussion: Shareblue, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, Washington Monthly, NBC News, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Mediaite, The Week and Political Wire

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Why the special counsel should make Trump's aides very nervous

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Guardian and Politico

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Trump Administration Talent Vacuum — After an eruption, volcanoes sometimes collapse at the center. The magma chamber empties out and the volcano falls in on itself, leaving a caldera and a fractured ring of stone around the void, covered by deadening ash.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Outside the Beltway

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

Trump's Approval Sinks Further Amid Avalanche of Bad Headlines — Political observers have said it's been a very bad week for President Donald Trump, and that notion is underscored by a new Morning Consult/POLITICO survey that shows his support continues to decline as many voters expressed concern about his fitness for office.

Discussion: Politico, Shareblue, The Hill and AOL

Ronald A. Klain / Washington Post:

Don't underestimate Trump — Ron Klain, a Post contributing columnist, served as a senior White House aide to Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. — Last October, we were in the midst of debate preparation for Hillary Clinton …

Alex Pfeiffer / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Chuck Johnson And Mike Cernovich Prepare To Launch Sites To Go After Journalists — EXCLUSIVE: Chuck Johnson, Mike Cernovich Each Launching Sites To Go After Journalists — ‘The American press no longer behaves properly’ — Audio Analysis: Erdogan Goons Were Told To ‘Attack’ Protesters

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Piers Morgan / Daily Mail:

Dear Donald, when did the ballsy winner who was going to Make America Great Again turn into President Paranoid Snowflake? Stop whining. Your friend, Piers — My favourite poem is only two lines long. — It's called ‘Self-pity’ and was written by my fellow Brit, DH Lawrence.

Discussion: Raw Story