Top Items:
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:
Shakesville, Politico, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Hot Air, The Week, Politicus USA, Mashable, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Axios and ABC News
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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 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, PBS NewsHour, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Mother Jones, Axios, Politico, CNN, Politicus USA, Washington Post, The Week, Booman Tribune, AOL, BuzzFeed, Mashable, VTDigger, The Last Tradition, Fox News Insider, PRI and The Root
Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Comey was ‘disgusted’ by hug with Trump … A friend of James Comey said Thursday that the former FBI director was “disgusted” when President Trump hugged him at a White House event earlier this year, calling it an “intentional attempt to compromise [Comey] in public.”
Discussion:
RedState
New York Times:
Senate Inquiries Narrow as Rosenstein Suggests Plan to Fire Comey Predated Memo
Discussion:
ABC News and Washington Post
Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:
Senate Demands White House Tapes, Comey Memos On Just About Everyone
Discussion:
Vox Popoli
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 …
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Aaron Katersky / ABC News:
Anthony Weiner expected to plead guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
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 …
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Annie Karni / Politico:
Ivanka and Jared get a rabbinical pass to fly Air Force One — Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will be flying aboard Air Force One to Saudi Arabia with President Donald Trump on Friday, after receiving a rabbinical dispensation to travel on the Jewish Sabbath, according to a White House official.
Discussion:
ABC News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Times of Israel
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:
ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Mediaite, Political Wire, NBC News and USA Today
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Elizabeth Landers / CNN:
Pence is a loyal solider, but news cycle is wearing on him — What did Mike Pence know about Flynn? — Story highlights — Washington (CNN)After a fast and furious news cycle at the White House this week, the last few days may have worn on Vice President Mike Pence.
Discussion:
The Week
Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Why the special counsel should make Trump's aides very nervous
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Monthly and CNN
Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
What did Mike Pence know?
Discussion:
Refinery29, Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, New York Times and Townhall.com
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:
IJR, Scared Monkeys and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
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Mynewsdesk:
Statement on Julian Assange
Discussion:
The Atlantic, The Verge, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Gizmodo, RT, Engadget and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »
CNN:
Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation
Discussion:
Fox News, Mediaite, Hot Air, NPR and CBS New York
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:
Political Wire and The Week
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John Bowden / The Hill:
Biden on Clinton: ‘I never thought she was a great candidate’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
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
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Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever
Discussion:
USA Today, The Nation, New York Times, Refinery29, IJR, The Week, Common Dreams, Mediaite, Mashable, RedState, AOL, Media Matters for America, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Root, more at Mediagazer »
Billy House / Bloomberg:
House May Be Forced to Vote Again on GOP's Obamacare Repeal Bill — Two weeks after passage, measure still not sent to Senate — CBO report could force Ryan, other party leaders into redo — House Republicans barely managed to pass their Obamacare repeal bill earlier this month …
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Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
Yes, GOP leaders were making a joke about Putin and Trump. But then it sunk in.
Discussion:
The National Interest, Breitbart, Axios and Daily Kos
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:
Politicus USA, Mediaite, Political Wire, The Week, Raw Story, Shareblue, Hullabaloo, Salon, Washington Post, Vox and twitchy.com
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:
The Hill
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Senate Democrats reject Lieberman for FBI director — President Donald Trump may be dramatically miscalculating how much support Sen. Joe Lieberman would have among his former Democratic colleagues if nominated to become FBI director. — Some Senate Democrats hold a grudge against Lieberman …
Discussion:
CNN, Raw Story, New York Times, NBC News, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Resurgent, Washington Post, Washington Examiner and The Week
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Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Joe Lieberman might be FBI director. Really.
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, The Atlantic, Althouse, Politico, ABC News, CNN, Mediaite, IJR, Newsweek, RedState, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire
Jason Willick / The American Interest:
After Mueller, Trump Critics Worry: Maybe There's No Scandal — Eli Lake is right: The DOJ's appointment of widely-respected former prosecutor Robert Mueller to lead the special inquiry into the Trump campaign's potential collusion with Russia is a reprieve for a Trump Administration in crisis …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo and Power Line
RELATED:
Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Appointment of Mueller could complicate other probes into alleged Russian meddling
Discussion:
Lawfare, Above the Law, Washington Times and New York Times
Robert Snell / Detroit News:
Feds use anti-terror tool to hunt the undocumented — Detroit — Federal investigators are using a cellphone snooping device designed for counter-terrorism to hunt undocumented immigrants amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, according to federal court records obtained by The Detroit News.
Discussion:
The Verge
John Bowden / The Hill:
‘Art of the Deal’ co-writer: Trump will resign so he doesn't ‘lose’ — The co-writer of President Trump's bestselling book “The Art of the Deal” predicted Thursday that Trump will resign before he is consumed by one of the scandals rocking the White House. — In an interview with CNN …
Discussion:
RedState
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