Top Items:
Julia Edwards Ainsley / Reuters:
White House looking at ethics rule to weaken special investigation: sources — The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vox, Politicus USA, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and New York Times
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CNN:
First on CNN: Comey now believes Trump was trying to influence him, source says — Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey now believes that President Donald Trump was trying to influence his judgment about the Russia probe, a person familiar with his thinking says …
CNN:
First on CNN: Russian officials bragged they could use Flynn to influence Trump, sources say — Washington (CNN)Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Times of Israel, Hot Air, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice, twitchy.com and Glenn Beck
Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Trump's Berating of Comey for the Consumption of Our Enemies — I admit to being slack-jawed over the New York Times report that President Trump smeared former FBI director James Comey in a conversation with representatives of Russia's murderous, anti-American regime.
Discussion:
New York Times, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, CNBC, The Atlantic, Raw Story, IJR, Mashable and Politico
The Daily Beast:
Trump Officials: ‘He Looks More and More Like a Complete Moron’ … Donald Trump and his senior staffers were headed across the Atlantic when news broke that the president had trash-talked former FBI director James Comey in a meeting with Russian government officials—a meeting …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and The Atlantic
Wall Street Journal:
Fired FBI Director James Comey to Testify in Public — Former FBI Director James Comey has agreed to testify publicly in Congress, capping a week that may shape President Donald Trump's administration for months, or even years, and prompting White House aides to rethink how they operate in this new political and legal environment.
Discussion:
RedState, Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, AOL and Daily Kos
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:
Breitbart, Power Line, The Daily Caller, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, Infowars, Fox News Insider, RT, Raw Story, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Los Angeles Times, IJR, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Reuters, twitchy.com, NPR, Mashable, CBS Philly, The Atlantic, Religion News Service, emptywheel, National Review, Politico, The Times of Israel, New York Magazine, Little Green Footballs, Daily Mail, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, RedState, KTLA, Common Dreams, Balloon Juice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CBS Pittsburgh, ABC News, WTKR-TV, Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, The Moderate Voice, Mother Jones, White House Dossier, The Guardian, The Week, NBC News, Althouse, Shareblue, Eschaton, The Mahablog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, The Resurgent, Vox and Shakesville
Washington Post:
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Vox, USA Today, Breitbart, Axios, Mediaite, NPR, emptywheel, The Guardian, Hot Air, Daily Kos, New York Daily News, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, Fox News Insider, Politicus USA, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Mashable, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, The Moderate Voice, Heat Street, CNBC, AOL, TheStreet and ThinkProgress
Evan Perez / CNN:
Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment
Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment
Discussion:
Raw Story, Daily Mail, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, twitchy.com, The Root, Vox, Mediaite and TheBlaze
Jake Tapper / CNN:
Between Trump and his national security adviser lie ‘ferocious’ internal politics
Between Trump and his national security adviser lie ‘ferocious’ internal politics
Discussion:
CNNMoney, American Greatness and Just Security
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Comey agrees to testify in public as Trump-Russia probe heats up
Comey agrees to testify in public as Trump-Russia probe heats up
Discussion:
New York Times, Shareblue, The Guardian, Vox, Hot Air, CNBC, AOL, Mediaite, Political Wire, twitchy.com, Fox News Insider, The Atlantic, NPR, The Week, Washington Post, TheBlaze and Talking Points Memo
Andrew Buncombe / The Independent:
Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ‘person of interest in Russia investigation’
Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ‘person of interest in Russia investigation’
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and CANNONFIRE
Kyle Olson / The American Mirror:
GREAT AGAIN: Unlike Obama, Trump doesn't bow to Saudi king — What a difference an election can make for the respect American leaders have for our country. — There were two very different outcomes when two American presidents greeted the king of Saudi Arabia.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com
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Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump gets elaborate welcome in Saudi Arabia as he begins first foreign trip
Trump gets elaborate welcome in Saudi Arabia as he begins first foreign trip
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press, Axios, ABC News and The Week
Why Evolution Is True:
A new academic hoax: a bogus paper on “the conceptual penis” gets published in a “high quality peer-reviewed” social science journal — It's been 21 years since physicist Alan Sokal submitted a bogus paper to a special “Science Wars” issue of the cultural studies journal Social Text.
Discussion:
The College Fix
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Skeptic:
The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct: A Sokal-Style Hoax on Gender Studies — Note from the editor: Every once in awhile it is necessary and desirable to expose extreme ideologies for what they are by carrying out their arguments and rhetoric to their logical and absurd conclusion …
Discussion:
Ketan Joshi, Why Evolution Is True, National Review and Power Line
Hawaii News Now:
Suspect in cockpit threat on Honolulu flight had been detained at LAX — A Turkish man on board a Honolulu-bound flight tried to break into the cockpit Friday before being subdued by passengers and flight crew, who used duct tape, pillows and blankets to make sure he couldn't get out of his seat.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Week, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, WTVR-TV and RT
RELATED:
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Melania scours media to protect Trump — Melania Trump's spent her first few months as first lady in New York, only rarely appearing in Washington or speaking at events. Yet friends and aides say she's keeping a close watch from her gilded apartment in Trump Tower on how her husband …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Roger Ailes: The Man Who Wrecked Conservatism — Friends and colleagues who knew Roger Ailes better than I did attest that he was a nicer and more considerate man than most liberal obituarists will ever give him credit for. They add (and the same obituarists concede) that the creator …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and Fox News
Mike Allen / Axios:
Exasperated Trump WH staff admit his special resilience — As the the bombshell headlines flew with Air Force One en route Saudi Arabia yesterday, a top outsider adviser to the West Wing emailed me: “The drips are filling the bucket.” — And a top official in another Republican White House told …
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Democracy Is Not Your Plaything — When the circus comes to Washington, it consumes everything, absorbs all energy.
CBS News:
Notre Dame students plan walk out during Pence speech — On Monday, graduates of the University of Notre Dame Class of 2017 traded trivia at a campus game night. On Wednesday, they danced in formal attire at a banquet overlooking the St. Joseph's River. And on Sunday, a number of them will walk …