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12:50 PM ET, May 20, 2017

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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 …
Rob Tornoe / Philly.com:
Jim Comey's father, a NJ Republican, speaks out about Trump  —  Fired FBI director Jim Comey will testify publicly sometime after Memorial Day, but we won't have to wait that long to hear from his father.  —  J. Brien Comey is lifelong Republican and a former councilman in Allendale …
Mike Kelly / NorthJersey.com:   In hometown of Allendale, James Comey is no ‘nut job,’ but principled career man
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
West Wing aides brace for big attorney bills
Discussion: Raw Story, The Atlantic, Axios, IJR and Mediaite
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Comey agrees to testify in public as Trump-Russia probe heats up
Andrew Buncombe / The Independent:
Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ‘person of interest in Russia investigation’
Washington Post:
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
New York Times:
Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation
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.
RELATED:
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump begins first foreign trip with royal welcome in Saudi Arabia
New York Times:
Trump Gets a Gold Medal as Welcome From Saudi King
Daily Mail:
Donald Trump lands in Saudi Arabia for ‘big foreign trip’
Discussion: Infowars
New York Times:
Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Stifled U.S. Spying  —  WASHINGTON — The Chinese government systematically dismantled C.I.A. spying operations in the country starting in 2010, killing or imprisoning more than a dozen sources over two years and crippling intelligence gathering there for years afterward.
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
RELATED:
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.
RELATED:
Jeff Daniels / CNBC:   Military jets scramble to escort Honolulu-bound American Airlines flight after cockpit incident
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
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
RELATED:
Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump told aides firing Flynn was a mistake
Discussion: Mediaite
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 …
Discussion: IJR, The Week and WGN-TV
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 …
Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:
Rouhani Wins Re-election in Iran by a Wide Margin  —  TEHRAN — Riding a large turnout from Iran's urban middle classes, President Hassan Rouhani won re-election in a landslide on Saturday, giving him a mandate to continue his quest to expand personal freedoms and open Iran's ailing economy to global investors.
Discussion: Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
Al Jazeera English:
Hassan Rouhani wins Iran's presidential election
Discussion: The Week
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ross Barkan / Village Voice:
Keith Ellison Wades Into New York's Murky Political Waters
Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
‘The Internet Is Broken’: @ev Is Trying to Salvage It
Discussion: The Verge and Political Wire
Daily Kos:
LEADING OFF  —  North Carolina: On Monday, the Supreme Court delivered …
Discussion: ThinkProgress and al.com
Janell Ross / Washington Post:
‘They were not patriots’: New Orleans removes monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
Discussion: The Root
Melanie Zanona / The Hill:
Court strikes down rule forcing toy drone users to register with govt
James Downton / The Federalist:
We Are Watching A Slow-Motion Coup D'etat
Claire Newell / Telegraph:
Exclusive: MI5 opened file on Jeremy Corbyn amid concerns over his IRA links
Discussion: Daily Mail
 Earlier Items: 
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Israeli intel officials shouted at US counterparts after Trump disclosure: report
Discussion: RedState, Foreign Policy and Hot Air
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Democracy Is Not Your Plaything
Discussion: Instapundit
CNN:
US Navy moves second aircraft carrier near North Korea
Discussion: The National Interest
Mike Cernovich / Medium:
Trump's Media Strategy is Failing — Here's How to Fix It
Discussion: Vox Popoli
Jake Tapper / CNN:
Between Trump and his national security adviser lie ‘ferocious’ internal politics
Susan B. Glasser / Politico:
‘People Here Think Trump Is a Laughingstock’
Discussion: Politicus USA, Hullabaloo and Raw Story
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: WaPo's Matt Murray lays out plans for WP Ventures, the “third newsroom”; Krissah Thompson will be editor and Samantha Henig will be general manager

Jack Dunn / Variety:
Trump appoints Mark Burnett, the British TV executive who created and produced the reality show The Apprentice, as a special envoy to the UK

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
A deep dive into Paramount's sale to Skydance; sources: Skydance may integrate Pluto into Paramount+, and CBS head George Cheeks is expected to be head of TV

 
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