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:
Vox, Politicus USA, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and New York Times
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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:
The Hill, Breitbart, CNN, Power Line, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Conservative News Today, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Infowars, Fox News Insider, RT, Raw Story, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, TheBlaze, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, NPR, twitchy.com, CBS Philly, The Atlantic, Religion News Service, The Times of Israel, Politico, emptywheel, National Review, CNBC, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams, Daily Mail, Politicus USA, Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, RedState, WTKR-TV, Shareblue, Outside the Beltway, KTLA, The Guardian, CBS Pittsburgh, The Week, Patterico's Pontifications, ABC News, The Mahablog, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, White House Dossier, NBC News, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, The Resurgent, Althouse, Vox, Eschaton, Shakesville and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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, New York Times, Balloon Juice, Fox News Insider, The Atlantic and Washington Post
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, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, twitchy.com, The Atlantic, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Mashable
Washington Post:
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:
Politico, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Vox, Breitbart, USA Today, Axios, Mediaite, NPR, emptywheel, The Guardian, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Atlantic, New York Daily News, Mother Jones, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Fox News Insider, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, NBC News, Heat Street, Washington Monthly, IJR, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, CNBC, Hit & Run, AOL, TheStreet and ThinkProgress
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, Hot Air, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice, twitchy.com and Glenn Beck
Evan Perez / CNN:
Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment
Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment
Discussion:
Raw Story, Daily Mail, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, The Root, twitchy.com, 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, Just Security and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »
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, The Atlantic, Fox News Insider, Political Wire, twitchy.com, Mashable, IJR, Washington Post, NPR, Politico, The Week, Talking Points Memo and TheBlaze
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
Chris Kahn / Reuters:
Approval of President Trump drops to lowest since inauguration: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Approval of President Trump drops to lowest since inauguration: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and The Week
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, National Review and Power Line
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 and Daily Kos
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Christine Wang / CNBC:
Comey agrees to testify in open hearing before Senate Intelligence Committee
Comey agrees to testify in open hearing before Senate Intelligence Committee
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Magazine and Washington Free Beacon
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Comey agrees to testify in a public session at the Senate Intelligence Committee
Comey agrees to testify in a public session at the Senate Intelligence Committee
Discussion:
Associated Press and Axios
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
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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 …
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
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Democracy Is Not Your Plaything — When the circus comes to Washington, it consumes everything, absorbs all energy.
Discussion:
Instapundit
Mike Cernovich / Medium:
Trump's Media Strategy is Failing — Here's How to Fix It — Trump supporters do not read the NY times. Write this onto the blackboard 100 times, The Simpsons opening style, and you'll understand what you're about to learn. — If your supporters aren't reading stories about you …
Discussion:
Vox Popoli
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Julia Marsh / New York Post:
Huma Abedin finally files for divorce from Anthony Weiner
Huma Abedin finally files for divorce from Anthony Weiner
Discussion:
Gothamist, IJR, The Atlantic, FOX40, RT, Washington Free Beacon, Heat Street, TheBlaze, TMZ.com, RedState, The Daily Caller, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News and New York Times