memeorandum @ 8:10 PM ET, May 23, 2017

8:10 PM ET, May 23, 2017

Top Items:

Statement on coverage of Seth Rich murder investigation — On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.

Mary Rich / Washington Post:

We're Seth Rich's parents. Stop politicizing our son's murder. — The writers are the parents of Seth Rich, who was killed in the District in 2016. — Imagine living in a nightmare that you can never wake up from. Imagine having to face every single day knowing that your son was murdered.

Discussion: Mediaite and Media Matters for America

John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:

The Shame of Defaming Seth Rich — The conspiracy theorizing has to stop. — Seth Rich was 27 when he was killed on a dark street in a sketchy neighborhood in the nation's capital last July. He has become world-famous in the past month because his corpse is being used as a proxy in the war over the reputation of Donald J. Trump.

Discussion: Showbiz411 and Hot Air

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Seth Rich's brother pleads with Hannity to stop spreading conspiracy theory — July 2016: DNC staffer Seth Rich fatally shot — The brother of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich wrote a letter on Tuesday to the executive producer of Sean Hannity's Fox News show pleading with him to find …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite, TheBlaze, IJR, KTLA, Hot Air and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Hannity on Seth Rich coverage: ‘I retracted nothing’ — Fox News's Sean Hannity ripped his critics and the mainstream media on his nationally syndicated radio program Tuesday, saying, “I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com, I retracted nothing.” — His reaction came hours after Fox News retracted …

Discussion: RedState and The Week

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The Seth Rich lie, and how the corrosion of reality should worry every American

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Fox News removes false story on Seth Rich's murder — six days after it was debunked

Discussion: Mediaite and IJR

One America News Network:
The Mysterious Death Of Seth Rich

Discussion: Daily Wire

Martin Evans / Telegraph:

Salman Abedi named as the Manchester suicide bomber - what we know about him — The suicide bomber who killed 22 people and injured dozens more at the Manchester Arena has been named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. — Born in Manchester in 1994, the second youngest of four children his parents …

Discussion: The Guardian, BBC, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, American Greatness, Media Matters for America, neo-neocon and The Daily Caller

Jerome Hudson / Breitbart:

Katy Perry on Manchester Bombing: ‘No Barriers, No Borders, We All Just Need to Co-Exist’ — Pop megastar Katy Perry made an impassioned plea for people to “co-exist” and said that “barriers” or “borders” could detract from that goal in an interview following the terrorist bombing …

New York Times:

Britain Raises Terrorism Threat Level, Meaning New Attack May Be Imminent — MANCHESTER, England — Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain said on Tuesday night that the government had raised its terrorism threat level night to critical, — the highest level — meaning that another attack …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Telegraph, ABC News, NBC News, Daily Mail, CBS New York, The Resurgent, Media Matters for America, NPR, The National Interest, IndieWire, Conservative News Today, Outside the Beltway, Gothamist, Business Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, IJR and Why Evolution Is True

CBS News:

Latest on investigation into Manchester concert bombing — LONDON — CBS News confirmed Tuesday that the man who blew himself up the previous night at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was 23-year-old Salman Abedi, who was known to British authorities prior to the attack.

Discussion: Friendly Atheist, Daily Wire, The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, creepingsharia.wordpress.com, Infowars, The Daily Caller, CBS New York, Geller Report and Sky News

Washington Post:
Manchester bombing suspect identified; Islamic State claims responsibility

Discussion: CNN, Lawfare, Hit & Run, France 24, TheBlaze, National Review, IJR, Department of Homeland …, Common Dreams and Breaking911

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross / The Atlantic:
The Manchester Attack Shows How Terrorists Learn

Discussion: TheBlaze, New York Times, BBC, Raw Story, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller and IndieWire

James McAuley / Washington Post:
Some in Manchester, and beyond, see the attack as one that targeted women and girls

Discussion: Hot Air

Justin davenport / London Evening Standard:
Manchester suicide attacker ‘was known to security services but not thought to pose immediate threat’

Discussion: Fox News, Fusion, The Daily Signal, Geller Report, IJR, myfox8.com and Daily Mail

Joshua Taylor / Mirror.co.uk:
VIDEO UNAVAILABLE — A sick video has surfaced online showing …

Discussion: Telegraph, CBS Dallas and Daily Wire

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Budget Based on $2 Trillion Math Error [Updated] — One of the ways Donald Trump's budget claims to balance the budget over a decade, without cutting defense or retirement spending, is to assume a $2 trillion increase in revenue through economic growth. This is the magic of the still-to-be-designed Trump tax cuts.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, Vox, Booman Tribune, Raw Story and Mother Jones

Lawrence H. Summers / Washington Post:

Larry Summers: Trump's budget is simply ludicrous — Details of President Trump's first budget have now been released. Much can and will be said about the dire social consequences of what is in it and the ludicrously optimistic economic assumptions it embodies.

Discussion: The Atlantic, CRFB Papers and Blog Posts, Axios, USA Today, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, Business Insider, CNBC, Fusion, AOL, New York Times and Equitable Growth

Damian Paletta / Washington Post:
Trump's budget proposal slashes spending by $3.6 trillion over 10 years

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Who knew bringing down drug prices could be so complicated

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Common Dreams

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
President's Budget Relies on Rosy Assumptions

Discussion: Vox and Business Insider

Sarah Ferris / Politico:
Trump releases budget hitting his own voters hardest

Discussion: ABC News, Vox, Hit & Run, Kelchen on Education, Washington Post, The Daily Signal, Washington Monthly, Common Dreams, ED News and The Guardian

Sharon Begley / STAT:

Trump wasn't always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change? — t was the kind of utterance that makes professional transcribers question their career choice: — “ ... there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but I can always speak for myself — and the Russians, zero.”

Discussion: The Week

Katie Jennings / Politico:

MacArthur resigns as co-chairman of ‘clearly divided’ Tuesday Group — Rep. Tom MacArthur resigned Tuesday as co-chairman of the caucus of GOP moderates known as the Tuesday Group in the wake of deep divisions among its members over the House Obamacare replacement bill he helped craft.

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Wire, Washington Post, Vox, The Daily Caller, NY State of Politics, Axios, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Shibani Shah / Washington Post: Q&A: Rep. Tom MacArthur and the agony of GOP moderates in Trump's Washington

Austin Wright / Politico:

Brennan: Russia may have successfully recruited Trump campaign aides — Former CIA Director John Brennan said on Tuesday that he had concerns that Russian officials may have successfully recruited aides from Donald Trump's campaign to help in the Kremlin's efforts to influence last year's presidential election.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Daily Kos, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Axios and The Week

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Republicans Focus on Protecting Trump at Russia Hearing

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:
Former C.I.A. Chief Reveals Mounting Concern Over Trump Campaign and Russia

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vox, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, IJR, Talking Points Memo, vice, Just Security and Daily Kos

patribotics:

EXCLUSIVE: Marshal of the Supreme Court Warned Trump over ‘Muslim Ban’ — Multiple sources confirm that Pamela Talkin, Marshal of the Supreme Court, was dispatched to the White House by Chief Justice Roberts last Friday. The decision to send her was taken, sources say, when White House Counsel …

Discussion: BuzzFeed

CNN:

Sheriff David Clarke says he's unsure if Trump administration will still hire him after plagiarism report — Sheriff Clarke plagiarized parts of thesis — “This is about weakening, like I said, the support that I give and that I have with President Donald Trump and Secretary Kelly …

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Townhall.com, American Greatness, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Susan Page / USA Today:

Al Franken, comedian-turned-senator, takes on Donald Trump, TV-star-turned-president — WASHINGTON — For Al Franken, it's finally safe to be funny again just at a moment all the news around him has taken a decidedly unfunny turn. — The two-term Minnesota senator and one-time Saturday Night Live comedian …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite, The Week and Political Wire

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

While You Were Watching Trump, The Democratic Party Changed — Donald Trump has already changed the Democratic Party more than his own Republican Party. — While the president has merely reduced his own party into a panicked mess, the Democrats' trajectory seems to have moved subtly …

Discussion: Shakesville

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Trump calls Kim Jong Un a ‘madman with nuclear weapons,’ according to transcript of Duterte call — President Trump labeled North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a “madman with nuclear weapons” during a private phone conversation with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte last month …

Alex Koppelman / CNNMoney:

The case for why InfoWars' White House press pass is a good thing — InfoWars is the fringe right-wing outlet best known for spreading 9/11 Truther theories, the scurrilous idea that the massacre at Sandy Hook was a hoax, and a founder who has ranted about malevolent forces conspiring …

Discussion: The Resurgent, Mediaite and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Rafael Olmeda / Sun-Sentinel:

Margate man acquitted in murder case after oral-sex defense — Richard Henry Patterson, the Margate man accused of choking his girlfriend to death in 2015 and leaving her body to decompose for two days before hiring a defense lawyer instead of calling the police, was found not guilty Monday of murder.

Discussion: IJR, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:

Exclusive: Sources Say Chris Christie Says He Gave Jared Kushner Legal Advice About Trump — The two, whose spokespeople deny this claim, used to be adversaries. But the New Jersey governor knows something about being investigated, and the president's son-in-law knows how Christie investigates.

Discussion: AOL, Raw Story and Business Insider

Saleha Mohsin / Bloomberg:

Mnuchin's Recruiting Tool: Titles That Don't Need Senate Confirmation — Treasury relying on four ‘counselors’ to advise secretary — Goldman's Donovan, nominee for No. 2 job, dropped out Friday — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is trying to fill a leadership vacuum in his department …

Discussion: Political Wire

Brian Faler / Politico:

Central pillar of House tax reform plan draws friendly fire — The fault lines widened Tuesday over a major pillar of the tax overhaul being pushed by House Republican leaders, with the proposal drawing stronger criticism from the Trump administration and getting a cool reception by some GOP members …

Discussion: Axios and Real Clear Politics

Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:

Manchester Death Hoax Makes It All the Way to Fox News … Late into Monday night, friends were reaching out to Andrea Noel to see if she was all right. They'd seen her picture in a tweet shared thousands of times saying she was missing after the terror attack in Manchester, England.

Discussion: Raw Story and RedState