memeorandum: Michael Wolff at Roger Ailes' Funeral: Loyalists Celebrate in an “Act of Defiance” (Michael Wolff/Hollywood Reporter)

3:55 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.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABC News, Business Insider, Media Matters for America, Washingtonian, Right Wing Watch, Mashable, DCist, Mediaite, The Week and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

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: Hot Air, Mediaite and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

The Seth Rich lie, and how the corrosion of reality should worry every American — For lies to successfully masquerade as news, they need help. They need accessories to the crime against truth. — In two ways that have the power to shock, even in this almost shockproof era, lies are getting plenty of help.

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

One America News Network:
The Mysterious Death Of Seth Rich

Discussion: Daily Wire

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

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Fox News staffers ‘disgusted’ at network's promotion of Seth Rich conspiracy theory

Discussion: RedState, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT and The Week

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: USA Today, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and New York Times

New York Times:

Salman Abedi, 22, Is Identified as Manchester Arena Bomber — MANCHESTER, England — A 22-year-old British man whose parents had emigrated from Libya was identified by the police on Tuesday as the bomber who carried out Britain's deadliest terrorist attack since 2005, an explosion …

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: Mirror.co.uk, Infowars, CBS New York, Daily Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and Geller Report

CNBC:

19 dead in possible suicide blast at Ariana Grande UK concert — At least 19 people were killed and about 50 others were injured in a suspected suicide bombing Monday night after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England, authorities said. — Greater Manchester Police said the incident was being treated as terrorism.

Discussion: NBC News, WREG-TV, Media Matters for America, Daily Mail, BBC, The Daily Caller, Infowars, The Gateway Pundit, creepingsharia.wordpress.com, Common Dreams, Sky News, twitchy.com, RedState, Geller Report, Showbiz411, Hot Air, ABC News and Daily Kos

BuzzFeed:

Here Is All The Fake News About The Manchester Terror Attack — A terror attack has claimed the lives of at least 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Here are the claims you shouldn't believe about the incident. — BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, The Verge, AOL, NPR and vice

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

Discussion: Department of Homeland …, National Review, TheBlaze, Common Dreams, Breaking911, Hit & Run and NPR

New York Times:
Ariana Grande Manchester Concert Ends in Explosion, Panic and Death

Discussion: The Guardian, The Atlantic, CNN, Telegraph, Gizmodo, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, IJR, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Mashable, The Resurgent, Mother Jones, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Telegraph:
Manchester terror attack: Everything we know so far

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

Discussion: BBC, TheBlaze, Raw Story and IndieWire

Daily Mail:
Manchester concert suicide bomber is named

Discussion: RedState and Geller Report

CNN:
Manchester Arena attack: ISIS claims blast that killed 22 at Ariana Grande concert

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Budget Based on $2 Trillion Math Error — 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: Mother Jones, New York Times, Washington Monthly, Raw Story and The Hill

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: Committee for a …, Business Insider, The Guardian, Vox, New York Times, CNBC, Fusion, Equitable Growth and bradford-delong.com

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

Discussion: Vox, ED News, The Guardian, Washington Post, Common Dreams and Los Angeles Times

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Lindsey Graham: Trump's State Department budget could cause ‘a lot of Benghazis’

Discussion: Mediaite

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, FiveThirtyEight, vice, Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Resurgent, Daily Kos, Politico and Daily Wire

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: Vox, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and The Daily Caller

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
It's Time to Worry about Health Care in the Senate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
Ryan Justifies Waiting For CBO Score To Send Health Bill To The Senate

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Daily Kos

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 and Unfogged

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: Townhall.com, Talking Points Memo, Axios and The Week

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:
Ex-CIA head: Intel showed contacts between Russians and Trump team

Discussion: RedState and Hot Air

New York Times:
Former C.I.A. Chief Testifies About Concern Over Russia's Ties to Trump Campaign

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall.com, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, The Gateway Pundit, Salon, Common Dreams, Hullabaloo, The Guardian, Politico, CNN, Outside the Beltway, ACS Blog, Shakesville, Political Wire and vice

Greg Miller / Washington Post:
CIA director warned Russian security service chief about interference in election

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Monthly and New York Times

Amber Athey / The Daily Caller:
Brennan: 'I Don't Know' If There Was Collusion [VIDEO]

Discussion: RedState and IJR

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: Political Wire and The Week

Alec MacGillis / New York Times:

Jared Kushner's Other Real Estate Empire — Baltimore-area renters complain about a property owner they say is neglectful and litigious. Few know their landlord is the president's son-in-law. — The townhouse on High Seas Court in the Cove Village development, in the Baltimore suburb of Essex …

Discussion: Fusion

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, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Avi Selk / Washington Post:

A belligerent man in a Trump hat was kicked off a flight as a crowd chanted: ‘Lock him up!’ — Like some bizarre parody of a Trump rally, a belligerent man in a “Make America Great Again” hat was booted off a plane in Shanghai Sunday — defiantly waving as a crowd of passengers jeered in the terminal: “Lock him up!

Discussion: RedState, Mashable, Clark Gredoña, The Root, Sputnik International and Gothamist

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: New York Post, The Daily Caller and IJR

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 …

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Uber Shortchanged New York City Drivers by Millions of Dollars — The ride-hailing company says it is refunding the money after miscalculating its commissions — Uber Technologies Inc. on Tuesday said it mistakenly underpaid New York City drivers for the past 2½ years …

Discussion: Mashable and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

FEC member urges escalated Trump-Russia inquiry — A member of the Federal Election Commission is calling on the agency to investigate whether Russian agents paid for Facebook ads to spread damaging stories about Hillary Clinton ahead of last fall's presidential election.

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, IJR and Raw Story