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

2:40 PM ET, May 23, 2017

Top Items:

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, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider and New York Magazine

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 …

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.

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 and vice

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

Telegraph:

Manchester terror attack: Everything we know so far — The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the Manchester suicide bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert last night which left 22 people dead, including an eight-year-old girl. — It is the worst terrorist attack …

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

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

Daily Mail:
Manchester concert suicide bomber is named

Discussion: Geller Report

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

Discussion: TheBlaze

BBC:
Manchester attack: 22 dead and 59 hurt in suicide bombing

Discussion: The Atlantic, USA Today, London Evening Standard, The Guardian, CNN, TheBlaze, BBC, NPR, CBS New York, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Telegraph, The Times of Israel, Gothamist, Raw Story, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

The Royal Family:
A message from Her Majesty The Queen to the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester

Discussion: Fox News, Business Insider, National Review, The Guardian, IJR, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, AOL and New York Times

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 and Raw Story

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 …, Vox, Business Insider, New York Times, CNBC, Fusion and bradford-delong.com

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, CNNMoney, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, vice, The Resurgent, New York Magazine, Politico, Daily Wire, Daily Kos and NPR

Bloomberg:
Trump's $3.6 Trillion Budget Cuts Hit His Own Supporters Hard

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Fox News:

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.

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

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Seth Rich's brother pleads with Hannity to stop spreading conspiracy theory

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

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

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

Adam Entous / Washington Post:

Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence — President Trump asked two of the nation's top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign …

Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Coats: I can't comment on my discussions with Trump

Discussion: ABC News

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, Hot Air and Mediaite

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

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 …

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

Cate Cadell / Reuters:

Google AI beats Chinese master in ancient game of Go — A Google artificial intelligence program defeated a Chinese grand master at the ancient board game Go on Tuesday, a major feather in the cap for the firm's AI ambitions as it looks to woo Beijing to gain re-entry into the country.

Paul Mozur / New York Times:
Google's AlphaGo Defeats Chinese Go Master in Win for A.I.

Discussion: NPR, CNBC and Gizmodo

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: Mediaite

Betsy Klein / CNN:

First lady's hand swat a viral sensation — (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, rolled out the red carpet for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Monday morning, but one moment stood out: a flick of the wrist seen 'round the world.

Discussion: Mercury News, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, New York Times, The Independent and The Guardian

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: Mashable, The Root, Sputnik International and Gothamist

Bloomberg:

Trump Proposes Selling Off Half the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve — U.S. stockpile contains 687.7 million barrels of crude — Proposal Includes Alaska Oil Leasing, Gulf Royalties Repeal — The White House plan to trim the national debt includes selling off half of the nation's emergency oil stockpile …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Nick Timiraos / Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump's Balanced Budget Goal Rests on Questionable Math — President Donald Trump's budget—which projects a balanced budget within 10 years—relies on accounting that is hard to add up.

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, IJR and Raw Story