memeorandum: Republicans are stuck in a high-school mindset (Josh Barro/Business Insider)

9:50 PM ET, May 25, 2017

Top Items:

Jared Kushner Now Under FBI Scrutiny in Russia Probe, Say Officials — Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and one of his senior advisers, has come under FBI scrutiny in the Russia investigation, multiple U.S. officials told NBC News. — Investigators believe Kushner …

Washington Post:

Jared Kushner now a focus in Russia investigation — Investigators are focusing on a series of meetings held by Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and an influential White House adviser, as part of their probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and related matters, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Discussion: Breitbart, Daily Mail, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Jared Kushner under FBI scrutiny in Russia probe: reports

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and RedState

Andrew Rafferty / NBC News: Joe Lieberman: FBI Appointment Would Have Looked ‘Terrible’

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump's “street fighters”

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite and Washington Monthly

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

Republicans are stuck in a high-school mindset — Republicans used to claim to favor the rule of law. — Yet what happened when a Republican candidate for Congress in Montana was accused of body-slamming a reporter and cited for misdemeanor assault? — The conservative commentator Laura …

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

Michael Calderone / HuffPost:

Montana TV Station Won't Air Recording Of GOP Candidate's Attack On Journalist — Right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group recently purchased the local NBC affiliate, but the general manager says the company didn't interfere. — If Montana residents tuned into the local news Wednesday night …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, ThinkProgress and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

The Guardian:

Republican candidate charged with assault after ‘body-slamming’ Guardian reporter — Audio of Greg Gianforte attacking Ben Jacobs corroborated by Fox News journalists in the room, who described candidate ‘slamming him to the ground’ — The Republican candidate for Montana's congressional seat …

Christina Manduley / CNN:
Tapper: If you can't condemn an assault on a reporter, reexamine your love for Constitution

Discussion: Washington Post and The Times of Israel, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Montana Republican Greg Gianforte, Charged With Assault, Awaits Fate in Vote

The Billings / Associated Press:
Gazette opinion: We're pulling our endorsement of Greg Gianforte

Discussion: New York Magazine, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Business Insider, CANNONFIRE, IJR, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Week, Politico, CNNMoney, The Guardian, Media Matters for America and The Atlantic

New York Times:
Assault Charge for Gianforte Lifts Democrats' Montana Election Hopes

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Edmund Kozak / LifeZette:
Montana Assault Witness Changes Story, Says No Neck Grab

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Daily Wire, Weekly Standard, New York Times, Balkinization, Fox News, Politico, The Hill, The Right Scoop, CBS Denver, Fusion, theGrio, neo-neocon, Hot Air, Business Insider and The Guardian

Felix Biederman / Washington Post:
Face it: The body-slammed reporter did just what you would have done

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Wire, The Atlantic, Mediaite and The Guardian

Matthew Balan / Mediaite:
‘You Are Sadly Mistaken’: Don Lemon Rips CNN Guest Who Won't Blame Trump For Alleged Assault On Reporter

Discussion: Breitbart and twitchy.com

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Reporter: Only true thing in Gianforte's assault statement is my name and employer

Discussion: Politico, Vox and Gallatin Media Center

Karen Attiah / Washington Post:

Trump's behavior at NATO is a national embarrassment — Poor NATO. After all of the hoops summit organizers reportedly jumped through to accommodate President Trump and his anemic attention span, he definitely was not on his best behavior. Trump was the party guest whom no one really wants …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and The Mahablog

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Trump chastises fellow NATO members, demands they meet payment obligations — BRUSSELS — President Trump, speaking at a ceremony here Thursday to dedicate a memorial to NATO's resolve in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, publicly chastised his fellow alliance leaders …

Discussion: New York Times, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, RedState and Political Wire

New York Times:
In NATO Speech, Trump Is Vague About Mutual Defense Pledge

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Week, War on the Rocks, New York Magazine, Sputnik International, Vox, Mediaite and Mother Jones

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Appeals Court Will Not Reinstate Trump's Revised Travel Ban — WASHINGTON — The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., on Thursday refused to reinstate President Trump's revised travel ban, saying it discriminated on the basis of religion. The decision was a fresh setback …

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Fusion, Above the Law and Daily Kos

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Appeals court keeps block on revised Trump travel ban; administration vows SCOTUS appeal

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and Hot Air

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
A court just blocked Trump's Muslim ban because Trump couldn't keep his mouth shut

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Wall Street Journal:

How Alleged Russian Hacker Teamed Up With Florida GOP Operative — Political consultant Aaron Nevins asked for and received documents from hacker ‘Guccifer 2.0’ and posted some on his blog, after which the hacker called the blog to the attention of Trump adviser Roger Stone.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Fast Company, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Raw Story, Gizmodo and Balloon Juice

artnet News:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Failed to Disclose Their Multimillion-Dollar Art Collection — The couple has a taste for the works of market-friendly art stars, but lawyers say it's just for decoration. — Since their wedding in 2009, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have amassed a formidable collection of contemporary art.

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story and Political Wire

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:

Senate Mulls Health-Law Rewrite Pushing Obamacare Repeal to 2020 — Senators working to craft more modest version than House plan — Little progress on difficult issue: Future of Obamacare taxes — Senate Republicans are weighing a two-step process to replace Obamacare that would postpone …

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and CNBC

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
Senate Republicans start their version of Obamacare repeal

Discussion: The Daily Caller

BBC:

Manchester attack: Police ‘not sharing information with US’ — Police investigating the Manchester Arena bomb attack have stopped sharing information with the US after leaks to the media, the BBC understands. — UK officials were outraged when photos appearing to show debris from the attack appeared in the New York Times.

New York Times:
Trump Condemns ‘Alleged Leaks,’ After Complaints From Britain

Discussion: Daily Mail, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Business Insider, CNBC, NY State of Politics and AOL

Daily Mail:

Obama receives rock star welcome in Germany as he appears alongside Merkel and says 'we can't hide behind a wall' — Former President Obama appeared alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday in front of Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate — Obama used the opportunity …

Discussion: Daily Wire and Weasel Zippers

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
How Obama not so subtly undercuts Trump

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Kos, ABC News and Mother Jones

Austin Wright / Politico:

FBI won't provide Comey memos to Congress yet — The FBI on Thursday declined a congressional request for explosive memos by former Director James Comey detailing his interactions with President Donald Trump. — The House Oversight Committee and other congressional panels requested …

Discussion: Above the Law, ABC News, Hot Air, Morning Consult, Talking Points Memo and Media Matters for America

Reuters:
House panel chairman says FBI declines for now to meet request for Comey-linked documents

Discussion: IJR

Rob Tornoe / Philly.com:

Fox News host Sean Hannity takes a vacation after losing more advertisers — Sean Hannity is taking a couple days off amid a growing advertiser boycott after pushing a conspiracy theory involving a slain Democratic National Committee staffer. — So far, seven advertisers have pulled …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Beast, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Conservative News Today, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

Brad Reed / Raw Story:
Sean Hannity takes abrupt vacation as advertisers continue to flee his Fox News show

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Magazine

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

‘Close to a disaster’: Foreign policy scholar explains massive damage done by Trump's NATO speech — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — President Donald Trump on Thursday delivered a speech at NATO headquarters in which he did not explicitly endorse Article 5 …

Discussion: BBC and Shakesville

Bryan Menegus / Gizmodo:

Harvard's Student Paper Is Drunk and Taking Potshots at Mark Zuckerberg — The Harvard Crimson has either become the victim of an incredibly funny prank, or Facebook is beta-testing its silent speech brain interface on college students. — Today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg returned …

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, New York Times, IJR, Fusion and AOL

Daniel Gross / Slate:

Trump Reportedly Wants to Stop Germans From Selling So Many Cars Here, Where They're Made — Donald Trump had some tough words for the Germans at the NATO summit in Belgium on Thursday. “The Germans are bad, very bad,” he reportedly told Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Union.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Mediaite, Politicus USA, Raw Story, Shareblue, New York Magazine and Business Insider

Henry J. Gomez / BuzzFeed:

Key Republicans Are Encouraging Hillbilly Elegy Author J.D. Vance To Run For Senate In Ohio — Some Republican activists and donors worried about the prospects of their party's Senate candidate in Ohio are kicking around an outside-the-box alternative: Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance.

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Senate Intel heads get broad subpoena power in Russia probe — The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee now have broad authority to issue subpoenas in the Russia investigation without a full committee vote, Chairman Richard Burr — (R-N.C.) said Thursday.

Discussion: emptywheel and IJR

Dr. David A. Bray / Fight for the Future:

Letter to the FCC from people whose names and addresses were used to submit fake comments against net neutrality — 445 12th Street, S.W. — Washington, D.C. 20554 — Chief Information Officer — Federal Communications Commission — 445 12th Street, S.W. — Washington, D.C. 20554

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Motherboard and The Verge

Daniel Bice / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Sheriff Clarke directed staff to hassle plane passenger after brief exchange — Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. was sued earlier this year in the wake of a brief exchange with Riverwest resident Dan Black aboard an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Milwaukee. The sheriff has now given his version of what happened.