memeorandum: Judiciary Committee to continue Russia probe after Mueller meeting (Jordain Carney/The Hill)

11:50 PM ET, June 21, 2017

Top Items:

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Pelosi faces growing doubts among Dems after Georgia loss — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats put a brave face on Wednesday morning after a disappointing loss in the Georgia special election, yet there is no disguising the unhappiness in the party ranks.

New York Times:

Democrats Seethe After Georgia Loss: ‘Our Brand Is Worse Than Trump’ — Democrats seethed, second-guessed and sought to regroup on Wednesday after a disappointing special election defeat in Georgia, with the party's campaign chief in the House of Representatives outlining alternative paths to taking power …

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:

Why Ossoff Lost — ATLANTA—Around midnight, hours after their candidate conceded he had lost the Most Important Special Election in History, the last remaining supporters of Jon Ossoff took over the stage where he had recently stood. One of them waved a bottle of vodka in the air.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Hill, Shadowproof and CNN

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

This Might Be the Worst Democratic Freak-out Ever — Karen Handel's close-but-not-that-close win in Georgia's sixth district, the fourth Republican victory in four special elections, has officially made the party's failure to capture a House seat in 2017 a capital-T Thing.

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, The Nation, The Week, rubber hose, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and twitchy.com

Charlie Spiering / Breitbart:
‘Sad CNN’ Meme Storms the Internet as Karen Handel Wins Georgia Special Election

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and IJR

Curtis Houck / NewsBusters:
She Went There: Maddow Laments ‘Partisan Implications’ of ‘Bad Weather’ for Georgia Election

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, MichelleMalkin.com and Washington Free Beacon

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
Jon Ossoff's $23 Million Loss Shows Dems Have No Idea How to Win in the Age of Trump

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, Infowars, Washington Post, Breitbart, Politico and IJR

Monica Showalter / American Thinker:
How'd that referendum on Trump work out?

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, RedState, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and New York Times

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Democrats reel from another special-election loss, and some point fingers at Pelosi

Discussion: Post and Courier, Washington Free Beacon, Questions and Observations, Scared Monkeys and Instapundit

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:
GA-06: Why Handel's Win Isn't a Disaster for Democrats

Discussion: Vox, Politicus USA, Washington Monthly, NBC News and New York Times

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Democrats' persistent Pelosi problem

Discussion: East Bay Times and Business Insider

Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post:

Senate health-care draft repeals Obamacare taxes, provides bigger subsidies for low-income Americans than House bill — Senate leaders on Wednesday were putting the final touches on legislation that would reshape a big piece of the U.S. health-care system by dramatically rolling back Medicaid …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Guardian, Axios, New York Magazine, Raw Story, The Week, ACASignups.net, Politicus USA, The Last Tradition and Bloomberg Government

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Rand Paul calls to slow down ‘rushed’ ObamaCare repeal process — wants to slow down how quickly legislation can get a vote as Republicans prepare to bring their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare to the Senate floor next week. — The Kentucky Republican has reintroduced his “Read the Bills” …

Discussion: Politico and Politicus USA

Hot Air:
Ted Cruz, Key Conservative Negotiator: I Have No Idea What's In The Senate Health-Care Bill

Discussion: CNBC, TheBlaze, Business Insider and Morning Consult

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
What's in the Senate's secret Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Gizmodo, Shareblue, The Week, Raw Story, The Guardian and CNN

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:
GOP Health Bill Kept Secret From Senators Assigned to Write It

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Fox News Insider

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Judiciary Committee to continue Russia probe after Mueller meeting — Top members of the Judiciary Committee indicated Wednesday that they will move forward with their own investigation into Russia's election meddling, after meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: Politico

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue:

Former Homeland Security chief: The FBI had evidence of collusion with Russia — Contrary to Donald Trump's Twitter-rages and baseless accusations that he and his campaign team are the victims of a “witch hunt,” the evidence of potential collusion with Russia is real. Real enough to warrant an investigation.

Discussion: IJR

Kyle Feldscher / Washington Examiner:
Jeh Johnson: Trump's ‘rigged’ election claims affected what DHS could say about Russia interference

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Trumps suggests creating law that has been enacted since 1996 — President Trump in a rally on Wednesday evening said immigrants who enter the United States should not be eligible for welfare benefits for five years, though such a law has already existed for 20 years.

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Tom Cotton Intern Calls British ‘Faggots’ and Paul Ryan a ‘Cuck’ in Audio Recording — GOP Senator Tom Cotton's intern is not shy about spouting off incendiary comments, as the young Republican calls Speaker Paul Ryan “a cuck” and the British “faggots.”

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Raw Story and twitchy.com

BuzzFeed:

A Bunch Of CIA Staff Got Fired For Stealing Snacks From Vending Machines — The group of employees shared a vending machine hack to steal more than $3,000 in snacks. — Several CIA contractors were kicked out of the agency for stealing more than $3,000 in snacks from vending machines …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Week, Instapundit and Gizmodo

Kathryn Blackhurst / LifeZette:

Spicer: Publicity-Hungry Reporters Want to ‘Become YouTube Stars’ — White House press secretary defends use of off-camera briefings to prioritize ‘substantive discussions’ — White House press secretary Sean Spicer pushed back on reporters' complaints that on-camera news briefings have been limited …

Discussion: Deadline, Mediaite, IJR and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

ISIS Destroys Al Nuri Mosque, Another Loss for Mosul — BAGHDAD — As the bloody battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State ground on for months, with losses in lives and infrastructure piling up, soldiers and civilians kept in their minds an image of what victory would look like …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Reuters:
Islamic State blows up historic Mosul mosque where it declared ‘caliphate’

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Atlantic and The Week

Nicole Brockbank / CBC News:

Woman demanding white doctor ‘not an isolated incident,’ says OMA's president-elect — ‘When someone accuses you that way or treats you that way you feel like an alien,’ says Dr. Nadia Alam — A woman who demanded that a “white doctor” treat her son at a walk-in clinic in Mississauga …

Discussion: Raw Story and TheBlaze

Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune:

Texas congressman says remarks on Clintons, Vince Foster were “a step too far” — U.S. Rep. Pete Olson on Tuesday walked back comments he had made on local radio in which he accused — without evidence — former President Bill Clinton of admitting to the murder of deceased aide Vincent Foster.

Discussion: The Root

Paul Sperry / New York Post:
Next up: a special counsel to probe Team Obama's obstruction of justice

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Laura Beth Nielsen / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed The case for restricting hate speech — Members of the Westboro Baptist Church picket in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 6, 2010. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) — As a sociologist and legal scholar, I struggle to explain the boundaries of free speech to undergraduates.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Democratic Party of Montana Blog:

Montana Dems Get Gianforte New Suit for First Day in Congress — Helena - Today, convicted criminal Greg Gianforte - who, after infamously picking up another person, slamming him to the ground, and then punching him, blamed it on the victim - will be sworn into Congress.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Washington Times

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump promises tech upgrades for farmers — The Latest on President Donald Trumps' trip to Iowa (all times EDT): — President Donald Trump is touting his administration's commitment to agriculture and says he will urge technology upgrades for rural communities.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Uber wants Sheryl Sandberg to be its next CEO — Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg … Uber's board plans to approach Facebook operating chief Sheryl Sandberg about filling its newly vacant CEO spot, The Post has learned. — The Sandberg idea is being pushed …

Discussion: NBC News, AOL and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Darren Sands / BuzzFeed:

What Happened To Black Lives Matter? — Donald Trump's election and presidency has inspired the biggest outpouring of liberal activism in more than a decade. But Black Lives Matter seems less visible than a year ago. After a meteoric rise to prominence, the movement is struggling mightily …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

DeVos picks CEO of for-profit lender to run federal student loan system — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's pick to lead the department's $1.3 trillion student loan system is the CEO of a private student loan company. — A. Wayne Johnson, who was tapped as chief operating officer of Federal Student Aid …

Discussion: ED News, The Daily Caller, The Root and The FADER

LeftOfCenter / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Mormons Shame Twelve-Year-Old Girl For Coming Out In Temple — Savannah, a twelve-year-old member of a Salt Lake City Mormon congregation, made a courageous decision to ‘come out’ in temple this past Sunday. She originally mentioned that she wanted to do this in January of this year …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jim Malewitz / The Texas Tribune:

Texas group that fueled Trump voter fraud claim scales back 2016 election audit — True The Vote says it's running short on the cash needed to complete an audit of 2016 presidential voting — an effort Donald Trump, while spreading unproven claims of fraud, applauded in his first days in the White House.

Discussion: electionlawblog.org and The Root

Donald Trump / ABC News:

ANALYSIS: 26 questions the White House has promised to answer but hasn't — Asked if President Trump believes the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters this week he hasn't had a chance to talk to his boss the about that issue.

Discussion: Politicus USA, The New Civil Rights Movement and Associated Press