Top Items:
Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump loses patience with his White House counsel — White House counsel Don McGahn has largely stepped back from managing Donald Trump's response to the expanding Russia investigation, but that hasn't stopped the president from lashing out at him about it anyway.
Discussion:
Axios, Political Wire, Washington Post and Raw Story
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Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Trump is struggling to stay calm on Russia, one morning call at a time — President Trump has a new morning ritual. Around 6:30 a.m. on many days — before all the network news shows have come on the air — he gets on the phone with a member of his outside legal team to chew over all things Russia.
Discussion:
Salon, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, The Week and Politico
Mike Allen / Axios:
One of the dumbest political mistakes in the modern era — President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey is rightly seen as a terrific legal blunder: He undercut an investigation that might have shown he never colluded with the Russians, and spawned one that could result in obstruction of justice charges.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
White House-media relations at breaking point as Spicer searches for replacement — Five months into Donald Trump's presidency, White House-media relations are hanging by a thread. — The White House is facing daily criticism from the news media over its decision to reduce the frequency …
Barack Obama:
Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, that's what we need to do today. — I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Bloomberg, Shareblue, Common Dreams, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ABC News, Mother Jones, Vox, France 24, Bipartisan Report, CNN, Mediaite, KQED News, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit, NPR, Washington Post, Business Insider, Daily Wire, KTLA, The Atlantic, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, Refinery29, Shakesville, The Root, The Week, Raw Story, The New Civil Rights Movement, twitchy.com, AOL, The FADER, Balloon Juice, Washington Free Beacon, Heat Street, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, KFOR-TV, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Daily Kos
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The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - June 2017: ACA, Replacement Plan, and Medicaid — Ashley Kirzinger, Bianca DiJulio, Liz Hamel, Bryan Wu, and Mollyann Brodie — KEY FINDINGS: — As the Senate prepares to hold a vote on a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) …
Discussion:
Political Wire and Axios
Avik Roy / Forbes:
The New Senate Republican Bill Will Transform American Health Care — The hotly-anticipated Senate Republican health care bill came out on Thursday morning. The airwaves quickly filled up with predictable talking points from both sides. But once the dust settles, it will emerge …
Discussion:
Politico, The Federalist and Axios
New York Times:
The Senate's Unaffordable Care Act
The Senate's Unaffordable Care Act
Discussion:
Mashable, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Daily Kos, Vox, Mediaite, The FADER, Media Matters for America, Power Line, IJR and Outside the Beltway
Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Sen.: Assessing O'Care Repeal Bill Depends On How You Define ‘Better’
GOP Sen.: Assessing O'Care Repeal Bill Depends On How You Define ‘Better’
Discussion:
The Week and Political Wire
Dylan Scott / Vox:
What the health insurance industry gets out of the Senate health care bill
What the health insurance industry gets out of the Senate health care bill
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Balloon Juice and Business Insider
Jim Newell / Slate:
Dissent is all part of the script. Trumpcare is right where Republicans want it.
Dissent is all part of the script. Trumpcare is right where Republicans want it.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice
Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:
Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Bill
Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Bill
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian, The Week, alicublog, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Shareblue, American Prospect, ThinkProgress and neo-neocon
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
‘Fox & Friends’ propagates the most astounding piece of pro-Trump propaganda yet — Merely placing sweet little questions before President Trump isn't enough anymore, apparently. These days, the treatment dished out by the “Fox & Friends” crew to Trump needs to include a bit of slander for the opposition.
Discussion:
RedState, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse
RELATED:
Fox News:
Trump says Comey-Mueller friendship ‘bothersome’ — President Trump, in an interview to be broadcast Friday morning on “Fox and Friends,” said it is “very bothersome” that the man investigating possible ties between his presidential campaign and Russia is good friends with fired FBI director James Comey.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Shakesville, The New Civil Rights Movement and The Last Tradition
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump Indicates Tape Tweet Was Meant to Affect Comey Testimony
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Trump says tape bluff was to keep Comey honest
Trump says tape bluff was to keep Comey honest
Discussion:
Mother Jones, RedState, Bipartisan Report, New York Magazine, Raw Story, The Week, ZeroPointNow, Mediaite and IJR
Media Matters for America:
Fox & Friends praises Trump for his false threat of having tapes of interactions with Comey
Fox & Friends praises Trump for his false threat of having tapes of interactions with Comey
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump “tapes” scapegoat: Obama administration
Trump “tapes” scapegoat: Obama administration
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Breitbart and Political Wire
Washington Post:
Don't make things worse — The secrecy extended into the White House. — Rice , Haines and White House homeland-security adviser Lisa Monaco convened meetings in the Situation Room to weigh the mounting evidence of Russian interference and generate options for how to respond.
Mike McIntire / New York Times:
F.B.I. Investigating Deals Involving Paul Manafort and Son-in-Law — Federal investigators are examining financial transactions involving Paul Manafort and his son-in-law, who embarked on a series of real estate deals in recent years fueled by millions of dollars from Mr. Manafort, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Wire, Bipartisan Report and Above the Law
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CNN:
Why Democrats can't quit Nancy Pelosi — Washington (CNN)Nancy Pelosi is sending a defiant message to House Democrats who are grumbling about her leadership: Come at me. — But while Pelosi's critics are increasingly vocal, they have not yet answered critical questions about who would fill …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, TheBlaze and Politicus USA
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BuzzFeed:
Memo Shows Preet Bharara Was Concerned After Phone Call From White House — “Hi Mr. Bharara, this is Madeline Westerhout calling from President Donald Trump's office.” — Former US Attorney Preet Bharara sent an email to Justice Department officials in New York to express concern …
Lee Fang / The Intercept:
Prominent Democratic Fundraisers Realign to Lobby For Trump's Agenda — After President Donald Trump's upset election victory, Democratic insiders who worked on Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid weren't necessarily relegated to the sidelines. Many, in fact, are cashing in as lobbyists — by working to advance Trump's agenda.
Baxter Oliphant / Pew Research Center:
Bipartisan support for some gun proposals, stark partisan divisions on many others — Republicans and Democrats find rare common ground on some gun policy proposals in the U.S. Large majorities in both parties continue to favor preventing people with mental illnesses from buying guns …
Discussion:
National Review and Pew Research Center
Wall Street Journal:
The Senate's Health-Care Advance — The draft bill contains many conservative victories, which is why the left hates it.
Caitlin Owens / Axios:
On health care, moderates quiet while conservatives yell — Only hours after the release of the Senate health care bill, four conservative senators put out a statement saying they can't support the bill in its current form. As of now, moderates have held their fire, saying they need to finish reading and analyzing the bill.
Discussion:
ABC News
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Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
McConnell's Calculation May Be That He Still Wins by Losing
McConnell's Calculation May Be That He Still Wins by Losing
Discussion:
Instapundit
Philly.com:
Cosby juror says he didn't believe ‘well-coached’ Constand — PITTSBURGH — A juror in Bill Cosby's sex assault trial said Thursday that he did not believe the testimony of accuser Andrea Constand because she willingly went alone to the entertainer's home and brought him gifts on more than one occasion.
Daniel Lippman / Politico:
DHS halts planned funding for anti-white extremism group — SCOOP: The Department of Homeland Security is restarting a stalled $10-million grant program for “Countering Violent Extremism” this morning. Life After Hate, a group dedicated to deradicalizing neo-Nazis and stopping white extremism …
Sam Stein / HuffPost:
All That Stands Between Democrats And A Massive Freakout Is This Man — The pressure is on Ralph Northam to score a win in his race for Virginia governor. Barack Obama is going to come off the sidelines to help. — Having lost a series of tantalizingly close congressional elections …
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Daily Caller