memeorandum: White House aides feeling ‘helpless’ as Trump Jr. scandal explodes (Josh Dawsey/Politico)

12:15 PM ET, July 12, 2017

Top Items:

Trump-Russia investigators probe Jared Kushner-run digital operation — WASHINGTON — Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign's digital operation - overseen by Jared Kushner - helped guide Russia's …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Political Wire, The Atlantic and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Rancor at White House as Russia Story Refuses to Let the Page Turn — WASHINGTON — If President Trump emerged from his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week hoping he had begun to “move forward” from the controversy over the Kremlin's election meddling, as advisers put it …

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘Category 5 hurricane’: White House under siege by Trump Jr.'s Russia revelations — The White House has been thrust into chaos after days of ever-worsening revelations about a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a lawyer characterized as representing the Russian government …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, Washington Free Beacon, Reuters, ABC News, Raw Story, Mediaite, New York Times, Axios, New York Magazine, The American Conservative, Politicus USA and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

New York Post:

Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot — We see one truly solid takeaway from the story of the day: Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot. — SEE ALSO — In the heat of your father's presidential campaign, a bozo British publicist e-mails you to set up a sitdown with a “Russian government attorney” …

Discussion: Reuters, IJR, Washington Post, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Kevin G. Hall / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Lawyer that met Don Jr. had ties to Russian government, spy agency — WASHINGTON — The Russian lawyer at the center of Donald Trump Jr.'s scandal over possible collusion with Kremlin election meddlers has denied she has ties to the Russian government. — But she threatened action …

New York Times:

Natalia Veselnitskaya, Lawyer Who Met Trump Jr., Seen as Fearsome Moscow Insider — MOSCOW — When American prosecutors accused a senior Russian official's son of laundering $14 million by investing in Manhattan property and other assets, she was called to defend him.

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

White House aides feeling ‘helpless’ as Trump Jr. scandal explodes — White House aides feel blindsided by the bombshell revelations around Donald Trump Jr.'s campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer, while the president is using his relatively light schedule to watch TV and fume about the latest scandal …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, CNNMoney, Business Insider, Media Matters for America, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Axios, Vox and ABC News

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story:

President Trump personally signed off on false statement claiming Don Jr.'s meeting was about adoption: report — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — President Donald Trump personally signed off on a statement provided Sunday by Donald Trump Jr., which insisted a meeting between …

Discussion: IJR, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Business Insider and Political Wire

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
Donald Trump Jr. tells Sean Hannity: ‘In retrospect I probably would have done things a little differently’

Discussion: Vox, Politico, IJR, Daily Wire, AOL, The Guardian, Raw Story, Business Insider, NPR.org, CNBC, Axios and Real Clear Politics

New York Times: Did Donald Jr. Break the Law?

Bloomberg:
Russian Lawyer Who Met Trump Jr. Saw a Clinton Scandal in Tax Inquiry

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Vanity Fair, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, NBC News, Washington Post and Business Insider

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Trump-Russia investigation takes sharp turn toward the dumb

Discussion: Daily Wire, Power Line, CNN, The Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Diamond Naga Siu / Politico:
Obama and Bush ethics lawyers call Trump Jr.'s defense of Russia meeting ‘nonsense’

Discussion: RedState

National Review: Don Jr.'s Disgraceful Meeting

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian Connection Has Ties to Former Kremlin Spies

Discussion: Business Insider, Just Security, AOL, Raw Story, Bloomberg, IJR, Talking Points Memo and Vox

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Gowdy fumes at Trump administration over latest Russia controversy

Discussion: Business Insider, Political Wire and Vox

New York Times:
Donald Trump Jr. Makes the Russian Connection

Michael Crowley / Politico:
Trump Jr.'s love affair with Moscow

Discussion: Mother Jones

CNN:
Source: Justice Dept. probe will look at Trump Jr.'s disclosed emails, meeting

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, New York Magazine, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Political Wire and The Guardian

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo:
New details emerge on Moscow real estate deal that led to the Trump-Kremlin alliance

Discussion: The Hill, Forbes, Political Wire, Mother Jones, CNBC, AOL, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

Fox News:
Dershowitz: Did Donald Trump Jr. commit a crime or merely political sin? It depends

Discussion: Althouse

Walter Shapiro / The Guardian: Fox News might buy Donald Trump Jr's spin. But Republicans have no excuse

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Campaign Opposition Research Is Standard. But Not ‘Oppo’ From Hostile Nations.

Discussion: Washington Post and Business Insider

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Republicans Reluctantly Acknowledge a Failure of Governing — WASHINGTON — Republicans are failing at governance. And they know it. — Their senatorially painful decision announced on Tuesday to sacrifice some of lawmakers' usually sacrosanct August recess was a public confession …

Discussion: ABC News, Vox, Mediaite, Political Insider blog, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Bloomberg:

Senators Explore Bipartisan ‘Plan B’ to Troubled GOP Health Bill — McConnell to push for vote on his Obamacare repeal next week — Some senators seek instead to shore up Obamacare markets — More than half a dozen Republican and Democratic senators have discussed alternatives …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Republican voters to GOP: Keep working on Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Washington Times and Axios

Axios:
Public wants GOP to work with Dems on health care

Discussion: Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Eric Boehlert / Shareblue:

Trump goes AWOL, hasn't shown up to work all week — Day after day, Donald Trump's schedule remains empty. He hasn't made an official, stateside public appearance in more than a week. — Donald Trump's public schedule has gone blank once again, as the amorphous Republican retreats behind the walls of the White House.

Discussion: Townhall.com, The Last Refuge, NBC News and Mediaite

Jake Lahut / Politico:

Trump: ‘I have very little time for watching T.V.’ — Amid swirling revelations surrounding his eldest son's meeting with a Russian lawyer and cascading reports of infighting in the White House, President Donald Trump pushed back on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

Discussion: Political Wire

Project MIDAS:

Larsen C calves trillion ton iceberg — A one trillion tonne iceberg - one of the biggest ever recorded - has calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The calving occurred sometime between Monday 10th July and Wednesday 12th July 2017, when a 5,800 square km section of Larsen C finally broke away.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Grist, Mashable, NBC News, AOL, New York Times, Gizmodo and The Verge

Lauren Said-Moorhouse / CNN: Massive iceberg breaks away from Antarctica

ProPublica:

Trump's Russia Lawyer Isn't Seeking Security Clearance, And May Have Trouble Getting One — The ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia involve reams of classified material. Yet Marc Kasowitz, the New York lawyer whom President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

New York Post:

Teen blasted ‘F-k Tha Police’ during slain officer's funeral — A Bronx teen defiantly blasted the NWA song “F— Tha Police” out his third-floor apartment window Tuesday as thousands of cops were gathered below to mourn slain cop Miosotis Familia — prompting a house call from about 20 officers.

Discussion: Breitbart, AOL, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and The Root

Associated Press:

The Latest: Wray says Russia inquiry is not a witch hunt — The Latest on the Senate hearing on Christopher Wray's nomination as FBI director (all times local): — President Donald Trump's pick for FBI director says he does not consider special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation a “witch hunt.”

Discussion: Politico

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
The 6 toughest questions for the next FBI director

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press and ABC News

S.M. / Economist:

Why Democrats are taking aim at gerrymandering — They want to win back seats from the Republicans — SINCE waving goodbye to the nation from a helicopter on January 20th, Barack Obama has mainly steered clear of the spotlight. Tomorrow, when America's 44th president re-enters the fray …