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In Interview, Trump Expresses Anger at Sessions and Comey, and Warns Mueller — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged …
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Excerpts From The Times's Interview With Trump — President Trump spoke on Wednesday with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Also in attendance was Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman.
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Washington Post, Vox, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Fusion, Shareblue, Daily Kos, FiveThirtyEight, NBC News, Raw Story, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, Mashable, New York Times and The Local


The Note: Trump's bombshell interview drops on his 6-month mark
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Politico, Talking Points Memo and New York Times

Fox News Exclusive: Rosenstein says internal memos should stay ‘confidential,’ after Comey leak
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Washington Post and Business Insider

Trump says he wouldn't have picked Sessions if he knew he'd recuse himself
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Vox, Washington Post, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, ABC News and The Week

Trump turns against his attorney general over Russia
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ABC News, Washington Post, Conservative News Today, Politico, Hullabaloo, IJR, Raw Story, The Week, Business Insider, RedState, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and The Last Tradition


Inspiring Little Fear in Senators, Trump Struggles to Sell Health Bill — WASHINGTON — President Trump thought he could sell balky Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the Senate health care bill through pleasantries, cajoling and, ultimately, some Oval Office muscle.
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Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week, ThinkProgress, HuffPost and Vox
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Republicans lament an agenda in ‘quicksand’ — Sen. David Perdue persuaded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to scrap two weeks of August recess to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. But since then, the GOP's Obamacare repeal effort has almost entirely collapsed …
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Washington Post, Raw Story and Political Wire


As repeal and replace falters, more say GOP should abandon repeal plan
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John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Senate Republicans still at impasse after late-night health care meeting
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Political Wire, Axios, The Week, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and New York Magazine

Fact Check: Trump's Confusing Remarks To Senate Republicans On Health Care
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WGBH News, Common Dreams, Politico and New York Times

Freedom Caucus to try to force vote on Obamacare repeal
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The Resurgent, Balloon Juice, Daily Wire, The Hill, Axios, Political Wire and Talking Points Memo

House GOP leaders face uphill budget battle
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Reuters and Washington Post


Sen. John McCain has brain cancer, aggressive tumor surgically removed — Lab results from a surgery on Friday confirmed the presence of glioblastoma associated with the blood clot — (CNN)Sen. John McCain, 80, has been diagnosed with a primary glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor …
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Raw Story, The Atlantic, The Root, IJR, Refinery29, The Last Refuge, BuzzFeed and Politicus USA
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Democrats, Republicans send well wishes to Sen. McCain
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Politico

Sen. John McCain diagnosed with malignant brain tumor
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Power Line, twitchy.com and The Gateway Pundit

John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer
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ABC News, Scared Monkeys, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and The Resurgent


Big German Bank, Key to Trump's Finances, Faces New Scrutiny — During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were skeptical of doing business with him. — After a string of bankruptcies in his casino …
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Raw Story and Balloon Juice


Manafort Was in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests, Cyprus Records Show — Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt …
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The Guardian, New York Magazine, The Week, CNBC, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Political Wire


How Democrats Won the Healthcare War — And how they could lose the next one. — “The mover on health care loses,” Democratic operative James Carville said in January. “To do something is to lose.” That cold-hearted political proverb has been repeatedly proven true, if the standard is short-term electoral gain.
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Bloomberg.com, Washington Free Beacon and HuffPost
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We Must Elect Senator Kid Rock — The news that Southern-fried rock/rapper Kid Rock will be running for some timeserving Dem hack's Senate seat in Michigan should make every normal American smile and spill a 40 to his homies. The future Senator Rock deserves your eager support for two critical reasons …

The Democratic Party's Billion-Dollar Mistake — The Democratic Party is at risk of repeating the billion-dollar blunder that helped create its devastating losses of 2016. With its obsessive focus on wooing voters who supported Donald Trump, it is neglecting the cornerstone of its coalition …


Do-over: 1 in 8 people who voted for Trump want to change their vote - Reuters/Ipsos poll — 6 MIN READ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they would not do so again after witnessing Trump's tumultuous first six months in office …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow — President Trump has decided to end the CIA's covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.


H.R. 1628, Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $473 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 32 million in 2026 relative to current law.
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Axios, Vox, CNBC, Balloon Juice, Health Affairs Blog, Daily Kos, ACO Watch, The Daily Caller, The Week, Business Insider, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, IJR, NPR, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and Political Wire


A Guide to Russia's Diplomatic Properties in Washington — It's no secret that the Russian Embassy wants its diplomatic compounds back. — In December 2016, in addition to expelling 35 Russian diplomats, the Barack Obama administration seized two Russian compounds …


I'm a scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration. — Joel Clement was director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Interior Department until last week. He is now a senior adviser at the department's Office of Natural Resources Revenue. — I am not a member of the deep state.
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NPR and Shadowproof


A reporter broke White House rules by streaming live audio of an off-camera briefing — It was only a matter of time. — At every White House news briefing since June 29 — and many before, too — President Trump's spokesmen have ordered a room full of smartphone-toting journalists …
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Deadline, Mashable, Raw Story and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »
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Trump just nominated a climate skeptic to USDA's top science post … President Trump on Wednesday nominated Sam Clovis, a former college professor and talk radio host who has challenged the scientific consensus that human activity has been the primary driver of climate change …
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Fusion


RNC won't back NJ gubernatorial candidate over criticism of Trump: report — The Republican National Committee isn't spending big for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Kim Guadagno because the RNC doesn't think she has been loyal to President Trump, NJ.com reported Wednesday.
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RedState
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