memeorandum: These State Attorneys Are Demanding Betsy DeVos Keep Campus Rape Rules In Place (Tyler Kingkade/BuzzFeed)

3:15 PM ET, July 20, 2017

Top Items:

Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions — Special counsel examines dealings of Kushner, Manafort, Trump — Trump has warned Mueller against going beyond Russia in probe — The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia …

New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, ABC News, The Hill, Mother Jones, Political Wire, Washington Monthly, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, JONATHAN TURLEY, RedState, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Above the Law, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Fox News, CBS New York, Daily Wire, IJR, Hullabaloo, Conservative News Today, Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller, Lawfare, The Week, The Resurgent, The National Interest, NPR, Shareblue, vice, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNBC, Daily Kos, Just Security, JustOneMinute, Geller Report, Associated Press, Weekly Standard, CANNONFIRE, The Guardian, Washington Free Beacon, The Atlantic, The American Conservative, BuzzFeed, The Root, AOL, Little Green Footballs, ThinkProgress, The Last Refuge, Infowars, Joe.My.God., Common Dreams, TheBlaze and Politicus USA, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

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.

CNN:

Trump's blast of Sessions has ‘chilling’ effect inside West Wing — Trump: ‘I love getting even with people’ (1992) — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)For President Donald Trump, loyalty in Washington is a one-way street. — Trump's trashing of several of his administration's …

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, IJR, The Daily Caller, NPR, Mother Jones and RedState

Bwittes / Lawfare:

The President vs. Federal Law Enforcement: Trump Attacks Everyone — President Trump enters the White House (@POTUS) — President Trump yesterday issued a stunning vote of no-confidence in basically everyone currently in a leadership position in the Justice Department, the FBI …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, Business Insider, IJR, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Daily Wire

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Donald Trump: L'état, C'est Moi — In his bizarre New York Times interview, Donald Trump expresses his characteristic assortment of fever-dream assertions. The president believes Hillary Clinton “was totally opposed to any sanctions for Russia,” that a properly amortized health-insurance plan …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Week, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Salon, Mediaite, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and Vox

NBC News:
Yes, Trump's Attacks on His Justice Department Are a Huge Problem

Discussion: NBC News, Business Insider, Raw Story, IJR, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Mediaite

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Sen. Paul backs Trump's frustration with Sessions' recusal

Discussion: ABC News and WWAY-TV

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Sessions: No plans to resign after Trump criticism

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Feeds, IJR, The Daily Caller and RedState

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Trump goes off-script and fumes about Sessions and Russia probe

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, Washington Post, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, IJR, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, The Week, CNBC, Politico, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

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.

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Politicus USA and The Week

Rachael Bade / Politico:

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 …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Business Insider, Washington Post, Raw Story, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Talking Points Memo

Matt Fuller / HuffPost:

Senate Republicans Report New Life On Their Health Care Bill — But it still might not change anything. — WASHINGTON A day after just about everyone on Capitol Hill declared the Senate health care bill dead, the legislation once again seemed to have the tiniest bit of life …

Dylan Scott / Vox:
A clear guide to what the hell is going on with the Senate health care bill

Discussion: Politico and Outside the Beltway

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Senate GOP's latest health care push sputters

Discussion: Vox

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Source: Senate leaders to offer $200 billion to win over moderates

Discussion: Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo and The Nation

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Which is politically worse for Republicans — failing to pass this health bill or actually passing it?

Discussion: Townhall.com and Refinery29

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

Team Trump Used Obamacare Money to Run PR Effort Against It … The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. — The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, Axios, IJR, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Bill Scher / Politico:
How Democrats Won the Healthcare War

Discussion: Axios and Bloomberg.com

TMZ.com:

Linkin Park Singer Chester Bennington Dead, Commits Suicide by Hanging — Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has committed suicide ... TMZ has learned. — Law enforcement sources tell us the singer hanged himself at a private residence in Palos Verdes Estates in L.A. County.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, AOL, FOX6Now.com, myfox8.com, WNEP-TV, CBS San Francisco and Raw Story

CBO's Publications:

H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Political Wire, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, ACASignups.net, Washington Times, The Nevada Independent, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and CNBC

CorpComm AG / Newsroom:

Massive blow to criminal Dark Web activities after globally coordinated operation — Takedown of AlphaBay and Hansa will lead to hundreds of new investigations in Europe — Months of preparation and coordination have resulted today, 20 July 2017, in the takedown of two of the largest criminal Dark Web markets, AlphaBay and Hansa.

Discussion: Motherboard, NPR, Mashable and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

U.S. Department of Justice:
AlphaBay, the Largest Online ‘Dark Market,’ Shut Down

Discussion: Motherboard, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, New York Times and Engadget

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

GOP signals infrastructure bill must wait — The timing and fate of President Trump's infrastructure plan may depend on whether the GOP enacts major tax reform — a task that could prove challenging amid the struggle to pass a healthcare bill. — Republicans are signaling …

Discussion: Political Wire and Booman Tribune

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
GOP tax sources: will be hard to get corporate rate below 25%

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Samantha Swindler / Oregonian:

IQ costs Oregon parents their kids, but is that fair? (Column) — Gallery: Redmond couple fights for custody of their children — The nursery in Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler's home is filled with unread children's books and unworn baby clothes. A Winnie the Pooh blanket lies untouched inside …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Raw Story and Jezebel

Chris Conte / WTVF-TV:

White County Inmates Given Reduced Jail Time If They Get A Vasectomy — Inmates in White County, Tennessee have been given credit for their jail time if they voluntarily agree to have a vasectomy or birth control implant, a popular new program that is being called “unconstitutional” by the ACLU.

Discussion: The Root and Fusion

Steve Phillips / New York Times:

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 …

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Dems see huge field emerging to take on Trump

Discussion: RedState

Patt Morrison / Los Angeles Times:

Column Bill Nye on the terrifying ascendancy of American ‘dingbatitude’ — From the Emmy-winning “science guy on” the PBS children's television program to the lab-coat crusader who “saves the world” on Netflix, Bill Nye is a longtime science-is-entertaining educator, a onetime mechanical engineer and a perpetual science lover.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, MichelleMalkin.com, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post and The Guardian

National Review:

Jeff Sessions Should Drop His Expansion of Civil Asset Forfeiture — Attorney General Jeff Sessions should reconsider his plan to expand the use of civil asset forfeiture in the service of the so-called war on drugs. If he fails to do so, Congress should reconsider it for him — indeed …

Discussion: The Federalist, Hot Air and neo-neocon

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

One in eight people who voted for Trump having second thoughts - Reuters/Ipsos poll — 6 MIN READ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they are not sure they would do so again after witnessing Trump's tumultuous first six months in office …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

Pew Research Center:

Since Trump's Election, Increased Attention to Politics - Especially Among Women — Most find it stressful to talk politics with those who differ on Trump — Following an election that had one of the largest gender gaps in history, women are more likely than men to say they are paying increased attention to politics.

Discussion: Washington Post

Cindy Boren / Washington Post:

An apologetic O.J. Simpson is granted parole, to be released in October — After nearly nine years in prison, O.J. Simpson was granted his freedom Thursday by four members of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners and will leave prison on or after Oct. 1.

Discussion: The Week

New York Times:

Kamala Harris and Rand Paul: To Shrink Jails, Let's Reform Bail — Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old New Yorker, was arrested on charges of stealing a backpack in 2010. To ensure he would show up for trial, and because of a previous offense, the judge set bail at $3,000. But his family could not afford to pay.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo