Top Items:
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
National security adviser attempts to reconcile Trump's competing impulses on Afghanistan — In meeting after meeting with his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, this spring and summer, President Trump angrily hammered home two questions: — He wanted to know why the U.S. military …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Pacific Standard and Daily Kos
RELATED:
New York Times:
John Kelly Quickly Moves to Impose Military Discipline on White House — WASHINGTON — In his six months as Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly often described the White House as one of the most dysfunctional organizations he had ever seen, complained to colleagues and allies about its meddling …
The Daily Caller:
National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster is thwarting President Donald Trump's foreign policy prescriptions, two former senior NSC officials told The Daily Caller News Foundation. — “Everything the president wants to do, McMaster opposes,” a former senior official said in a wide-ranging interview.
Discussion:
Business Insider and BuzzFeed
Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
The Real Reason McMaster Let Susan Rice Keep Her Security Clearance
The Real Reason McMaster Let Susan Rice Keep Her Security Clearance
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Media Matters for America, TheBlaze, Breitbart, NBC News, Political Wire and Front Page Magazine
New York Times:
Leak Investigations Triple Under Trump, Sessions Says — Washington — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday that the Justice Department was now pursuing three times as many leak investigations as the previous administration, a significant devotion of law enforcement resources …
RELATED:
Madeline Conway / Politico:
Sessions: DOJ reviewing policies on media subpoenas — The Justice Department is considering making changes to its policies on subpoenaing news organizations as part of its crackdown on government leaks, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday. — At a news conference …
Discussion:
ABC News and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
DOJ warns the media could be targeted in crackdown on leaks
DOJ warns the media could be targeted in crackdown on leaks
Discussion:
U.S. Department of Justice, Liberty Blitzkrieg, The Washington Journal and The Gateway Pundit
Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Reality closing in on Trump with grand jury investigation
The Note: Reality closing in on Trump with grand jury investigation
Kevin Johnson / USA Today:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces broad crackdown on leaks
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces broad crackdown on leaks
Discussion:
New York Magazine
David Herzig / Washington Post:
This Trump real estate deal looks awfully like criminal tax fraud — Two tax lawyers break down the president's sale of two condos to his son. … President Trump clearly doesn't want to release his income tax returns to the public. Members of the public and commentators …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Brian Beutler / New Republic:
Keep the Trump Leaks Coming — The president is too incompetent to serve, and Congress must be pressured into removing him. — Both in content and in context, the official transcripts of Donald Trump's January phone calls with Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Fox News, IJR, Washington Post, The Resurgent, Axios, The Hill, Balloon Juice, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, CNBC, The Diplomat, The Guardian and Vox
Heidi M. Przybyla / USA Today:
Poll: Americans in battleground districts would strongly oppose Trump firing special counsel Robert Mueller — WASHINGTON - Americans in 99 congressional battleground districts - primarily represented by Republicans - would disapprove by a two-to-one margin if President Trump fires Russia special counsel Robert Mueller.
RELATED:
Joe Concha / The Hill:
Gingrich says Mueller represents ‘deep state’ at worst
Gingrich says Mueller represents ‘deep state’ at worst
Discussion:
RedState, The Gateway Pundit and USA Politics Today
Luke Rosiak / The Daily Caller:
Wasserman Schultz Says Laptop She Sought To Keep From Police Was Awan's, Not Hers — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz never actually saw the computer she fought to block the Capitol Police from examining as evidence in a criminal case against her IT aide by saying it was hers, she told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Thursday.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and IJR
RELATED:
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
The Scandal That Matters — Democratic IT staff who had access …
Alexander Nazaryan / Newsweek:
TRUMP, AMERICA'S BOY KING: GOLF AND TELEVISION WON'T MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN — Now that he's president, Trump frequently departs the White House and spends the weekend golfing at either his South Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, or his country club in the New Jersey suburb of Bedminster.
Discussion:
The Washington Journal, IJR, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, The Daily Caller and The New Civil Rights Movement
RELATED:
John Harwood / CNBC:
Amid Washington dysfunction, lack of accomplishments, Trumps clings to his shrinking support — As political and legal troubles mount, President Donald Trump holds ever tighter onto a base of support that grows ever smaller. — Trump has placed cultivation of intensity within his base …
Ali Watkins / Politico:
Hunt for Trump dossier author inflames Russia probe — Two Republican House Intelligence Committee staffers traveled to London earlier this summer to track down the former British intelligence operative who compiled a controversial dossier on President Donald Trump and Russia, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE
Eddie Scarry / Washington Examiner:
CNN insiders rip Jim Acosta's antics as ‘auditions’ for his own show — Jim Acosta is suddenly one of CNN's most controversial figures even among some of his CNN colleagues, who say his public battles with the Trump administration are going too far. — One of Acosta's colleagues …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, IJR, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon
BostonGlobe.com:
Forget scenic traditions — Trump vacations in the land of spray tans — WASHINGTON — There's been an unspoken norm among presidents that their vacations are glamorous, or at the very least, scenic. — In election years, they tend to bow more to the masses. But most other years are set aside for mixing with elites.
New York Times:
Martin Shkreli Is Found Guilty of Fraud — Martin Shkreli, accused of defrauding his hedge fund investors and a pharmaceutical company, was convicted on three of eight counts on Friday, after a five-week trial in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn. — He faces as much as 20 years in prison.
Discussion:
Gothamist
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
US created 209,000 jobs in July, vs 183,000 jobs expected — The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 percent, according to a government report Friday. — The report comes with the economy at a crossroads as President Trump has promised 3 percent economic growth.
Jeff Guo / Vox:
In the key 2018 battlegrounds, Trump's support is as high as ever — Why Democrats can't really crow about the president's declining approval numbers. — Ever since Inauguration Day, the public's faith in the president has been eroding. According to the latest Gallup surveys …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
Economist:
How to avoid nuclear war with North Korea — There are no good options to curb Kim Jong Un. But blundering into war would be the worst — IT IS odd that North Korea causes so much trouble. It is not exactly a superpower. Its economy is only a fiftieth as big as that of its democratic capitalist cousin, South Korea.
Discussion:
The Week
Shamlet / RRH Elections:
RRH Elections AL-Sen R Primary Poll: Moore Leads Strange 31-29 — Moore, Strange likely headed to runoff; Brooks likely to finish third; Race for first is tight and runoff may be very competitive — With less than two weeks until the closely-watched special Republican primary …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Amanda Knox / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed Amanda Knox: Michelle Carter deserves sympathy and help, not prison — Michelle Carter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on June 16 for her 18-year-old boyfriend's suicide after she encouraged him to kill himself via text message. (Aug. 3, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)
Discussion:
CBS Boston and AOL
Zerlina Maxwell / Shareblue:
Kamala Harris is one of the most progressive (and attacked) leaders in America — We have seen what happens when the left assails a competent and inspiring woman for being insufficiently progressive. It's not an outcome anyone in the Democratic Party should wish to replicate. — Please let's not do this again.
Discussion:
Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon
mypalmbeachpost:
EXCLUSIVE: Boynton girl, 8, dead after dare to drink boiling water — A Boynton Beach girl has died months after she was injured drinking boiling water out of a straw on a dare, state authorities said. — The 8-year-old told her mother's “paramour” late Sunday she couldn't breathe …
Discussion:
The Root, IJR, New York's PIX11 and myfox8.com
Dan Nowicki / Arizona Republic:
Sen. John McCain aims to revive immigration reform when he returns to Congress — A week after his dramatic call for bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, Sen. John McCain says he wants to revive a long-standing attempt to reform the nation's immigration system when he returns to Washington.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Mediaite
Virginian-Pilot:
Republican donor from Virginia Beach sues GOP, accusing the party of fraud over failed Obamacare repeal — A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn't repeal the Affordable Care Act he's suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering.
Discussion:
Axios
Julie Bykowicz / Associated Press:
COMPLAINT: TRUMP STRATEGIST MAY HAVE IMPROPER PR ARRANGEMENT — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Campaign Legal Center is complaining in a letter to the White House that a top adviser to President Donald Trump may be illegally accepting outside professional services.
Jing Cao / Bloomberg:
Blue Apron Plans to Cut 24% of Staff Barely a Month After IPO — Blue Apron Holdings Inc. is cutting almost a quarter of its staff barely a month after its initial public offering as the meal kit delivery company struggles to become a profitable business. — The company is cutting 1,270 jobs …
Discussion:
Mashable
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Senate blocks Trump from making recess appointments over break — The Senate blocked President Trump from being able to make recess appointments on Thursday as lawmakers leave Washington for their summer break. — Sen. Lisa Murkowski — (R-Alaska), doing wrap up for the entire Senate …
Discussion:
Vox, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Raw Story, IJR, Axios, Capitol Confidential, The Week, ThinkProgress, The Washington Journal and Political Wire