memeorandum: The complicated politics holding up Rupert Murdoch's Sky deal (Hadas Gold/CNNMoney)

11:25 PM ET, September 15, 2017

Top Items:

GOP Congressman Sought Trump Deal on WikiLeaks, Russia — Rep. Rohrabacher asks for pardon of Julian Assange in return for evidence of no 2016 election meddling — WASHINGTON—A U.S. congressman contacted the White House this week trying to broker a deal that would end WikiLeaks founder …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CNBC, RedState, The Daily Caller, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Shareblue, Hullabaloo, TheBlaze and San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago Tribune:

Judge rules in city's favor on sanctuary cities, grants nationwide injunction — The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Jeff Sessions want to require sanctuary cities like Chicago to give notice when immigrants in the country illegally are about to be released from custody …

Discussion: Politico, AOL, The Gateway Pundit and ImmigrationProf Blog

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Justice Department ends program scrutinizing local police forces — An arm of the Justice Department said Friday it would roll back Obama-era efforts to investigate local police departments and issue public reports about their failings — another way in which the Trump administration is trying to adopt a tough pro-police stance.

Discussion: The Root

Don Babwin / Associated Press:
Judge: Sessions can't deny grant money for sanctuary cities

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Daily Caller

Brandon Carter / The Hill: Federal judge blocks Trump from denying funds to sanctuary cities

Associated Press:

Still no charity money from leftover Trump inaugural funds — https://apnews.com/0756ba7480444895b4fa bc9a2f0909b3 — Link copied! — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107 million for a ceremony that officials promised would be …

Discussion: Shareblue

John Bowden / The Hill:
Trump inaugural committee has yet to give funds to charity despite pledge: report

Discussion: RedState

Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Gave Special Counsel Robert Mueller More Details on Russian Ad Buys Than Congress — Social-media company shared copies of ads and account information, people familiar with the matter said — Facebook Inc. FB .40% has handed over to special counsel Robert Mueller detailed records …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Turning Point News and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Olivia Nuzzi / thecut:

Here's Why Steve Bannon Wears So Many Shirts — Physically, I feel slightly inhibited; but spiritually, I feel oddly secure. This is due to the many shirts I'm wearing as I type — three (3) shirts to be precise — a tank top, a dress shirt, another dress shirt, and on top of that, a blazer.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Business Insider

Brian Patrick Byrne / The Daily Beast:

Twitter Lets You Target Ads to Millions of People Who Use the N-Word … Twitter's advertising platform tells prospective marketers it has 26.3 million users interested in the derogatory term “wetback,” 18.6 million accounts that are likely to engage with the word “Nazi,” and 14.5 million users who might be drawn to “n**ger.”

Discussion: Pacific Standard, Engadget, Gizmodo, The Verge, Talking Points Memo, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NBC News and RT, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

Google Allowed Advertisers To Target “Jewish Parasite,” “Black People Ruin Everything” — Google prompted BuzzFeed News to run ads targeted to keywords like “black people ruin neighborhoods,” then allowed the campaign to go live. — Google, the world's biggest advertising platform …

Discussion: Facebook, New York Times, Engadget, New York Magazine, The Verge, Mashable, The Week and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Baragona / Mediaite:

'I'm Done': CNN's Brooke Baldwin Ends Segment After Clay Travis Says He Believes in ‘Boobs’ — Well, that was something. — During a panel discussion on the Jemele Hill controversy and the White House calling her to be fired, things took an entirely different turn when sports radio host …

Discussion: CNN, EW.com, Latest from Crooks and Liars, PerezHilton, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Hit & Run, Instapundit, Decider and The Federalist, more at Mediagazer »

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
Clay Travis used his ‘First Amendment and boobs’ line long before he shocked CNN

Discussion: NewsBusters, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Outkick the Coverage and The Big Lead, more at Mediagazer »

Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed:

Trump Advisers Secretly Met With Jordan's King While One Was Pushing A Huge Nuclear Power Deal — Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, and Steve Bannon met with King Abdullah II while Flynn was reportedly pressing for a controversial, for-profit deal to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East.

Discussion: Raw Story, RedState, Hullabaloo, Politicus USA, The Week, Political Wire, Just Security and The Hill

Patrick Redford / Deadspin:

Here's What ESPN Employees Are Saying About The Jemele Hill Situation On Their Private Message Board — ESPN spent this week caving to the most cynically motivated people on the fringes of sports media and their manufactured outrage at SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill's accurate comments about the president.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, USA Today, Mashable, The Ringer - All, Longreads, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Decider, Conservative News Today, Red Alert Politics and theGrio, more at Mediagazer »

Itay Hod / The Wrap:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Hit With Ethics Complaint Over Call for ESPN to Fire Jemele Hill

Discussion: AOL, IJR, Washington Free Beacon and theGrio

New York Times:

Trump's Tweets About London Bombing Anger British Leaders — WASHINGTON — President Trump seized on a terrorist attack in London on Friday to promote his ban on travel to the United States by Muslims and, in the process, ran afoul of Britain by claiming without evidence that the assailants had been …

Politico:
Theresa May on Trump terror tweet: unhelpful

Discussion: Bloomberg, BBC, CNN, The Independent, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Telegraph and Axios

New York Times:
‘Bucket Bomb’ Strikes London's Vulnerable Underground

NBC News:
Terrorist Device Detonates on London Subway, Injuring Commuters

Discussion: The Guardian, The Independent, NBC News, CNBC, BBC, The Atlantic, Vox, ABC News, Little Green Footballs, Common Dreams, Politicus USA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Gizmodo, Mediaite and Scared Monkeys

Dylan Scott / Vox:

Senate Republicans claim they are a few votes away from repealing Obamacare — But they always have been. — The Obamacare repeal drama is back, and everybody is picking up where they left off. — Senate Republicans are trying to build momentum for a last-gasp bill to replace the Affordable Care Act …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico and New York Magazine

Adam Cancryn / Politico:
Cassidy says he's close to having the votes to pass Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Vox

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:

Chelsea Manning hung up phone on Harvard dean who delivered fellowship snub — Chelsea Manning, the former US soldier who leaked hundreds of thousands of state secrets and served seven years in military prison, abruptly terminated a phone call with the dean of the Harvard Kennedy school …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Hill, Harvard Kennedy School, Boing Boing, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Axios, Mediaite, Washington Blade, The Resurgent, Scripting News, Sputnik International and NBC News

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:
Harvard's Week Gets Even Worse

Discussion: Eschaton and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
Harvard Disinvites Chelsea Manning, and the Feeling Is Mutual

Christian Berthelsen / Bloomberg:

Russia Laundering Probe Puts Trump Tower Meeting in New Light — U.S. prosecutors follow funds from alleged $230 million fraud — Criminal probe came as Russian lawyer in matter met Trump Jr. — Follow @bpolitics for all the latest news, and sign up for our daily Balance of Power newsletter.

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider: New details about major Russian money-laundering investigation raise the stakes of Trump Tower meeting

Washington Post:

Taxpayers billed $1,092 for an official's two-night stay at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club … The bedroom suites at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, available only to members and their guests, feature hand-painted Moorish ceilings, antique Spanish-tiled mosaics and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Shareblue, Talking Points Memo, Axios, RedState and The Week

KMOV-TV:

Former St. Louis officer Stockley found not guilty — ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) - A St. Louis judge has acquitted former police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Smith. — “This court, as the trier of fact, is simply not firmly convinced of defendant's guilt.

Discussion: News Blog, Riverfront Times, myfox8.com, CNN, FOX2now.com, The Rush Limbaugh Show, KTLA and The Gateway Pundit

HuffPost:
Ex St. Louis Cop Who Said He'd ‘Kill This Motherf****r’ Before Shooting Black Man Found Not Guilty

Discussion: RedState, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and FOX2now.com

Chris Smith / Vanity Fair:

Did Jared Kushner's Data Operation Help Select Facebook Targets for the Russians? — The Russians used social media to rile the electorate. Investigators wonder if they had inside help. — The headlines were about Facebook admitting it had sold ad space to Russian groups trying to sway the 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: Raw Story

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Meghan McCain to Leave Fox News Channel (EXCLUSIVE) — Meghan McCain, the political scion who turned a stint as a blogger and TV show host into a role as a contributor at Fox News Channel, is leaving the network. — McCain is the oldest daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Kim Janssen / Chicago Tribune:

Feds claim ‘thousands of intercepts’ in the case of Ukrainian billionaire, Trump ex-campaign boss — Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash arrives for the start of his trial at the courts of justice in Vienna, Austria on Feb. 21, 2017. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 …

Discussion: Raw Story

Deborah Strange / Gainesville Sun:

GPD receives complaint against ‘hot cop’ — In Facebook posts captured and sent to The Sun, Officer Michael Hamill makes jokes about Jews and recommends “the Hitler way” to deal with people who abuse government resources. — The Gainesville Police Department is reviewing a complaint …

Discussion: New York Magazine, IJR, Mashable, abc7ny.com, Boing Boing, Daily Mail, Associated Press, CBS Miami, CBS Philly and myfox8.com

BuzzFeed:

Friends Are Saying That Anthony Scaramucci Wants To Run For Something — “He was 100% serious about it and asked us if we thought he would be a good president,” said a person familiar with the matter. (Reached for comment, Scaramucci denied that he would run for office.)

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Political Wire and NTK Network