memeorandum: Watchdog asks FEC to probe Zinke campaign accounts (Devin Henry/The Hill)

5:30 PM ET, October 30, 2017

Top Items:

Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Told to Surrender — WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates were told to surrender to federal authorities Monday morning, the first charges in a special counsel investigation, according to a person involved in the case.

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Tony Podesta stepping down from lobbying giant amid Mueller probe — Democratic power lobbyist Tony Podesta, founder of the Podesta Group, is stepping down from the firm that bears his name after coming under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Washington Times, Splinter, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, 105.9 FM and AM 630, IJR, National Review and Vox Popoli

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

The Manafort Indictment: Not Much There, and a Boon for Trump — Do not be fooled by the “Conspiracy against the United States” heading. — The Paul Manafort indictment is much ado about nothing . . . except as a vehicle to squeeze Manafort, which is special counsel Robert Mueller's objective …

Discussion: Power Line, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Lawfare and ThinkProgress

SHennessey / Lawfare:

Robert Mueller's Show of Strength: A Quick and Dirty Analysis — The first big takeaway from Monday morning's flurry of charging and plea documents with respect to Paul Manafort Jr., Richard Gates III and George Papadopoulos is this: The president of the United States had as his campaign chairman …

CNN:

Manafort to turn himself in to Mueller, source says — Source: Manafort to turn himself in to Mueller — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Manafort is the first person in Trump's orbit charged in connection with the special counsel investigation — Washington (CNN)Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America, Popehat, Village Voice, KTLA, Hit & Run, KFOR-TV, Shareblue Media, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:

How the Russia Investigation Entangled a Manafort Protégé — Nearly everywhere Paul Manafort went, it seemed, Rick Gates followed, his protégé and junior partner. Election campaigns in Eastern Europe and Africa. Business ventures with a Russian tycoon.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Axios, Mother Jones, AOL, ABC News, New York Magazine, Splinter, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

How bad will Mueller probe get for Trump? The Papadopoulos plea may be a big tell. — While the biggest news of the day is the indictments Robert S. Mueller III has handed down against former Trump aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, today he also released a plea bargain with a heretofore minor figure …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, RedState, National Review, New York Times, Vox, Shareblue Media, Bloomberg, Michael J. Totten's blog and The Root

NBC News:
Ex-Trump Adviser George Papadopoulos Pleads Guilty in Mueller's Russia Probe

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New Yorker, Just Security, AOL, Booman Tribune, NBC News, bizpacreview.com, Shareblue Media and Daily Kos

Derek Robertson / Politico:
Manafort's clothing tab: $1.3 million

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

Wall Street Journal:
Begging Your Pardon, Mr. President

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine and The Atlantic

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Inside the White House as the first Russia indictments came out

Discussion: Political Wire

Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
How Fox News is covering the toughest day of the Trump presidency

Discussion: CNN, Media Matters for America, The Gateway Pundit, Shareblue Media and The Daily Caller

Marcy Wheeler / The Intercept: Monday's Indictment is Very, Very Bad News For Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Washington Post:
Manafort and former business partner asked to surrender in connection with special counsel probe

Discussion: Fox News, JFK Facts, TheBlaze, The Week, Hullabaloo, FiveThirtyEight and ThinkProgress

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump campaign aides charged in Mueller's Russia probe

Discussion: ABC News, RedState, Axios and Shakesville

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
George who? As Papadopoulos pleads guilty, Trump's team seeks distance from ‘this individual’

Discussion: Axios, ABC News, ThinkProgress, CNN, The Guardian, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and IJR

CNN:
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender to FBI: Live updates

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Washington Free Beacon

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:
How to Interpret Robert Mueller's New Charges

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

Bmaz / emptywheel:
Some Thoughts On The Manafort Indictment

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Media Matters for America and Hullabaloo

Dave Lawler / Axios:
How the Russia probe closed in on Paul Manafort

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Politico, ABC News, RedState, Talking Points Memo, KFOR-TV, KTLA, Shakesville, Just Security, Washington Free Beacon and Portland Mercury

Aruna Viswanatha / Wall Street Journal:
Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Charged in Russia Probe

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Adam B. Vary / BuzzFeed:

Actor Anthony Rapp: Kevin Spacey Made A Sexual Advance Toward Me When I Was 14 — The Star Trek: Discovery actor says women speaking out about sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry has compelled him to come forward about the Oscar winner. — Last June, Anthony Rapp settled …

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Netflix Cancels ‘House Of Cards’, Says It's “Deeply Troubled” Over Kevin Spacey Claims — UPDATED with Netflix statement: As allegations of unwanted sexual advances in 1986 by Kevin Spacey against then-14-year-old Anthony Rapp have emerged, Netflix today decided to pull the plug …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite

Daniel Holloway / Variety:
‘House of Cards’ Canceled; Netflix ‘Deeply Troubled’ by Spacey Assault Claim

Discussion: AOL and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:
‘House of Cards’ Ending With Sixth and Final Season at Netflix

Discussion: Page Six

Michael Ausiello / TVLine: House of Cards to End With Season 6

Ira Madison III / The Daily Beast:
How Kevin Spacey's ‘Coming Out’ Grossly Conflates Pedophilia and Homosexuality

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, CBS Los Angeles, Mashable, ABC News, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, VICE, Washington Post, The Resurgent, The Verge and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Scurria / Wall Street Journal:

FBI Is Probing Puerto Rico Power Contract — Deal for $300 million to fix electrical grid after Hurricane Maria was made by the island's public-power monopoly known as Prepa — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a $300 million contract awarded by Puerto Rico's government power company …

Discussion: Whitefish Energy Holdings …, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Axios, Politico, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Puerto Rico moves to cancel contract with Whitefish Energy to repair electric grid

Discussion: HuffPost, The Root, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

The Hill:
FBI investigating Whitefish deal: report

Discussion: RedState

New York Times:

Trump Is Expected to Name Jerome Powell as Next Fed Chairman — WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to name Jerome H. Powell as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Janet L. Yellen, the current chairwoman whose term expires early next year, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, Political Wire and Politico

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill:

Court partially blocks Trump's transgender military ban — DON'T MISS A BRIEF. SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY EMAIL.

Discussion: TheBlaze and The Root

Washington Post:
Federal judge blocks enforcement of Trump's directive banning military service by transgender individuals

Discussion: RedState

Associated Press:
US court bars Trump from reversing transgender troops policy

Discussion: Townhall.com

Hot Air:

Did George Papadopoulos Wear A Wire For Mueller? — I noted in the Papadopoulos post this morning that his plea deal says he's cooperating with Mueller's investigation. Brad Heath of USA Today made a nifty catch, though, about the possible extent of that cooperation.

Discussion: RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:

Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton — WASHINGTON — A professor with close ties to the Russian government told an adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign in April 2016 that Moscow had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Discussion: Reuters, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and Outside the Beltway

David Catanese / US News:

Flake Considers Independent Senate Run — The Centrist Project plans to poll how the Trump critic and Arizona Republican would fare in a three-way race for his seat. — Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is considering running for his seat as an independent and has given his blessing …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

NBC News, MSNBC cut ties with Mark Halperin — Mark Halperin apologizes after sexual harassment claims — NBC News and MSNBC have severed ties with “Game Change” co-author and veteran journalist Mark Halperin, days after multiple women told CNN he sexually harassed or assaulted them during his time at ABC News.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller