memeorandum: Mueller's First Indictments Send a Message to Trump (Peter Baker/New York Times)

10:40 AM ET, October 31, 2017

Top Items:

Upstairs at home, with the TV on, Trump fumes over Russia indictments — President Trump woke before dawn on Monday and burrowed in at the White House residence to wait for the Russia bombshell he knew was coming. — Separated from most of his West Wing staff — who fretted …

The Daily Beast:

Steve Bannon Tells Trump To Bring In New Lawyers as He Looks For Ways to Kneecap Mueller … Steve Bannon spoke on the phone with his old boss, Donald Trump, on Monday and offered a message: get yourself some new lawyers. — The former White House chief strategist has grown increasingly concerned …

Discussion: Raw Story

Ezra Klein / Vox:

It sure looks like there was collusion between the Trump operation and Russia — Look at the whole story and tell me this isn't suspicious. — Two things are true about the indictments unsealed by special counsel Bob Mueller Monday: — They don't provide a “smoking gun” …

Discussion: The Intercept, New York Times, The Root, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, Mashable, IJR, Media Matters for America, The Guardian, The Daily Signal, Mediaite, Associated Press, National Review, NBC News, ThinkProgress and New York's PIX11

BuzzFeed:

Washington's Legions Of Lobbyists See Danger In Special Counsel's Indictment Of Manafort — Violations of the federal law that requires US citizens that represent foreign governments to register have long gone unprosecuted. Is that about to change? — Reporting From Washington, DC

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Townhall.com, Politico, Breitbart, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, 105.9 FM and AM 630, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones and Mediaite

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Trump Campaign Got Early Word Russia Had Democrats' Emails — WASHINGTON — The indictment of a 30-year-old campaign aide — so green that he listed Model United Nations in his qualifications — shifted the narrative on Monday of the Trump campaign's interactions with Russia …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Weekly Standard, RedState, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic and The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:

Trump fumes as Mueller probe enters new phase with charges — WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Muller's charges Monday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and two other aides marked a new phase in his sprawling investigation into Russia and President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Marcy Wheeler / The Intercept:

Monday's Indictment is Very, Very Bad News For Attorney General Jeff Sessions — The biggest news of Mueller Monday — the roll out of a money laundering indictment against Trump's former campaign adviser, Paul Manafort and campaign aide Rick Gates, and the unsealing of a false statements plea deal …

Discussion: Daily Kos

John Cassidy / New Yorker:

Robert Mueller Is Just Beginning to Put the Pressure On — The White House talking points must have gone out early on Monday morning. Because, before the charges filed against Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, and Rick Gates, Manafort's longtime deputy, had been unsealed …

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media and New York Times

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Special counsel's office: Papadopoulos ‘small part’ of ‘large scale investigation’ — Washington (CNN)Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos' guilty plea Monday appears to hint toward even more threads of the ongoing Russia collusion investigation than what the court revealed.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Raw Story, Business Insider, Just Security, Politico and Axios

Bloomberg:

Mueller Raises Pressure on Trump With Papadopoulos-Russia Link — Using junior aide as cooperating witness, he's after others — Court filing suggests campaign aides aware of Russian attempts — The first charges unsealed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of the presidential election suggest …

Discussion: Politicus USA and NBC News

New York Times:

Is the White House Scared Yet? — You know it's a bad day for the White House when the president's former campaign chairman is charged with money laundering, tax fraud, making false statements and failing to register as a foreign agent — and that is only the second most damaging story of the morning.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Guardian, Politico, Just Security, The Week, NPR, Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, CNN, Raw Story and ThinkProgress

NBC News:
Sources: Podesta Group, Mercury Are Companies ‘A’ and ‘B’ in Indictment

Discussion: Political Wire, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, IJR, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Splinter and Mediaite

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Plot Against America — On Monday morning, after America learned …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Slate, The Guardian, Media Matters for America, ABC News, CBS Miami, The Atlantic, miamiherald, Business Insider, 105.9 FM and AM 630, CNN, RedState, ThinkProgress, Townhall.com and Fox News

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Both Campaigns Sought Russian Dirt. Clinton's Way Was Legal.

Discussion: PolitiFact, CNN, Booman Tribune, Lawfare and Politico

Sam Thielman / Talking Points Memo: First Charges In Mueller's Russia Probe Stem From Trump Admin's Earliest Days

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
The Manafort Indictment: Not Much There, and a Boon for Trump

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, The Federalist, bizpacreview.com, Popehat, RedState, New York Times, Lawfare, Power Line, Althouse, JustOneMinute and Washington Post

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Republican Judiciary chairman: Trump should let Mueller do his job

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Week and Politicus USA

J.J. Gallagher / ABC News:
Trump ex-adviser ‘probably’ discussed Russia with staffer charged in Mueller probe

Discussion: Associated Press

Lawfare:
Robert Mueller's Show of Strength: A Quick and Dirty Analysis

CNN:
Trump ‘seething’ as Mueller probe reaches former aides

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Mueller's First Indictments Send a Message to Trump

Discussion: USA Today, Weekly Standard, National Review, Breitbart and Fast Company

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
Pat Robertson Says Trump Should Issue ‘Blanket Pardon’ for Indictments: 'He's Got to Shut This Down'

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story and Right Wing Watch

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, ABC News and Business Insider

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
How bad will Mueller probe get for Trump? The Papadopoulos plea may be a big tell.

Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:
'Putin's Niece' Catfished Trump Aide, Offered Kremlin Meeting

Discussion: emptywheel, Chicago Reader and Balloon Juice

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:
Paul Manafort's Ambition Set the Stage for His Downfall

Discussion: Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Kelly wants investigation into allegations surrounding Clinton — In a Fox News interview, John Kelly said he thought an investigation was needed into funding from Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC for the research behind the Trump/Russia dossier, and Clinton's involvement in the Uranium One deal.

Discussion: Vanity Fair and ABC News

Maggie Astor / New York Times:
John Kelly Pins Civil War on ‘Lack of Ability to Compromise’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Splinter

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Ta-Nehisi Coates Schools John Kelly On History Of Civil War And ‘Compromise’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Root and Raw Story

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Kelly defends Confederate statues: 'History's history'

Discussion: Politico

Nancy Scola / Politico:

Google, Facebook will testify to lawmakers they've splashed with cash — When Google and Facebook testify before Congress on Russian election interference this week, they'll face committees filled with lawmakers who have collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations from the companies.

Discussion: Axios

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
Facebook estimates 126 million people were served content from Russia-linked pages

Discussion: CNN, CBS Miami, The Week, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:
Twitter will tell Congress that Russia's election meddling was worse than we first thought

Discussion: Reuters and IJR

New York Times:
Russian Influence Reached 126 Million Through Facebook Alone

Discussion: Mother Jones, BuzzFeed, Engadget, The Verge and Recode, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Russian content on Facebook may have reached 126 million users — far more than first disclosed, company testimony says

Discussion: Mother Jones

Maureen Callahan / New York Post:

Kevin Spacey is another ‘everyone knew’ — who else does Hollywood know about? — MORE FROM: … As with Harvey Weinstein, it seems plenty in Hollywood knew all about Kevin Spacey. — And even though they kept their mouths shut — ensuring nothing but more entitlement, more boldness …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, IJR, TMZ.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Netflix Cancels ‘House Of Cards’, Says It's “Deeply Troubled” Over Kevin Spacey Claims

Discussion: East Bay Times, Breitbart, Variety, RedState, Engadget, The Root, VICE, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, Shot in the Dark, TVLine, Instapundit, WRIC-TV, Washington Free Beacon and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Preet Bharara Reads Bob Mueller's Tea Leaves — Subscribe to Off Message on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe via Stitcher here. — NEW YORK—Preet Bharara won't say whether he was investigating President Donald Trump when he was fired in March or whether he's seen anything that's informed …

Discussion: The Week

Alice Paul Tapper / New York Times:

I'm 10. And I Want Girls to Raise Their Hands. — Last year on a fourth-grade field trip, I noticed that all the boys stood in the front and raised their hands while most of the girls politely stayed in the back and were quiet. It made me upset. — On the car ride home I told my mom about what happened.