memeorandum: Trump's chief of staff: ‘I do not follow the tweets’ (Noah Bierman/Los Angeles Times)

1:05 PM ET, November 12, 2017

Top Items:

Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:

Everyone Knew Roy Moore Dated High School Girls, Says Former Colleague — And they thought it was “weird,” according to former deputy district attorney. — A former prosecutor who worked in Alabama with GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore in the early 1980s told CNN on Saturday that it was …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, New York Magazine, NBC News, Big League Politics, Shareblue Media, Business Insider and al.com

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Moore backers stand by their man — BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Roy Moore's supporters are shocked and angry. But it's not Moore they're upset with, after four women came forward to say that Moore pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story and Washington Post

Mike Allen / Axios:
GOP fears Roy Moore will cost them a Senate seat

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Democrat: Effort to delay Alabama Senate election like a ‘dictatorship’

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Excess of Democracy, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Trump dominates the GOP base. Party leaders live with the consequences.

Discussion: Politico

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Former Moore colleague: ‘Common knowledge’ that he dated high school girls

Discussion: Axios, Politico, RedState and ABC News

Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:

Trump's chief of staff: ‘I do not follow the tweets’ — Hours after President Trump provoked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Twitter, suggesting he is “short and fat,” the White House chief of staff said he tells aides not to react to Trump's comments on social media.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Politicus USA, Raw Story, Mediaite, IJR, Joe.My.God. and Washington Free Beacon

Mark Landler / New York Times:

After a Disciplined Week in Asia, Trump Unloads on Critics — HANOI, Vietnam — For the last week on the road, President Trump had been measured, disciplined and studiously scripted as he picked his way through the geopolitical minefields of Asia. — Then came the weekend.

Discussion: Refinery29

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Former U.S. intelligence officials: Trump being ‘played’ by Putin — Two top former U.S. intelligence officials said Sunday that President Trump is being “played” by President Vladimir Putin on Russia's interference in the 2016 election and accused him of being susceptible to foreign leaders who stroke his ego.

Discussion: Vox

Josh Delk / The Hill:
Trump: When will ‘haters and fools’ realize relationship with Russia is good

Discussion: Vox, CNN, Axios, Shareblue Media, The Guardian, Washington Post, New York's PIX11, FOX31 Denver, IJR and RedState

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
CIA: Director ‘stands by’ Russian interference assessment

Discussion: Politico, twitchy.com, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, IJR and CNN

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
CIA director stands by intel community assessment Russia meddled in election

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, New York Times, Associated Press, Raw Story, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Dan Merica / CNN:
Trump, Putin issue joint statement on fighting ISIS in Syria

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Politico, FOX31 Denver, The Guardian, Washington Monthly and Joe.My.God.

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Tom Perez: ‘I am not talking about impeachment’ — Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez — said Sunday he's not focusing on impeaching President Trump despite a $10 million ad campaign from a Democratic mega-donor. — “I am not talking about impeachment,” Perez said on ABC's “This Week.”

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Nicki Zink / ABC News:

Democrats can ‘compete and win everywhere,’ DNC chair says — Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said Tuesday's elections show Democrats can “win everywhere.” — “Democrats can compete and win everywhere,” Perez told “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz in an interview Sunday.

Discussion: Politico

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary. Here's How. — WASHINGTON — In the weeks before Donald J. Trump took office, lawyers joining his administration gathered at a law firm near the Capitol, where Donald F. McGahn II, the soon-to-be White House counsel, filled a white board …

Vivian Wang / New York Times:
Trump Nominee for Federal Judgeship Has Never Tried a Case

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Derek Hunter / Townhall.com:

Is There Nothing Republicans Can't Screw Up? — If you'd told me last year that complete Republican control of Congress and the White House would lead to nothing getting done, I would have laughed at you. Of course, last year I would have laughed at the idea of complete Republican control of government …

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Brady guarantees state and local deductions won't be eliminated — Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means committee, was unequivocal when asked on “Fox News Sunday” whether he could guarantee that deductions for state and local taxes would not be eliminated in the final tax plan: “I can,” he said.

Discussion: Politico

Drew Hinshaw / Wall Street Journal:

Polish Nationalist Youth March Draws Thousands in Capital — Crowd of mostly young people carries banners that read ‘Europe Will Be White’ and ‘Clean Blood’ — WARSAW—Tens of thousands of Poles marched across downtown Warsaw on Saturday, in an independence-day procession organized …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Refinery29, New York Magazine and Al Jazeera English

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Bannon Put a Target on His Back. McConnell's Answer: ‘Ha-Ha.’ — WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell, the taciturn Republican leader, watched stoically from across the Capitol two years ago as Speaker John A. Boehner resigned rather than contend with mounting troubles …