memeorandum: Liz Smith, Longtime Queen of Tabloid Gossip Columns, Dies at 94 (Robert D. McFadden/New York Times)

5:35 AM ET, November 13, 2017

Top Items:

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Breitbart aims to discredit Roy Moore's accusers — Steve Bannon has sent two of Breitbart News' top reporters, Matt Boyle and Aaron Klein, to Alabama. Their mission: to discredit the Washington Post's reporting on Roy Moore's alleged sexual misconduct with teenagers.

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Aaron Klein / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE - Mother of Roy Moore Accuser: Washington Post Reporters Convinced My Daughter to Go Public — Birmingham, ALABAMA — The mother of Leigh Corfman, who says that Alabama Senatorial Candidate Roy Moore tried to engage in a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Mediaite, New York Times, WTVR-TV, RedState, MTmofo, Refinery29, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Big League Politics, ThinkProgress, Business Insider and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:

Yes. It's an Entire Culture of Sanctioned Sexual Abuse. — Yesterday I wrote that Roy Moore's behavior was in keeping with hardcore conservative evangelical culture of sanctioned patriarchal sexual abuse. I have also stated that the release of the Access Hollywood tape almost certainly …

Discussion: The Hill and Mother Jones

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Exclusive — Alabama Polls: Judge Roy Moore Maintains Double Digit Lead Over Democrat Doug Jones …

Discussion: Change Research, Power Line, The Last Tradition, al.com, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Aaron Klein / Breitbart:
EXCLUSIVE - Mother of Roy Moore Accuser Contradicts Key Detail of Daughter's Sexual Misconduct Story

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, The Hill, RedState, Hullabaloo, New York Times, Power Line, The Last Tradition, Mediaite, NBC News, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America and The Gateway Pundit

Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:
Everyone Knew Roy Moore Dated High School Girls, Says Former Colleague

Discussion: American Thinker, Townhall.com, AOL, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Shareblue Media, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, New York Magazine and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Frances Robles / New York Times:

The Lineman Got $63 an Hour. The Utility Was Billed $319 an Hour. — SAN JUAN — The small energy outfit from Montana that won a $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico's tattered power grid had few employees of its own, so it did what the Puerto Rican authorities could have done: It turned to Florida for workers.

Discussion: Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Whitefish draws scrutiny over money charged to Puerto Rico: report — The Montana energy company that was awarded a contract to repair Puerto Rico's power grid in the wake of Hurricane Maria is facing scrutiny over the amount of money it has charged the island's state-run utility, according to a report from The New York Times.

Discussion: RedState

New York Times:

Security Breach and Spilled Secrets Have Shaken the N.S.A. to Its Core — A serial leak of the agency's cyberweapons has damaged morale, slowed intelligence operations and resulted in hacking attacks on businesses and civilians worldwide. — WASHINGTON — Jake Williams awoke last April in an Orlando …

more at Techmeme »

Jay Rosen / PressThink:

Pricing access to the Trump White House: the strange case of the Times social media policy — Follow these events with me. Then I will share my view of what is going on here. — On Sep. 17, Glenn Thrush, White House reporter for the New York Times, posted this on Twitter:

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Rebecca Traister / thecut:

We Are All Implicated in the Post-Weinstein Reckoning … The anger window is open. For decades, centuries, it was closed: Something bad happened to you, you shoved it down, you maybe told someone but probably didn't get much satisfaction — emotional or practical — from the confession.

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Liz Smith, Longtime Queen of Tabloid Gossip Columns, Dies at 94 — Liz Smith, the longtime queen of New York's tabloid gossip columns, who for more than three decades chronicled little triumphs and trespasses in the soap-opera lives of the rich, the famous and the merely beautiful, died on Sunday at her home in Manhattan.

Discussion: CBS New York, NPR, Towleroad, NBC News, Joe.My.God., Jezebel and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

News photographer who protested White House restrictions on access gets revenge with revealing shot of Trump — MANILA — The fight over access between reporters and any White House can sometimes seem more like an exercise in First Amendment theory than practical reality …

Discussion: Reuters, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com and RT, more at Mediagazer »

Mike Memoli / NBC News:

Biden Book Looks Back at the Path He Didn't Take (But Still Could) — In 2015, days after a New York Times column kicked into overdrive speculation about a Joe Biden presidential run, an aide delivered to the vice president a fresh draft of a speech announcing his intention to run.

Tom Vanden Brook / USA Today:

Army lifts ban on waivers for recruits with history of some mental health issues — WASHINGTON - People with a history of “self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Trump clarifies Putin comments: 'I'm with our agencies' on election meddling … President Trump clarified his comments Sunday on whether he believes Russia meddled in the U.S. 2016 presidential election, saying, “I believe in our intel agencies.” — Trump had told reporters on Air Force …

Discussion: The Atlantic