Top Items:
New York Times:
Top Russian Official Tried to Broker ‘Backdoor’ Meeting Between Trump and Putin — WASHINGTON — A senior Russian official who claimed to be acting at the behest of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried in May 2016 to arrange a meeting between Mr. Putin and Donald J. Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
RELATED:
NBC News:
Kushner failed to disclose outreach from Putin ally to Trump campaign — WASHINGTON — President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, failed to disclose what lawmakers called a “Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite” involving a banker who has been accused of links …
CNN:
Kushner testified he did not recall any campaign WikiLeaks contact — Washington (CNN)White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told congressional Russia investigators that he did not communicate with WikiLeaks and did not recall anyone on the Trump campaign who had, a source with knowledge of his testimony told CNN.
Discussion:
KTLA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Nation and Just Security
Jack Shafer / Politico:
Week 26: Donald Jr. and WikiLeaks Talk Dirty — If we've learned anything from months of scandal reporting, the Russians set their sights on two types of people wandering the halls of Trump Tower. There were the self-promoters like Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort who they knew would cooperate based on direct or potential payouts.
Discussion:
CBS News and Washington Post
CNN:
Kushner attorney fires back at Senate Judiciary Committee
Kushner attorney fires back at Senate Judiciary Committee
Discussion:
emptywheel, KTLA and Mother Jones
Peter Baker / New York Times:
In Mocking Franken Over Claims of Sexual Misconduct, Trump Joins a Debate He Started — WASHINGTON — Last fall, Donald J. Trump inadvertently touched off a national conversation about sexual harassment when a recording of him boasting about groping women was made public at the same …
Discussion:
RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pakistan Today, Washington Post, CNBC, Deadline and FOX31 Denver
RELATED:
Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Clinton blasts Trump and Moore over sexual misconduct allegations — Hillary Clinton slammed President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Friday over their alleged sexual misconduct, criticizing them for not “accepting responsibility” and “apologizing” for their reported transgressions as Sen. Al Franken did.
Discussion:
YouTube, Axios, Political Wire, TheBlaze, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, Shareblue Media and The Hill
Mike Cason / al.com:
Gov. Kay Ivey to vote for Roy Moore in U.S. Senate race
Gov. Kay Ivey to vote for Roy Moore in U.S. Senate race
Discussion:
New York Magazine and NPR
New York Times:
Republican Governors' 2018 Dilemma: What to Do About Trump? — AUSTIN, Tex. — For nearly a decade, meetings of the Republican Governors Association were buoyant, even giddy, affairs, as the party — lifted by enormous political donations and a backlash against the Obama administration …
Timothy Cama / The Hill:
GOP chairman breaks with Trump on elephant trophy imports — The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed President Trump Friday for allowing imports of hunted elephant trophies from Zimbabwe. — Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), who has prioritized fighting wildlife crime …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon
RELATED:
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Trump halts Interior's elephant trophy decision
Trump halts Interior's elephant trophy decision
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Vox
New York Times:
How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York's Subways — Disruptions and delays have roiled the system this year. But the crisis was long in the making, fueled by a litany of errors, a Times investigation shows. — After a drumbeat of transit disasters this year …
RELATED:
Daniel Prendergast / New York Post:
Subway rider: I asked manspreader to stop, so he punched me in the face
Subway rider: I asked manspreader to stop, so he punched me in the face
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and TheBlaze
Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
Greg Gianforte misled police after assault of Guardian journalist, report reveals … US congressman Greg Gianforte misled police after his assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in May, falsely stating that Jacobs had initiated physical contact and that the “liberal media …
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Post and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:
Sean Spicer Is Resetting His Post-White House Career Strategy — The former press secretary didn't land a lucrative TV news pundit job. Now both Spicer and Washington super lawyer/agent Bob Barnett are distancing themselves from each other. — At first, Sean Spicer's exit …
The Wrap:
‘Girls’ Writer Murray Miller Accused of Raping Underage Actress Aurora Perrineau (Exclusive) — “Passengers” star says she woke up in 2012 with Murray “on top of me having sexual intercourse with me” — Actress Aurora Perrineau has gone to police to accuse “Girls” writer …
Discussion:
bizpacreview.com, RedState, twitchy.com, Mashable, IndieWire, The Daily Caller and The Root
Kandace Redd / WXIA-TV:
Fire dept. refuses to remove confederate flag so county axes funding — TROY, N.C. - There's a Confederate flag battle going on in a small town in Montgomery County. — TROY, N.C. - There's a Confederate flag battle going on in a small town in Montgomery County.
Discussion:
The Courier, The Root and Raw Story
Kimberly Kindy / Washington Post:
How a conservative group dealt with a fondling charge against a rising GOP star — On a fall evening two years ago, donors gathered during a conference at a Ritz-Carlton hotel near Washington to raise funds for a 31-year-old candidate for the Ohio legislature who was a rising star in evangelical politics.
Discussion:
LGBTQ Nation, Raw Story, BuzzFeed and Joe.My.God.
Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Rep. Wilson's former intern caught on Grindr using racist epithets — At a time of growing concern about racism in gay social media apps, a former campaign intern for Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) was recently caught using racist epithets on Grindr while on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Trump still loves polls — The president often decries surveys showing him with slumping support as fake, but advisers say he can't stop himself from obsessively keeping track. — As a TV host, Donald Trump loved ratings. As president, he loves polls—as long as they show him on the upswing.
Ryan Collingwood / Spokesman.com:
Navy says it will hold Whidbey Island aircrew accountable for tracing giant phallus over Okanogan County — ryanc@spokesman.com — (509) 598-0014 — Look! Up in the sky! — It's a bird. — It's a plane. — No, it's a phallic skydrawing, and a military aircraft is the culprit.
RELATED:
Tegna / KREM-TV:
Graphic: Navy admits to being involved in obscene skydrawings spotted in Okanogan Co.
Graphic: Navy admits to being involved in obscene skydrawings spotted in Okanogan Co.
Discussion:
Duffel Blog, The Guardian, FOX59, bizpacreview.com, RedState, Fox News, East Bay Times, IJR, TheBlaze, Mashable, Mediaite, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, KTLA, FOX31 Denver, CBS Pittsburgh and The Daily Caller
Shoshana Weissmann / Wall Street Journal:
Al Franken Doesn't Get the Joke — The Senate grills a judicial nominee, Don Willett, about his corny tweets. — Washington — Democratic senators didn't have many questions for Justice Don Willett about his decisions and dissents as a member of the Texas Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Townhall.com
RELATED:
Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Trump releases updated short list of potential Supreme Court nominees
Trump releases updated short list of potential Supreme Court nominees
Discussion:
Axios