Top Items:
Lorraine Woellert / Politico:
Consumer bureau's top lawyer sides with Trump in leadership clash — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's top lawyer sided with the Justice Department over President Donald Trump's appointment of Mick Mulvaney to lead the CFPB as a leadership battle over the controversial watchdog agency escalated.
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump wants to destroy Elizabeth Warren's brainchild. In a new interview, Warren hits back. — THE MORNING PLUM: — President Trump's perpetual scamming of his working- and middle-class voters takes a new turn Monday, amid a war that has erupted over the fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Federalist and CNN
Renae Merle / Washington Post:
Leandra English, the woman at the center of a White House battle for control of the CFPB, files lawsuit against Trump pick to lead watchdog agency — The tug-of-war over leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau intensified Sunday as a high-ranking agency official sued …
Discussion:
RedState, Reuters, Lawfare, American Banker, Balloon Juice, IJR, bizpacreview.com, ABC News and NBC News
David Dayen / The Intercept:
White House Memo Justifying CFPB Takeover Was Written by Payday Lender Attorney — The lawyer who wrote the Office of Legal Counsel memo supporting the Trump administration's viewpoint that the president can appoint Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represented …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Notice & Comment and Balkinization
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Al Franken on Whether He's Ever Groped a Woman's Butt: 'I Can't Say I Haven't' Done That' — Sen. Al Franken, who is currently plagued by a number of sexual misconduct accusations, received a tough grilling in a 30-minute interview with WCCO on whether he has ever grabbed a woman's backside.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys and Washington Free Beacon
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Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
Al Franken on whether he will face more groping allegations: 'I don't know. I can't say.'
Al Franken on whether he will face more groping allegations: 'I don't know. I can't say.'
Discussion:
NPR
Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:
“She Didn't Want This Come Hell or High Water”: Inside Melania Trump's Secretive East Wing — Understanding the most enigmatic First Lady—and unusual marriage—in modern political history. — I. “NOT MY THING” — Back in 2014, when Donald Trump was considering yet again a run for president …
Discussion:
Politico, Politicus USA, Political Wire, AOL and Raw Story
New York Times:
In Tax Debate, Gift to Religious Right Could Be Bargaining Chip — WASHINGTON — For years, a coalition of well-funded groups on the religious right have waged an uphill battle to repeal a 1954 law that bans churches and other nonprofit groups from engaging in political activity.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
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Damian Paletta / Washington Post:
GOP leaders in advanced talks to change tax plan in bid to win over holdouts
GOP leaders in advanced talks to change tax plan in bid to win over holdouts
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Politico and Washington Monthly
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds — The Senate Republican tax plan gives substantial tax cuts and benefits to Americans earning more than $100,000 a year, while the nation's poorest would be worse off, according to a report released Sunday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
David Usborne / Esquire:
THE LAST DETAIL — When Donald Trump won the presidency, many Americans hoped John McCain would live up to his maverick image and resist his agenda. But after the senator was diagnosed with brain cancer in July, his contrarian resolve revealed itself in unexpected ways that may shape his legacy—and our future.
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Caller, AOL, Mediaite and Washington Times
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Bharara compares Trump to Jan Brady after Russia tweet — For U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara invoked the classic sitcom “The Brady Bunch” after President Trump lamented coverage of the Russia investigation, comparing Trump's “Russia, Russia, Russia” comment to Jan Brady's famous “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” line.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
The case for Roy Moore — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — Whence goeth that Yellow Dog? — Once upon a time, even a Yellow Dog could get elected in places like Alabama — so long as he was a Democrat. — That dog done run off and nowadays a Democrat can't hardly win, even when running against an accused pedophile.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Roy Moore Is Deplorable, and Donald Trump Condoning His Sins Is Unforgivable
Roy Moore Is Deplorable, and Donald Trump Condoning His Sins Is Unforgivable
Discussion:
Raw Story
Julia Marsh / New York Post:
CBS boss told me to sleep with coworkers to get ahead: suit — It's another black eye for Black Rock. — A week after CBS host Charlie Rose was outed as an alleged serial sex harasser, one of the network's former producers says she was told by a boss that she would have to sleep with coworkers to get anywhere in the company.
Discussion:
bizpacreview.com
John Hilliard / BostonGlobe.com:
Tufts postpones Scaramucci event after he threatens to sue student, paper — Tufts University postponed a Monday event featuring Anthony Scaramucci, a former Trump White House spokesman, after he threatened to sue a student and the school newspaper for defamation following the publication of an op-ed column criticizing him.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Tufts Daily and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump White House ethics lawyer exits — The ranks of former White House ethics lawyers available to comment on the ongoing controversies engulfing President Donald Trump's administration has just grown by one — an attorney who's certain to offer a much different perspective …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Katie J.M. Baker / BuzzFeed:
More Than 180 Women Have Reported Sexual Assaults at Massage Envy — Across the US, people go to Massage Envy spas in search of a soothing, affordable escape. More than 180 people say what they got instead was sexual assault. But the billion-dollar company says that's not its problem to solve.
Discussion:
NBC News, CBS Philly and AOL
Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Bernie makes moves pointing to 2020 run — Bernie Sanders is taking steps to address longstanding political shortcomings that were exposed in 2016, ahead of another possible presidential bid in 2020. — From forging closer ties to the labor movement to shoring up his once-flimsy foreign policy credentials …
Discussion:
RedState, Political Wire and twitchy.com
Meredith Corporation MediaRoom:
Meredith Corporation To Acquire Time Inc. To Create Premier Media And Marketing Company Serving Nearly 200 Million American Consumers — Meredith Adds Leading Media Brands to Already Strong Portfolio of National and Local Media Properties, Creating Media Powerhouse With $4.8 Billion in Revenues …
Discussion:
New York Times, Mashable, NPR, The Guardian and Associated Press
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Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn's role in Middle Eastern nuclear project could compound legal issues — In June 2015, retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn took a little-noticed trip to Egypt and Israel, paid for by a U.S. company he was advising. The company hoped to build more than two dozen nuclear plants …
Discussion:
Arutz Sheva