memeorandum: Undercover conservative activist rented basement apartment in home of top Democratic operative (Beth Reinhard/Washington Post)

12:15 PM ET, November 29, 2017

Top Items:

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

NBC Fires Matt Lauer Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations — NBC has fired its leading morning news anchor Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations, the network's president for news said in a memo to staff on Wednesday. — “On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague …

Discussion: The Guardian, Media Matters for America, Althouse, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Common Dreams, IJR, Refinery29 and Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »

Emily Smith / Page Six:

Matt Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted staffer during Olympics — Matt Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted a female NBC staffer during the Rio Olympics, sources told Page Six. — The staffer, who has not been named and wishes to remain anonymous, complained to NBC News bosses yesterday, prompting them to move fast and fire him.

Discussion: IJR, Raw Story, Mediaite, twitchy.com, AOL, The Daily Caller and Power Line, more at Mediagazer »

TMZ.com:

Katie Couric in 2012 said Matt Lauer Pinched Me on the Ass a Lot — Katie Couric straight-up said Matt Lauer pinched her on the ass a lot during their 9-year run on the “Today” show. — Katie appeared on Andy Cohen's “Watch What Happens Live” back in 2012, and during a segment …

Discussion: Business Insider, IJR and The Daily Caller

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

NBC fires Matt Lauer after complaint about ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ — Matt Lauer was fired from NBC News on Wednesday after an employee filed a complaint about “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace,” the network announced. — Savannah Guthrie made the announcement at the top of the “Today” show.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Shareblue Media, The Daily Beast, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, Washington Post, twitchy.com, IJR, Deadline, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller and Vox Popoli

Erik Ortiz / NBC News:

NBC News fires ‘Today’ anchor Matt Lauer after sexual misconduct review — Matt Lauer, the anchor of “Today” for two decades, was fired by NBC News after a detailed complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. — “Today” co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb announced …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, CBS Philly and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

CNNMoney:
Read Andy Lack's statement on Matt Lauer's firing

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Shakesville and The Gateway Pundit

Morgan Winsor / ABC News:
NBC News fires Matt Lauer for alleged ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
NBC Fires ‘Today’ Veteran Matt Lauer, Citing ‘Inappropriate Sexual Behavior’

Discussion: Politico, The Ringer, CBS New York, The Daily Caller and Fox News Insider

New York Times:

Trump Once Said the ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape Was Real. Now He's Not Sure. — WASHINGTON — Shortly after his victory last year, Donald J. Trump began revisiting one of his deepest public humiliations: the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape of him making vulgar comments about women.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

New Reports Suggest Trump Might Not Be a Liar at All, But Truly Delusional — The prevailing interpretation of Donald Trump, shared by all his enemies and many of his allies, is that he is a con man. It is a theory that explains both his career in business and politics …

Anna Palmer / Politico:
CONYERS spotted on flight to Detroit …

Discussion: People.com, The Daily Caller and American Banker

Jason Schwartz / Politico:
CNN to boycott White House Christmas party

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Scared Monkeys, IJR, MichelleMalkin.com, The Root, Balloon Juice, RedState, Mediaite, bizpacreview.com, Politicus USA, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters, Business Insider, Axios and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
From ‘Access Hollywood’ to Russia, Trump seeks to paint the rosiest picture

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Week, Mashable, IJR and Vox

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Trump still privately questions Obama's birth certificate: report

Discussion: Vox, RedState, Washington Post, Business Insider, Raw Story and Politicus USA

James Ball / BuzzFeed:

The Far-Right Group Retweeted By Donald Trump Deleted A Bunch Of Pro-Putin Posts From Its Website — Deleted posts included “GO PUTIN! Russian president's popularity on rise in Czech Republic!” and “VIDEO: Putin backs our Brexit”. — The far-right political party Britain First removed …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

BuzzFeed:
Donald Trump Just Retweeted Anti-Muslim Videos Posted By Far-Right Group Britain First

Discussion: Washington Post, Metro.co.uk and Mediaite

New York Times:
Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos

Discussion: Mirror.co.uk, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Raw Story and The Week

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:
President Trump Tweets Out Anti-Muslim ‘Snuff Film’

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Politico and Mashable

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos

Discussion: The Atlantic, myfox8.com, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Mediaite

Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Trump retweets anti-Islam videos from far-right British politician

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, Metro.co.uk, Newsweek, The Guardian, Washington Post, BBC, The Independent, New Republic, WTVR-TV, CNBC and IJR

Willa Frej / HuffPost:
Trump Retweets Inflammatory Islamophobic Videos

Discussion: New Republic, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Shareblue Media and Roll Call

Associated Press:
Trump retweets videos purporting to show violence by Muslims

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Paul Gattis / al.com:

Exclusive: Accuser to Roy Moore, ‘Where does your immorality end?’ — In an impassioned letter released exclusively today to AL.com, Leigh Corfman, who accused Roy Moore of undressing her when she was 14 and he was 32, demanded the Republican Senate candidate stop calling her a liar …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, ABC News, Splinter, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Shareblue Media and Mediaite

Beth Reinhard / Washington Post:

Undercover conservative activist rented basement apartment in home of top Democratic operative — Shortly after announcing online that she was joining the “conservative media movement,” Jaime Phillips checked into an Airbnb apartment for a two-week stay in the basement of the Capitol Hill home …

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, The Week, Slate, Dallas Morning News, WHNT-TV, Business Insider, Media Matters for America, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Weekly Standard and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Conservative media critic: O'Keefe is ‘hurting the conservative movement’

Discussion: ABC News, RedState and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:

Republicans Clear Major Hurdle as Tax Bill Advances — WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans took a significant step toward passing a sweeping tax overhaul on Tuesday, with a key panel giving its approval and several wavering senators indicating they would support the tax package …

Discussion: New Republic and The Week

Erica Werner / Washington Post: No feeling of party loyalty for Johnson, a key Senate holdout for the GOP tax bill

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Tension over adding ‘triggers’ to the tax bill highlights the Republican identity crisis over deficits

Discussion: Bloomberg, Politico, Hays Post, The Week, IJR and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Wall Street Journal:
Senate Tax Revamp Gains Traction

Discussion: Reuters, Business Insider, Bloomberg, The Hill, CNBC, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Vox and The Atlantic

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Trump's Tax Promises Undercut by CEO Plans to Reward Investors — Corporate leaders say tax cut proceeds will go to shareholders — President has said corporate tax cut will boost hiring, wages — Major companies including Cisco Systems Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. say they'll turn …

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Washington Post

Keith Myers / Kansas City Star:

Kansans beg Sen. Jerry Moran: ‘Why take this failed experiment nationwide?’ — By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board — Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran is not just another Republican who has to decide which way to jump on the tax bill. For one thing, his could be the deciding vote.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and The Week

Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times:

As a teen, he savagely beat a classmate. The attack was forgotten, until he went into politics — Rupert Tarsey was elected secretary of the Broward County Republican Party in May, replacing Dolly Rump after she resigned. The two were together at the party's March membership meeting. (Sun Sentinel)

NBC News:

Millennial poll: Strong majority want a third political party — A strong majority of millennials — 71 percent — say the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the American people that a third major party is needed, according to the results of a new NBC News/GenForward poll.

Discussion: Hit & Run and Political Wire

WCHS-TV:

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to run for U.S. Senate — Eyewitness News has learned that former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship plans to run for U.S. Senate. (WCHS/WVAH) — AA — CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS/WVAH) — Eyewitness News has learned that former Massey Energy …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

James Winnefeld / The Atlantic:

No Family Is Safe From This Epidemic — The last photograph of my son Jonathan was taken at the end of a new-student barbecue on the campus green at the University of Denver. It was one of those bittersweet transitional moments. We were feeling the combination of apprehension and optimism …

Manu Raju / CNN:

Donald Trump Jr. to talk to House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Donald Trump Jr. has agreed to meet with the House Intelligence Committee as soon as next week, giving lawmakers their first opportunity to question President Donald Trump's eldest son …

Discussion: IJR

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:

North Korea's latest missile launch appears to put U.S. capital in range — TOKYO — North Korea claimed the entire United States mainland was within reach after “successfully” testing a new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called the Hwasong-15, and said could carry a “super large heavy warhead.”