memeorandum: ‘Over By Thanksgiving’: White House Lawyer Ty Cobb Was Disastrously Wrong (Joel B. Pollak/Breitbart)

5:15 PM ET, December 1, 2017

Top Items:

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

Kushner Is Said to Have Ordered Flynn to Contact Russia — Now that the retired general has pleaded guilty, the president's son-in-law could be one of the next dominoes to fall. — Former national security adviser Michael Flynn's guilty plea Friday for lying to the FBI is alarming news for Donald Trump.

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, Vox, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Raw Story, New York Magazine, BloombergQuint, Coffee House, Common Dreams, Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos, The Guardian, AOL, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and twitchy.com

Brian Ross / ABC News:

Flynn has promised special counsel ‘full cooperation’ in Russia probe: Source — Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation” in the special counsel's Russia investigation and, according to a confidant, is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians …

New York Times:

Flynn to Plead Guilty to Lying to the F.B.I. — WASHINGTON — President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, will plead guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. about a conversation with the Russian ambassador last December. — The plea was the latest indication …

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

What the Flynn Plea Means — There's less to the news than meets the eye. — Former Trump-administration national-security adviser Michael Flynn is expected to plead guilty today to lying to the FBI regarding his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Discussion: Vox, Power Line, Indianapolis Star, The Last Refuge, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Nation, New York Times, New York Magazine, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

‘Over By Thanksgiving’: White House Lawyer Ty Cobb Was Disastrously Wrong — Ty Cobb, the Beltway lawyer brought to the White House to handle the Russia investigation, predicted in August that Special Counsel Robert Mueller would be done with his work by Thanksgiving: “I'd be embarrassed …

Discussion: Raw Story

BuzzFeed:

It Was Kushner Who Told Flynn To Make Calls About Israel UN Vote, Source Says — The president's son-in-law prompted the Dec. 22 call to Russia's ambassador that is the focus of Flynn's guilty plea Friday. — Reporting From Washington, DC — WASHINGTON - Jared Kushner …

Discussion: CNBC, Common Dreams and Talking Points Memo

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump White House caught off guard by Flynn plea — No one in the White House was prepared. — Friday began with the now-routine flurry of tweets from President Donald Trump — two about the acquittal of an undocumented immigrant accused of a 2015 killing in San Francisco, one about his tax legislation.

Discussion: bizpacreview.com and The Daily Beast

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

How the Flynn Charges Box In Trump — Keeping the focus on advisers' Russia contacts helps Mueller keep his job. — The news that Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to Russia-related offenses is striking, for several reasons. The lies he told the FBI were about asking the Russian ambassador …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, BloombergQuint, Mashable, Vox and ThinkProgress

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Suspected for Weeks That Mike Flynn Would Flip … On Friday morning, President Donald Trump learned that his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had been charged with lying to the FBI by reportedly seeing news reports. — It was a shock but not necessarily a surprise.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Politicus USA and ABC News

The Daily Beast:

‘Very Senior’ Trump Official Authorized Flynn's Russia Outreach … Everything President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed last December with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. — everything that led to his dramatic guilty plea and cooperation agreement Friday …

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Times, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Raw Story, NBC News, Washington Post, Roll Call, The Mahablog and Daily Kos

Associated Press:

The Latest: WH cancels Trump media event after Flynn plea — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the investigations into Trump campaign associates and Russian election interference (all times local): — The White House has cancelled a scheduled opportunity for reporters to question President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, AOL and Axios

David French / National Review:
The Michael Flynn Charge: Monstrous Injustice or Prelude to Bigger Things?

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, Washington Monthly, Patterico's Pontifications, Mashable and IJR

Sarah Westwood / Washington Examiner: Trump lawyer: ‘Nothing’ in Michael Flynn's guilty plea implicates Trump or White House

CNBC:
Stocks fall sharply on report that Michael Flynn was directed by Trump to talk to Russians

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Josh Delk / The Hill:
Flynn to testify Trump ‘directed him to make contact with the Russians’: report

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Politico, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, bizpacreview.com, The Week, Politicus USA, Shareblue Media and Axios

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn charged with making false statement to the FBI

Discussion: New Republic, ABC News, Media Matters for America, ThinkProgress, Media Matters for America, CNBC and The Atlantic

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
Flynn charged with one count of making false statement

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, myfox8.com, New Republic, WTVR-TV, Common Dreams, IJR, KTLA, New York's PIX11, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hit & Run

New York Times:
Trump Pressed Top Republicans to End Senate Russia Inquiry

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, IJR, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Shakesville, ABC News and Balloon Juice

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Former Prosecutors Break Down What Mike Flynn's Plea Deal Really Means

Discussion: The Guardian

Matt Egan / CNNMoney:
Wall Street rocked by Michael Flynn, tax debate

Discussion: CNN and myfox8.com

Julia Manchester / The Hill: Judiciary Dem: ‘More than enough evidence’ to probe Trump for obstruction of justice

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post: Michael Flynn's guilty plea: A comprehensive timeline

CNBC:
Michael Flynn, Trump's ex-national security adviser, is expected to plead guilty Friday to lying to the FBI

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Vox and RedState

Pierre Thomas / ABC News:
Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation tops $5 million

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState, IJR and Axios

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Lawmaker behind secret $84K sexual harassment settlement unmasked — Rep. Blake Farenthold used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by his former spokesman — the only known sitting member of Congress to have used a little-known congressional account to pay an accuser …

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

GOP eyes post-tax-cut changes to welfare, Medicare and Social Security — High-ranking Republicans are hinting that, after their tax overhaul, the party intends to look at cutting spending on welfare, entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and other parts of the social safety net.

Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Leaders Claim They've Sewn Up 50 Votes For Tax Bill

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Slate

Bloomberg:
Senate GOP Working to Address Deficit Concerns (8:14 a.m.)

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, CNN, Axios, BloombergQuint and Joe.My.God.

Sarah Ferris / Politico:
Tax bill could trigger historic spending cuts

Discussion: Axios, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Shakesville, Splinter, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Flake to back tax bill, giving GOP 50 votes

Discussion: RedState, Fox News and IJR

New York Times:
Republicans Have Enough Votes to Pass Tax Bill

Discussion: RedState, Media Matters for America, New York Magazine and CBS New York

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Top GOP senators say they have the votes to pass tax bill

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Rafael Bernal / The Hill:
DACA advocates see efforts gaining steam in the House

Discussion: Politico, IJR and CNN

New York Times:

Former N.S.A. Employee Pleads Guilty to Taking Classified Information — BALTIMORE — A former National Security Agency employee admitted on Friday that he had illegally taken from the agency classified documents believed to have subsequently been stolen from his home computer by hackers working for Russian intelligence.

Discussion: The Week

Emily Smith / Page Six:

The ‘Today’ show was a ‘total boys’ club' during Lauer's tenure — Top NBC News execs received complaints about Matt Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct long before he was fired for harassment — but chose to protect him, current and former staffers told The Post on Thursday.

Discussion: Vox, CNN, Washington Post, TVNewser, USA Today, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller and Common Dreams, more at Mediagazer »

Claire Spellberg / Decider:
Meredith Vieira Found A “Huge Bag Of Sex Toys” In Matt Lauer's Office

Discussion: Mediaite, TMZ.com and The Daily Caller

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Why the Alabama Senate race is shifting in Roy Moore's favor — After all that has happened, the Alabama Senate race appears to be reverting to a fundamental political truth: A state that is one of the most Republican in the nation is likely to vote Republican.

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
GOP donors in New York sour on party's tax plan

Discussion: New York Magazine

Sarah Rumpf / RedState:

Have We Been Lied to About the Kate Steinle Case? — The illegal immigrant who killed Kate Steinle in 2015 was found not guilty of her murder by a San Francisco jury today. Outrageous, right? — Before the killing, Garcia Zarate had been released from a San Francisco jail despite a standing federal deportation order.

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump to recognize Jerusalem the capital of Israel on Wednesday — President Trump is giving a speech Wednesday recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to two sources with direct knowledge. — A White House spokesman refused to confirm the report: “The President has always said it is a matter of when, not if.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Times