memeorandum: Trump Finds Loopholes in Chief of Staff's New Regime (Michael C. Bender/Wall Street Journal)

3:30 PM ET, December 3, 2017

Top Items:

Charles Kaiser / The Guardian:

Was Michael Flynn asked to wear a wire in Mueller hunt for evidence on Russia? — Plea agreement includes clause showing Flynn consented to participate in 'covert law enforcement activities" if required — The least-noticed sentence in Michael Flynn's plea agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller …

Kailani Koenig / NBC News:

Feinstein: Senate Russia probe building obstruction case against Trump — WASHINGTON — A Senate investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election has revealed a possible obstruction of justice case against President Donald Trump, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on “Meet The Press” Sunday.

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media, NBC News and AOL

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump lawyer's backstory for a stunning tweet — John Dowd, President Trump's personal lawyer, tells me that a Trump tweet that caused an eruption yesterday was “my mistake,” made in a tweet he had drafted and passed to White House social media director Dan Scavino.

Discussion: IJR and The Daily Caller

CNN:
Louis: It's time to start talking about impeachment

Discussion: The Atlantic, KTLA and Bloomberg

Daniel Dale / Toronto Star: Oops: Trump's latest tweet about Michael Flynn could strengthen Mueller's case against president, experts say

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Did Trump's tweet about Michael Flynn's guilty plea just admit something it shouldn't have?

Discussion: ABC News, The Atlantic, CNBC, AOL, Hullabaloo, Splinter, IJR, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, The Week, The Hill, Daily Kos, Raw Story, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Business Insider, Vox and Mother Jones

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Critics react to Trump's tweet on firing Flynn

Discussion: Politico, AOL, The Hill, KTLA, Raw Story, Washington Times, Towleroad, RedState, The Guardian, Business Insider, CBS New York and The Week

Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Finds Loopholes in Chief of Staff's New Regime — Kelly establishes control, but the president's ‘workarounds’ show its limits — WASHINGTON—Chief of Staff John Kelly over the past five months has imposed discipline and rigorous protocols on a freewheeling White House.

Discussion: Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Trump has given staffers assignments and told them not to tell Kelly: report — President Trump has reportedly given staffers direct assignments by calling them secretly to the residence in the evenings, in an attempt to circumvent chief of staff John Kelly

Discussion: RedState and Raw Story

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties — WASHINGTON — A conservative operative trumpeting his close ties to the National Rifle Association and Russia told a Trump campaign adviser last year that he could arrange a back-channel meeting between Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Joe.My.God.

CBS News:

CBS News poll: Alabama Republicans call allegations against Roy Moore false — A new CBS News poll finds 71 percent of Alabama Republicans say the allegations against Roy Moore are false, and those who believe this also overwhelmingly believe Democrats and the media are behind those allegations.

Discussion: New York Times, The Crosstab, Washington Monthly, Politico, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, Mediaite and Washington Post

Alan M. Dershowitz / The Hill:

Why did Flynn lie and why did Mueller charge him with lying? — BY ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 12/02/17 03:50 PM EST THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL — The charge to which retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty …

Discussion: Althouse

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

McConnell: There will be no government shutdown — (R-Ky.) said Sunday that there will not be a government shutdown over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, arguing “there is no crisis.” — “Look, there's not going to be a government shutdown.

Discussion: Political Wire

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
McConnell: 'There's not going to be a government shutdown'

Discussion: Axios and The Week

The Daily Beast:
McConnell Walks Back Roy Moore Criticisms: It's Up to Alabama to Decide

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and Axios

ABC News:
Senate majority leader: 'There's not going to be a government shutdown'

Discussion: NBC News

The Daily Beast:

Report: FBI Agent Axed From Russia Probe Over ‘Anti-Trump Texts’ — Special counsel Robert Mueller removed a senior FBI official from his team in the Russia probe after learning of anti-Trump text messages that could be used to undermine the investigation's credibility, The Washington Post reports.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Breaking

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Nunes blows up, threatens contempt after FBI stonewalls House on Russia investigator demoted for anti-Trump bias

Discussion: RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, Shareblue Media, Breaking, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, NBC News and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:

MSNBC Host Joy Reid Wrote Numerous Anti-Gay Articles on Her Old Blog — Recently resurfaced internet archives show political commentator Joy Reid wrote a dozen blog posts in 2007, 2008, and 2009 that contained homophobic conspiracies and anti-gay jokes. — The MSNBC weekend host ran …

Discussion: IJR, bizpacreview.com, thecut and Washington Free Beacon

Colum Lynch / Foreign Policy:

Trump Boycotts U.N. Migration Talks — The White House's ‘America First’ policy makers see little gain in setting the global rules for migration. — President Donald Trump has decided to boycott a global conference on migration scheduled to begin Monday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico …

Discussion: CNN and The Daily Caller

Bradford Betz / Fox News:
McMaster speaks to Trump's tweets, North Korea and Middle East peace

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider, Al Jazeera English and The Week

BostonGlobe.com:

Trump campaigned as a populist. He's not delivering as president — WASHINGTON — President Trump ran a campaign on lifting up the little guy. He was, in the words of his oldest son, “a blue-collar billionaire,” and it was his plain-spoken promise to be their warrior in Washington …

David Weigel / Washington Post: ‘This is class warfare’: Tax vote sparks political brawl over populism that will carry into 2018 elections

New York Times:

Tax Bill Offers Last-Minute Breaks for Developers, Banks and Oil Industry — The overhaul by Republican lawmakers of the nation's tax laws percolated for weeks with virtually no public input, and by the end it turned into a chaotic mad dash with many last-minute changes on Friday night and Saturday morning …

Carolyn Y. Johnson / Washington Post:

CVS agrees to buy Aetna in $69 billion deal that could shake up health-care industry, people familiar with the deal said — Pharmacy giant CVS Health has agreed to buy Aetna in a $69 billion blockbuster acquisition that could rein in health care costs and transform its 9,700 pharmacy storefronts …

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Terry McAuliffe's Dead-Serious Advice For Democrats: Have Some Fun! — There's a joke about Terry McAuliffe. He made it up himself. — “Lot of history here,” he'll tell guests at the Virginia Executive Mansion. “Our first governor, Patrick Henry. Our second governor, Thomas Jefferson.