memeorandum: Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing (Bill McKibben/Rolling Stone)

2:45 PM ET, December 3, 2017

Top Items:

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

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: The Daily Caller

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

Discussion: KTLA, The Atlantic 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, CNN, NBC News, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, The Guardian, Hullabaloo, CBS New York, Splinter, IJR, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Week, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and Mediaite

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, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, 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: The Crosstab, Politico, Joe.My.God., Political Wire and Mediaite

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

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and Axios

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

Discussion: Axios and The Week

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

Discussion: NBC News

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

Fox News:

FBI official's role in Clinton email investigation under review — EXCLUSIVE - Two senior Justice Department officials have confirmed to Fox News that the department's Office of Inspector General is reviewing the role played in the Hillary Clinton email investigation by Peter Strzok …

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, New York Magazine and Mediaite

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

Discussion: RedState, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Fox News, Breaking, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, NBC News, IJR, bizpacreview.com and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

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

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.

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 …

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: bizpacreview.com, thecut and Washington Free Beacon

Stan Collender / Forbes:

Will GOP Cut Social Security And Medicare Before Or After The 2018 Election? — The headline above is a serious question. Assuming the Trump Family and Friends Tax Cut approved by the Senate by the Senate is enacted, big cuts to Social Security and Medicare will be the next target …

Discussion: The Guardian

Vivian Wang / New York Times:

ABC Suspends Reporter Brian Ross Over Erroneous Report About Trump — Brian Ross, the chief investigative correspondent for ABC News, has been suspended for four weeks without pay after incorrectly reporting that Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, would testify …