memeorandum: Sen. Al Franken will resign, Democratic official says (Brian Bakst/mprnews.org)

7:05 PM ET, December 6, 2017

Top Items:

Brian Bakst / mprnews.org:

Sen. Al Franken will resign, Democratic official says — A Democratic official who has spoken to Al Franken and key aides says Franken will resign his Minnesota Senate seat on Thursday, the official tells MPR News. — The official spoke to Franken and separately to Franken's staff.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Axios, Business Insider, fox13now.com, Raw Story, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The New Civil Rights Movement, Politico and Roll Call

Tina Dupuy / The Atlantic:

I Believe Franken's Accusers Because He Groped Me, Too — In mid-November, a Los Angeles radio host named Leeann Tweeden stepped forward to claim that Senator Al Franken had shoved his tongue down her throat under the pretext of a rehearsal for a sketch he'd written.

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, ABC News, AOL, Splinter, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Week and NTK Network

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Another woman says Franken tried to forcibly kiss her — A former Democratic congressional aide said Al Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006, three years before he became a U.S. senator. — The aide, whose name POLITICO is withholding to protect her identity …

Kirsten Gillibrand:

Senator Franken Should Step Aside — I have been shocked and disappointed to learn over the last few weeks that a colleague I am fond of personally has engaged in behavior towards women that is unacceptable. I consider Senator Franken to be a friend and have enjoyed working with him in the Senate …

James Pindell / BostonGlobe.com:
Aide says Warren told Franken he should resign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, NTK Network and CBS New York

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
More than two dozen Democratic senators call on Franken to resign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Power Line, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, ABC News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, IJR, Jamie Dupree - AJC, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, Washington Post, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and The Week

New York Times:

Flynn Said Russian Sanctions Would be ‘Ripped Up,’ Whistle-Blower Says — WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, told a former business associate that economic sanctions against Russia would be “ripped up” as one of the Trump administration's first acts …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, The Week, IJR, Axios, The New Civil Rights Movement and Mediaite

New York Times:

Read the Letter That Cummings Sent on Flynn Whistle-Blower — Representative Elijiah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, wrote a letter on Wednesday to Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina and the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee …

Discussion: The Atlantic and Joe.My.God.

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Flynn texted partners about nuclear plan during inauguration, whistleblower says

Discussion: Vox, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, RedState, ABC News, Shareblue Media and Talking Points Memo

House Oversight Dems / Oversight Democrats: Flynn Text to Business Colleague During Trump Inauguration

Tom Hamburger / Washington Post:
Flynn told former business associate that Russia sanctions would be ‘ripped up,’ according to congressional witness

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital and Orders U.S. Embassy to Move — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and setting in motion a plan to move the United States Embassy …

Discussion: Washington Post, URJ, The Atlantic, Associated Press, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, Al Jazeera English, RedState, IJR and Splinter

Annie Karni / Politico:
Kushner bets he can have it both ways on Jerusalem move

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Josh Delk / The Hill:
Schumer says he advised Trump to declare Jerusalem Israel's ‘undivided’ capital

Discussion: Washington Post, BBC, Weekly Standard, The Slot, ABC News, RedState, Splinter, IJR, The Daily Caller and NTK Network

Bloomberg:
Jerusalem Divides Trump's Team and Complicates Kushner's Peace Plan

Discussion: BloombergQuint

Christopher Dickey / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Jerusalem Speech Won't Kill the Mideast Peace Process: It's Already Dead

Discussion: Politico, BloombergQuint and NPR

Associated Press:
Transcript: Trump's remarks on Jerusalem

Discussion: Axios

CNN:

Trump Jr. says he communicated with Hope Hicks, not his father, about Trump Tower response — (CNN)Donald Trump Jr. told House investigators that did not communicate directly with his father when confronted with news reports about his June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, according to multiple sources with knowledge of his testimony.

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters, RedState, Washington Post, Political Wire, Raw Story, NBC News and Right Wing Watch

CNN:

Fire closes I-405, rages near Bel Air, Getty museum in Los Angeles — Los Angeles (CNN)A new wildfire closed Interstate 405 early Wednesday near Los Angeles' posh Bel Air area and prompted evacuations — one in a series of blazes that have scorched more than 83,000 acres …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Washington Post, Hyperallergic, New York's PIX11, KFOR-TV, Mashable, KTLA, BloombergQuint, fox13now.com, New York Magazine, WHNT-TV, TheBlaze, robertscribbler, Gizmodo, 89.3 KPCC, Mediaite and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Los Angeles Times:
Several homes burning in Bel-Air as fire closes the 405 Freeway and forces evacuations

Discussion: AOL, NBC News and Mashable

NBC News:

John Conyers III arrested but not prosecuted in domestic abuse case — LOS ANGELES — John Conyers III, a Detroit hedge fund manager named as a possible successor to his scandal-rocked father, Rep. John Conyers, was arrested in Los Angeles this year on suspicion of domestic violence …

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, Splinter, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

The Mysterious Buyer of the $450 Million Leonardo da Vinci? A Saudi Prince — LONDON — He is a little-known Saudi prince from a remote branch of the royal family, with no history as a major art collector, and no publicly known source of great wealth. But the prince, Bader bin Abdullah …

Discussion: Hyperallergic

Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:

This Is MSNBC's De Facto Ombudsman — The network has decided that Pizzagate conspiracist Mike Cernovich is its new voice of reason. — On Monday, The Wrap reported that MSNBC would not be renewing its contract with contributor Sam Seder in the wake of an online smear campaign led by a group …

Discussion: Vox, Rewire, New Republic and GotNews

CNNMoney:
How a joke, and Mike Cernovich, got Sam Seder booted from MSNBC

Discussion: Mike Cernovich and CANNONFIRE

Bloomberg:

Deutsche Bank Records Said to Be Subpoenaed by Mueller — Corrects Dec. 5 story that said subpoena ‘zeroed in’ on Trumps — Subpoena is said to seek information on affiliated people — Deutsche Bank AG provided records to special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation after receiving …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Paul Sperry / New York Post:
Double-crossing FBI agent must be held accountable

Discussion: Fox News, American Greatness and Power Line

Brian Faler / Politico:

‘Holy crap’: Experts find tax plan riddled with glitches — Republicans' tax-rewrite plans are riddled with bugs, loopholes and other potential problems that could plague lawmakers long after their legislation is signed into law. — Some of the provisions could be easily gamed, tax lawyers say.

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Magazine, Common Dreams, Hit & Run, The Week and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »

Nashville Post:

Bredesen running for Senate — Former governor jumps in the Democratic primary — Former Gov. Phil Bredesen is entering the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. — According to multiple sources, Bredesen began calling major donors this afternoon to confirm that he is in the race.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Tennessean.com

Mike Florio / ProFootballTalk:

New contract for Roger Goodell has been signed — The Commissioner finally has a new contract. — Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL's Compensation Committee has informed all owners that a new contract for Commissioner Roger Goodell has been executed.

Discussion: The Guardian, The Ringer, AOL, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

Ken Belson / New York Times:
N.F.L. Extends Roger Goodell's Contract, Ending Weeks of Discord

Discussion: BloombergQuint and Deadline

New York Times:

Paris Review Editor Resigns Amid Inquiry Into His Conduct with Women — Lorin Stein, the editor of The Paris Review, the prestigious magazine that for more than 60 years has acted as an international literary tastemaker, resigned on Wednesday, amid an internal investigation into his behavior toward female employees and writers.

more at Mediagazer »

Linda Blackford / Lexington Herald-Leader:

Kim Davis denied him a marriage license. Now he wants to take her job. — MOREHEAD — David Ermold, one of the men denied a same-sex marriage license by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in 2015, hopes to challenge her for the clerk's seat next year, he announced Wednesday.

Discussion: IJR, The Hill, Towleroad, Friendly Atheist and Splinter

AnneClaire Stapleton / CNN: Gay man denied a marriage license by Kim Davis is now running against her

Oobah Butler / VICE:

I Made My Shed the Top Rated Restaurant On TripAdvisor — Once upon a time, long before I began selling my face by the acre for features on VICE dot com, I worked other jobs. There was one in particular that really had an impact on me: writing fake reviews on TripAdvisor.

Discussion: Eduwonk and The Week

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump wants LePage to challenge King in Maine Senate race — President Donald Trump is pushing Maine Gov. Paul LePage to run for the U.S. Senate, according to White House advisers. — Trump has told advisers he plans to call Mr. LePage, the bombastic governor who endorsed him in February 2016 …

Discussion: Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:

The Silence Breakers are TIME's 2017 Person of the Year — TIME has named The Silence Breakers, the individuals who set off a national reckoning over the prevalence of sexual harassment, as its 2017 Person of the Year. — The magazine's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal revealed …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, FOX31 Denver, Common Dreams, IJR, 89.3 KPCC, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Joe.My.God., VICE and KRON4.com

Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:

Millions Are Hounded for Debt They Don't Owe. One Victim Fought Back, With a Vengeance — Andrew Therrien wanted payback. He got it—and uncovered a conspiracy. — On the morning a debt collector threatened to rape his wife, Andrew Therrien was working from home …

Maegan Vazquez / CNN:

Bannon on Romney: ‘You hid behind your religion’ to avoid Vietnam — Bannon hits Romney for avoiding Vietnam — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Steve Bannon bashed Mitt Romney Tuesday night for, as he put it, hiding behind his religion to avoid getting drafted into the Vietnam War.

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Beast, Hot Air and RedState

John Bresnahan / Politico:

House passes concealed carry gun bill in win for GOP and NRA — The House passed legislation to permit concealed carry license holders to conceal a handgun in other states, the first time Congress has taken action on a gun bill since President Donald Trump was sworn into office.

Discussion: Axios, twitchy.com and Splinter

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

Doctors identify brain abnormalities in Cuba attack patients — WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors treating the U.S. Embassy victims of mysterious, invisible attacks in Cuba have discovered brain abnormalities as they search for clues to explain the hearing, vision, balance and memory damage, The Associated Press has learned.

Discussion: New York Times, AOL, IJR, The Daily Caller and The Week