Top Items:
Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Mueller obtains “tens of thousands” of Trump transition emails — Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained “many tens of thousands” of Trump transition emails, including sensitive emails of Jared Kushner, transition team sources tell Axios. — Trump officials discovered Mueller …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Shareblue Media, Splinter, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop
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Fox News:
Trump lawyer: Mueller improperly obtained transition documents in Russia probe — A lawyer for the Trump presidential transition team is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office of inappropriately obtaining transition documents as part of its Russia probe, including confidential …
Discussion:
RedState, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and The Right Scoop
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump allies say Mueller unlawfully obtained thousands of emails — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An organization established for U.S. President Donald Trump's transition to the White House a year ago said on Saturday that the special counsel investigating allegations of Russian meddling …
Josh Delk / The Hill:
Democrat: Rumor is Trump could fire Mueller before Christmas — (D-Calif.) said Friday that “rumors” on Capitol Hill suggest President Trump — could fire special counsel Robert Mueller before Christmas, after Congress leaves Washington for the winter recess.
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Hullabaloo, IJR and RedState
Adam Schiff / KQED News:
White House Lawyer Denies ‘Rumor on the Hill’ of Trump Plan to Fire Mueller — Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) told KQED Newsroom on Friday that she believes Republicans are trying to shut down the House Intelligence Committee's probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Campaign Legal Center
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Watch: Intel Dem warns of Trump plot to fire Mueller on Christmas weekend
Watch: Intel Dem warns of Trump plot to fire Mueller on Christmas weekend
Discussion:
bizpacreview.com, The Nation and Washington Times
New York Times:
Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program — WASHINGTON — In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find. — Which was how the Pentagon wanted it.
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Vox, TheBlaze, Business Insider, Mashable, Instapundit, Balloon Juice and Gizmodo
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New York Times:
2 Navy Airmen and an Object That 'Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen' — The following recounts an incident in 2004 that advocates of research into U.F.O.s have said is the kind of event worthy of more investigation, and that was studied by a Pentagon program that investigated U.F.O.s.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Raw Story
Bryan Bender / Politico:
The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs — The Pentagon, at the direction of Congress, a decade ago quietly set up a multi-million dollar program to investigate what are popularly known as unidentified flying objects—UFOs. — The “unidentified aerial phenomena” claimed to have been seen …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Axios and Mediaite
Gary Martin / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Kihuen, accused of sexual harassment, says he won't seek re-election — Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., speaks during a DACA anniversary event at the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. Bridget Bennett Las Vegas Review-Journal @bridgetkbennett
Discussion:
The Nevada Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider, IJR, KTLA and Mediaite
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Elena Schneider / Politico:
Kihuen will not seek reelection
Kihuen will not seek reelection
Discussion:
ABC News, The Nevada Independent, Washington Post and The Right Scoop
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
So much losing: Trump is least popular first year president ever, down 49 points from Obama — Donald Trump's plunging approval rating has officially made him the most unpopular first-year president in the history of presidential polling, according to the latest figures from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Discussion:
Kennebec Journal & …
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Washington Post:
After Alabama loss, Trump has ambitious plans to campaign in 2018 midterms — President Trump is not on the ballot in 2018, but the White House is planning a full-throttle campaign to plunge the president into the midterm elections, according to senior officials and advisers familiar with the planning.
Discussion:
RedState, New York Magazine and Mediaite
New York Times:
World's Most Expensive Home? Another Bauble for a Saudi Prince — A $300 million chateau is one of a string of extravagant purchases for a prince who is cracking down on ill-gotten wealth and preaching fiscal austerity. — LOUVECIENNES, France — When the Chateau Louis XIV sold …
New York Times:
‘Trump, Trump, Trump!’ How a President's Name Became a Racial Jeer — For more coverage of race, sign up here to have our Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox. — The high school basketball squad from Eagle Grove, population 3,700, had traveled 60 miles up Highway 69 …
Discussion:
Politicus USA
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
The owner of Steve Bannon's D.C. rowhouse wants a 3-foot security fence. D.C. government is not having it. — (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) — While the Breitbart News operation pushes an anti-establishment message across the country, it is also steeped in a municipal battle in the nation's capital.
Discussion:
The Hill
David Sirota / International Business Times:
Donald Trump And GOP Leaders Could Be Enriched By Last Minute Tax Break Inserted Into Final Bill — Republican congressional leaders and real estate moguls could be personally enriched by a real-estate-related provision GOP lawmakers slipped into the final tax bill released Friday evening …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and Raw Story
Kathy Lally / Washington Post:
The two expat bros who terrorized women correspondents in Moscow — Matt Taibbi and Mark Ames trafficked in hideous stereotypes and body-shaming. — There's more than one way to harass women. A raft of men in recent weeks have paid for accusations of sexual harassment with their companies, their jobs, their plum political posts.
Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
FBI officials' text message about Hillary Clinton said to be a cover story for romantic affair — Two senior FBI officials who texted each other about President Trump and Hillary Clinton relied on work phones to try to hide their romance from a spouse and made the bureau's probe …
Discussion:
bizpacreview.com, twitchy.com, Althouse and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
John Hudson / BuzzFeed:
Trump's Ambassadors Are Going Rogue On Twitter — Callista Gingrich, Nikki Haley and Scott Brown are all running afoul of federal guidelines on social media while the State Department whistles in the wind. — Reporting From Washington, D.C. — US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has her staff support her personal Twitter account.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Clark Kauffman / Des Moines Register:
Iowa Supreme Court justice blocks Register's use of court records — Newspaper says Wiggins' order violates the First Amendment — An Iowa Supreme Court justice has issued a highly unusual order prohibiting the Des Moines Register from publishing information gleaned from court records.
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
“It just seems wrong.” GOP rep admits tax scam he voted for rips off working people — There's not much to like about the GOP tax scheme. The bill, drafted hurriedly and under the cover of darkness, is wildly unpopular among the American people and economists alike …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and CNBC
Associated Press:
Trump calls wife of hospitalized Sen. John McCain — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has called the wife of John McCain as the Arizona senator is hospitalized for cancer treatments. — The White House said Trump called Cindy McCain on Friday to send his best wishes and check on her and her husband.
Discussion:
IJR, The Daily Caller and Axios
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
How the oldest Senate ever is taking a toll on the business of Washington — McCain, 81, has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)