memeorandum: Paul Ryan wants to cut entitlements to trim the deficit, but political reality stands in his way (John Harwood/CNBC)

5:15 PM ET, December 27, 2017

Top Items:

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Retain Most Admired Titles — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans once again are most likely to name Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as the man and woman living anywhere in the world they admire most, as they have for the past 10 years.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, Advocate, Axios, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, AOL, Politicus USA, Joe.My.God., IJR, The Week and Mediaite

BBC:

Prince Harry interviews Barack Obama — 2017 began with Barack Obama leaving the White House and handing over the baton of the presidency to Donald Trump. — Our guest editor today, Prince Harry, met President Obama, in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games to talk about his memories …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Deadline, CNBC, NPR, The Guardian, Politico, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, IJR, New Republic, The Root, thecut, TVNewser, Towleroad, Washington Times, The Week, Washington Monthly, Mashable and twitchy.com

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

‘Here comes an orange meltdown’: Internet cheers as Obama beats Trump for ‘Most Admired Man in America’ title — Gallup on Wednesday released the results of its annual poll to determine the most admired man and woman in America — and former President Barack Obama won the title for the tenth straight year.

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:

Prince Harry sidesteps Obama-Trump wedding guest list controversy — London (CNN)Britain's Prince Harry has avoided opening up a diplomatic rift between the British and US governments over the guest list for his wedding to Meghan Markle, saying plans had yet to be finalized.

Discussion: Mediaite, Business Insider, AOL and The Daily Caller

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Gallup: Obama, Hillary Clinton remain most admired — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Obama and Hillary Clinton continued to top the lists, somewhat more narrowly than in recent years — (CNN)Former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remain the most admired man …

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Ceylan Yeginsu / New York Times:
When Harry Met Barry: The BBC Obama Interview

Discussion: Althouse, Axios, The Daily Beast, bizpacreview.com, IJR, The Daily Caller, RedState and Mashable

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo! Finance:

Mueller probe outgrows its ‘witch hunt’ phase — Steve Bannon's eyes lit up. Several months before he left his job as a senior White House adviser last August, Bannon was talking to President Trump about the brewing political storm over the Justice Department investigation into his campaign's alleged ties to the Kremlin.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Balloon Juice, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Ryan Cooper / The Week:

How to crush Trump — Liberals, do not expect Robert Mueller to save you from President Trump. Only politics can stop Trump and the Republican Party. — Many Democrats and liberals have spent 2017 fixated on the Russia-Trump story, especially the idea that Trump himself actively assisted Russian efforts …

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Mueller hauls in RNC staffers in Russia probe while Trump fumes over investigation — As Donald Trump tweets furiously about the ongoing Russia probe, special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of investigators are not just carrying on — they're stepping it up.

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Mueller is reportedly zeroing in on the Trump campaign's data operation — and the RNC — Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly begun to question Republican National Committee staffers about the party's digital work with the Trump campaign last year.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill: Gohmert: Mueller 'would love to get Trump's scalp'

Zachary Fryer-Biggs / Newsweek:
RUSSIA WANTS AMERICANS TO DOUBT MUELLER, EXPERTS WARN

Discussion: The Mahablog and Shareblue Media

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:

Trump legal team readies attack on Flynn's credibility — President Trump's legal team plans to cast former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn as a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of any wrongdoing, according to three people familiar with the strategy.

Discussion: Law & Crime, Sputnik International, Mediaite and IJR

Max Kutner / Newsweek:
TRUMP SHOULD PARDON MICHAEL FLYNN, WHO TOOK ‘THE BIGGEST FALL,’ FAMILY SAYS

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, RedState, Washington Times, IJR, Talking Points Memo, bizpacreview.com, The Hill, New York Post, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA and The Daily Caller

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Bannon adviser: Ryan challenger Paul Nehlen is ‘dead to us’ after inflammatory tweets — What you need to know about Steve Bannon — Breitbart executive chairman Steve Bannon has cut ties with Paul Nehlen, the far-right activist who is challenging Paul Ryan for his congressional seat …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Mediaite, Breitbart, IJR and twitchy.com

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Bannon cuts ties with Ryan challenger after inflammatory tweets — Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and his conservative outlet, Breitbart News, have cut ties with a far-right activist challenging Speaker Paul Ryan — (R-Wis.) in 2018 after the candidate posted several controversial tweets.

Discussion: RedState

David French / National Review:

Breitbart's Disgrace — When news cycles are crowded with outrage — some of it justified, much of it hysterical — it's easy to lose track of the significant stories. There was one last week that conservatives can't let slide down the memory hole. Breitbart's editor-in-chief, Alex Marlow …

Udi Shaham / Jerusalem Post:

New Western Wall train station to be named after Trump — “The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to call the train station that leads to it after President Trump.” — A train station that will be built next to the Western Wall will be named after US President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Associated Press, Reuters, Towleroad, Politico, bizpacreview.com, IJR, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and Washington Times

Ruth Eglash / Washington Post:
Israel's transport minister wants to name a new Jerusalem train station after Trump

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller and The Week

George Neumayr / The American Spectator:

It wants checks on power except its own. — From Hollywood comes a steady stream of movies casting powerful liberals as embattled and marginalized conservatives as menacing. Hollywood's latest tribute to a hopelessly entitled press, The Post, is in that vein.

Discussion: Instapundit

David Von Drehle / Washington Post: Could we be wrong? — A couple of decades ago, I was the editor …

Max Boot / Foreign Policy:

2017 Was the Year I Learned About My White Privilege — I used to be a smart-alecky conservative who scoffed at “political correctness.” The Trump era has opened my eyes. — In college — this was in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the University of California, Berkeley …

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Years of Attack Leave Obamacare a More Government-Focused Health Law — WASHINGTON — The Affordable Care Act was conceived as a mix of publicly funded health care and privately purchased insurance, but Republican attacks, culminating this month in the death of a mandate that most Americans have insurance …

Discussion: Washington Post, DCReport.org, Washington Examiner, RedState, Talking Points Memo, IJR, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Diane Black / Fox News:
Rep. Diane Black: I'm stepping down as chairman of the House Budget Committee after a successful year with Trump

Discussion: Associated Press and The Daily Caller

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Russia is accusing the US of ‘direct interference’ in its elections — A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday said the US was meddling in Russia's coming presidential election by condemning the decision to bar the opposition candidate Alexei Navalny from running.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, RedState and Instapundit

Washington Post: Putin may be in more trouble than we know — VLADIMIR PUTIN boasts …

Hope Hodge Seck / Military.com:

Marines Take Out Taliban Kingpin Responsible for Killing, Maiming Troops — HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — A Taliban shadow governor who had planned and executed improvised explosive device attacks on Marines and Afghan soldiers for well over a decade was killed in a precision airstrike …

John Harwood / CNBC:

Paul Ryan wants to cut entitlements to trim the deficit, but political reality stands in his way — Revenue shortfalls created by the new GOP tax law could make House Speaker Paul Ryan's political goals easier to achieve. — Ryan wants to cut so-called entitlement programs such as Medicare …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CANNONFIRE and Business Insider

Chris Hamby / BuzzFeed:

FBI Software For Analyzing Fingerprints Contains Russian-Made Code, Whistleblowers Say — In a secret deal, a French company purchased code from a Kremlin-connected firm, incorporated it into its own software, and hid its existence from the FBI, according to documents and two whistleblowers.

Discussion: Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

Federal prosecutors in N.Y. requested Kushner Cos. records on Deutsche Bank loan — Federal prosecutors have requested records related to a $285 million loan that Deutsche Bank gave Jared Kushner's family real estate company one month before Election Day, the company confirmed this week.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Susan Collins / Portland Press Herald:

Sen. Susan Collins: New tax law will benefit hardworking Mainers, not Washington elites — Among the positives are a larger standard deduction, relief for small businesses and an expanded child tax credit. — BY SUSAN COLLINSSPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD — I have heard a number …

Discussion: IJR

Wall Street Journal:

Many Comments Critical of ‘Fiduciary’ Rule Are Fake — Wall Street Journal analysis shows 40% of respondents didn't write the posts that were attributed to them — A significant number of fake comments appear among thousands criticizing a proposed federal rule meant to prevent conflicts …

Philip Wegmann / Washington Examiner:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: Terror of the skies since 1995 … When United booted a paying customer from first class to make room for a member of Congress, the Internet erupted with good and healthy egalitarian outrage. But don't blame the airline. — The congresswoman in question was Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Times