memeorandum: There is no separation of powers without divided government (Lee Drutman/Vox)

10:00 AM ET, January 4, 2018

Top Items:

“You Can't Make This S— Up”: My Year Inside Trump's Insane White House — Author and columnist Michael Wolff was given extraordinary access to the Trump administration and now details the feuds, the fights and the alarming chaos he witnessed while reporting what turned into a new book.

Discussion: NPR, Eschaton, Raw Story, The Week, Mediaite and Washington Post

John Santucci / ABC News:

Trump attorney sends Bannon cease and desist letter over ‘disparaging’ comments — Lawyers on behalf of President Donald Trump sent a letter Wednesday night to former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon demanding he refrain from making disparaging comments against the president and his family.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Axios, IJR, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Daily Wire, New York Times, AOL, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Press, The Week, RedState and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Mike Allen / Axios:

Axios AM — Jeffrey Smith / New York Magazine (Used by permission) — Amid the firestorm over Michael Wolff's forthcoming book “Fire and Fury,” a lawyer for President Trump says legal action against Steve Bannon is “imminent,” accusing the former White House aide of breaking a confidentiality …

Discussion: Althouse, Raw Story and Political Wire

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Wolff taped interviews with Bannon, top officials — Michael Wolff has tapes to back up quotes in his incendiary book — dozens of hours of them. — Among the sources he taped, I'm told, are Steve Bannon and former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh.

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, The Week, ABC News, Washington Post and Breitbart, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed:

Peter Thiel Is Exploring The Creation Of A Conservative Cable News Network — Peter Thiel addresses the final night of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. — Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images — Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel wants …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite, Daily Wire and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Michael Wolff tells a juicy tale in his new Trump book. But should we believe it? — Among the many things he's been called — “blunt,” “pathetic,” “calculating” — the one thing Michael Wolff has never been described as is boring. — A provocateur and media polemicist …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, New York Times, Front Page Magazine, Daily Kos, New York Post, Breitbart, RedState, Raw Story, CNN, Washington Press, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Trump's lawyers send cease-and-desist letter to Bannon … Lawyers for President Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump's former senior strategist Stephen K. Bannon, arguing he had violated a non-disclosure agreement in speaking about his time on the campaign and in Trump's most trusted inner circle.

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
Steve Bannon, calling Trump a ‘great man,’ says he still supports him in first comments after eruption

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico, Political Wire, New York Magazine, Power Line, Washington Times and Breitbart

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Scoop: White House officials discuss removing Katie Walsh from outside group

Discussion: Political Wire

Mike Allen / Axios:
Bannon and Trump: Monsters they can't control

Discussion: The Atlantic, Mediaite, Business Insider, National Review and Hot Air

Robert Kraychik / Breitbart:
Bannon Praises Trump: POTUS ‘Is a Great Man... I Support Him Day In and Day Out’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Summer Meza / Newsweek:
TOP 20 REVELATIONS FROM TRUMP ‘FIRE AND FURY’ BOOK ABOUT GOLDEN SHOWERS, IVANKA, BANNON AND MORE

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Washington Press, Hullabaloo, The Hill, Mashable and Washington Monthly

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
White House Bans Staff From Using Personal Mobile Phones at Work

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Times, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:
Trump slams Bannon: ‘When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind’

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, RedState, ABC News, Reuters, Vox, Gizmodo, Political Insider, Mediaite, The Week, Power Line, Mother Jones, Breitbart, Instapundit, New York Magazine, The Root and CNBC

Jake Sherman / Politico:
WHAT A DAY: Lawsuit threats flying …

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Insider

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Michael Wolff's Trump book hits #1 on Amazon, publisher speeds up rollout plan

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Just Security, Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, KTLA, Shareblue Media, Mashable, Politico and The Guardian

The Hill:
Trump lawyer sends cease-and-desist letter to Bannon: report

Discussion: ABC News, Business Insider, Raw Story and The Week

Michael Wolff / New York Magazine:
Donald Trump Didn't Want to Be President

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Michael Wolff's unbelievable — sometimes literally — tell-all about the Trump administration

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, The Hill and RedState

Bob Brigham / Raw Story: Hope Hicks fled the room after Trump called her ‘the best piece of tail’ Lewandowski will ever have: report

Sadie Gurman / Associated Press:

AP NewsBreak: US to end policy that let legal pot flourish — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding the Obama-era policy that had paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country, two people with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Political Wire

Washington Examiner:

Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan: It's time for Jeff Sessions to go, as shown by the latest FBI leak … As the first year of the Trump administration comes to a close, one can't help but look back on how allegations of “Russian collusion” dominated the headlines of almost every news agency.

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, American Thinker and Media Matters for America

Wall Street Journal:
Fusion's Russia Fog

Discussion: Power Line and National Review

Annie Karni / Politico:

Washington's growing obsession: The 25th Amendment — Lawmakers concerned about President Donald Trump's mental state summoned Yale University psychiatry professor Dr. Bandy X. Lee to Capitol Hill last month for two days of briefings about his recent behavior.

Discussion: The Hill, Shareblue Media, The Week, Washington Press and Axios

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

“He's going to unravel.” Psychiatrist warns members of Congress about Trump in secret briefing — “Trump is going to get worse and will become uncontainable with the pressures of the presidency.” — More than a dozen lawmakers, including at least one Republican senator …

Discussion: Politico and Common Dreams

CNN:

Inside Trump's two days of fury — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump started 2018 in a fury partly fueled by anger at his legal team for offering shifting timelines about when the Russia investigation would end, according to two sources familiar with the President's mindset.

Weekly Standard:
GOP Senators: ‘Trump Being Trump’ in Nuclear-Button Spat with Kim Jong-un

Discussion: Raw Story, HuffPost, CNN, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Mercury News, Vox, The Week, The Guardian, Washington Press, twitchy.com, bizpacreview.com, AOL, BBC, Mediaite, IJR, RealClearPolitics and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

USA Today:

Trump disbands controversial voting commission, citing ‘endless legal battles’ — WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday disbanding his own election integrity commission after less than eight months, saying he didn't want to waste taxpayer money fighting with state governments over their voter data.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CBS San Francisco, bizpacreview.com, Washington Free Beacon, Mother Jones, Off the Kuff, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and TheBlaze

CNN:
Trump dissolves voter fraud commission

Discussion: Washington Press, KTLA, IJR, The Week and The Root

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
Trump disbands voter fraud commission

Discussion: Daily Kos, electionlawblog.org, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, NBC News, Townhall.com and Axios

Matthew Haag / New York Times:
Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud

Discussion: New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Free Beacon and Democrats.com

John Wagner / Washington Post: Trump abolishes controversial commission studying alleged voter fraud

The Hill:
Trump dissolves voter fraud commission

Discussion: Politico, The Stream, bizpacreview.com and The Daily Caller

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Deputy AG, FBI director make unannounced visit to Paul Ryan's office — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray made an unannounced visit to Speaker Paul Ryan's office Wednesday as the Justice Department grapples with an increasingly hostile faction …

Discussion: The Last Refuge, The Stream and Axios

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Top FBI, DOJ officials huddle with Ryan to talk dossier

Discussion: Washington Press and bizpacreview.com

Scott Wong / The Hill:
Rosenstein meeting with Paul Ryan about Russia investigation

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Press and RedState

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

CBS News fires political director amid allegations of ‘inappropriate behavior’ — CBS News said Wednesday that it has fired its political director, Steve Chaggaris, amid allegations of “inappropriate behavior” in his past. — Chaggaris was a longtime CBS News employee.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TVNewser, Washington Free Beacon and Front Page Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Jason Schreier / Kotaku:
IGN Fires Editor-In-Chief For ‘Alleged Misconduct’

Discussion: Polygon, more at Mediagazer »

BBC:

Iran protests: General declares ‘sedition’ defeated — The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has declared the defeat of the “sedition” in the country, referring to a wave of anti-government protests. — Maj Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari made the announcement as tens of thousands …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Jihad Watch, CNN and Business Insider

Mike Pence / Washington Post:
This time, we will not be silent on Iran

Discussion: Breitbart, Daily Wire and IJR

New York Post:
What Washington can do to support Iran's protesters

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Washington Free Beacon, ABC News, Instapundit, CNN, The Daily Signal and IJR

Lee Drutman / Vox:

There is no separation of powers without divided government — Partisan loyalty has triumphed over institutional loyalty. — A year ago, as we approached the opening days of the Trump administration, it was still possible to make a hopeful, albeit long-shot, argument that 2017 …

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

GOP strategist: Republicans will turn on Trump, impeach him if party is blown out in midterms — A Republican strategist who formerly served as a top aide on Sen. Ted Cruz — 's (R-Texas) presidential campaign is arguing that Republicans will turn on President Trump

Discussion: Political Wire

lohud.com:

Fire reported at Hillary and Bill Clinton's house in Chappaqua — New Castle police have confirmed a fire at the Clintons' home in Chappaqua. — Police declined to give further details on the fire at 15 Old House Lane where Bill and Hillary Clinton have lived for nearly 20 years after buying it for $1.7 million in 1999.

Discussion: bizpacreview.com, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Gazette, IJR, Breitbart and Mediaite

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Trump's media uses Clinton house fire to invent totally bonkers conspiracy

Discussion: Associated Press

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump picks Giuliani law partner to replace Preet Bharara in NY — will name a law partner of ally and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) to replace Preet Bharara — as the top prosecutor in southern New York, the New York Post reported Wednesday.