memeorandum: Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Dept. over Russia documents, sources say (CNN)

7:00 AM ET, January 5, 2018

Top Items:

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Obstruction Inquiry Shows Trump's Struggle to Keep Grip on Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House's top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department's investigation into whether …

CNN:

Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Dept. over Russia documents, sources say — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan backed his fellow congressional Republican, House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, during a meeting over the Russia investigation Wednesday …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and Shareblue Media

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:

AP Source: Trump had lawyer urge AG against Russia recusal — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign …

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Trump ordered WH lawyer to stop Sessions from recusing himself in Russia probe: report

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Breitbart, Washington Press, Raw Story, Mediaite and Politicus USA

U.S. Department of Justice:
Justice Department Issues Memo on Marijuana Enforcement

Discussion: NBC News, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Vox

Sarah Rumpf / RedState:

Furious Trump Fires Off Tweet With New Nickname for Bannon — President Donald Trump seems absolutely furious about the upcoming Michael Wolff book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, and he's making sure everyone knows it, firing off another tweet not only attacking the book …

Discussion: Mashable, ABC News, Raw Story, Washington Press, The Daily Caller, The Week and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Mercer issues rare public rebuke of former ally Bannon — Stephen K. Bannon's main financial backer is formally cutting ties with the former Trump adviser. — In a new statement Thursday, billionaire conservative donor Rebekah Mercer said that she has not spoken to Bannon …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Times, The Atlantic, New York Post, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, The Week, RedState, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Splinter, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Breitbart Owners Debate Ousting Bannon Amid Trump Feud — Former White House strategist's longtime benefactors, billionaires Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, are distancing themselves from him — President Donald Trump's growing feud with Steve Bannon is threatening …

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Rush Limbaugh Show, RedState, CNNMoney, The Gateway Pundit, The Root, IJR, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Led by the Mercers, Bannon's Allies Abandon Him — WASHINGTON — Enthusiasm for Stephen K. Bannon's plans for a fiery Republican revolution had already been fading among some of the donors and candidates upon whom he was relying to upend the party's establishment.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Bannon allies say statement praising Trump Jr. was spiked after Trump went nuclear — Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon on Wednesday was about to issue a statement praising Donald Trump Jr. — and disputing his quotes in a book from Michael Wolff, but the statement was spiked after President Trump

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, The Week and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:
Nerdcast: Trump blasts Bannon

Discussion: ABC News

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
'Yesterday morning, he was key. Today, I'm not sure': Bannon's allies start to abandon him

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Everyone in Trumpworld Knows He's an Idiot — One of the more alarming anecdotes in “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff's incendiary new book about Donald Trump's White House, involves the firing of James Comey, former director of the F.B.I. It's not Trump's motives that are scary …

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

I asked Trump a blunt question: Do you read? — Michael Wolff's tantalizing takedown of President Trump's White House is so tightly packed with tales of political convulsion and personal betrayal that official Washington will be buzzing off its sugar high for weeks.

Discussion: AOL and CNBC

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

It's Been an Open Secret All Along — Three months ago, when Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times unloaded their first big report about Harvey Weinstein's pattern of sexual aggressiveness and abuse, the depth of detail made the story unforgettable—and as it turned out, historic.

Discussion: USA Today and Washington Press

CNNMoney:
Wolff's Trump book going on sale four days early amid furor

Discussion: New York Times, The FADER, The Week, Mediaite, IJR, TheBlaze, thecut and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Virginia Heffernan / Los Angeles Times:
Why believe Michael Wolff? Because, for now, this stuff is too good not to

Discussion: The Mahablog

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Trump's effort to stop publication of scathing book is a break in precedent

Discussion: Axios, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, NBC News, CNBC, Fox News Insider and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

John Cassidy / New Yorker: Michael Wolff's Withering Portrait of President Donald Trump

Margaret Carlson / The Daily Beast:
The Worst Thing Donald Trump Says in Michael Wolff's Book

Discussion: Politico

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
Situation All Fouled Up, Not Normal

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, RedState, IJR, The Week, ABC News and Jamie Dupree - PBP

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Forget Treason. Money Laundering Is Serious.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico, ABC News, Washington Press, Washington Post, IJR, The Week, Washington Monthly, Crooked Media, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Axios, Right Wing Watch, The Hill, The Guardian, Vox, 1A and theGrio

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Michael Wolff, fabulist

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post and Business Insider

Greg Evans / Deadline:
‘Fire And Fury’ Publisher Moves Publication Date To Tomorrow

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, France 24, Common Dreams, Business Insider, NBC News and IJR

Michael Wolff / British GQ:
How Donald Trump's White House team handles his giant ego

Discussion: AOL, RedState, Axios, Mediaite, Politico, Daily Kos and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Baker / New York Times:
After Trump Seeks to Block Book, Publisher Hastens Release

John Solomon / The Hill:

FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation — The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton — served as Secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill.

Discussion: bizpacreview.com, Reuters, RedState, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

John Solomon / The Hill:
Comey's original Clinton memo released, cites possible violations

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and Viking Pundit

Apple Support:

About speculative execution vulnerabilities in ARM-based and Intel CPUs — Security researchers have recently uncovered security issues known by two names, Meltdown and Spectre. These issues apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operating systems.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Axios, The Week, NBC News, New York Times, NPR, KTLA, Mashable, MacRumors, The Verge, Gizmodo, Vox, 9to5Mac and BuzzFeed, more at Techmeme »

Anita Kumar / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Tillis no longer involved in key Senate negotiations on Dreamers — WASHINGTON — Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional comments from Sen. Thom Tillis' office. — Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has sought to make immigration one of his signature issues …

Discussion: Breitbart

Roosevelt Room / The White House:
Remarks by President Trump and Vice President Pence in a Meeting on Immigration with Republican Members of the Senate

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show and Breitbart

Beth Reinhard / Washington Post:

Woman who accused Roy Moore of unwanted sexual contact sues him for defamation — In a lawsuit that echoes a civil case against President Trump, an Alabama woman on Thursday sued failed U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and his campaign for defamation, citing harsh personal attacks she faced …

Discussion: Advocate, The Daily Caller, Vox, Washington Press and thecut

Paul Gattis / al.com:
Roy Moore accuser Leigh Corfman files lawsuit against him for defamation

Discussion: RedState and The Week

Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:

Those Iguanas Falling From Trees in Florida? They Probably Aren't Dead — Read the latest on the “bomb cyclone” winter storm hitting the East Coast with Thursday's live updates. — Beware the falling iguanas in South Florida. — When temperatures dip into the 30s and 40s …

Discussion: Breitbart and Balloon Juice

CBS News:
Frozen iguanas falling from trees during cold snap in Florida

Discussion: The Guardian, The Daily Caller, AOL and The Week

U.S. Department of the Interior:

Secretary Zinke Announces Plan For Unleashing America's Offshore Oil and Gas Potential — Draft Proposed Program considers nearly the entire U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for potential oil and gas lease sales — WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced …

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, HuffPost, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, Townhall.com, Watts Up With That? and Politico

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
Trump Moves to Open Nearly All Offshore Waters to Drilling

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Business Insider, IJR, Common Dreams, Motherboard, Washington Press, New Republic, The Atlantic, The Week and Pacific Standard

Trisha Calvo / Consumer Reports:

Avoid Romaine Lettuce for Now, Consumer Reports Says — This salad green is likely the cause of recent cases of E. coli food poisoning — Over the past seven weeks, 58 people in the U.S. and Canada have become ill from a dangerous strain of E. coli bacteria, likely from eating romaine lettuce.