memeorandum: Food lobby group's rolls further contract as Hershey and Cargill depart (Helena Bottemiller Evich/Politico)

9:30 PM ET, January 5, 2018

Top Items:

Republican Senators Recommend Charges Against Author of Trump Dossier — WASHINGTON — More than a year after Republican leaders promised to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election, two influential Republicans on Friday made the first known congressional criminal referral …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Shareblue Media, CNBC, The Atlantic, National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Last Refuge, Breitbart, Axios, Washington Press, Politicus USA, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Raw Story, The Federalist and Booman Tribune

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Senate Republicans become Trump accomplices in manipulating the system — The Post reports: … This is an outrageous political stunt, one with no legal ramifications and obviously designed to take the heat off the White House as damning reports bolstering an obstruction-of-justice claim …

Washington Post:

The FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation … The FBI has been quietly investigating the Clinton Foundation for months, reviving a probe that was dialed back during the 2016 election amid tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents about the politically charged case, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Republicans Are Weaponizing Law Enforcement Against Trump's Enemies — There are two ways for a president to corrupt the vast powers of federal law enforcement. The one that has commanded the greatest attention so far is the defensive corruption of curtailing investigations into the administration …

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Washington Press, Mother Jones, New York Post and theGrio

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:
Senate Judiciary Republicans refer dossier author Chris Steele to DOJ for criminal investigation

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze, The Week and New York Post

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Schiff: The case that Trump obstructed justice just got stronger

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Washington Examiner, ThinkProgress, Just Security, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Daily Kos, IJR and Power Line

Washington Post:
Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges

Discussion: Politico, Sara A. Carter, HuffPost, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Little Green Footballs, Vox and The Gateway Pundit

The Guardian: Republican senators want ex-British spy behind Trump dossier to be investigated

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
GOP Senators Hand Trump Defenders Some Talking Points

Discussion: Mediaite

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
GOP senators request criminal investigation of Trump dossier author

Discussion: Chuck Grassley, Power Line, Weekly Standard and The Gateway Pundit

Anna Claire Vollers / al.com:

Roy Moore accuser's Gadsden home burns; arson investigation underway — Roy Moore accuser Tina Johnson lost her home Tuesday in a fire that is now under investigation by the Etowah County Arson Task Force. — Tina Johnson, who first came to public notice for accusing Senate candidate Roy Moore …

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Axios, FOX2now.com, WHNT-TV, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze, Splinter, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Washington Press, NBC News, thecut, Mediaite, Political Wire and The Stranger …

Mike Allen / Axios:

The Wolff lines on Trump that ring unambiguously true — There are definitely parts of Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury” that are wrong, sloppy, or betray off-the-record confidence. But there are two things he gets absolutely right, even in the eyes of White House officials …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Breitbart, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Washington Press, Shareblue Media, New York Times, Mediaite, RedState and Politicus USA, more at Mediagazer »

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Trump White House Asks to Screen Steven Spielberg's ‘The Post’ (Exclusive) — The period drama about ‘The Washington Post’ stars two of Trump's Hollywood critics, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. — This weekend, filmmaker Steven Spielberg's The Post expands into additional theaters — including the White House.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Daily Wire, Mashable and The Guardian

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Michael Wolff says he ‘absolutely’ spoke to President Trump for his tell-all book

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Roll Call, USA Today, Vox, BBC, IJR, Townhall.com, TheBlaze, Washington Press and Axios

Kieran Corcoran / Business Insider:
The author of the explosive new Trump book says he can't be sure if parts of it are true

Discussion: Washington Post, The Root, The Stream, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNNMoney, RedState, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Daily Wire, NPR, IJR, New Republic, AOL, Right Wing Watch and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Kimberly Leonard / Washington Examiner:
Michael Wolff: Trump had little interest in repealing Obamacare, floated ‘Medicare for All’

Discussion: NewsBusters, The Week and Common Dreams

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Trump campaign digital director: ‘Not one person made a decision’ without Kushner and Eric Trump's ‘approval’ — The digital director of the Trump campaign on Friday painted Jared Kushner and Eric Trump as “joint deputy campaign managers.” — Brad Parscale's statement came amid …

Discussion: Washington Press

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Steve Bannon was warned — Friends and allies of Steve Bannon had been warning him for weeks to lay off Jared Kushner — telling him that President Trump would turn against him if he kept publicly attacking the son-in-law. — What we're hearing: Tommy Hicks, a Trump campaign fundraiser …

Discussion: RedState, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Occidental Dissent, Breitbart and Politico

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Read the Trump Atonement That Steve Bannon Was Going to Release—Until Trump Dropped a Bomb on Him

Discussion: Axios, Business Insider, ABC News and Politico

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Band of the Insulted: The Nicknames of Trump's Adversaries

Discussion: Daily Wire, Washington Press, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Steve Bannon's strange “obsession” with Andrew Weissmann

Discussion: Mediaite

Twitter:

World Leaders on Twitter — There's been a lot of discussion about political figures and world leaders on Twitter, and we want to share our stance. — Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation …

David Wroe / Sydney Morning Herald:

‘Romantic encounter’ set off Australia's role in triggering Donald Trump investigation — It was a chance romantic encounter by George Papadopoulos that set in train the events that led to the Australian government tipping off Washington about what it knew of Russian hacking efforts to swing the US presidential election.

Kevin Johnson / USA Today:

FBI documents: Andrew McCabe had no conflict in Hillary Clinton email probe — WASHINGTON — FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom President Trump has blamed for influencing the decision not to criminally charge Hillary Clinton for her use of private email server, did not oversee that inquiry …

Discussion: The Week

David Remnick / New Yorker:

The Increasing Unfitness of Donald Trump — The West Wing has come to resemble the dankest realms of Twitter, in which everyone is racked with paranoia and everyone despises everyone else. — What made the Emperor Nero tick, Suetonius writes in “Lives of the Caesars,” was …

CNN:

Exclusive: Top Pence aides quietly depart in new year — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Vice President Mike Pence's chief lawyer and domestic policy director are leaving his office at the beginning of the New Year, according to four sources familiar with the staff turnover.

Philly.com:

Krasner fires 31 from Philly DA's Office in dramatic first-week shakeup — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner asked 31 members of the office to resign Friday, a dramatic shake-up and the first major staffing decision announced by the city's new top prosecutor, just three days after he was sworn in.

Ciro Scotti / The Daily Beast:

The Trouble With Kirsten Gillibrand … Back when she had an A rating from the NRA, Kirsten Gillibrand used to brag that she and her family shot their own turkeys for Thanksgiving. — But in her relentless positioning for a possible presidential run in 2020, was she too quick on the trigger …

Discussion: thecut, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

EPA chief Pruitt is said to be eyeing attorney general job — A nomination would face strong resistance from Democrats over his weakening of environmental protections. — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has told friends and associates that he's interested …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Axios, RedState, Breitbart, New York Magazine, fox13now.com, Salon, Hullabaloo, CNN, The Root, Media Matters for America, TheBlaze, Common Dreams, Raw Story, NBC News and theGrio

Jgoldsmith / Lawfare:
Why Hasn't Rod Rosenstein Recused Himself from the Mueller Investigation?

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Just Security, Instapundit, The Moderate Voice, ACS Blog, Politico, NBC News, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, New Republic and Talking Points Memo

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump cools to idea of taking on welfare programs, seeing little chance of success in Congress — President Trump has begun telling advisers that it will likely be impossible to advance legislation this year reducing welfare spending and enrollment — a priority he has previously embraced …

Discussion: Vox, Axios and USA Today

CNBC:
'I'm here today, and I'm here next week': Gary Cohn responds to speculation about White House exit

Discussion: Business Insider

Associated Press:

4 women accuse filmmaker Paul Haggis of sexual misconduct — LOS ANGELES (AP) — A civil lawsuit charging Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis with raping a publicist has prompted three additional women to come forward with their own sexual misconduct accusations, including another publicist …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, Washington Post, The Guardian, Deadline, The Week and thecut

ESPN:

For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end? — THE PROBLEM WITH living your life under the spotlight is that the camera captures only the public eruption, not the months of silent anger. On Dec. 3, when the New England Patriots played the Buffalo Bills …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, AOL, The Week and The Daily Caller

Scott Wartman / Cincinnati.com:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel drops out of U.S. Senate race — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel quit the race Friday, citing his wife's health. — He hoping to unseat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat. The Enquirer will update this story.

Discussion: Power Line and Shareblue Media

James Hibberd / EW.com:

Letterman Netflix series gets Obama as first guest: See trailer — Ready for your first look at David Letterman's new talk show? — Above is the first teaser trailer for the series, titled My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. — That title suggests a show that's setting …

Discussion: NewsBusters, Shakesville and The Week

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Book: Clinton took secret trips outside White House to visit girlfriends — A new book from one of his former Secret Service officers claims that Bill Clinton often snuck away from his wife and out of the White House to cozy up with “well-known and lesser-known mistresses,” …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

An Eyelash-Freezing ‘Icy Hell’: The One Spot That Could Feel Like Minus 100 — GORHAM, N.H. — The moment you step out into the frozen air on the way up Mount Washington — considered the most frigid spot in the lower 48 — the icy wind steals your breath and freezes your eyelashes. You can't blink.

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:

Wisconsin Is Quietly Becoming The Top Senate Race Of 2018 — Sen. Tammy Baldwin is battling more outside spending by conservative groups than all of her Democratic colleagues. Combined. — Ask a Democrat what Senate races worries them this year, and Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota will likely be near the top.

Discussion: madison.com, Daily Kos, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Axios and Washington Free Beacon

Matthew Gertz / Politico:

I've Studied the Trump-Fox Feedback Loop for Months. It's Crazier Than You Think. — On Tuesday night, I, along with many Americans, was shocked when President Donald Trump tweeted that his “Nuclear Button” is “much bigger & more powerful” than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America, Raw Story and Shakesville, more at Mediagazer »