memeorandum: ‘Fire and Fury’ author Wolff calls Trump least credible person who has ever walked on earth (Adam Edelman/NBC News)

2:00 PM 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 …

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.

Discussion: Mediaite, Political Wire, TheBlaze and Townhall.com

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Why Trump and Sessions are now in a heap of legal trouble — Michael S. Schmidt's report in the New York Times contains so many blockbusters that it's hard to know where to begin. Here are the most critical claims: — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has evidence …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Washington Press, Daily Kos, RedState and Vox

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.

CNN:

Feds actively investigating Clinton Foundation — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — The investigation, led by the FBI field office in Little Rock, Arkansas, is being overseen by the US attorney's office in the state — (CNN)Federal authorities are actively investigating allegations of corruption related …

Discussion: Mediaite

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and The Week

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
EPA chief Pruitt is said to be eyeing attorney general job

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Press, Raw Story, Mediaite and Crooked Media

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

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Shareblue Media and Mediaite

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
AP Source: Trump had lawyer urge AG against Russia recusal

Discussion: The Hill and New York Magazine

Jake Gibson / Fox News:
Justice Department investigating Clinton Foundation over ‘pay to play’ allegations

Discussion: bizpacreview.com and Daily Wire

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, RedState, Shareblue Media, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, New York Times, Politicus USA, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Eschaton and Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »

Kimberly Leonard / Washington Examiner:

Michael Wolff: Trump had little interest in repealing Obamacare, floated ‘Medicare for All’ — A book detailing the first year of President Trump's time in office claims he floated the idea of covering all Americans through Medicare and had little interest in repealing Obamacare.

Discussion: The Week and Common Dreams

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 …

Adam Edelman / NBC News:
‘Fire and Fury’ author Wolff calls Trump least credible person who has ever walked on earth

Ben Terris / Washington Post:
Forget Harry Potter. In D.C., people lined up at midnight for Michael Wolff's Trump exposé.

Discussion: Power Line, ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News Insider, BBC, fox8.com, Breitbart and bizpacreview.com

Patterico / RedState:
Report: Sloppy Steve Was JUST ABOUT to Dispute Those Quotes...

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

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

Discussion: Daily Kos

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump's legal threats backfire as Wolff book surges

Discussion: RedState, Politico and The Week

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

Discussion: Politico

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:
I asked Trump a blunt question: Do you read?

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog and Hullabaloo

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Bannon allies say statement praising Trump Jr. was spiked after Trump went nuclear

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Breitbart, TODAY.com, The Atlantic, The Week and CANNONFIRE

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

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Axios, NPR, Politico, bizpacreview.com, IJR and The Guardian

New York Times:

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: The Federalist, New York Post and Raw Story

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.

Discussion: Political Wire

Natalie Kitroeff / New York Times:

U.S. Added 148,000 Jobs in December; Unemployment at 4.1% — The Labor Department released the latest figures on hiring and unemployment, with another gain capping a year of increasing opportunities for American workers. — The Numbers — • 148,000 jobs were added last month …

Discussion: The White House, Washington Press, Politico, The Stream, Outside the Beltway and Althouse

Patrick Gillespie / CNNMoney:
U.S. economy added 2 million jobs in 2017

Discussion: CBS Chicago

Akin Oyedele / Business Insider: Jobs report misses expectations, unemployment rate holds at 17-year low

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Job growth slows to a six-year low in Trump's first year

Discussion: Mother Jones, New Republic, The Atlantic, Scared Monkeys, Breitbart and CNBC

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: Media Matters for America, Raw Story and Media Matters for America

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Steve Bannon's strange “obsession” with Andrew Weissmann — Sources who've spoken to Steve Bannon tell me they're perplexed by his apparent fixation on Andrew Weissmann — the Russia investigation prosecutor described as Robert Mueller's “pit bull.” — The intrigue: What's raised the eyebrows …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Sara Carter / Sara A. Carter:
Mueller's “Pit Bull” Andrew Weissmann under scrutiny as Rosenstein agrees to turn over documents to Nunes

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

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: AOL, The Week, The Daily Caller, Outkick the Coverage and USA Today

Eliza Barclay / Vox:

The psychiatrist who briefed Congress on Trump's mental state: this is “an emergency” — The case for evaluating the president's mental capacity — by force if necessary. — The longer Donald Trump is in office, the more he shocks and alarms us with his strange and extremely unpresidential behavior.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, The Stream and Washington Monthly

The Hill:
New scrutiny for Trump's mental fitness after book, tweets

Discussion: Mediaite

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: Axios, madison.com and Washington Free Beacon

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: ThinkProgress, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Mashable, New York Times, Axios, New York Magazine, The Week, BGR, NBC News, NPR, MacRumors, The Verge, 9to5Mac and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Ted Hesson / Politico:

Inside the faltering Dreamer talks — Congressional negotiators and the White House are publicly touting progress toward a deal to shield hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. But behind the scenes, Democrats and Republicans appear to be struggling more than ever …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Daily Kos

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Seeks $18 Billion Over Decade to Expand Border Wall

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, New York Times, Shakesville, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

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: Business Insider, Washington Post, Daily Wire, Mashable and The Guardian

Lori Pilger / Lincoln Journal Star:

FBI accuses white supremacist of terror attack on Amtrak train in rural Nebraska — The FBI says an armed 26-year-old Missouri man who breached a secured area to stop an Amtrak train in southwest Nebraska in October has links to a white supremacist group and expressed an interest in …

Discussion: FOX2now.com, The Root, Splinter, Shakesville and Raw Story

Andrew J. Nelson / Omaha World-Herald:
FBI: Man with white supremacist ties stopped train in rural Nebraska with intent to harm passengers

Discussion: New Republic

Daphne Merkin / New York Times:

Publicly, We Say #MeToo. Privately, We Have Misgivings. — You can be sure that this weekend at the Golden Globes, Hollywood celebrities, not exactly known for their independent thinking, will turn the red carpet into a #MeToo moment replete with designer duds.

Discussion: Splinter and Notes