Top Items:
KMOV-TV:
Blackmail alleged as Governor Greitens admits to extramarital affair — ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — Governor Eric Greitens on Wednesday night confirmed to News 4 he had an extramarital affair, an admission a months-long News 4 investigation prompted. — In a recording obtained by News 4 …
Discussion:
Vox, New Republic, Raw Story, Kansas City Star, ThinkProgress, NPR, Friendly Atheist, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, twitchy.com, Talking Points Memo, AOL, Politico, The Week, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit and Axios
RELATED:
Kansas City Star:
Gov. Greitens faces calls for investigation, resignation over blackmail allegations — A bipartisan group of state senators is calling for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley to investigate allegations that Gov. Eric Greitens threatened to blackmail a woman with whom he had an affair in 2015.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and IJR
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Confused Trump Tricked by Fox News Into Opposing His Own Surveillance Bill [Updated] — During his morning Executive Time, President Trump took a well-deserved break from his long hours of document study to watch Fox News. The segment featured one of the talking heads urging Trump to oppose …
Discussion:
CNN, Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Portland Mercury, TVNewser, The Week, Raw Story and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump stuns Republican leaders with tweeted policy backflips — President Trump caught Republican leadership by surprise on Thursday morning with his tweets on FISA renewal, according to five sources close to the situation. — Why it matters: Sources in GOP leadership were horrified …
Discussion:
Vox, New Republic, Washington Examiner and The Guardian
New York Times:
House Votes to Renew Surveillance Law, Rejecting New Privacy Limits
House Votes to Renew Surveillance Law, Rejecting New Privacy Limits
Discussion:
Shakesville, Engadget, The Week and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Fox News Tricks President Into Opposing His Own Bill
Fox News Tricks President Into Opposing His Own Bill
Discussion:
ABC News, Mother Jones, The Atlantic and Weekly Standard
Fox News:
House votes to renew FISA program, following mixed messages from Trump
House votes to renew FISA program, following mixed messages from Trump
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit
SHennessey / Lawfare:
Trump Tweets Against a Key National Security Priority
Trump Tweets Against a Key National Security Priority
Discussion:
USA Today and Daily Wire
Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Steve Bannon Lawyers Up... as Russia Investigators Get Ready to Pounce … Steve Bannon is lawyering up as he gets ready to face investigators looking into the Trump-Russia nexus. — The Daily Beast has learned that the former top White House strategist has retained Bill Burck, of the firm Quinn Emanuel.
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, The Daily Caller and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Cheri Jacobus / USA Today:
Bannon's brutal ouster from Trump and Breitbart circles should frighten Americans — Conservative institutions have embraced Bannon's political slaughter not for his past sins but because he criticized the president. That's chilling. — Steve Bannon — the loathed architect …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Raw Story
Los Angeles Times:
Five women accuse actor James Franco of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior — It should have been a pure moment of triumph for James Franco. He collected one of Hollywood's top prizes at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, validating an untraditional career in which he's …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Axios, FOX6Now.com, IJR, NBC News, The Verge, The Guardian, AOL, thecut, Deadline, Mashable, IndieWire, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »
Moira Donegan / thecut:
I Started the Media Men List My name is Moira Donegan. — In October, I created a Google spreadsheet called “Shitty Media Men” that collected a range of rumors and allegations of sexual misconduct, much of it violent, by men in magazines and publishing. The anonymous, crowdsourced document …
Kristen Jordan Shamus / Detroit Free Press:
Pink pussyhats: The reason feminists are ditching them — A year ago, they stormed the streets of big cities and small towns to make their views known: Women's rights are human rights. Many wore on their heads what became the de-facto symbol of feminism in 2017, the pink pussyhat.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, twitchy.com and New York Times
Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Lawyer Sues BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS on Russia Dossier Claims — Cohen's lawsuit claims he was defamed by dossier's publication — Says he and Trump 'don't talk about' Russia investigations — Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen sued BuzzFeed Inc. and Fusion GPS for defamation …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump's Netherlands ambassador was asked to name a person ‘burned’ because of Islam. He couldn't. — Peter Hoekstra, the newly minted U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, held his first conference with the Dutch media at his new residence in the Hague Wednesday. — It did not go well.
RELATED:
The Hill:
Exclusive: Issa mulls running in neighboring district — , who said Wednesday he is not seeking reelection in California's 49th district, has been discussing with colleagues the possibility of running in a neighboring San Diego district if embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter — (R-Calif.) resigns, multiple sources told The Hill.
Discussion:
Axios
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
Trump administration opens door to let states impose Medicaid work requirements — The Trump administration issued guidance to states early Thursday that will allow them to compel people to work or prepare for jobs in order to receive Medicaid for the first time in the half-century history …
Discussion:
Vox, CNNMoney, The Hill, Shareblue Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, IJR and Shakesville
Hayley Peterson / Business Insider:
Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club stores and laying off thousands of workers — Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club locations across the US, the company told Business Insider. Some stores were closed on Thursday. Others will close at a later date.
Discussion:
FOX6Now.com
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Democrats to invite sex misconduct victims to Trump's State of the Union — WASHINGTON — Some Democratic House members are planning to invite victims of sexual assault to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address later this month to highlight the issue, according to an aide …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, thecut, Raw Story and Business Insider
Project Veritas:
UNDERCOVER VIDEO: Twitter Engineers To “Ban a Way of Talking” Through “Shadow Banning,” Algorithms to Censor Opposing Political Opinions — Steven Pierre, Twitter engineer explains “shadow banning,” says “it's going to ban a way of talking” — Former Twitter software engineer Abhinav Vadrevu …
Discussion:
International Business Times, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
The Voters Abandoning Donald Trump — A massive new source of public-opinion research offers fresh insights into the fault lines emerging in Donald Trump's foundation of support. — Previously unpublished results from the nonpartisan online-polling firm SurveyMonkey show Trump losing ground …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
HuffPost:
Exclusive: Mira Sorvino's Open Letter To Dylan Farrow — “I send you love and inclusion and admiration for your courage all this time.” — Dear Dylan, — Hello. I apologize for this being the first time I address you in print, what will be the first of several apologies today.
NBC News:
Mueller has not requested interview with Pence — WASHINGTON — While discussions are underway about President Donald Trump possibly speaking with special counsel Robert Mueller's team, FBI investigators have not so far requested an interview with Vice President Mike Pence, a person familiar with the matter said.
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Sessions tries to impress Trump with moves at Justice. It hasn't worked. — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to find his way back into President Trump's good graces. — For months, Sessions has asked senior White House aides to make sure the president knows what he is doing …
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Politico
German Lopez / Vox:
Conway said “nobody” at White House talks about Clinton. These 75 Trump tweets say otherwise. — Kellyanne Conway's remarks are debunked by her own boss. — Speaking to Chris Cuomo on CNN on Wednesday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway made a bold claim about the Trump administration's …
Discussion:
The Week, Breitbart, Politico, Shareblue Media, YouTube, Raw Story, Mediaite and twitchy.com
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
The truth about Walmart's new bonuses — Walmart is the latest company to make a flashy announcement: It will raise wages and provide bonuses of up to $1,000 to its employees as a result of the recent corporate tax cut. — “Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally …
Discussion:
CNBC, Power Line, Bloomberg, Politico, amigobulls.com, RedState, National Review, New York Magazine, twitchy.com and IJR
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Democratic leaders face internal mutiny over Dreamers deal — Democratic leaders are facing a potential revolt within their ranks as they edge toward a deal with Republicans that would protect Dreamers from deportation but also include concessions to conservatives that many Democratic lawmakers say are unacceptable.
Discussion:
National Review, New York Magazine, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and New York Times
Bloomberg:
Uber's Secret Tool for Keeping the Cops in the Dark — At least two dozen times, the San Francisco headquarters locked down equipment in foreign offices to shield files from police raids. — In May 2015 about 10 investigators for the Quebec tax authority burst into Uber Technologies Inc.'s office in Montreal.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Engadget, The Verge and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Senior Pentagon soldier warns ISIS: Quit or be shot in the face, beaten with entrenching tools — The Pentagon's senior enlisted service member has issued a blunt warning to Islamic State fighters, saying in new social-media posts that they could either surrender or face death in a number of forms …
Discussion:
Senior Enlisted Advisor …, Washington Free Beacon, IJR and The Daily Caller
Gonzalo Solano / Associated Press:
Ecuador grants nationality to WikiLeaks founder — QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has granted citizenship to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after more than five years of living in asylum at the nation's embassy in London, officials announced Thursday. — Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Times, RedState and The Verge
Washington Post:
Trump administration freezes database of addiction and mental health programs … Federal health officials have suspended a program that helps thousands of professionals and community groups across the country find effective interventions for preventing and treating mental illness and substance use disorders.
Discussion:
The Week, Warren Throckmorton and STAT
Eric Boehlert / Shareblue Media:
Coal miners turn on Trump after they gain fewer jobs than a local Sam's Club — “They voted for Trump because he said he'd bring back coal. It's not happening.” — Donald Trump not only spent the 2016 campaign promising that he would resurrect America's dying coal industry, he kept offering up that false hope in 2017.
Discussion:
CNNMoney