memeorandum: Amid Trump's inaugural festivities, members of Russia's elite anticipated a thaw between Moscow and Washington (Washington Post)

5:00 PM ET, January 20, 2018

Top Items:

How Trump and Schumer Came Close to a Deal Over Cheeseburgers — WASHINGTON — President Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, came close to an agreement to avert a government shutdown over lunch on Friday. But their consensus broke down later …

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice, CNN, Politico, Media Matters for America, CNBC, Washington Press, The Mahablog, Business Insider, TheBlaze, Politicus USA, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Althouse

Washington Post:

‘Negotiating with Jell-O’: How Trump's shifting positions fueled the rush to a shutdown … In a remarkable, televised 55-minute meeting with about two dozen Democratic and Republican lawmakers earlier this month, President Trump twice proclaimed that any immigration deal would need to be …

CNN:

Trump and Schumer came close to a deal. Then it fell apart — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)After his morning television shows had ended and as the deadline to fund the government loomed, President Donald Trump placed a call to the man in Washington he believed held all the cards: Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Discussion: RedState, NBC News, Power Line, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Fox News, ABC News, Fox News Insider, TheBlaze, fox5sandiego.com and abc7chicago.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Schumer: Negotiating with Trump ‘like negotiating with Jell-O’ — Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer — (N.Y.) on Saturday blasted President Trump — as an unreliable negotiating partner, fuming that working with him is “like negotiating with Jell-O” after a failure to secure a deal to avert a government shutdown.

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Trump lashes out as #TrumpShutdown trends worldwide on inauguration anniversary — As Republicans readied to shut down the government Friday night, Donald Trump and his allies were busy trying to pin the blame on Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer — despite the fact that Republicans hold the majority in the Senate.

Discussion: ABC News, The Atlantic and Vox

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Trump, GOP leaders refusing Democratic demands as shutdown continues … President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remained in regular contact Saturday afternoon about a possible solution to the government shutdown that began at midnight, the first time a furlough …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Splinter, The FADER, Political Wire, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Hullabaloo, The Root, The Week and theGrio

Adam Kelsey / ABC News:

TrumpShutdown beats #SchumerShutdown in hashtag battle to assign blame — The battle between congressional Democrats and Republicans to blame each other for the shutdown of the federal government today also played out on a wider and virtual sphere on Twitter.

Discussion: Associated Press, Jamie Dupree - AJC, TheBlaze, twitchy.com, TheStreet, The Moderate Voice, The Rush Limbaugh Show, NTK Network and Breitbart

CNN:
Why Democrats may be making the wrong bet on the shutdown

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Florida Politics, RedState, IJR and Washington Press

New York Times:
How Every Senator Voted on the Government Shutdown

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Week, ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, CNBC, Power Line, Balloon Juice and Mother Jones

Chris White / The Daily Caller:
NYT, AP, Bloomberg, And Legacy Media Blame Dems For Gov't shutdown

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Washington Post, AOL and Associated Press

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Trump plans gala at Mar-a-Lago tonight, again renting a ballroom from himself

Discussion: CNN, thecut, Balloon Juice, Mediaite and Raw Story

Politico:
Whose Fault Is the Shutdown?

Discussion: Washington Press, ThinkProgress and CNN

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
The Government Shutdown Effect: Big In The Short Term, Small After That

Discussion: CNN, Vox, Fox News, WREG-TV, The Daily Beast Latest …, IJR, ImmigrationProf Blog, 105.9 FM and AM 630 and The Daily Caller

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
After Vowing to Fix Washington, Trump Is Mired in a Familiar Crisis

Discussion: Roll Call, ABC News and Fox News Insider

Wall Street Journal:
Charles Is in Charge — Schumer previews life for Trump if Democrats retake Congress.

Discussion: Politico

Oliver Willis / Shareblue Media:
Watch Mitch McConnell kill effort to protect military pay as GOP pushed for shutdown

Discussion: Washington Press and Bloomberg

Brandon Carter / The Hill: TrumpShutdown becomes top trending hashtag worldwide

Bloomberg:
Shutdown Starts Amid Blame Game as Trump Marks First Year

Discussion: Mediaite, BloombergQuint, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and ThinkProgress

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Shutdown? It Could Be Forgotten in a Trumpian Flash

Discussion: Booman Tribune

New York Times:

Patrick Meehan, Congressman Combating Harassment, Settled His Own Misconduct Case — WASHINGTON — Representative Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania Republican who has taken a leading role in fighting sexual harassment in Congress, used thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to settle …

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Roll Call, thecut, Raw Story, Mediaite, Political Wire and Jezebel

Washington Post:

Amid Trump's inaugural festivities, members of Russia's elite anticipated a thaw between Moscow and Washington … In the days before Donald Trump's inauguration, a wealthy Russian pharmaceutical executive named Alexey Repik arrived in Washington, expressing excitement about the new administration.

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Missouri governor: ‘no blackmail,’ ‘no violence’ in affair — JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In his first interview since acknowledging an extramarital affair, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said Saturday that there was “no blackmail” and “no threat of violence” by him in what he described as a months-long …

Discussion: Political Wire

QJurecic / Lawfare:

Devin Nunes's Mystery Memo: Repeating the Cycle of Distraction — Representative Devin Nunes / Center for Strategic and International Studies — Forget the Steele dossier. There's a hot new sub rosa document in Washington: a classified four-page memo prepared by House intelligence …

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Hill, The Intercept, Geller Report, RedState, CNBC and Washington Post

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
House GOPers Say A Secret Memo Could End The Trump-Russia Probe. Their Staff Wrote It.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Politicus USA, Sara A. Carter, NBC News, The Hill, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Shareblue Media

Scott Johnson / Power Line:

Minnesota woman strikes St. Kate's — St. Catherine University (a/k/a St. Kate's, formerly St. Catherine College) sits on a leafy 110-acre campus in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. It is located a few blocks down the street from my high school alma mater and within shouting distance …

Discussion: Star Tribune, Jihad Watch and Twin Cities

Annie Karni / Politico:

Who's in and who's out as the West Wing grapples with shutdown — The press wranglers have gone home. The in-house White House makeup artist isn't expecting to report to work on Monday. Assistants to senior White House staffers are getting an unplanned, unpaid vacation from work.

The Daily Beast Latest Articles:
Trump Whines: Shutdown Fight Could Make Me Miss ‘My Party’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, IJR, Raw Story, Washington Press, Washington Monthly, CNBC, Washington Post and RedState

Sridhar Pappu / New York Times:

Nicolle Wallace's Road From the White House to 30 Rock — How a former aide to George W. Bush and campaign strategist for John McCain's 2008 presidential run has became a somewhat unlikely TV star at MSNBC. — In the basement of the Mexican restaurant Anejo TriBeCa last December …

Austin American-Statesman:

Texas judge interrupts jury, says God told him defendant is not guilty — A state district judge in Comal County said God told him to intervene in jury deliberations to sway jurors to return a not guilty verdict in the trial of a Buda woman accused of trafficking a teen girl for sex.

Discussion: Friendly Atheist, Washington Press, Above the Law and Unfogged

Jake Pearson / Associated Press:

Tabloid held porn star's 2011 interview after Trump threat — NEW YORK (AP) — A tabloid magazine held back from publishing an adult film star's 2011 account of an alleged affair with Donald Trump after the future president's personal lawyer threatened to sue, four former employees of the tabloid's publisher told The Associated Press.

Discussion: CNNMoney, twitchy.com and Mediaite