memeorandum: The G.O.P.'s Bonfire of the Sanities (Bret Stephens/New York Times)

11:55 AM ET, January 27, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Launched Campaign to Discredit Potential FBI Witnesses — The president targeted three bureau officials who could provide key testimony in the Mueller probe. — President Donald Trump pressed senior aides last June to devise and carry out a campaign to discredit senior FBI officials …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Common Dreams, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Palmer Report, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, Hullabaloo, New York Times, Washington Press, Washington Monthly and Balloon Juice

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Counsel Quietly Trying to Corral Trump While Pushing G.O.P.'s Agenda — WASHINGTON — When Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, moved into his corner office on the West Wing's second floor last January, he chose not to decorate its walls or fill its glass-paneled shelving with personal items.

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Beast, NPR and Lawfare, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Frustrated by Russia investigation, Trump turns ire toward Rosenstein — Washington (CNN)Months after his reported effort to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, President Donald Trump is still fuming over the Russia investigation and has Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in his crosshairs.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Week, Palmer Report, Washington Press and WTVR-TV

New Yorker:

The Answer to Whether Trump Obstructed Justice Now Seems Clear — Most white-collar prosecutions turn on the issue of criminal intent. These cases involve behavior that would, in ordinary circumstances, be totally legal—if not for the intent of the defendant.

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, New York Times, Washington Press, Politico, TVNewser, 89.3 KPCC, CNBC, Vox, Talking Points Memo and Dame Magazine

Wall Street Journal:

Trump's Lawyers, Seeking Leverage in Russia Probe, Comb '90s Court Ruling — White House legal team may look to delay, limit or avoid a possible interview of the president by Mueller — President Donald Trump's legal team has been studying a 1990s federal court ruling that could be the basis for delaying …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Axios, RedState, New York Times, Washington Press, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Vox

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Source: Strzok Hadn't Seen Evidence Of Collusion After 10 Months On Russia Probe — After 10 months of leading the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation, counterintelligence official Peter Strzok had not seen compelling evidence that President Trump or high-level campaign officials colluded …

Discussion: Instapundit

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story: ‘Scumbag and liar’: Ex-White House ethics chief hammers Trump apologist Jack Kingston …

NPR: Conservative Writer Says Republicans ‘Sacrificed Their Honor’ By Attacking FBI

Fresno Bee:
Rep. Devin Nunes, Trump's stooge, attacks FBI

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story and Shareblue Media

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:
Mueller's Team Has Interviewed Facebook Staff as Part of Russia Probe

Discussion: CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Engadget, The Verge and Axios

Karen Freifeld / Reuters: White House counsel was ‘fed up’ with Trump: source

Nicole Auerbach / The Athletic:

NCAA president Mark Emmert was alerted to Michigan State sexual assault reports in 2010 — Though the NCAA has announced its intention to open an investigation into Michigan State's athletic department, it remains unclear what exactly the purview of the investigation would be.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Comeback, CBS Detroit and WOOD-TV

Bob Wojnowski / Detroit News: Wojo: Michigan State mired in full-blown crisis of trust

ESPN:
OTL: Michigan State secrets extend far beyond Larry Nassar case

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mother Jones, Shareblue Media, Lansing State Journal, The Comeback, CBS Detroit, WOOD-TV, The Daily Caller, The Stream, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Ringer, The Big Lead, AOL, New York Times and msuspartans.com

Chris Solari / Detroit Free Press:
Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis steps down in wake of Larry Nassar scandal

Discussion: TheBlaze and myfox8.com

HuffPost:

Tronc Is Building A Shadow Newsroom Full Of Scabs, L.A. Times Staffers Fear — A mysterious new management team appears to be quietly building a non-union network. — As lunch was winding down Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times cafeteria, Bruce Upbin, one of several newly hired …

Discussion: Business Insider and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

HuffPost: NY Daily News Editor Accused Of Harassment Fostered A Culture Of Silence

BBC:

Kabul attack: Taliban kill 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital — A suicide bombing has killed at least 95 people and injured 158 others in the centre of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, officials say. — Attackers drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a police checkpoint in a secure zone …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Al Jazeera English, The Daily Caller and The Week

New York Times:
'It's a Massacre': Taliban Bomb in Ambulance Kills 95 in Kabul

Discussion: The Atlantic and Common Dreams

CNN:
Taliban attacker driving ambulance packed with explosives kills 95 in Kabul

Discussion: ABC News

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

The G.O.P.'s Bonfire of the Sanities — Like Alexis de Tocqueville's “Democracy in America,” Richard Hofstadter's “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” is often cited but less often read, which is a shame because the landmark 1964 essay helps explain our times. Consider Ron Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Amy Sullivan / Politico:

Millions of Americans Believe God Made Trump President — If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived: “God and Donald Trump.”

The Daily Beast:

RNC Silent So Far About Contributions From Steve Wynn After Allegations He Forced Women Into Sex … Just months after the Republican Party worked to tie Democrats to alleged serial sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein, the GOP's chief fundraiser has been accused of pressuring multiple women …

Discussion: Vox, Shareblue Media, Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress and Politico

Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:
Vegas casino king Steve Wynn accused of ‘pattern of sexual misconduct’ in Wall Street Journal report

Discussion: The Hill, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Politicus USA, Business Insider, Washington Press, Shareblue Media, The Daily Beast, Vox, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

Chris Smith / New York Magazine: Clash of the Titans — In this corner: “The Vegas Volcano,” weighing in at $780 million.

Michael Sheetz / CNBC:
Wynn shares tumble 10% after reports of ‘decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct’ by CEO Steve Wynn

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Mediaite, HuffPost, ABC News, Breitbart, Mashable, Raw Story, New York Magazine, New York Post, Fox News, Daily Wire, 444, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Exclusive: Data shows Trump's DC hotel was pricier and emptier than peers in 2017 — Washington (CNN)Just a few months before President Donald Trump moved into the White House, his presence was already firmly established in downtown Washington, just a few blocks from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue …

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Melania Trump has been spending nights at a posh D.C. HOTEL since the president was accused of having a fling with porn star Stormy Daniels - before the first lady unexpectedly flew to Palm Beach — Melania Trump has been spending time away from Trump and the White House since news …

Discussion: Washington Press and Politico

Rhonda Colvin / Washington Post:

Some Americans are afraid to explore their own country, concerns that evoke the Jim Crow-era Green Book — It was the 1940s, and traveling to her parents' home town was not approached lightly after the family moved to Muskegon, Mich., during the Great Migration.

Bloomberg:

Twitter Says Russian Bots Retweeted Trump 470,000 Times — Russian-linked accounts spurred 50,000 retweets of Clinton — Information comes in response to questions from Congress — Russian-linked Twitter bots shared Donald Trump's tweets almost half a million times during the final months …

Ben Hubbard / New York Times:

Billionaire Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, Is Freed From Detention — BEIRUT, Lebanon — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia's most prominent and flamboyant investor, has been released from detention in the Ritz-Carlton in the capital after he was arrested amid a sweeping crackdown on corruption …

Discussion: Reuters, NPR, Al Jazeera English and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Rudi Keller / Columbia Daily Tribune:

McCaskill hammers Greitens over sex scandal — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill gave Boone County Democrats what they wanted Friday night when she hammered Gov. Eric Greitens for the sex scandal that has engulfed his administration and Attorney General Josh Hawley for being in a hurry to climb the ladder his ads said he would avoid.

Will Hobson / Washington Post:

USA Gymnastics announces entire board of directors will resign in wake of Larry Nassar scandal — USA Gymnastics announced Friday that its entire board of directors will resign, complying with demands issued by the United States Olympic Committee earlier this week in response to rising national outrage …

Discussion: Vox