Top Items:
The Guardian:
Second Trump-Russia dossier being assessed by FBI — Exclusive: memo written by former journalist Cody Shearer independently sets out some of the allegations made by ex-spy Christopher Steele … The FBI inquiry into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 US presidential election has been given …
Discussion:
Vox, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Mahablog, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, IJR and Mediaite
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David Leonhardt / New York Times:
The Nunes Conspiracy — First, a few words on the State of the Union address. There will be a lot of meaningless commentary about President Trump's speech tonight. His critics will criticize him, his supporters will praise him and pundits will throw around the word “reset.”
Discussion:
Consortiumnews.com and New York Magazine
Mike Emanuel / Fox News:
Paul Ryan calls to ‘cleanse’ the FBI, backs surveillance memo release — House Speaker Paul Ryan called Tuesday to “cleanse” the FBI as he openly backed the release of a controversial memo that purportedly details alleged surveillance abuses by the U.S. government. — “Let it all out, get it all out there.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, RedState, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Fox News Insider and Political Wire
Mike Allen / Axios:
The great disorientation machine — The coming release of a secret House memo, hotly sought by conservatives, will intensify the great muddying of the Russia investigation in the public's mind. — Why the memo matters: Trump's allies are betting that when all is said and done …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Daily Kos, National Review, Conservative Review, Taylor Marsh, Althouse and Breitbart
John Hudson / BuzzFeed:
Trump Administration Admits It Cribbed Forbes Magazine To Create “Oligarch List” — The revelation is likely to invite criticism that a congressionally-mandated list designed to punish Russia for interfering in the US election is not being aggressively implemented. — Reporting From Washington, DC
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Sylvan Lane / The Hill:
Mnuchin promises more sanctions on Russia after outrage over report
Mnuchin promises more sanctions on Russia after outrage over report
Discussion:
CNBC
Anders Åslund / Atlantic Council:
Payback: President Trump Gets Revenge for Russian Sanctions
Payback: President Trump Gets Revenge for Russian Sanctions
Discussion:
The Guardian
Casey Michel / ThinkProgress:
The White House copied its assigned homework on Russia from the Kremlin website
The White House copied its assigned homework on Russia from the Kremlin website
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, RedState, Hullabaloo, IJR, Axios, Joe.My.God. and Weekly Standard
Leonid Bershidsky / Bloomberg:
The U.S. List of Russian Oligarchs Is a Disgrace
The U.S. List of Russian Oligarchs Is a Disgrace
Discussion:
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TASS, NPR and Mother Jones
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Trump administration's weird explanation for withholding Russia sanctions
The Trump administration's weird explanation for withholding Russia sanctions
Discussion:
Mother Jones
Washington Post:
Internal Justice Department probe eyes McCabe's role in final weeks of 2016 election … The Justice Department's inspector general has been focused for months on why Andrew McCabe, as the No. 2 official at the FBI, appeared not to act for about three weeks on a request to examine a batch …
Discussion:
Axios, Political Wire, twitchy.com, The Week and Washington Free Beacon
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Howard Fineman / NBC News:
The ‘state’ of Donald Trump? He thinks it couldn't be better. — WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is telling friends and aides in private that things are going great — for him. — Some reasons: He's decided that a key witness in the Russia probe, Paul Manafort, isn't going to “flip” and sell him out, friends and aides say.
Washington Post:
Scott Pruitt once said Trump 'would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama — and that's saying a lot' … Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a 2016 interview that “Donald Trump in the White House would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Raw Story
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Nick Surgey / Documented:
PRUITT CALLED TRUMP A THREAT TO CONSTITUTION IN 2016 INTERVIEW
PRUITT CALLED TRUMP A THREAT TO CONSTITUTION IN 2016 INTERVIEW
Discussion:
Axios, New York Times, ABC News, Vox, RedState, Politico, The Week and New Republic
TMZ.com:
‘Glee’ Star Mark Salling Dead of Apparent Suicide — Mark Salling is dead of an apparent suicide, according to law enforcement ... TMZ has learned. — We're told his body was found near a riverbed in Sunland ... the area where he lived. We do not yet know the manner of death.
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Republicans balk at Trump's cuts to legal immigration — It's no surprise that Democrats have panned the White House's immigration framework. But now Republicans are increasingly uncomfortable with President Donald Trump's proposal to deeply cut legal immigration in exchange for protecting nearly two million Dreamers.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
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Washington Post:
Disagreement on North Korea policy derails White House choice for ambassador to South Korea … The White House's original choice for U.S. ambassador to South Korea is no longer expected to be nominated after he privately expressed disagreement in late December with the Trump administration's …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Axios
Heather Caygle / Politico:
Pelosi tells Democrats not to disrupt ‘slobbering’ Trump during SOTU — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is encouraging her caucus to behave during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tonight, saying the focus should be on “his slobbering self.”
Discussion:
CNN, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, thecut, The Week, Political Wire and Washington Times
New York Times:
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Team Up to Disrupt Health Care — SEATTLE — Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced on Tuesday that they would form an independent health care company to serve their employees in the United States. — The three companies provided few details …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, CNBC, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, STAT and New Republic, more at Techmeme »
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Brian Fung / Washington Post:
Here's what went wrong with that Hawaii missile alert, the FCC says … The emergency worker who sent a false public safety alert on Jan. 13 warning of an imminent ballistic missile attack against Hawaii believed that a ballistic missile was truly bound for the state after mishearing …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, New York Magazine, Gizmodo, Mashable and Joe.My.God.
CNN:
Senior adviser who worked for disgraced Trump appointee at federal volunteer agency was banned by Uber over allegations of racial comments — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)A senior adviser who worked for disgraced Trump appointee Carl Higbie was banned from using Uber after an incident early …
Scientific American Blog Network:
Bill Nye Does Not Speak for Us and He Does Not Speak for Science — By attending the State of the Union with NASA administrator nominee Jim Bridenstine, the Science Guy tacitly endorses climate denial, intolerance and attacks on science — Tonight, Bill Nye “The Science Guy” …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, NPR, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and Mashable
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Trump's Approval Highest in West Virginia, Lowest in Vermont — WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump's job approval rating averaged 38% throughout the U.S. in 2017, but at the state level it ranged from a high of 61% in West Virginia to a low of 26% in Vermont.
Discussion:
WPRI-TV, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo and Vox
Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:
ESPN Host: Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Mascot Is Offensive, Needs to Change — During a debate Tuesday over the Cleveland Indian's recent decision to drop their “Chief Wahoo” logo, ESPN “First Take” host Max Kellerman argued the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mascot is offensive as well.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Breitbart, ProFootballTalk, Townhall.com, The Hill, NPR, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Washingtonian, Vox and Mashable
Janine Puhak / Fox News:
Woman denied emotional support peacock on United flight — Birds of a feather may flock together, but United Airlines recently shot down one traveler's request to bring her emotional support peacock on a flight departing Newark Liberty International Airport.
Discussion:
Mashable and The Federalist
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Paul Rosenzweig / The Atlantic:
There's No Way Mueller Will Indict Trump — The latest revelations about President Trump have, once again, excited the interest of the public, leading to speculation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may have amassed sufficient evidence to charge the president with obstruction of justice.
Eric Eyre / Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Drug firms shipped 20.8M pain pills to WV town with 2,900 people — Over the past decade, out-of-state drug companies shipped 20.8 million prescription painkillers to two pharmacies four blocks apart in a Southern West Virginia town with 2,900 people, according to a congressional committee investigating the opioid crisis.
Discussion:
Vox and Energy and Commerce Committee
CNBC:
Dow plunges 400 points, on track for biggest points drop since June 2016 — “We've had a unilateral move higher [in stocks] to start things off and people are realizing this is not sustainable,” one strategist said. — The Dow was on track for its biggest one-day point drop since June 2016, when it fell 610 points.
Dylan Dethier / Golf.com:
LPGA star on golf with Trump: ‘He cheats like hell’ — Stories of 2017: President Trump steals the spotlight at U.S. Women's Open — LPGA legend Suzann Pettersen is fond of the sitting U.S. president. But she's not so sure about his handicap. — In an interview with Norwegian newspaper …
Discussion:
Mashable, Joe.My.God., IJR, AOL, TMZ.com, Washington Times and The Guardian
Asha Rangappa / Just Security:
Five Questions the Nunes Memo Better Answer — The House Intelligence Committee has voted to release the Nunes Memo, which allegedly outlines widespread abuses by the DOJ and FBI in obtaining a surveillance order against former national security advisor to the Trump Campaign, Carter Page.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice
David Brooks / New York Times:
The East Germans of the 21st Century — Every few years I try to write a column staking out a reasonable middle ground on immigration. After all, most big, important issues are clashes in which both sides have a piece of the truth. — The case for restricting immigration seems superficially plausible.
Discussion:
Breitbart