memeorandum: The Real State of the Union Is Awfully Precarious (Michael Tomasky/The Daily Beast)

1:15 PM ET, January 30, 2018

Top Items:

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: IJR, The Mahablog, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Politicus USA, emptywheel and Wall Street Journal

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: Politico, Althouse, Washington Post, Breitbart, ABC News and Raw Story

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Ryan urges Republicans to take caution with FBI memo — Speaker Paul Ryan urged Republican colleagues Tuesday to avoid overstating the findings of a classified House intelligence committee memo that alleges misconduct by FBI investigators involved in investigating Trump campaign contacts with Russia.

Discussion: CNBC, Breitbart and Daily Kos

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Some TRUTH TALK about SOTU — HOUSE DEM CANDIDATE on the border says ‘no way’ to wall, and ties GOP candidate to Trump — SPOTTED at the French embassy dinner for Charlie Rivkin — DRIVING THE DAY — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — A Democrat running for the House on the Texas-Mexico border is running …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNN, Political Wire, Hullabaloo, Axios and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

The Real State of the Union Is Awfully Precarious … Donald Trump will boast Tuesday night about the economy, and he will have every right to. — Not that it's his doing, but this is politics. We have a good economy right now. Any president giving a State of the Union speech would do the same.

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

House Republicans Vote to Release Secret Memo on Russia Inquiry — WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, disregarding Justice Department warnings that their actions would be “extraordinarily reckless,” voted Monday evening to release a contentious secret memorandum …

Carol E. Lee / NBC News:
Trump's gripes against McCabe included wife's politics, Comey's ride home

Danielle Paquette / Washington Post:
Humane Society CEO is subject of sexual harassment complaints from three women, according to internal investigation

Discussion: AOL, HumaneWatch and The Week

Washington Post:
How a classified four-page Russia memo triggered a political firestorm

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, The Week and Weekly Standard

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Memo war: GOP to release memo aimed at Justice Department, while Dems push memo aimed at GOP

Discussion: Power Line

NBC News:
The state of our union has become increasingly fragile

Discussion: Axios, NBC News, Political Wire and The Week

New York Times:
Taunted by Trump and Pressured From Above, McCabe Steps Down as F.B.I. Deputy

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

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, CNBC and Raw Story

CNN:
Trump admin declines to impose new Russia sanctions

Discussion: Business Insider, Associated Press, The Week and Joe.My.God.

Sylvan Lane / The Hill:
Mnuchin promises more sanctions on Russia after outrage over report

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Meduza.io: Arkady Dvorkovich — As a member of the government, I simply had to be on this list.

Associated Press:
Putin: US took ‘hostile step’ in publishing Russia list

Discussion: Axios, Bloomberg and The Daily Caller

Elana Schor / Politico:
White House to Congress: Russia sanctions not needed now

Discussion: Axios, One America News Network, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, Shakesville, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos and BBC

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Trump administration's weird explanation for withholding Russia sanctions

Discussion: Mother Jones

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

Nick Surgey / Documented:

PRUITT CALLED TRUMP A THREAT TO CONSTITUTION IN 2016 INTERVIEW — In a stinging 2016 radio interview, Scott Pruitt lambasted then candidate Donald Trump, warning of the danger to the constitution should he become president. — “If Donald Trump is the nominee and eventually the president …

Discussion: Axios, New Republic and Politico

Coral Davenport / New York Times: Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. Chief, Assailed Trump in a 2016 Interview

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: Joe.My.God.

Margaret Harding McGill / Politico:
FCC: Official who sent false Hawaii missile alert believed it was real

Discussion: Axios

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.

Discussion: RedState, American Thinker, Washington Post, Lawfare, Crooked Media, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, CNBC and #MarchForTruth

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Rod Rosenstein Is Shirking His Duty to Supervise Robert Mueller

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:

Julian Assange Thought He Was Messaging Sean Hannity When He Offered ‘News’ on Democrat Investigating Trump-Russia … At about 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, a couple hours after she started pretending to be Sean Hannity, Dell Gilliam says she got a direct message back from the head of Wikileaks, Julian Assange.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Joe.My.God., RedState, Mediaite, Raw Story and Little Green Footballs

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Trump Turns GOP Into a Conspiracy of Dunces

Discussion: Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Names of campaign donors to be flashed during live stream of Trump's State of the Union speech — President Trump is seeking to parlay his first State of the Union address on Tuesday into cash for his reelection campaign by offering supporters a chance to see their name flashed on the screen during a broadcast of the speech.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Week, AOL, WPSD Local 6, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, Politico and Shareblue Media

FiveThirtyEight:
Why We Hate The State Of The Union. And A Rebuttal.

Discussion: USA Today, Politico, The Atlantic, bizpacreview.com, thecut and twitchy.com

New York Times:
Some Supporters Fear Trump Will Lose Hard Edge in State of Union Speech

Discussion: National Review, Courier-Journal, Shakesville and Daily Kos

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, Talking Points Memo and Vox

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: IJR, AOL, The Guardian and TMZ.com

Business Wire:

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to partner on U.S. employee healthcare — Goal is to improve U.S. employee satisfaction while reducing overall costs — SEATTLE & OMAHA, Neb. & NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) …

Discussion: NPR

New York Times:
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Team Up to Disrupt Health Care

Discussion: New Republic and STAT, more at Techmeme »

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: Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:

Hillary's ‘Sure’ Victory Explains Most Everything — Stretching or breaking the law on her behalf would have been rewarded by a President Clinton. — What exactly were top officials in the FBI and DOJ doing during the election of 2016? — The Page-Strzok text exchanges might offer a few answers.

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
Andrew McCabe could be a bigger headache for Trump outside the FBI than he was inside

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN, IJR, KTLA and Business Insider

Bari Weiss / New York Times:

The Slut-Shaming of Nikki Haley — Imagine this: The author of the most popular book in the country goes on Bill Maher's show and says the following about President Barack Obama: “There is something in the book that I was absolutely sure of but it was so incendiary that I just didn't have the ultimate proof,” he says.

New York Times:

Melania Trump, Out of Sight Since Report of Husband's Infidelity, to Attend State of the Union — WASHINGTON — Over the past week, Melania Trump, a notoriously private first lady, made three very public decisions: She canceled a trip abroad with the president, made an impromptu visit …