memeorandum: What Trump's address sounded like, in eight American living rooms (Jenna Johnson/Washington Post)

9:35 AM ET, January 31, 2018

Top Items:

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: Townhall.com, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Week, Balloon Juice, RedState, IJR, Power Line, NBC News, CNBC, twitchy.com, Fox News, Business Insider, Axios and Mediaite

Mike Levine / ABC News:

DOJ gives special counsel internal docs on thwarted Sessions resignation, source says — In the weeks before special counsel Robert Mueller's team interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department turned over a cache of internal correspondence, including documents related …

Discussion: Axios

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. officials appealed to White House to halt release of memo alleging FBI abuses related to author of Trump dossier … Top Justice Department officials made a last-ditch plea Monday to White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly about the dangers of publicly releasing a memo alleging abuses …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, New York Magazine, New York Times, Political Wire, twitchy.com, The Week, RedState, Raw Story, Mediaite, Lawfare, bizpacreview.com, The Atlantic and ThinkProgress

The Daily Beast:

Devin Nunes Won't Say if He Worked With White House on Anti-FBI Memo — The House intel committee GOP leader refused to answer behind closed doors if he coordinated with the president's team on his report blasting Rosenstein, Comey, and McCabe. — BETSY WOODRUFF, SPENCER ACKERMAN1.30.18 6:17 PM ET

Discussion: RedState, Conservative Review, CNN, National Law Journal, Raw Story, The Week and Lawfare

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

The Real Aim of the Secret Memo Is the Mueller Investigation — WASHINGTON — When House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said on Tuesday that he wanted Americans to see a secret memo that portrays the early stages of the Trump-Russia investigation as scandalous, he also said he cautioned his Republican colleagues …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, Mother Jones, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Amanda Carpenter / Politico:

I'm a Republican. Why Is My Party Gaslighting America? — Riddle me this: If Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have smoking gun evidence of a deep-state conspiracy that threatens American democracy itself, wouldn't they be doing more than playing silly hashtag games, such as #ReleasetheMemo?

Discussion: Mediaite, Conservative Review, Daily Kos and Althouse

John Yoo / New York Times:
Fix the F.B.I. Don't Politicize It.

Discussion: NBC News, National Review, BizzyBlog, AOL, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Salon, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
A call for unity against a backdrop of controversy and division

Discussion: New York Times and ABC News

Catherine Herridge / Fox News:
FBI officials review surveillance memo, could not cite ‘any factual inaccuracies’: source

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News Insider, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, The Last Refuge, RedState, IJR and Washington Times

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
The Nunes Conspiracy — First, a few words on the State of the Union address.

Discussion: Consortiumnews.com

CBS News:

Viewers approve of Trump's first State of the Union address - CBS News poll — Views of the speech — Three in four Americans who tuned in to President Trump's State of the Union address tonight approved of the speech he gave. Just a quarter disapproved. — How did the speech make you feel?

Discussion: Power Line, RedState, Washington Monthly, Washington Times, bizpacreview.com, The Week and NewsBusters

Ryan Struyk / CNN:

CNN Instant poll: Trump gets least positive reaction in at least 20 years — Washington (CNN)Almost half of Americans who watched President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address — 48% — say they had a “very positive” impression of the speech, down from 57% of speech-watchers …

Discussion: USA Today, Joe.My.God., Political Wire and KTLA

Kate Bennett / CNN:

Melania Trump arrived at State of the Union separately from the President — Washington (CNN)In a break with longstanding tradition, Melania Trump opted to ride with the guests she invited to share her first lady's box during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.

Discussion: East Bay Times, New York Times, Associated Press, BostonGlobe.com, RedState, Vox, The Guardian, bizpacreview.com, Glamour, IJR, KTLA, Refinery29 and myfox8.com

NPR:

FACT CHECK: Trump's State Of The Union Address — In his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump is expected to take a bipartisan tone. He is expected to focus on jobs and the economy, infrastructure, immigration, trade and national security.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Post, New Republic, Hit & Run, Gizmodo, KQED News and NBC News

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Kennedy responds to Trump: ‘We all feel the fault lines of a fractured country’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian and Joe.My.God.

ABC News:
Updates: Trump to deliver first State of the Union amid Washington discord

Maggie Astor / New York Times:
Longest State of the Union? Not Quite, but Trump's Was Long

Discussion: Mother Jones, 89.3 KPCC, CNN, Washington Post, NPR, Talking Points Memo and FiveThirtyEight, more at Mediagazer »

Victor Cha / Washington Post:

Giving North Korea a ‘bloody nose’ carries a huge risk to Americans — Victor Cha is a professor at Georgetown University and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. — North Korea, if not stopped, will build an arsenal with multiple nuclear missiles meant …

Discussion: Politico, Financial Times, CNBC, The Week, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Business Insider

The Atlantic:
Trump's First State of the Union

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, CNN, Washington Post, The Week, Vox, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, Politico, IJR, KXAN-TV, TheBlaze, ABC News, Joe.My.God., Breitbart, ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller

HuffPost:
The Hidden Extremism Of Trump's State Of The Union

Discussion: Washington Post and AOL

Washington Post:
Disagreement on North Korea policy derails White House choice for ambassador to South Korea

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, Weekly Standard, AOL, Vox, ABC News, One America News Network, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, IJR, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Mediaite

Gordon G. Chang / The Daily Beast:
In State of the Union, Trump Goes Where Kim Jong Un Fears Most: Human Rights

Discussion: CNN and Business Insider

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Source: Trump to give ‘eye-opening’ remarks on North Korea

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, Business Insider, KTLA, AOL and Shakesville

CNN:

Trump's lawyers argue Mueller has not met threshold for presidential interview — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's attorneys are arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller's team has not met the high threshold they believe is needed to interview a president in person …

Discussion: The Week

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:

Mueller Seeks Interview With Ex-Spokesman for Trump's Legal Team — Mark Corallo resigned from position after revelation that president's son arranged meeting with Russian lawyer — Special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking an interview with Mark Corallo, the former spokesman …

Howard Fineman / NBC News:
The ‘state’ of Donald Trump? He thinks it couldn't be better.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNBC, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, New York Times, NBC News, Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, IJR, emptywheel, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Raw Story

Eric Columbus / Washington Post: Mueller won't indict Trump. But here's what he can do.

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell: Mueller needs ‘no protection’ from Trump

Discussion: IJR

Hillary Clinton:

The most important work of my life has been to support and empower women. I've tried to do so here at home, around the world, and in the organizations I've run. I started in my twenties, and four decades later I'm nowhere near being done. I'm proud that it's the work I'm most associated with …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

The paradox of Trump — President Trump's State of the Union embodied the surprising and frequently baffling ways the president zips across partisan divides. There's not another American politician who in one night could call for creating paid family leave, keeping Gitmo open …

Allison Graves / PolitiFact:
Fact-checking Donald Trump's 2018 State of the Union speech

Discussion: Business Insider

President Donald Trump / Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's claims in his State of Union address

Discussion: Daily Kos

New York Times:
First Trump State of the Union Address Makes Appeal for Unity

Discussion: Axios, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Week and Just Security

Alexander C. Kaufman / HuffPost:
Democrats Ignore Climate Change In State Of The Union Rebuttal

Discussion: AOL

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

In Joe Kennedy's speech, Democrats rediscovered Barack Obama's compelling vision — America is about equality, across all dimensions. — No State of the Union response speech has ever been a truly great speech, but Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) delivered what's probably the best entry in the genre that I've ever heard Tuesday night.

Erica Pandey / Axios:
Kennedy responds for the Democrats

Discussion: ABC News, Online NewsHour, Breitbart and Politico

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
CNN's Van Jones Goes Off on Trump for ‘Smearing’ DREAMers in State of the Union

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

Donald Trump is teaching Republicans how to fight — It's an observation so strikingly true that you wonder why you didn't think of it earlier. “Donald Trump,” a friend said the other day, “is teaching the Republican Party how to fight and how to win.” — The evidence is everywhere every day …

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Pelosi tells Democrats not to disrupt ‘slobbering’ Trump during SOTU

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, Splinter, IJR, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, thecut, The Week and CNN

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Trump's plans for immigration, infrastructure meet swift resistance in Congress

Discussion: CNN and Bangor Daily News

Brianna Ehley / Politico:

Trump's top health official traded tobacco stock while leading anti-smoking efforts — The Trump administration's top public health official bought shares in a tobacco company one month into her leadership of the agency charged with reducing tobacco use — the leading cause of preventable disease …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, ThinkProgress, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and Axios

Salena Zito / New York Post:

Donald Trump is still the man to these blue-collar voters — VENETIA, PA. — Tony and Michelle Ripepi always make sure their children are civically engaged, from following local and national elections to watching big decisions, speeches and moments coming from the White House.

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

What Trump's address sounded like, in eight American living rooms … In Milwaukee, a retired factory worker sipping coffee in his burgundy recliner cheered as President Trump promised in his State of the Union address to build new roads, bridges, waterways and other infrastructure improvements.