memeorandum: As F.B.I. Took a Year to Pursue the Nassar Case, Dozens Say They Were Molested (New York Times)

9:20 PM ET, February 3, 2018

Top Items:

Carter Page Touted Kremlin Contacts in 2013 Letter — Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page bragged that he was an adviser to the Kremlin in a letter obtained by TIME that raises new questions about the extent of Page's contacts with the Russian government over the years.

Discussion: Political Wire, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., New York Times, The Guardian, 89.3 KPCC and NPR

Mike Memoli / NBC News:

Democratic rebuttal calls Nunes memo ‘deliberately misleading’ — WASHINGTON — A top House Democrat is challenging the core conclusion of the memo released by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes on Friday, calling the allegation that the Justice Department and FBI withheld key details …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, Daily Kos, Raw Story, NPR, NBC News, TheBlaze, LewRockwell and Washington Post

Associated Press:

Trump seized on what memo could mean even before reading it — WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before he'd read the memo, President Donald Trump seized on what it could mean. — The president first learned of the House Intelligence Committee document last month from some Republican allies in Congress …

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

This is the week that the GOP truly became the party of Trump — This was the week when the Republican Party finally went all in with President Trump. What once seemed unlikely is now reality. The Republican establishment — there are a few dissenting voices, of course …

Washington Post:

Once the party of law and order, Republicans are now challenging it … Republican leaders' open defiance last week of the FBI over the release of a hotly disputed memo revealed how the GOP, which has long positioned itself as the party of law and order, has become an adversary …

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, CNN, KFOR-TV, CNBC, FOX6Now.com, bizpacreview.com, ABC News, CBS New York, New York Times, Breitbart, NBC News, Business Insider, IJR, Politico, Outside the Beltway, KTLA, Vox and Shareblue Media

Noah Bookbinder / USA Today:

Nunes memo aims at Russia probe, backfires on Trump and GOP — The controversial Nunes memo is out. It claims the FBI and the Justice Department abused their surveillance authority on Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign. Democrats say the memo is misleading.

Discussion: New York Times, The Mahablog, Politicus USA, The Guardian, Washington Post and Business Insider

New York Times:

Trump's Unparalleled War on a Pillar of Society: Law Enforcement — WASHINGTON — In the days before the 2016 election, Donald J. Trump expressed “great respect” for the “courage” of the F.B.I. and Justice Department for reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Fox News Insider and Joe.My.God.

Axios:

Exclusive poll: GOP turns on FBI — President Trump's hammering on the FBI — and green-lighting yesterday of the Russia memo's release over Bureau objections — is having a profound effect: — A SurveyMonkey poll for Axios finds that not even 40% of Republicans approve …

Discussion: Mediaite, Vox and RedState

Josh Campbell / New York Times:
Why I Am Leaving the F.B.I.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Shareblue Media, Axios and Raw Story

Asha Rangappa / New York Times:
Thank Progressives for the Nunes Memo

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Breitbart and Business Insider

The Intercept:
Nunes Memo Accidentally Confirms the Legitimacy of the FBI's Investigation

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawfare, Hullabaloo, VICE, Balloon Juice, Politico, National Review, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit, Sputnik International, France 24, bizpacreview.com, KQED News, CBS Miami and Roll Call

New York Times:
Kashyap Patel, Main Author of Secret Memo, Is No Stranger to Quarrels

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, IJR, The Liberty Review, The Daily Caller and The Daily Signal

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Officials disclosed source's political funding in FISA application: report

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Washington Monthly, RedState, Splinter, neo-neocon, Outside the Beltway and KTLA

Wall Street Journal:
A Reckoning for the FBI — The House memo reveals disturbing facts …

Discussion: Axios and Breitbart

Eli Lake / Bloomberg: The Memo Is Neither ‘Treasonous’ Nor ‘Worse Than Watergate’

Marcy Wheeler / HuffPost:
The Nunes-Ryan Civil Liberties Sham

Discussion: emptywheel and RedState

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Devin Nunes's Nothingburger

Discussion: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, IJR, The Week, CNN, PolitiFact and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Washington Post:
Inside the FBI: Anger, worry, work — and fears of lasting damage

Discussion: Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Phillip Carter / Slate:
Survival at All Costs — On its face, the so-called Nunes …

Discussion: Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, ThinkProgress, Booman Tribune, Mashable, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry — The actress is finally ready to talk about Harvey Weinstein. — Yes, Uma Thurman is mad. — She has been raped. She has been sexually assaulted. She has been mangled in hot steel. She has been betrayed and gaslighted by those she trusted.

Discussion: Mashable, Hollywood Life, The Verge, IndieWire, Breitbart, Washington Post, Vox, The Guardian, CBS Los Angeles, ABC News, Deadline, Glamour, Mediaite, thecut, RedState, AOL, Refinery29, Decider, WPIX 11 New York, Althouse, CBS New York and The Blast

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

White House to withdraw controversial nominee to head Council on Environmental Quality … This post has been updated. — The White House plans to withdraw its controversial nominee to head the Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen Hartnett White, according to two administration officials briefed …

Discussion: CNN, Axios and Raw Story

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Failed memo stunt leaves Nunes in danger of losing his seat — GOP Rep. Devin Nunes has represented California's 22nd Congressional District since 2003 — in title, at least. For the past year, however, Nunes has served the interests of the Trump White House while hanging his constituents out to dry.

Discussion: The Hill

Tim Arango / New York Times:
Washington Is Abuzz Over the Nunes Memo. His California District, Not So Much.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

David Siders / Politico:
Nunes challenger seizes on FBI memo uproar

Discussion: Raw Story

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:

Paul Ryan Deletes Tweet Lauding a $1.50 Benefit From the New Tax Law — WASHINGTON — Speaker Paul D. Ryan faced a backlash on Saturday after he pointed to a secretary's $1.50 weekly increase in take-home pay as a sign of the Republican tax plan's success. — “A secretary at a public high school …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Washington Post, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, ACA Signups, Vox, Political Wire, Splinter, New York Magazine, Politico, Politicus USA and Townhall.com

Nick Coltrain / Coloradoan Online:

Protests turn violent at CSU after Charlie Kirk speech — Protests around a conservative speaker at CSU on Friday night started peaceful, even if it got rowdy at times, but quickly turned violent when a group wielding riot shields, large flashlights and face masks emblazoned with skulls stormed …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Examiner, Colorado Politics and FOX31 Denver

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Trump Hotel caught directly profiting off taxpayer dime — Ethics watchdogs have warned about Donald Trump's conflicts of interest since before he took office — and for good reason. Despite claiming that he would divest from his businesses, Trump simply turned them over to his sons …

CNN: Document shows GSA employees spending at the Trump Hotel in DC

Anton Troianovski / Washington Post:

AN ARCTIC SPY MYSTERY — An arrest in Moscow shakes Norway's far north — Frode Berg volunteered in a soup kitchen in rural Russia. He helped organize an annual cross-border festival and ski race. His congregation supported a new church in a Russian town just over the boundary line that divides East from West.

New York Times:

As F.B.I. Took a Year to Pursue the Nassar Case, Dozens Say They Were Molested — For more than a year, an F.B.I. inquiry into allegations that Lawrence G. Nassar, a respected sports doctor, had molested three elite teenage gymnasts followed a plodding pace as it moved back and forth among agents in three cities.