memeorandum: Former White House aide's ex-wives detail abuse allegations (CNN)

6:05 PM ET, February 7, 2018

Top Items:

EXCLUSIVE: ANOTHER ex-wife of Trump aide Rob Porter - who is dating Hope Hicks - tells DailyMail.com he choked, punched and belittled her about her weight her during their five-year marriage — Colbie Holderness, 37, a senior analyst for the U.S. government and the first wife of Rob Porter …

Discussion: Townhall.com, ThinkProgress, ABC News, Business Insider, KTLA, Politicus USA, Jezebel, Mediaite, CNBC, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Wire, The Guardian and Joe.My.God.

The Intercept:

Former Wives of Top White House Aide Rob Porter Both Told FBI He Abused Them — As the FBI conducted a background check on an incoming senior White House official last year, the bureau learned of the man's history of domestic abuse. Rob Porter, a top aide to President Donald Trump …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Vox, The Week and Mediaite

Daily Mail:

Hope Hicks, 29, was spotted stepping out of her D.C. apartment with White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter ten days ago — ‘I want to be very clear when I say this,’ Willoughby said. 'I don't want to be married to him. I would not recommend anyone to date him or marry him.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, CBS News, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Shareblue Media, CBS Miami, Roll Call, Q13 FOX News, bizpacreview.com, Politicus USA, BloombergQuint, NBC News, Splinter, Raw Story and AOL

CNN:

Former White House aide's ex-wives detail abuse allegations — White House responds to Rob Porter resignation — (CNN)Rob Porter, a top White House aide with regular access to President Donald Trump abruptly resigned on Wednesday amid abuse allegations from two ex-wives …

Discussion: Business Insider

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Beyond Disbelief”: John Kelly's Defense of Rob Porter Roils the West Wing — Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who has been accused of abusing his former wives, is Kelly's right hand—and dating Hope Hicks, one of Trump's closest confidantes. But Kelly's declaration that Porter is a man of …

Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigns amid abuse allegations — White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned today after his two ex-wives came forward with abuse allegations. — What we're hearing: Nobody pressured him to resign, per multiple officials.

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, Mediaite, thecut and twitchy.com

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

White House aide Rob Porter resigns after allegations from ex-wives — White House staff secretary Rob Porter, a mostly unknown but deeply influential aide who spends almost every day by President Donald Trump's side, said Wednesday he plans to resign following abuse allegations from his ex-wives.

Discussion: Above the Law

CNN:

White House aide denies abuse allegations but resigns — (CNN)White House staff secretary Rob Porter, a top aide to President Donald Trump, has resigned, the White House confirmed Wednesday, following allegations of abuse from his two ex-wives. — Porter denied the allegations in a statement issued in the wake of his resignation.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Senior White House official to resign following allegations of abuse

Discussion: Media Matters for America

The Daily Beast:
Trump White House Tried, and Failed, to Keep Aide Rob Porter After Accusations of Wife-Beating Surfaced

Discussion: RedState

New York Times:
Rob Porter, White House Aide, Resigns After Accusations of Abuse

Discussion: The Week

Del Quentin Wilber / Wall Street Journal:

Texts From 2016 Show FBI Employees Preparing Obama Briefing on Russia — Exchange doesn't relate to Clinton email probe, as a Republican senator suggests — Text messages from 2016 show preparation to brief Barack Obama about Russia's interference in that year's election …

Discussion: Political Wire

Jake Gibson / Fox News:

FBI lovers' latest text messages: Obama ‘wants to know everything’ — Newly revealed text messages between FBI paramours Peter Strzok and Lisa Page include an exchange about preparing talking points for then-FBI Director James Comey to give to President Obama, who wanted “to know everything we're doing.”

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Fox News' latest ‘bombshell’ on Obama and the FBI is a total fraud — Early Wednesday, Fox News published an explosive new story alleging President Obama sought detailed briefings about the Clinton email investigation. The report is based on texts between FBI agents Peter Strzok …

Discussion: CNN, Geller Report, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, Fox News Insider, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News and Breitbart

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Obama Text from FBI Agent Hyped by Fox News Reportedly Was Not About Clinton Probe — So if you've been plugged into the news today, you may have seen the news of more Peter Strzok-Lisa Page texts being released. The text getting the most attention is the one reading …

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Power Line and Instapundit

hsgac.senate.gov:
Chairman Johnson Releases Interim Report Including Strzok-Page FBI Text Messages

Discussion: The Last Refuge and NewsBusters

David Marchese / Vulture:

In Conversation: Quincy Jones — In both music and manner, Quincy Jones has always registered — from afar, anyway — as smooth, sophisticated, and impeccably well-connected. (That's what earning 28 Grammy awards and co-producing Michael Jackson's biggest-selling albums will do.)

Discussion: Weekly Standard, theGrio, fox8.com, AOL, Business Insider, GeekWire, TMZ.com, The Daily Caller, The Stranger …, The Guardian, Breitbart and Mashable

NBC News:

Russians penetrated U.S. voter systems, says top U.S. official — The U.S. official in charge of protecting American elections from hacking says the Russians successfully penetrated the voter registration rolls of several U.S. states prior to the 2016 presidential election.

Discussion: CNBC

Washington Post:

Sweeping budget deal would add $400 billion in federal spending, end months of partisan wrangling … Congressional leaders on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping budget deal that would add about $400 billion in federal spending over the next two years, delivering the military funding boost demanded …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, National Review, ThinkProgress, Axios, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Joe.My.God., CNBC, AOL, The Week, New Republic, Outside the Beltway and Talking Points Memo

CNN:
Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal

Discussion: National Review, ThinkProgress, The Daily Signal, Common Dreams, ABC News, Washington Post, CBS San Francisco, Washington Free Beacon, Q13 FOX News and Politico

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi's filibuster-style speech tops six hours in bid to force immigration votes

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God. and Washington Free Beacon

Nicole Gaudiano / USA Today:
Nancy Pelosi has been telling DREAMer stories for 5 hours. And she's still talking

Discussion: Business Insider, bizpacreview.com, AOL and twitchy.com

ABC News:

Trump's call for big military parade gets mixed reaction on Capitol Hill — Coming up in the next {{countdown}} {{countdownlbl}} — Coming up next: — {{nextVideo.title}} — {{nextVideo.description}} — Skip to this video now — Related Extras Related Videos Video Transcript

Discussion: Breitbart

Washington Post:
‘Tanks, but no tanks’: D.C. officials pan Trump's proposed grand military parade

Discussion: Politico, Al Jazeera English, Splinter, CNBC, Hit & Run, BloombergQuint, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, KTLA, The Stranger … and Washingtonian

Nicole Chavez / CNN:
1942, 1946: New York parades — Crowds of people filled …

Discussion: The Atlantic, USA Today, The Hill, Breitbart and Atlas Obscura

Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Lawmakers balk at potential cost of Trump's military parade

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, NBC News, Fox News Insider and The Mahablog

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Donald Trump's Hair Illusion Came Undone and We All Missed It — Last Friday, at the end of one of those frenetic weeks of news that now happen every week, President Trump boarded Air Force One. The wind whipped across the tarmac with unusual force. Trump, who normally has a MAGA hat for such occasions, was unusually unprepared.

Discussion: The Sun, TMZ.com, Business Insider, Booman Tribune, The Root, The Stranger …, VICE and theGrio

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Video Shows Trump's Beloved Hair Swept Away By Wind To Expose Scalp

Discussion: The Guardian, London Evening Standard, Metro.co.uk, Sputnik International, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Terri Peters / TODAY.com:

Meet the first Gerber baby with Down syndrome; his name is Lucas! — The 2018 Gerber baby is Lucas Warren, a 1-year-old from Dalton, Georgia who is the first child with Down syndrome to be named a Gerber baby since the contest's start in 2010. — “He's very outgoing and never meets a stranger …

Discussion: RedState, USA Today, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, National Review and Washington Post

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

NEW: Criminal Referral Confirms Nunes Memo's Explosive Claims Of FISA Abuse — A criminal referral from top Senate investigators confirms explosive charges in last week's House Intelligence Committee memo regarding abuse of surveillance authorities at the FBI and Department of Justice.

Discussion: Power Line, The Daily Signal, RedState, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and American Greatness

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
No, Trump has not been ‘contained.’ He's still as big a threat as ever.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, New York Magazine, Crooked Media, CNBC, New York Times and CNNMoney

CNN:
Former CIA analysts: We can't trust Devin Nunes

Discussion: Daily Kos, Reason, New Republic and New York Times

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Democrats flipped a Missouri state legislature seat that Trump won by 28 points — Special elections are painting a bleak outlook for the GOP. — Democrats had another good Tuesday night of special elections, this time in Missouri, where Mike Revis won a 3-point victory in House District 97 …

Discussion: Politico

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
Democrats Win Special Election In Missouri District That Went Big For Trump

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Root, New York Times, Common Dreams, Washington Post, The Week and Shareblue Media

Jack Suntrup / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Democrats snag Missouri House seat, Republicans hang onto 3 others in special election

Discussion: NBC News, The Nation, Splinter and Political Wire

Kerry Lotzof / nhm.ac.uk:

Cheddar Man: Mesolithic Britain's blue-eyed boy — Ancient DNA from Cheddar Man, a Mesolithic skeleton discovered in 1903 at Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, has helped Museum scientists paint a portrait of one of the oldest modern humans in Britain.

Discussion: New York Times, ThinkProgress, Sputnik International, Atlas Obscura and Gizmodo

Hannah Devlin / The Guardian:
First modern Britons had ‘dark to black’ skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals

Discussion: theGrio, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Beast and The Poke

Christine Brennan / USA Today:

Openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon declined chance to speak with Vice President Pence — PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - Vice President Pence is set to arrive here soon to lead the official U.S. delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympic opening ceremony, a delegation that is making a strong political statement …

Discussion: Splinter, Business Insider, LGBTQ Nation, Shareblue Media, twitchy.com, Daily Kos and Joe.My.God.

Reena Flores / Politico:

Meghan McCain believes Trump won't mock her father — President Donald Trump won't be trashing Sen. John McCain anytime soon. — After months of criticizing the war veteran over his stance on a GOP health care bill and more, the president called the Arizona Republican's daughter Meghan …

Discussion: CNN, bizpacreview.com, Raw Story and Splinter