memeorandum: Richard Pryor's Widow Confirms He Slept with Marlon Brando (TMZ.com)

12:10 AM ET, February 8, 2018

Top Items:

CNN:

White House officials knew about Porter's abuse allegations and scrambled to protect him — (CNN)Allegations of domestic abuse levied against top White House staffer Rob Porter by his ex-wives were known among senior aides to President Donald Trump for months, even as his stock …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story and Politicus USA

Daily Mail:

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 …

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: Raw Story, Mediaite and Washington Monthly

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.

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, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider, The Week and Mediaite

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Trump's Worst Watcher — Do you remember back when everybody thought John Kelly was going to calm down the Trump White House? — Stop laughing. Although it has been another wow of a week, hasn't it? We had one top administration official, Rob Porter, resigning over claims of domestic abuse regarding two ex-wives.

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

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigns amid abuse allegations

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

Eliana Johnson / Politico: In new statement, Kelly says he was ‘shocked’ by Porter allegations and condemns abuse

Washington Post: Ex-wife of White House aide alleges emotional and physical abuse.

CNN:
White House aide denies abuse allegations but resigns

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, The Atlantic, Mediaite, The Week and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
White House aide Rob Porter resigns after allegations from ex-wives

Discussion: Vox, Above the Law and Mediaite

Erin Gloria Ryan / The Daily Beast:
Rob Porter Shows That in Trumpworld, Nothing Is More Convincing Than a Man's Denial

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Axios, Bloomberg, 89.3 KPCC, Talking Points Memo and bizpacreview.com

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: No More Mister Nice Blog and RedState

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

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: Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Fox News Insider, Front Page Magazine and The Daily Caller

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Right-wing media obsesses over FBI text message story; hours later it's debunked — Members of the pro-Trump media acted like they hit the goldmine on Wednesday morning. Led by Fox News, these outlets went into a frenzy over what they presented as an explosive story that not only cast former President Obama …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Dan Merica / CNN:
GOP senator's accusation about Obama's involvement in Clinton email investigation called into question

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Geller Report, Raw Story, NBC News, The Daily Beast, CNBC and Hullabaloo

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Obama Text from FBI Agent Hyped by Fox News Reportedly Was Not About Clinton Probe

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

Jake Gibson / Fox News:
FBI lovers' latest text messages: Obama ‘wants to know everything’

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: New York Magazine, The Hill, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Business Insider, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, National Review, Joe.My.God., Axios, The Week, CNBC, AOL, New Republic, One America News Network and Talking Points Memo

CNN:
Pelosi sets record with 8-hour marathon speech on DACA

Discussion: The Daily Caller, bizpacreview.com, RedState, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, Mashable, The Week, Shakesville, Mediaite and twitchy.com

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

Discussion: The Atlantic, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., Washington Free Beacon, Mother Jones and Politico

CNN:
Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal

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

Tal Kopan / CNN:
House Democrats face tough choice over budget deal and immigration

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Antagonists Days Ago, McConnell and Schumer Find Common Cause

Discussion: Splinter and Mother Jones

Andrew Desiderio / The Daily Beast:
As Nancy Pelosi Talks, Some Democrats See DREAMer Hopes Fading

Discussion: Politico

Tal Kopan / CNN: Exclusive: Pressure grows on Paul Ryan to commit to immigration debate

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

TMZ.com:

Richard Pryor's Widow Confirms He Slept with Marlon Brando — Richard Pryor had a lot of sex in the '70s — and it was with both men and women — including Marlon Brando ... according to Pryor's widow, Jennifer. — Jennifer confirmed the Richard-Marlon hookup, which Quincy Jones first mentioned in a pretty wild Vulture interview.

Discussion: theGrio, AOL, The Root and Mediaite

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, New York Daily News, New York Post, GQ, The Hill, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, NBC News and Splinter

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Nunes: We've ‘grappled’ with approaching Chief Justice Roberts — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes — (R-Calif.) has weighed whether it would be possible to bring Chief Justice John Roberts to “testify” before Congress as part of his investigation into political malfeasance at the Department of Justice.

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Talking Points Memo

Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:
House Intel Committee Chair Devin Nunes

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Daily Kos and The Gateway Pundit

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: USA Today, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, RedState, Washington Post, National Review, KXAN-TV, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, The Daily Signal and AOL

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

ICE Wants to Be an Intelligence Agency Under Trump … Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement are actively exploring joining the U.S. Intelligence Community, The Daily Beast has learned. — The effort is helmed by a small cohort of career Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) …

Discussion: Axios, Splinter and Raw Story

Cindy Cohn / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

John Perry Barlow, Internet Pioneer, 1947-2018 — With a broken heart I have to announce that EFF's founder, visionary, and our ongoing inspiration, John Perry Barlow, passed away quietly in his sleep this morning. We will miss Barlow and his wisdom for decades to come, and he will always be an integral part of EFF.

Discussion: The Verge, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, NBC News and NPR, more at Techmeme »

Maggie Jones / New York Times:

What Teenagers Are Learning From Online Porn — American adolescents watch much more pornography than their parents know — and it's shaping their ideas about pleasure, power and intimacy. Can they be taught to see it more critically? — Drew was 8 years old when he was flipping through TV channels …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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: RedState, Talking Points Memo, The Sun, Business Insider, TMZ.com, London Evening Standard, Metro.co.uk, Booman Tribune, The Root, The Stranger …, VICE, theGrio and Joe.My.God.

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 …