memeorandum: Nunes: We've ‘grappled’ with approaching Chief Justice Roberts (Katie Bo Williams/The Hill)

10:45 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: Little Green Footballs, Politico, Latest from Crooks and Liars, KTLA, Mother Jones, Politicus USA, Business Insider, Jezebel, Mediaite, Townhall.com, CNBC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ABC News, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, The Guardian, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

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, Politicus USA and Raw Story

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: Washington Monthly, Raw Story 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.

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, The Week and Mediaite

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 and Mediaite

Gail Collins / New York Times: Trump's Worst Watcher

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

Discussion: Vox, Above the Law and The Week

CNN:
White House aide denies abuse allegations but resigns

Discussion: Raw Story and The Rush Limbaugh Show

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

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, Bloomberg, Axios, Talking Points Memo, 89.3 KPCC and bizpacreview.com

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

Discussion: Media Matters for America

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, 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 …

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

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, Breitbart and Power Line

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Fox News' latest ‘bombshell’ on Obama and the FBI is a total fraud

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, Raw Story and Instapundit

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 …

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, bizpacreview.com, RedState, 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, Politico, Joe.My.God., Washington Free Beacon and Mother Jones

CNN:
Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal

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

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

Discussion: Splinter and Mother Jones

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

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress

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: theGrio, The Stranger …, Weekly Standard, TMZ.com, Business Insider, AOL, fox8.com, The Guardian, Mediaite, GeekWire, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Gizmodo, 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 Post, 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: Talking Points Memo and Shareblue Media

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

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos

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 and The Week

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 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, NBC News, New York Magazine and NPR, more at Techmeme »

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

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

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: WNEP-TV, Splinter, LGBTQ Nation, Shareblue Media, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, Business Insider, AOL and Joe.My.God.

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Pence steps into a more prominent role on the world stage

Discussion: One America News Network

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

MSNBC's Katy Tur: Am I Out Of Touch For Not Cheering A $1,000 Bonus? — MSNBC's Katy Tur was scorched Monday on Twitter for “condescending” tweets she sent out during President Trump's visit to a plant in Ohio where the company's employees received a $1,000 bonus.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Mediaite and NewsBusters

Maya Dukmasova / Chicago Reader:

Ten women sign letter accusing Northwestern journalism professor Alec Klein of sexual harassment and assault [UPDATED] — Ten former students of Northwestern University professor Alec Klein have issued a public letter accusing the award-winning journalist and Medill Justice Project director …

Discussion: WGN-TV

Gizmodo:

The House That Spied on Me — Kashmir — In December, I converted my one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco into a “smart home.” I connected as many of my appliances and belongings as I could to the internet: an Amazon Echo, my lights, my coffee maker, my baby monitor, my kid's toys …