memeorandum: Pence's Olympic mission: Countering North Korean propaganda (Ashley Parker/Washington Post)

5:30 PM ET, February 9, 2018

Top Items:

CNN:

Trump frustrated with Hicks' role in Porter scandal — Porter's ex-wife: I don't think he's changed — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Hope Hicks, his communications director and one of his closest confidantes, amid the fallout from the Rob Porter scandal …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fortune, Washington Post, The Root, Common Dreams, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Eschaton, KTLA, The Week, The Daily Caller, JONATHAN TURLEY, thecut and The Daily Beast

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:

Sources: Chief of Staff John Kelly expressed to President Trump willingness to resign — President Donald Trump, furious over the handling of domestic abuse allegations involving one of his closest aides, has spoken to confidantes about the possibility of replacing embattled Chief of Staff John Kelly …

Discussion: Axios, CNN, The Daily Caller, Splinter, Political Wire, Mediaite and BloombergQuint

Washington Post:

Kelly offers account of Porter exit that some White House aides consider untrue … White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Friday morning instructed senior staff to communicate a version of events about the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter that contradicts the administration's previous accounts …

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, KTLA, The Week, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, AOL, Raw Story, Splinter, Political Wire and Shareblue Media

New York Times:

Trump Praises Top Adviser Accused of Abusing Ex-Wives — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday praised Rob Porter, the White House staff secretary who resigned on Wednesday amid spousal abuse allegations, saying it was a “tough time” for the disgraced former aide and noting that Mr. Porter had denied the accusations.

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Post, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Dozens at White House lack permanent security clearances … Dozens of White House employees are awaiting permanent security clearances and have been working for months with temporary approvals to handle sensitive information while the FBI continues to probe their backgrounds, according to U.S. officials.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Vox, emptywheel, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Times

Jen Kirby / Vox:

Trump reportedly thinks Hope Hicks put herself before White House in the Porter scandal — The president is said to be frustrated with his close aide over her handling of the White House's response to the abuse allegations. — The fallout from the Rob Porter scandal has engulfed Trump's inner circle at the White House.

Discussion: CNN, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, Joe.My.God., CNNMoney and Hullabaloo

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Trump lavishes praise on Rob Porter, former top aide accused of domestic violence — President Trump on Friday afternoon lavished praise on one of his former top aides, Rob Porter, who resigned earlier this week amid accusations that he physically, verbally and emotionally abused his two ex-wives.

Discussion: NPR, Balloon Juice, Heavy.com, The Guardian, The Week and HuffPost

Jane Coaston / Vox:
The White House had to protect Rob Porter to save Donald Trump

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Religion News Service, RedState, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Helena Andrews-Dyer / Washington Post:
Omarosa says she wouldn't vote for Trump again ‘in a million years’

Discussion: Washington Times

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
John Kelly crisis engulfs the West Wing

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Raw Story and The Week

The Daily Beast:
In Private, Donald Trump Voices Doubt About Rob Porter's Accusers

Discussion: RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Page 2 News and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Top White House officials knew of abuse allegations against top aide for months

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
Anthony Scaramucci: If I were John Kelly, I wouldn't try to ‘cover up’ the Porter scandal

Discussion: Axios and The Guardian

New York Times:
Unwelcome Attention for John Kelly, the Man Enlisted to Bring Calm

Discussion: USA Today, Vox, Mother Jones, CNBC, Salon, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, thecut, Taylor Marsh, Joe.My.God., The Week, ThinkProgress, CBS News, Politico, Weekly Standard, NBC News, Mediaite and Axios

Katie Benner / New York Times:

No. 3 Official at the Justice Department Is Stepping Down — WASHINGTON — Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country's top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision.

Discussion: CNBC, CNN, Raw Story and Business Insider

Michael Lewis / Bloomberg:

Has Anyone Seen the President? — Michael Lewis goes to Washington in search of Trump and winds up watching the State of the Union with Steve Bannon. — Back when he was president, Barack Obama told me that only two people treated any interaction with him as a zero-sum game.

Discussion: Axios, BloombergQuint, Front Page Magazine and CNBC

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox News Removes Exec's “Darker, Gayer” Olympics Column After Uproar — Three gay rights organizations had criticized the piece. — Fox News has removed an online column by executive vp and executive editor John Moody following intense criticism online and from gay rights activists, who roundly attacked the piece.

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, Splinter, Washington Blade, Mediaite and Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »

John Moody / Fox News:
In Olympics, let's focus on the winner of the race — not the race of the winner

Discussion: Washington Post, CNNMoney, Breitbart, NPR, Boing Boing, Mediaite, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, theGrio, LGBTQ Nation, The Week, Sarah Palin, Hullabaloo, AOL and Media Matters for America

Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
‘Zero Editorial Oversight’: Fox Yanks Editor's Offensive Olympics Column

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Washington Post:

Breaking with tradition, Trump skips president's written intelligence report and relies on oral briefings … For much of the past year, President Trump has declined to participate in a practice followed by the past seven of his predecessors: He rarely if ever reads the President's Daily Brief …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Business Insider, NewsBusters, Hullabaloo, Splinter, Axios, VICE News, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, The Week, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

James Risen / The Intercept:

U.S. Secretly Negotiated With Russians to Buy Stolen NSA Documents — and the Russians Offered Trump-Related Material, Too — The United States intelligence community has been conducting a top-secret operation to recover stolen classified U.S. government documents from Russian operatives, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Jonathan M. Winer / Washington Post:

Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here's the truth. — Jonathan M. Winer, a Washington lawyer and consultant, is a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement and former special envoy for Libya. — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Bloomberg, Raw Story, bizpacreview.com and The Daily Caller

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
Who Is Christopher Steele?

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Newsweek Editors Blast Exec to His Face: 'What You're Doing Is Bulls**t. You Don't Understand Journalism.' … During a private meeting with editors this week, a top Newsweek executive blamed his own journalists for the magazine's recent turmoil and refused to answer whether the company committed financial crimes.

Discussion: CNNMoney, Mediaite and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Sam Levin / The Guardian:

California police worked with neo-Nazis to pursue ‘anti-racist’ activists, documents show — Officers expressed sympathy with white supremacists and sought their help to target counter protesters after a violent 2016 rally, according to court documents

Discussion: The Root, ThinkProgress, Splinter, Shakesville, Raw Story, The Week, Common Dreams and theGrio

Uber Newsroom:

Uber and Waymo Reach Settlement — Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmailMore sharing options — Below is a statement from Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, regarding a settlement reached in our litigation with Waymo. — My job as Uber's CEO is to set the course for the future of the company …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Verge, New York Times, KQED News, NPR, NBC News, GeekWire, Engadget and Mashable, more at Techmeme »

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Minnesota Rep. Nolan won't run for reelection — Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) said Friday he won't seek reelection this year, a blow to Democrats' chances at holding his battleground seat in November. — Nolan, 74, was first elected to Congress in the Watergate midterm election of 1974.

Discussion: The Week and Roll Call

Maya Rao / Star Tribune:
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan won't run for re-election in 8th District

Discussion: mprnews.org, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

Jennifer Wadsworth / San Jose Inside:

Bay Area News Group Hammered by More Layoffs, Resignations — Bay Area News Group—the Digital First Media chain that includes the Mercury News and several South Bay community newspapers—went through yet another downsizing this week. More than two-dozen journalists and support staff lost …

CBS San Francisco:
San Francisco Bay Area Experiences Mass Exodus Of Residents

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show and alicublog

Heidi Przybyla / NBC News:

Sen. Tim Kaine demands release of secret Trump war powers memo — WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is demanding the release of a secret memo outlining President Trump's interpretation of his legal authority to wage war. — Kaine, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Roll Call, Shakesville, Common Dreams, Raw Story and RedState

David Mack / BuzzFeed:

This Student Failed Her Assignment Because Her Professor Said “Australia Isn't A Country” — This is Ashley Arnold, a 27-year-old resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She's a stay-at-home mom completing an online sociology degree with Southern New Hampshire University.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, VICE, Hit & Run and Boing Boing

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Arizona G.O.P. Tiptoes Between a Trump-Loving Base and a Leery Wider Electorate — PHOENIX — Representative Martha McSally of Arizona worked hard to carve out a moderate profile since her election in 2014 to a border district seat that had been held for decades by paragons of centrism from both political parties.

Rose Hackman / The Guardian:

The Michigan town where only Christians are allowed to buy houses — Bay View is for many an idyllic community - but a lawsuit will test its rule that only practicing Christians can own property … Tucked away in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, somewhere along the winding roads that hug Great Lakes shores …

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

We All Live on Campus Now — Over the last year, the most common rebuttal to my intermittent coverage of campus culture has been: Why does it matter? These are students, after all. They'll grow up once they leave their cloistered, neo-Marxist safe spaces. The real world isn't like that.

Phys.org:

‘Sinking’ Pacific nation is getting bigger: study — The Pacific nation of Tuvalu—long seen as a prime candidate to disappear as climate change forces up sea levels—is actually growing in size, new research shows. — A University of Auckland study examined changes in the geography …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Daily Caller and Front Page Magazine

Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:

High-School Coach ‘Ignored’ Boy's Screams as Teammates Raped Him, Lawsuit Claims … La Vernia, Texas—population 1,200—has struggled to emerge from a cloud that covered the sports-obsessed town after rape allegations involving its most gifted athletes went public almost one year ago.

Discussion: San Antonio Express-News and Raw Story

Foreign Policy:

Trump's Use of Sanctions May Be Unsustainable — The president risks weakening one of America's most formidable policy tools. — A year into his presidency, President Donald Trump has become an aggressive practitioner of economic sanctions. So far, the Treasury Department has added over 700 people …

Laura Stevens / Wall Street Journal:

Amazon to Launch Delivery Service That Would Vie With FedEx, UPS — The company is preparing to begin the offering in Los Angeles with its ‘third-party merchants’ and then roll it out more broadly — Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -4.68% is preparing to launch a delivery service for businesses …