Top Items:
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:
emptywheel and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
The Daily Beast:
Trump White House Fingered Corey Lewandowski in Rob Porter ‘Smear Campaign’ … Late Tuesday night, senior White House officials reached out to Sen. Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) office with an urgent request. They needed the Utah Republican to put together a statement praising his former chief …
Washington Post:
Top White House officials knew of abuse allegations against top aide for months — White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew one year ago that Staff Secretary Rob Porter's ex-wives accused him of domestic violence but allowed him to serve as an influential gatekeeper and aide to President Trump …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Splinter, thecut, The Week, Axios, Mediaite, fox13now.com, Politico, Vox, Boing Boing, Women in the World and Raw Story
New York Times:
Unwelcome Attention for John Kelly, the Man Enlisted to Bring Calm — WASHINGTON — Among the many people agitated this week over John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, was President Trump. And among the people the president called to express dissatisfaction, according to those close to him …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Joe.My.God., CBS News, The Week, NBC News, Mediaite, Axios and Balloon Juice
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“He Was F—ing Pissed”: With Rob Porter Gone, the Heat on John Kelly Is Increasing — Trump is not happy with the chaos; Jared and Ivanka are trying to right the ship; and even Hope Hicks, one of the president's closest confidants, is in trouble. — A day after White House Staff Secretary …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Esquire, Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
John Kelly crisis engulfs the West Wing — The Rob Porter crisis has become a John Kelly crisis, and it has now totally engulfed the West Wing. White House staff — especially Porter's close friendship circle —are shell-shocked by the allegations of domestic abuse by the departing aide.
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Week, Washington Post and Shareblue Media
Helena Andrews-Dyer / Washington Post:
Omarosa says she wouldn't vote for Trump again ‘in a million years’ … She claimed to be looking forward to “staying away from the media,” but that didn't stop Omarosa from dropping as many headline-making statements as she could during Thursday night's episode of “Celebrity Big Brother.”
Discussion:
Washington Times and Political Wire
Tierney McAfee / People.com:
Inside Hope Hicks' Troubled Romances with Ousted Top Trump Aides Rob Porter and Corey Lewandowski — President Trump's communications director Hope Hicks has now been romantically linked to not one but two ousted Trump aides who have been accused of violence against women.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNNMoney, Business Insider, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Women in the World and The Federalist
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Kelly knew before abuse reports that Porter would be denied security clearance
Kelly knew before abuse reports that Porter would be denied security clearance
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Associated Press
MJ Lee / CNN:
Email to FBI: Porter's friend ‘actively working to quell’ background check issues
Email to FBI: Porter's friend ‘actively working to quell’ background check issues
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today and Business Insider
Erin Gloria Ryan / The Daily Beast:
Why the Hell Is Hope Hicks Getting Off Easy?
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Rob Porter's History of Domestic Abuse Wasn't a Secret. It's Just That No One Cared.
Rob Porter's History of Domestic Abuse Wasn't a Secret. It's Just That No One Cared.
Discussion:
Axios, CNN, The Week, Politico, The Guardian, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, VICE News, Talking Points Memo, The Nation, The Hill and RedState
John Bowden / The Hill:
McGahn, Kelly knew of Porter allegations for months: report
McGahn, Kelly knew of Porter allegations for months: report
Discussion:
RedState and Washington Post
Justin Baragona / Mediaite:
Rob Porter's Ex-Wife: 'If He Hasn't Already Been Abusive' With Hope Hicks, ‘He Will Be’
Kyle Swenson / Washington Post:
‘Your story is mine’: Rob Porter's ex, Jennie Willoughby, inspires outpouring from abuse survivors
‘Your story is mine’: Rob Porter's ex, Jennie Willoughby, inspires outpouring from abuse survivors
Discussion:
NBC News, Althouse, thecut and The Daily Beast
Hot Air:
Rush On The GOP Budget: I Just Don't Worry Much About The National Debt Anymore — You don't say. Any comment, Rand Paul? … It does seem that way, now that you mention it. And so I give you the dean of “conservative” talk radio, responding to a caller this afternoon who's concerned …
Discussion:
Politicus USA, twitchy.com, The Rush Limbaugh Show and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
The dumbest shutdown ever
The dumbest shutdown ever
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Associated Press and Splinter
Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP rips Rand for shutdown
GOP rips Rand for shutdown
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNBC, Associated Press, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, VICE News and Washington Post
CNN:
Federal government shuts down as Rand Paul holds up key vote
Federal government shuts down as Rand Paul holds up key vote
Discussion:
Q13 FOX News, Shakesville, KTLA, Reuters, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, Splinter, Outside the Beltway and Mediaite
James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Rand Paul's short-lived shutdown is ending, but his warning about GOP deficit hypocrisy reverberates
The Daily 202: Rand Paul's short-lived shutdown is ending, but his warning about GOP deficit hypocrisy reverberates
Discussion:
Hit & Run, VICE News, The Week, New York Times and Axios
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Brief government shutdown ends as Trump signs spending bill
Brief government shutdown ends as Trump signs spending bill
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Week and Power Line
Ed Henry / Fox News:
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner texted with Russian oligarch lobbyist in effort to contact dossier author Christopher Steele — EXCLUSIVE - Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been leading a congressional investigation into President Trump's alleged ties to Russia …
RELATED:
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Steele's Back Channel To Democratic Senator Was Lobbyist For Russia's Foreign Minister
Steele's Back Channel To Democratic Senator Was Lobbyist For Russia's Foreign Minister
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite
Hannah Levintova / Mother Jones:
Russian Activist Alleges New Link Between the Kremlin and Paul Manafort
Russian Activist Alleges New Link Between the Kremlin and Paul Manafort
Discussion:
The Moscow Times, Raw Story and Associated Press
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:
Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, bizpacreview.com, BloombergQuint and Business Insider
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
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 …
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 …
Hollywood Reporter:
Jill Messick's Family Issues Blistering Statement on Harvey Weinstein and Rose McGowan — “Seeing her name in headlines again and again, as part of one person's attempt to gain more attention for her personal cause, along with Harvey's desperate attempt to vindicate himself, was devastating for her,” the family said.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Jezebel, Breitbart, CBS Los Angeles, Fox News, The Blast and Deadline
Mark Osborne / ABC News:
Pence bashes North Korea's military parade, endorses Trump's parade — Vice President Mike Pence engaged in a game of parade one-upmanship on Friday as he spoke to reporters in South Korea ahead of the opening ceremonies for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Discussion:
RedState, Politico, Breitbart, One America News Network, Raw Story and Associated Press
RELATED:
Carla Marinucci / Politico:
MeToo movement lawmaker investigated for sexual misconduct allegations — SAN FRANCISCO — California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia — whose high-profile advocacy of the #MeToo movement earned her national media notice — is herself the subject of a state legislative investigation in the wake …
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 …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Daily Caller, AOL, Investor's Business Daily, The Week and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
CBS San Francisco:
San Francisco Bay Area Experiences Mass Exodus Of Residents — SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) - The number of people packing up and moving out of the Bay Area just hit its highest level in more than a decade. — Carole Dabak spent 40 years living in San Jose and now she's part of the mass exodus that is showing no signs of slowing down.
David Ovalle / miamiherald:
Bad info from Spirit Air led me to flush pet hamster down airport toilet, student says — Before Belen Aldecosea flew home from from college to South Florida, she twice called Spirit Airlines to ensure she could bring along a special guest: Pebbles, her pet dwarf hamster. No problem, the airline told her.
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Post, JONATHAN TURLEY, Jezebel, NBC News, The Guardian, AOL, KRON4.com, bizpacreview.com, WGN-TV, Mashable, KTLA, The Stranger …, Gizmodo, Weekly Standard, twitchy.com, VICE and Mediaite