Top Items:
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump's Longtime Lawyer Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket — Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to a pornographic-film actress who had once claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump.
Discussion:
RedState, ThinkProgress, Politico, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Press, Raw Story, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Washington Times, The Week, New York Post, Political Wire, FOX40, KFOR-TV, Mediaite and NBC News
Washington Post:
White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser … The White House struggled Tuesday to contain a widening crisis over its handling of domestic violence allegations against a senior official, as it reeled from sworn testimony by the FBI chief …
Discussion:
The Week, Raw Story, Political Wire and Mediaite
RELATED:
Axios:
Scoop: Trump threatens veto on immigration deal — A senior administration official said Tuesday night that President Trump “will veto any bill that doesn't advance his common-sense immigration reforms” — a hardening of the White House bargaining position as the Senate begins an epic debate.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
White House Was Warned of Aide's Background Months Earlier Than Acknowledged — WASHINGTON — Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, contradicted on Tuesday the White House timeline about the domestic abuse scandal involving Rob Porter, the president's former staff secretary.
Discussion:
National Review, TheBlaze, AOL, Raw Story, IJR, Fox News Insider, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Vox, Jezebel, Political Wire and Politico
Wall Street Journal:
FBI Director's Timeline of Porter Probe Contradicts White House — Christopher Wray tells Senate committee that agency ‘administratively closed’ file on Rob Porter, contradicting White House claim that probe was ongoing — The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said his agency …
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Axios
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
White House official: “Kelly cover-up is unraveling” — Chief of Staff John Kelly's White House enemies are ready to use FBI Director Chris Wray's testimony as a weapon: “Wray's FBI timeline makes one thing clear: the Kelly coverup is unraveling right before our eyes,” a White House official says.
Discussion:
Politico, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Washington Post, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, VICE News, TheBlaze, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Political Wire and The Mahablog
Piers Morgan / Daily Mail:
The wife-beater, the witch and the White House: Why the hell did Trump ever tell Rob Porter and Omarosa 'you're hired'? — ‘Shut the f**k up, a**hole,’ snarled Omarosa Manigault-Newman at me. 'How are your kids going to feel when they wake up and discover their dad's a f**king f*gg*t?'
Discussion:
CBS News, AOL, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, Raw Story, theGrio, twitchy.com and IJR
CNN:
Porter was up for promotion despite abuse allegations
Porter was up for promotion despite abuse allegations
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Press, Washington Post, Axios, CNBC, Daily Kos, Women in the World, The Root, AOL, Business Insider, The Week and Talking Points Memo
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Porter blamed ex-wife's black eye on an accident in off-the-record meeting with reporters
Porter blamed ex-wife's black eye on an accident in off-the-record meeting with reporters
Discussion:
IJR and Business Insider
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Sanders flails after she's busted lying about Porter scandal: ‘We relay the best and most accurate information’
Sanders flails after she's busted lying about Porter scandal: ‘We relay the best and most accurate information’
Discussion:
Politico
David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
How the White House Gamed the Security-Clearance System
How the White House Gamed the Security-Clearance System
Discussion:
Splinter, Vox, Talking Points Memo and VICE News
John Bowden / The Hill:
Piers Morgan accuses Omarosa of offering him sex to win ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Piers Morgan accuses Omarosa of offering him sex to win ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Discussion:
RedState, The Right Scoop and Joe.My.God.
Carrie Battan / ELLE:
Louise Linton Is Super-Duper Sorry — Louise Linton has accomplished the near-impossible task of locating an ordinary meeting place in the most moneyed stretch of the Upper East Side, where she and her husband, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, own an apartment.
Discussion:
Splinter, Business Insider, AOL, Hollywood Life, Jezebel, Mediaite, thecut, The Week and Political Wire
Sean Hannity:
PORTRAIT PERVERSION: Obama Portrait Features ‘SECRET SPERM,’ Artist Joked About ‘Killing Whitey’ — The widening scandal surrounding former President Barack Obama's official portrait continued to swirl on Tuesday, with shocking allegations the artist included ‘secret sperm cells’ within …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Examiner, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, The Week, newsmediawatchdog, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Washington Press, AOL, RedState, twitchy.com, CANNONFIRE, ThinkProgress, theGrio, The Wrap, Right Wing Watch, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Stream, Economics Job Market Rumors and Washington Post
RELATED:
Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Sean Hannity Promotes, Then Deletes Bonkers Obama Portrait ‘Secret Sperm’ Conspiracy Theory … The official portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama received a wide array of reactions when they were unveiled on Monday. But none has been quite as insane …
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Democrat Margaret Good Flips Seat in Florida, the 36th Democratic Flip Since Trump's Inauguration … Margaret Good won a special election for state representative in Florida's 72nd district on Tuesday night, the Democratic party's 36th legislative flip since President Donald Trump's inauguration last year.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Politicus USA and Florida Politics
RELATED:
HuffPost:
NY Times ‘Very Concerned’ Over Tweets By Its Nazi-Befriending Editorial Board Hire — Quinn Norton has tweeted that she's friends with neo-Nazis, and has used slurs on a regular basis. — The New York Times is investigating past tweets by Quinn Norton, a journalist who just joined the paper's editorial board, HuffPost has learned.
Discussion:
Splinter, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
NY Times Hires, Quickly Fires Journalist With History of Homophobic Tweets … Less than 24 hours after she was hired, The New York Times on Tuesday fired editorial board member Quinn Norton, after a history of homophobic and racially insensitive tweets were uncovered.
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Ari Bevacqua / The New York Times Company:
Quinn Norton Named to Editorial Board
Quinn Norton Named to Editorial Board
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
Netanyahu Should Be Charged With Bribery and Fraud, Israeli Police Say — JERUSALEM — The Israeli police recommended on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, casting a pall over the future of a tenacious leader who has become almost synonymous with his country.
Discussion:
Business Insider, BBC, NPR, Political Wire and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Israeli police recommend indictment of Netanyahu on corruption charges
Israeli police recommend indictment of Netanyahu on corruption charges
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Vox
Josef Federman / Associated Press:
Police recommend corruption charges for Netanyahu
Police recommend corruption charges for Netanyahu
Discussion:
Haaretz, The Daily Beast, Jerusalem Post, RedState and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
CNN:
Trump still unconvinced Russia meddled in 2016 election — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump still isn't buying that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. — Even as his intelligence chiefs unanimously told a Senate panel Tuesday that Russia meddled in 2016 and is planning to do so again in 2018 …
Discussion:
The Atlantic and Mediaite
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Brett Samuels / The Hill:
FBI chief: Trump hasn't directed me to stop Russian meddling in midterms
FBI chief: Trump hasn't directed me to stop Russian meddling in midterms
Discussion:
IJR
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Jared Kushner credit line debts increased in 2017 — Jared Kushner, a White House aide and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, appears to have drawn more money out of three separate lines of credit in the months after he joined the White House last year, a newly released document shows.
RELATED:
Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Kushner has added millions in debt since joining White House
Kushner has added millions in debt since joining White House
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Jim Dalrymple II / BuzzFeed:
In The Wake Of Rob Porter Allegations, Mormon Women Say Church Leaders Encouraged Them To Stay With Their Abusers — Nearly two dozen women told BuzzFeed News they went to Mormon church leaders after suffering abuse at home and were counseled to remain in their relationships.
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Corker Reconsiders Retirement, but He Must Win Over Trump to Do It — WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has been reconsidering his decision to retire this year, but Mr. Corker's hopes for retaining his seat are running into a potentially insurmountable object: President Trump.
Discussion:
Axios and Political Wire
Tina Moore / New York Post:
Here's what the letter sent with powder to Trump Jr. said — The letter to Donald Trump Jr. that contained a suspicious white powder and landed his wife in the hospital said, “You are getting what you deserve,” according to law-enforcement sources. — “You are an awful person. This is why people hate you.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, thecut, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Reuters
RELATED:
Glen Weyl / Politico:
Sponsor An Immigrant Yourself — The raw emotions generated by immigration policy—provoked by heartrending stories of families torn apart by deportation, or citizens murdered by illegal immigrants—have scrambled political allegiances and confused public debate.
Discussion:
Economics Job Market Rumors
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
BuzzFeed Is Suing the D.N.C. Over Issues Involving the Russia Dossier — BuzzFeed believes that evidence of the alleged D.N.C. break-in by Russian hackers might help the online publisher in a libel suit. But the D.N.C. says releasing information might make it vulnerable to more hacking.
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, VICE News, Axios, Political Wire, Washington Post, TheBlaze and Foreign Policy
Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Internal Dem polling shows Trump's standing on the rise — A leading Democratic group — Priorities USA — is warning party leaders they could squander a strong political climate in 2018 if they don't start to emphasize pocketbook issues over loose and unfocused critiques of Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Priorities USA, No More Mister Nice Blog, New Republic, The Daily Beast and Political Wire
Chicago Tribune:
Chicago police commander shot to death at Thompson Center in Loop — A high-ranking Chicago police officer died after he was shot Tuesday afternoon while assisting a tactical team responding to a robbery at the Thompson Center, sources said. — The officer, identified as a commander …
bluestockings magazine:
Silencing and “Free” Speech — Today, February 13th, 2018, the Brown Republicans and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs are hosting an event entitled, “The Millennial Conservative: A Conversation with Guy Benson” on Brown's campus. Benson, a conservative journalist …
Discussion:
twitchy.com and The College Fix
Dana Hedgpeth / Washington Post:
The toll on I-66 inside the Beltway hit $46.50 on Tuesday … The toll on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway reached $46.50 for a solo driver during the Tuesday morning rush, just below a record of $47.25 set last month. — For much of the morning Tuesday, there were no major crashes …