Top Items:
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Kelly increasingly isolated as Porter scandal rages on — Turbulence in this West Wing is typically generated by President Donald Trump, but for the past week, it's been chief of staff John Kelly — the man brought in to be a steadying hand — who's inspiring what one White House official described as a crisis of confidence.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Vox, EW.com, ABC News, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, Raw Story, CBS News, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, Taylor Marsh, The Root, IJR, Splinter, Jezebel, theGrio, Washington Free Beacon, thecut, New Republic, Washington Examiner, Political Wire, CNN and The White House
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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:
Reuters, Politico, Vox, ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Political Wire, Fox News Insider and TheBlaze
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, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Axios
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, AOL, IJR, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Vox, Fox News Insider, Mediaite, Political Wire and Politico
CNN:
Porter was up for promotion despite abuse allegations — (CNN)Rob Porter was involved in serious discussions to be promoted when he abruptly resigned from the White House last week amid allegations that he abused his two ex-wives, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Washington Press, Women in the World, Business Insider, The Root, Daily Kos, CNBC, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Axios and AOL
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, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, AOL, theGrio, Mediaite and twitchy.com
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Porter blamed ex-wife's black eye on an accident in off-the-record meeting with reporters — When now-former White House staff secretary Rob Porter sat down for an off-the-record meeting with four reporters hours after the publication of a Daily Mail story showing his first wife with a black eye …
Discussion:
Business Insider
Martin Matishak / Politico:
FBI director puts responsibility for Porter on White House
FBI director puts responsibility for Porter on White House
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, CNN, One America News Network, The Mahablog, Washington Press, The Week and Axios
Helena Andrews-Dyer / Chicago Tribune:
Omarosa on Mike Pence: ‘He thinks Jesus tells him to say things’
Omarosa on Mike Pence: ‘He thinks Jesus tells him to say things’
Discussion:
Politico, NewsBusters, Washington Free Beacon and Splinter
Lisa de Moraes / Deadline:
White House: Personnel Security Office To Blame For Delay In Ousting Rob Porter
David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
How the White House Gamed the Security-Clearance System
How the White House Gamed the Security-Clearance System
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Splinter and VICE News
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The White House defense of its handling of Rob Porter just fell apart
The White House defense of its handling of Rob Porter just fell apart
Discussion:
Politico, Little Green Footballs, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo
Adam Edelman / NBC News:
Ex-wife of accused WH aide rips Trump for suggesting he didn't get ‘due process’
Ex-wife of accused WH aide rips Trump for suggesting he didn't get ‘due process’
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Feeds, CNN, theGrio and Raw Story
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, Hollywood Life, Political Wire, Mediaite, Jezebel, thecut and The Week
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 …
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Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Sean Hannity Promotes, Then Deletes Bonkers Obama Portrait ‘Secret Sperm’ Conspiracy Theory
Sean Hannity Promotes, Then Deletes Bonkers Obama Portrait ‘Secret Sperm’ Conspiracy Theory
Discussion:
boards.4chan.org, newsmediawatchdog, Media Matters for America, The Atlantic, New York Times and ABC News
Lawrence Bonk / Mediaite:
Hannity's Blog Posts, Then Deletes Story That Obama Portrait Has Hidden ‘Secret Sperm’ (UPDATED)
Hannity's Blog Posts, Then Deletes Story That Obama Portrait Has Hidden ‘Secret Sperm’ (UPDATED)
Discussion:
Breitbart and Right Wing Watch
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:
New Republic, The Daily Beast and Political Wire
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Matt Lopez / Priorities USA:
RE: New Poll & Messaging Guidance: Democrats Must Keep Focus on Economy and Health Care … For much of the past year Democrats have debated Republicans on tax reform and the Republican efforts to dismantle and sabotage the Affordable Care Act. When that debate was being waged, voters overwhelmingly sided with Democrats.
Bloomberg:
U.S. Strikes Killed Scores of Russian Fighters in Syria, Sources Say — More than 200 contract soldiers are said to have been killed — The casualties dwarf official Russian army death toll in Syria — U.S. forces killed scores of Russian contract soldiers in Syria last week …
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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:
Vox, BBC, NPR, Political Wire and Mother Jones
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Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Salon Wants to Hijack Your Browser to Mine Cryptocurrency … If you want to read Salon and you don't want to deal with ads, you'll have to agree to get into the cryptocurrency business. — On Sunday night, the famously liberal site began testing a new formula: If non-subscribers using ad-blocking software …
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Washington Post:
The nation's top spies said Russia will attempt to undermine the 2018 midterm elections … The nation's top intelligence chiefs testified Tuesday that they fully expect Russia to seek to disrupt the 2018 midterm elections. — Appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee …
Discussion:
NBC News, USA Today, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, Joe.My.God., Axios, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
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Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:
Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn
Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and The Guardian
WTTG-TV:
White powdery substance under investigation at former President Obama's DC office — WASHINGTON - The Secret Service is investigating after reports that a white powdery substance had been found at former President Barack Obama's D.C. office. — The incident was reported Tuesday around 12:30 p.m …
Dan Savage / The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:
Pennsylvania Pastor Caught in Parked Car with Bound Naked Man — “I have nothing to hide,” says Pastor George Gregory of Waterfront Christian Community Church, “I did nothing wrong.” But according to the police report, Pastor George Gregory of Munhall, PA, was sitting fully clothed …
Discussion:
Friendly Atheist, Joe.My.God., AOL, Raw Story and LGBTQ Nation
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 …
David Brooks / New York Times:
The End of the Two-Party System — In the first half of the 1990s, I worked in Europe for The Wall Street Journal. I covered nothing but good news: the reunification of Germany, the liberation of Central Europe, the fall of the Soviet Union, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Oslo peace process in the Middle East.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune
Helena Bottemiller Evich / Politico:
Trump pitches plan to replace food stamps with food boxes — The Trump administration is proposing to save billions in the coming years by giving low-income families a box of government-picked, nonperishable foods every month instead of food stamps. — White House OMB Director Mick Mulvaney …
Travis Waldron / HuffPost:
Ban The United States From The Olympics — The U.S. Olympic Committee enabled systemic sexual abuse in order to win medals. By what moral logic is that not worse than Russia's crimes? — At a press briefing last week with International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
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.
Dan Levine / Reuters:
Second U.S. judge blocks Trump administration from ending DACA program — (Reuters) - A second U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's decision to end a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Darwin Paz / Governor Tom Wolf:
Governor Tom Wolf Rejects Partisan Gerrymandered Map — Analyses, Non-Partisan Experts Say GOP Submission is Partisan, Gerrymandered — Harrisburg, PA - Governor Tom Wolf today told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that he will not accept the proposed map Republican legislative leaders submitted because it …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones and Axios
Washpostpr / Washington Post:
Megan McArdle named Washington Post Opinions columnist — The Washington Post today announced Megan McArdle will be a columnist for the Opinions section starting March 1. In this role, McArdle will write columns with a focus on the intersection of economics, business and public policy.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Mike Allen / Axios:
Bill Gates: tech companies inviting government intervention — In an interview with Axios, Bill Gates warned Apple and other tech giants that they risk the kind of nightmarish government intervention that once plagued his Microsoft if they act arrogantly. — The big picture …
Discussion:
The Verge, VentureBeat, Gates Notes, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller and AOL
Dan Alexander / Forbes:
Trump's Biggest Potential Conflict Of Interest Is Hiding In Plain Sight — The largest American office of China's largest bank sits on the 20th floor of Trump Tower, six levels below the desk where Donald Trump built an empire and wrested a presidency. It's hard to get a glimpse inside.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Real Deal New York and Political Wire