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:
Raw Story, Washington Post, New Republic, CNN, ThinkProgress, Vox, Politico, RedState, National Review, Dispatches From the …, NPR, Common Cause, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, The Stranger …, Talking Points Memo, VICE, Politicus USA, Breitbart, The Week, CANNONFIRE, The Right Scoop, Weekly Standard, Common Dreams, New York Magazine, Towleroad, Daily Kos, IJR, VICE News, Fox News, CBS San Francisco, CNBC, KTLA, TheBlaze, NBC News, thecut, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Press, Washington Times, New York Post, FOX40, Axios, The Daily Beast, KFOR-TV, The Big Lead and Jezebel
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Orin Kerr / Reason:
Did Trump's Lawyer Pay Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket? — This isn't the biggest story in the world, but I was interested in the statement by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. A month ago, the Wall Street Journal broke the story that began:
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Week, RedState, Politico and Mediaite
Mike Walters / The Blast:
Stormy Daniels Warns Trump & Lawyer: You Breached Our Agreement, Now I'm Free to Talk! — Stormy Daniels has suddenly changed her position and is ready to spill all the tea regarding her alleged affair with Donald Trump, and it all has to do with the president's personal attorney allegedly breaching …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Joe.My.God.
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Democrats must be ready to take this drastic step against Trump — THE MORNING PLUM: — If you read through the coverage of the battle over the “dreamers,” you'll come away with the impression that we are locked in a conventional Washington standoff, in which two opposing sides …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Dispatches From the …, Politico and Mother Jones
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Third White House official resigns after being told he wouldn't qualify for full clearance — National Economic Council official George David Banks departed amid increasing scrutiny of the Trump administration's decision to let multiple staffers work on interim clearances.
Discussion:
Political Wire, Raw Story, AOL and Business Insider
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Erica Werner / Washington Post:
Trump's military parade would cost between $10 million and $30 million, White House budget director says … Trump's military parade would cost between $10 million and $30 million, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on Wednesday. — White House budget director Mick Mulvaney offered …
Discussion:
The Week
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:
Politico, Breitbart, Associated Press, Vox, Daily Kos, VIDOL, The Daily Caller, The Week and Mediaite
Axios:
Trump creep: bad habits spread fast — All habits, good and bad — in all organizations, big and small — flow down fast from the top. This dynamic is particularly true in the White House, and unmistakably true in this Trump White House. — The big picture: Trump's lifelong habits …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Magazine, Shareblue Media and Dispatches From the …
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Lawmakers losing confidence in White House after Porter resignation
Lawmakers losing confidence in White House after Porter resignation
Discussion:
The Hill, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and The Week
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Schiff: We're not going to revise Democratic memo
Schiff: We're not going to revise Democratic memo
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Last Refuge, TheBlaze and The Stream
Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
‘Big Fat Liar’: WaPo Reports On White House Staff's Frustration With Kelly
‘Big Fat Liar’: WaPo Reports On White House Staff's Frustration With Kelly
Discussion:
Washington Post, The White House and The Week
Elana Schor / Politico:
Senate moderates reach immigration deal — but GOP opposition builds
Senate moderates reach immigration deal — but GOP opposition builds
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
BostonGlobe.com:
Read the text of Elizabeth Warren's speech to Native American group — Read the prepared text of the speech Senator Elizabeth Warren gave to Native Americans on Wednesday. — Thank you for having me here today. — I want to start by thanking Chairwoman Andrews-Maltais for that introduction.
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast, VICE News, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon
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BostonGlobe.com:
Warren addresses claims of Native American heritage — WASHINGTON - Senator Elizabeth Warren made a surprise appearance at the National Congress of American Indians Wednesday morning, forcefully responding to President Trump's derisively calling her “Pocahontas” and addressing her claims …
Discussion:
Political Wire, RedState and Washington Times
Lisa Rein / Washington Post:
Veterans Affairs chief Shulkin, staff misled ethics officials about European trip, report finds — Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin's chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary's wife on a 10 …
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, Mediaite, Political Wire, The Right Scoop and The Week
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Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: GOP gains on generic ballot, Trump approval ticks upward — Republicans have erased the Democratic advantage on the generic congressional ballot in a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll that, for the first time since April, also shows President Donald Trump's approval rating equaling …
Discussion:
CNBC, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Axios, Scared Monkeys, The Week, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and Real Clear Politics
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Public Policy Polling:
Democrats Lead by 8 Points On Generic House Ballot Nationally — Here are the highlights of PPP's first public national poll of the year: — 2018 Landscape — Democrats have a solid 49-41 lead on the generic Congressional ballot, although that's down a shade from December when it was 51-40.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Associated Press:
Suspect wounded, SUV stopped after shooting at NSA gate — FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — One person was wounded in a shooting Wednesday morning outside the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade. — Authorities surrounded a handcuffed man after a black SUV ran into a barrier outside the Maryland base.
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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.
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Jim Windolf / New York Times:
After Storm Over Tweets, The Times and a New Hire Part Ways
After Storm Over Tweets, The Times and a New Hire Part Ways
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Newsweek, NBC News, Women in the World, Splinter, Business Insider and twitchy.com
Shawn Musgrave / Politico:
Kelli Ward touts endorsement from fake-news site — It looked as if Arizona Senate candidate Kelli Ward had scored a big endorsement: On Oct. 28, she posted a link on her campaign website and blasted out a Facebook post, quoting extensively from a column in the Arizona Monitor.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Week
CBS News:
EPA's Scott Pruitt got waiver to fly business class on foreign carrier from Italy to U.S. — WASHINGTON — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been under fire for frequently flying in first and business class at taxpayer expense. CBS News has learned more about one of those flights …
Discussion:
ABC News, New Republic, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Gizmodo and Washington Press
Christian Caryl / Washington Post:
Christopher Steele is a hero - and Americans owe him their thanks … Christopher Steele, the former British spy whose claims about Donald Trump's ties with Russia hold center stage in Washington right now, drives Republicans crazy. They have recommended that the Department of Justice open a criminal investigation into his work.
Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
GOP rep unveils ‘Crumbs Act’ to make bonuses tax-free, in swipe at Pelosi — A Republican lawmaker is set to unveil legislation that would make most bonuses given out as a result of President Trump's tax reform plan tax-free — and took a jab at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi with the bill's name.
Discussion:
Townhall.com, RedState, IJR, Roll Call and The Daily Caller
Gabriel Rossman / Weekly Standard:
Open Letter to the Bruin Republicans Who Invited Milo Yiannopoulos to UCLA — This is a bad idea. — Editor's note: On February 13, UCLA's college Republican group, the Bruin Republicans, announced that they would be hosting Milo Yiannopoulos on campus to give a talk titled “10 Things I Hate About Mexico.”
Discussion:
National Review, Reason and abc7.com
Christine Brennan / USA Today:
As Shaun White cements legacy, why so little attention paid to sexual harassment allegations? — GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Shaun White is an American cultural institution, winning the third Olympic gold medal of his pioneering career Wednesday at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Discussion:
Women in the World, VICE News, IJR, TheBlaze and Jezebel
Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
An immigrant called 911 to report a crime. Police took him to ICE in handcuffs. … At 5:30 a.m. Thursday, as Wilson Rodriguez Macarreno was getting ready for work, he noticed a stranger peering into his Tukwila, Wash., home. — Rodriguez, a carpenter and native of Honduras …
Discussion:
Shakesville, VICE News, The Root and NBC News
Kyle Smith / National Review:
So Long, Huck Finn and Atticus Finch — The desire to stamp out disturbing expression is illiberal. — When the censors come, it will be with a smile on their face and unctuous talk about your feelings on their lips. It's for your own good, they'll say. Art that takes a stand against hatred will be confused with hate speech.
Miles Weiss / Bloomberg:
New Hedge-Fund Tax Dodge Triggers Wild Rush Back Into Delaware — Firms set up LLCs in plan to avoid carried-interest change — Congress may have stumbled in narrowing loophole for managers — Wall Street's fast-money crowd is returning to well-trodden ground to elude Trump-era tax laws: Delaware.
Bloomberg:
Mercenaries Hurt in U.S. Syria Strikes Are Treated at Russian Defense Hospitals — Mercenaries said to be taken to Russian military hospitals — Russia denies link to fighters who struck U.S.-backed forces — Even as the Kremlin denies any official link to them, scores …
Discussion:
RedState
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Dems: Bill Clinton too toxic to campaign in midterms — Democrats are looking to embrace the #MeToo moment and rally women to push back on President Donald Trump in the midterms—and they don't want Bill Clinton anywhere near it. — In a year when the party is deploying all their other big guns …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Althouse
Jake Pearson / Associated Press:
APNewsBreak: Shooting range tied to Trumps rattles neighbors — WINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — President Donald Trump's two grown sons arrived at this tranquil, rural upstate New York hamlet with a bang. — A company tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump owns a 171-acre hunting preserve …
Discussion:
The Week
John Koblin / New York Times:
Ryan Murphy Heads to Netflix in Deal Said to Be Worth Up to $300 Million — The streaming giant Netflix has won yet another battle against old Hollywood. — On Tuesday night, Netflix announced that it had poached the hit-making producer Ryan Murphy from 21st Century Fox.
Discussion:
Deadline, The Ringer, Investor's Business Daily, The Verge and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »
Amos Harel / Haaretz:
Putin's Phone Call With Netanyahu Put End to Israeli Strikes in Syria — Prior to Saturday call, senior Israeli officials were still taking a militant line and it seemed Jerusalem was considering further military action — Israel believes round of hostilities with Iran and Syria is over, but another is all but inevitable
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Democrats, here's how to win over the newly independent, ex-Republicans … The Post reported this week: … There are fewer President Trump supporters in part because there are fewer Republicans: “In January 2017, about 156 million people approved of Trump on average, more than half of them — 81.2 million — Republican.
Mark D. Faram / Navy Times:
Seabee command triad fired after XO found strolling naked in woods — The entire command triad of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, currently deployed to Okinawa, Japan, was fired Feb. 11 after the unit's executive officer was found intoxicated and walking naked in the woods on Camp Shields.
Discussion:
Military.com and The Daily Caller
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Wall Street might not like this: Inflation rises 2.1 percent, faster than expected … The Consumer Price Index, which measures how quickly prices are going up in the U.S. economy, rose at a faster than anticipated 2.1 percent in January compared to a year ago, triggering fears of another rocky run on Wall Street.