memeorandum: What Trump still doesn't get about Russian interference in the election (Washington Post)

12:30 PM ET, February 17, 2018

Top Items:

Sophie Tatum / CNN:

McMaster: Evidence of Russian meddling is ‘now really incontrovertible’ — McMaster responds to Russian indictments — Washington (CNN)Evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election is “now really incontrovertible,” White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said Saturday.

Discussion: Political Wire, New York Times, The Daily Caller, The Week, Mediaite and CNBC

Associated Press:

The Latest: Ex-Russian diplomat calls US charges ‘fantasies’ — MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the Russian response to U.S. indictments (all times local): — Russia's former ambassador to the United States is dismissing detailed allegations of attempted Russian interference …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Axios

Lawfare:

Russian Influence Campaign: What's in the Latest Mueller Indictment — None of the defendants indicted Friday for their alleged influence operation against the U.S. political system is likely to ever see the inside of an American courtroom. None is in custody. None is likely to surrender to U.S. authorities.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Reuters, Washington Press, Vox, Breitbart, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Mahablog

Chris Strohm / Bloomberg:

Mueller Still Investigating Possible Collusion, Source Says — Indictments of 13 Russians don't preclude further charges — Trump reaffirms ‘no collusion!’ by his presidential campaign — Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors haven't concluded their investigation …

Washington Post:

What Trump still doesn't get about Russian interference in the election — FRIDAY'S FEDERAL grand jury indictment of 13 Russians for conspiracy to interfere illegally in the 2016 presidential election presents powerful evidence that Moscow staged an attack on the United States' democratic political process.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, LGBTQ Nation and Shareblue Media

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:

McMaster: Russian meddling in U.S. elections is beyond dispute — President Trump's national security adviser said Saturday that Russian inrterference in the 2016 U.S. elections is beyond dispute, marking a sharp reversal of the president's frequent dismissal of alleged Russian cyber-meddling as a “hoax.”

David Remnick / New Yorker:

Mueller's Indictment Ends Trump's Myth of the Russia “Hoax” — The President of the United States wakes each day, it seems, to another nightmarish crisis and addresses it as if in a state of frenzied denial. When faced with the hideous reality of yet another gun massacre, this time in Parkland, Florida, he dares not mention guns.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Californian man pleads guilty to identity fraud connected to Russian interference in presidential election

Discussion: KTLA, New York Times, Political Wire and Politico

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
Worries about Trump's legitimacy resurface with Russia indictment

Discussion: One America News Network, ABC News, Liberty Unyielding, Vox and The Hill

New York Times:
Inside a 3-Year Russian Campaign to Influence U.S. Voters

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, Vox, Geller Report, Washington Press and GeekWire, more at Mediagazer »

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
It's Going to Be Much, Much Harder for Trump to Fire Rod Rosenstein Now

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
‘Go Donald!’: Inside the Russian shadow campaign to elect Trump

Discussion: New York Times and Little Green Footballs

Marwa Eltagouri / Washington Post:
The rise of 'Putin's chef,' the Russian oligarch accused of manipulating the U.S. election

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Times, DFRLab, VICE News and Vox

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump's ‘Russia hoax’ turns out to be real

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Ex-CIA chief debunks Trump: ‘Implausible’ Russia didn't influence votes

Discussion: Power Line, Politico, NPR, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, IJR, BloombergQuint, Washington Post and CNBC

Los Angeles Times:

Horrified Florida students beg the adults: Please, do something about guns … The kids in South Florida are fed up. With the adults. — After a mass shooting left 17 students and faculty dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland …

Associated Press:
Shooting suspect was on school rifle team that got NRA grant

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CBS News, Breitbart, Vox, New York Times, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., Mother Jones, IJR and Washington Post

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The students at Florida's Douglas High are amazing communicators. That could save lives.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and CNN

Kelly Fisher / Courier-Journal:
Marshall County shooting suspect's identity confirmed, will be tried as an adult

Discussion: FOX2now.com and KTLA

The Daily Beast:
Parkland Students to President Trump: Stay ‘Far Away’ From Us

Discussion: IJR, The Atlantic, Washington Press, Business Insider, BloombergQuint and VICE News

Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump visits hospital, meets shooting survivors

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Politico, Vox and New York Times

New York Times: A ‘Mass Shooting Generation’ Cries Out for Change

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Mueller levels new claim of bank fraud against Manafort — Prosecutors say they've found ‘additional criminal conduct’ by the former Trump campaign chairman. — Special counsel Robert Mueller's office has told a federal judge it has found evidence that Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman …

Discussion: ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Press, Raw Story, The Right Scoop, Political Wire, TheBlaze and The Daily Beast

Josh Delk / The Hill:

Mueller adds bank fraud to Manafort's list of alleged criminal conduct — has reported a new criminal accusation against President Trump — 's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort — Mueller's team said in a court filing Friday that it learned of “additional criminal conduct” …

Discussion: RedState

Paul P. Murphy / CNN:

Exclusive: Group chat messages show school shooter obsessed with race, violence and guns — (CNN)In a private Instagram group chat, confessed school shooter Nikolas Cruz repeatedly espoused racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views and displayed an obsession with violence and guns.

Discussion: IJR, Joe.My.God., fox13now.com, Dispatches From the … and RedState

Associated Press:
White nationalist appears to disavow connection with shooter

Discussion: RedState, Jacobite, Liberty Unyielding, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, twitchy.com, Mediaite and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Shane Harris / Washington Post:

New White House security clearance policy could put 'bull's eye' on Kushner … White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly announced Friday that beginning next week, the White House will no longer allow some employees with interim security clearances access to top-secret information …

Discussion: CNN, Joe.My.God., New York Times, VICE News, Eschaton, KTLA, Politico and Mediaite

Washington Post:
Read Kelly's memo of proposed changes to White House security clearance process

Discussion: ABC News, The Week and Business Insider

Mike Allen / Axios:

We know nothing; Mueller knows all — Robert Mueller's meaty indictment, accusing 13 Russians (including an oligarch known as “Putin's cook") of “information warfare against the United States of America,” shows the special counsel has been doing deep, serious investigative work — totally under the radar, and with zero leaks.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New York Times

Sam Amick / USA Today:

Kevin Durant on Laura Ingraham's commentary: ‘To me, it was racist’ — LOS ANGELES - The timing was perfect. — While the social media stratosphere was still buzzing on Friday about Laura Ingraham's offensive segment on Fox News, where the host told LeBron James and Kevin Durant to …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Sporting News, Mashable, TVNewser, Jezebel, Mediaite, CBS Boston, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Comeback, FOX 61, TheBlaze, AOL, Washington Press, Hollywood Life, The Week, ThinkProgress and Business Insider

Shadi Hamid / The Atlantic:

Bari Weiss and the Left-Wing Infatuation With Taking Offense — The mob was unusually vociferous, even for Twitter. After the California-born ice skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics, the New York Times writer Bari Weiss commented “Immigrants: They get the job done.”

Discussion: Longreads, New Republic, Splinter and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »