memeorandum: 2 Weeks After Trump Blocked It, Democrats' Rebuttal of G.O.P. Memo Is Released (Nicholas Fandos/New York Times)

10:30 PM ET, February 24, 2018

Top Items:

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Democratic memo: FBI was investigating Trump campaign associates weeks before receiving dossier — The FBI team investigating the 2016 Trump campaign's contacts with Russians had already opened inquiries into multiple people connected to the campaign when it received a controversial dossier …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God. and Washington Monthly

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

2 Weeks After Trump Blocked It, Democrats' Rebuttal of G.O.P. Memo Is Released — WASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee released a redacted Democratic memorandum on Saturday that counters Republican claims that top F.B.I. and Justice Department officials had abused their powers in spying on a former Trump campaign aide.

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Lawfare:

Takeaways From the House Intelligence Democrats' Memo — President Trump lost no time dismissing the memo released Saturday by the House intelligence committee Democrats in response to the earlier memo prepared by Rep. Devin Nunes on the origins of the Carter Page surveillance:

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Magazine and The Gateway Pundit

U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Selection …:

Intel Committee Ranking Member Schiff Releases Democratic Response Memo — f t # e — Washington, DC - Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement: — “After reviewing the memorandum drafted …

Discussion: Business Insider, Politicus USA and The Guardian

Adam Shaw / Fox News:

Dems' rebuttal to GOP FISA memo is released; Trump deems it a ‘bust’ — President Trump on Saturday dismissed a Democratic rebuttal to the GOP memo outlining government surveillance abuses in the 2016 campaign as a “total political and legal bust,” claiming that it only confirms the …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Business Insider, Hit & Run, Washington Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, emptywheel, BuzzFeed, CBS Baltimore, twitchy.com, bizpacreview.com, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, CBS Los Angeles, Fox News Insider, Mediaite and RT

Washington Post:
House panel releases Democrats' memo defending FBI surveillance of ex-Trump campaign aide

Discussion: Washington Press and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CBS News: Democratic intelligence memo released — live updates

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The Democratic rebuttal to the Nunes memo tears it apart

Discussion: New York Magazine

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
Democratic rebuttal to GOP House Intelligence memo released

Discussion: RedState and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

After testy call with Trump over border wall, Mexico's president shelves plan to visit White House … Tentative plans for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to make his first visit to the White House to meet with President Trump were scuttled this week after a testy call between …

Discussion: CNN, Breitbart, Business Insider, KTLA, Washington Press and Political Wire

Gabby Morrongiello / Washington Examiner:

CPAC speaker Mona Charen stuns with fiery rebuke of Trump, Le Pen — A conservative columnist was escorted out of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday after slamming President Trump and conservatives for behaving like “hypocrites” when it comes to women's issues.

Discussion: RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Alice B. Lloyd / Weekly Standard:
Mona Charen Slams Sexist Hypocrisy, Racism at CPAC: ‘You cannot claim that you stand for women’

Discussion: New York Magazine, RedState, twitchy.com, TheBlaze, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, The Right Scoop, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Shareblue Media, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Still Glad You Voted Trump? At CPAC, Conservatives Had an Answer

Discussion: Vox, Washington Press, American Greatness, bizpacreview.com and Washington Post

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Mueller Is Gaining Steam. Should Trump Worry? — WASHINGTON — In a fiery speech to supporters on Friday, President Trump went after his vanquished opponent from 2016. “We had a crooked candidate,” he declared. The crowd responded with a signature chant from the campaign trail: “Lock her up!”

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Moscow Project, Politico, Washington Post and Fox News Insider

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:

Maxine Waters: Time ‘to get ready for impeachment’ — (D-Calif.), who has been a leading opponent of President Trump — on Capitol Hill, told thousands of Democratic activists and officials “to get ready for impeachment.” — Speaking at the California Democratic Party's annual convention in San Diego …

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:
How Skadden, the Giant Law Firm, Got Entangled in the Mueller Investigation

Discussion: Raw Story, Bloomberg, emptywheel and Business Insider

Davis Richardson / The New York Observer:

Michael Steele Responds to Racial Insult Hurled by CPAC Communications Director — Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) communication director Ian Walters sparked controversy with a racially charged insult hurled at former RNC chair Michael Steele on Friday night.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, YouTube, Politicus USA, KTLA, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
Watch ex-RNC head Michael Steele unleash holy hell on CPAC exec over ‘black guy’ slur

Discussion: CBS News

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Michael Steele Confronts Matt Schlapp Over CPAC Official's Racial Insult: ‘What the Hell?!’

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Michael Steele addresses CPAC official's ‘painfully stupid’ comment about race

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, The Root and RedState

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Corey Lewandowski returns to the Oval Office — Two days before President Trump gave his unchained, campaign-style speech at CPAC, he had a secret visitor in the Oval Office. — You didn't see it on the president's schedule, and the news hasn't leaked out until now …

Chris York / HuffPost UK:
Michael Wolff Says Donald Trump And Jared Kushner ‘Will Throw Each Other Under The Bus’

Discussion: Raw Story

David Brody / New York Times:

In Donald Trump, Evangelicals Have Found Their President — Last August, President Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and looked me straight in the eyes. With a look of reflection and purposefulness, he discussed his upbringing and fondly recalled a vivid childhood memory from the 1950s …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Hullabaloo

Brett T. / twitchy.com:

Law professor says NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch ‘loves watching Americans die’ — How much do you want to bet that even if CNN held its town hall on guns this Saturday night, well after information emerged about how the Broward County Sheriff's Office took up positions outside the school and waited …

Sun-Sentinel:
Police say more deputies waited outside school during Stoneman Douglas shooting

Discussion: Florida Politics, bizpacreview.com, Vox, Politicus USA, NewsBusters and USA Today

Andrew Husband / UPROXX:

Many Are Calling For NRAtv To Be Removed From Amazon Prime, Apple TV, And Google Chromecast — #GUN CONTROL #POLITICS #AMAZON #GOOGLE #APPLE — There is a growing list of companies who have decided to end their respective partnerships with the National Rifle Association following …

Discussion: USA Today, AOL and The Daily Caller

Dana Schuster / Page Six:

Inside the toxic atmosphere at ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ — Megyn Kelly has fashioned herself as a champion of the #MeToo movement, filling her NBC talk show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” with brave women fighting injustice. — But a former colleague says it's all an act.

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:

United and Delta cut ties to NRA as boycott movement spreads to global corporations … Delta and United — two of the largest airlines in the world — have joined a growing list of companies cutting ties with the National Rifle Association amid a growing boycott movement inspired …

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Bernie Sanders promoted false story on reporting Russian trolls — Bernie Sanders is taking credit for action to combat the Russian incursion into the 2016 election that he didn't have anything to do with — and didn't actually happen. — Twice this week, in response to questions about whether …

Mark SchlabachESPN Senior / ESPN:

FBI wiretaps show Sean Miller discussed $100K payment to lock recruit — FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a key figure in the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, in which Miller discussed paying $100,000 …