memeorandum: The GOP's Tax-Cut Narrative Is Already Unraveling (Derek Thompson/The Atlantic)

3:20 PM ET, February 28, 2018

Top Items:

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Hope Hicks Acknowledges She Sometimes Tells White Lies for Trump — WASHINGTON — Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies.

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Trump family v. John Kelly — The Trump family — and the president's oldest son, Don Jr., in particular — was angry about the overwhelmingly negative TV coverage about Jared Kushner last night, and feels White House Chief of Staff Kelly is hanging Jared out to dry, a source familiar with the situation tells Axios.

Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:

Kushner bombshell: Fox buries unflattering story for Trump White House...again — This is why Trump loves ‘Fox & Friends’ — Jared Kushner's downgraded security clearance is the top story for nearly every major news organization in America, but on Fox News, the stunning development has itself been downgraded.

NBC News:

Trump slammed Clinton over handling of classified info. That looks like hypocrisy now — First Read is your briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter — Jared Kushner loses access to highly classified information 3:04

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Hullabaloo, Washington Press, Washington Post, The Guardian, Raw Story, NBC News, Media Matters for America, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Mediaite, Axios and Political Wire

Z. Byron Wolf / CNN:
Little white lies could be a very big problem for Hope Hicks

Discussion: Raw Story, The Root, AOL and Washington Press

CNN:
Kelly, Kushner tension simmers amid West Wing uncertainty

Discussion: Washington Post and CBS San Francisco

Elizabeth Landers / CNN:
NRA directly appealed to Trump against raising age for firearms purchases

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Shareblue Media and Daily Kos

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Ben Carson's HUD, Planning Cuts, Spends $31,000 on Dining Set for His Office

Julie Creswell / New York Times:

Dick's, Major Gun Retailer, Will Stop Selling Assault-Style Rifles — One of the nation's largest sports retailers, Dick's Sporting Goods, said Wednesday morning it was immediately ending sales of all assault-style rifles in its stores. — The retailer also said that it would no longer …

David Caplan / ABC News:
Dick's Sporting Goods CEO: Company will no longer sell assault-style rifles, nor sell guns to people under 21

Discussion: Vox, Axios, Gizmodo, New York Magazine and AOL

CNN:

Mueller team asks about Trump's Russian business dealings as he weighed a run for president — (CNN)Investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller have recently been asking witnesses about Donald Trump's business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 presidential campaign as he considered …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, AOL, VICE News, Washington Press, Washington Times, Raw Story, Mediaite and Political Wire

NBC News:

Mueller asking if Trump knew about hacked Democratic emails before release — Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, Mediaite and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

David Bauder / Associated Press:

PBS launching new conservative political talk show — NEW YORK (AP) — Columnist Michael Gerson and commentator Amy Holmes are teaming to start a conservative-oriented talk show on PBS that takes its cue from William F. Buckley's “Firing Line,” which aired from 1966 to 1999.

Discussion: NewsBusters, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

Why Trump Is Reluctant to Escalate the Cyber War With Russia — Putin has proven he will retaliate. — Democrats are furious. Leaders of the U.S. intelligence community have no doubt that Russian trolls, bots and hackers are planning to meddle in the midterm elections this fall …

Discussion: Politico and Mother Jones

Liz Ruskin / Alaska Public Media:

Rep. Young suggests guns could've saved Jews during Holocaust — Speaking at a conference in Juneau last week, Alaska Congressman Don Young argued against gun control by suggesting Jews might not have died in the Holocaust if they had been armed. — Listen now

Discussion: Washington Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NBC News, Roll Call, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Nature:

An absorption profile centred at 78 megahertz in the sky-averaged spectrum — Abstract — After stars formed in the early Universe, their ultraviolet light is expected, eventually, to have penetrated the primordial hydrogen gas and altered the excitation state of its 21-centimetre hyperfine line.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Verge, The Guardian, Gizmodo and Mashable

Ben Schreckinger / GQ:

Steve Bannon Is Hatching His Comeback — In a wide-ranging and challenging conversation, Donald Trump's former strategist tells GQ's Ben Schreckinger why the #MeToo movement amazes him, why the Chinese enrage him, and why his secret new venture—a project to “weaponize ideas”—excites him.

Discussion: IJR, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

People.com:

Oprah Winfrey Reveals the One Thing That Could Make Her Run for President — There's only one thing that could make Oprah Winfrey run for president in 2020. — Amid calls for her to consider a run for the White House — from fans as well as her closest friends — “I went into prayer,” …

Discussion: markpantano.com, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, Axios, Friendly Atheist and AOL

Jerome R. Corsi / USA Today:

Arm qualified, willing teachers and staff — Allowing teachers and school staff the right to carry weapons provides the possibility of a near instant response: Opposing view — Even in the best of circumstances, police responding to a school shooting need time to deploy, arrive on the scene and engage.

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
USA Today Runs Op-Ed From Jerome Corsi, InfoWars D.C. Bureau Chief

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Daily Beast and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic:

Why I'm Writing Captain America — Two years ago I began taking up the childhood dream of writing comics. To say it is more difficult than it looks is to commit oneself to criminal understatement. Writers don't write comics so much as they draw them with words.

Discussion: Mashable, Outside the Beltway and The FADER

Alex Daugherty / miamiherald:

Rubio bill would let young adults in D.C. purchase the AR-15 — WASHINGTON — Last week, Marco Rubio stared into the eyes of a father who lost his daughter during the nation's deadliest high school shooting and made an announcement: Young adults should not be able to purchase guns.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Danny Vinik / Politico:

Press secretary quits FEMA, citing ‘boys club’ — Resignation comes after top public affairs leader left the agency amid pressure over its response to hurricanes. — Two top public-affairs officers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency have resigned over the past month …

Discussion: Axios and thecut

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

The GOP's Tax-Cut Narrative Is Already Unraveling — The big Republican tax cut isn't even three months old yet. But it's already confounding. — For months, critics (like me) predicted that the new law would be a handout for large corporations, which would drive up their stock prices and enrich wealthy investors.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, Washington Post and National Review

Bob Eller / Talking Points Memo:

Father Of FL Shooting Survivor Says He Edited Email Used To Discredit CNN — The father of a Florida shooting survivor acknowledged Tuesday he omitted words in an email he sent media outlets accusing CNN of using scripted remarks at a town hall on guns and school safety.

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The Rise of Woke Capital — Here are two stories about corporate America's current role in our politics and common life. In one, the country's biggest companies are growing a conscience, prodded along by shifts in public opinion and Donald Trump's depredations and their own idealistic young employees …

Bloomberg:

Manafort Joined Trump as Ukraine Work Dried Up, Cash Woes Rose — Fixer said to visit 17 times in 2014-15, with unpaid bills — Gates cooperation gives Mueller view on Manafort's cash hunt — Among the enduring curiosities of Donald Trump's presidential run was his announcement …

New York Times:

With AR-15s, Mass Shooters Attack With the Rifle Firepower Typically Used by Infantry Troops — A Marine shooting a standard rifle used by the military. — The gunman firing a civilian variant during the Parkland shooting. … Since 2007, at least 173 people have been killed in mass shootings …

Discussion: twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

Alex Leary / Tampa Bay Times:

Trump shuts out Bill Nelson from meeting on guns — The Democrat hasn't been invited to a White House meeting on guns to be held Wednesday. — WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump this afternoon will discuss gun legislation with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeking momentum amid concerns …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Cristiano Lima / Politico:

Sessions defends himself after Trump bashed him on Twitter — Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to rebuff criticism from Donald Trump Wednesday, vowing to do his job with “integrity and honor” after the president said it was “disgraceful” that Sessions asked an internal watchdog …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Reuters, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, CNBC and The Daily Caller

Lea Skene / www.theadvocate.com:

Mother of baby killed in Baton Rouge crash involving off-duty cop arrested for failing to secure child seat — Just weeks after a Baton Rouge police officer was arrested on negligent homicide and accused of causing a crash that injured several people and killed a baby, the child's mother …

Discussion: Raw Story

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Cherokee Street shop vandalized for flag supporting police, owner says — The owner of a store on Cherokee Street says someone broke her window and left a threatening note, all over a flag hanging outside. — Cherri Elder, the owner of Elder's Antiques at 2124 Cherokee Street …

Andrew Keshner / New York Daily News:

Three Muslim women forced to remove hijabs for mug shots snag $180G payout from city — New York City will pay a total of $180,000 to three Muslim women who were forced to take off their hijabs for mug shots, the Daily News has learned. — Settlements in the three cases were filed Monday …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Bloomberg:

How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can't Be Recalled — Taurus sold almost a million handguns that can potentially fire without anyone pulling the trigger. The government won't fix the problem. The NRA is silent. — Thomas “Bud” Brown makes his way out the back door …

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

PA-18 Special Election Moves from Lean Republican to Toss Up — It's not normal for Republicans to be worried about losing a seat President Trump carried by 20 points. But with two weeks to go before the March 13 special election, Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone is locked …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Monthly and Washington Free Beacon

Megan R. Wilson / The Hill:

Exiting Trump officials get tepid response on job market — Current and former high-ranking Trump administration officials are testing the waters of Washington's job market as the administration begins its second year. — And that water, right now, is pretty tepid.

Discussion: Shareblue Media

NBC News:

U.S. intel: Russia compromised seven states prior to 2016 election — The U.S. intelligence community developed substantial evidence that state websites or voter registration systems in seven states were compromised by Russian-backed covert operatives prior to the 2016 election …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Shakesville, Washington Post, electionlawblog.org, Vox, Alaska Public Media, Axios, WFLA-TV, VICE News and Raw Story

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Judge sets Sept. 17 trial date for Manafort on Mueller charges — A judge in Washington on Wednesday set a Sept. 17 trial date for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort on charges from special counsel Robert Mueller, including money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent.

Discussion: Daily Kos, ABC News and Political Wire

Michael Tesler / Washington Post:

Democrats and Republicans are increasingly divided on the value of teaching black history — Wednesday marks the end of Black History Month. And like prior Februaries, this month has seen its fair share of articles lamenting Americans' lack of knowledge about African American history.

Discussion: Shakesville