memeorandum: Fights Worth Having (Bret Stephens/New York Times)

3:20 PM ET, March 1, 2018

Top Items:

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Senate Intelligence Leaders Say House G.O.P. Leaked a Senator's Texts — WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Hullabaloo, AOL, Washington Press, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Raw Story

CBS News:

Hope Hicks' “white lies” testimony becomes a flashpoint for House Intel Committee — In a rare, on-the-record accounting of some of the House Intelligence committee's secret, closed-door proceedings, two members of the House Intelligence Committee explained to CBS News what led White House …

Discussion: Crooked Media, Daily Kos, Raw Story, FiveThirtyEight, Political Wire, CBS San Francisco and New York Times

Joe Cunningham / RedState:

It's Time for Devin Nunes To Go - for Good — Representative Devin Nunes has become an incredibly controversial figure in the era of Donald Trump. — As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes has been a central figure in the Congressional investigation into what exactly …

Daily Mail:
Revealed: How Hope Hicks was ‘trapped’ …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

David Remnick / New Yorker:
Hope Against Hope — Hope Hicks is kidding herself if she thinks …

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, Mediaite and Politicus USA

Axios:

The wild wars within the Trump White House — After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as hell about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling. — The big picture: Hope Hicks leaving is obviously a huge blow to him.

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Washington Press, Washington Monthly, Shakesville, CNN, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

The White House Didn't Break Hope Hicks Overnight — Hope Hicks entered American politics at its fringes, in the early stages of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, a grinning 26-year-old member of the Trump Organization's public-relations team who'd been rerouted from her task of helping Ivanka Trump develop a lifestyle brand.

Discussion: CNN, Shareblue Media, CBS News, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, thecut and NBC News

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

A telling anecdote about Trump and the opioid abuse crisis — Fail as deputy chief of staff? You're the next drug czar! — Drug overdose deaths — originally from prescription opioids but increasingly now from heroin and fentanyl — have emerged as an increasingly grave social issue …

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and Politico

Washington Post:
Mueller investigation examining Trump's apparent efforts to oust Sessions in July

CNN: White House furious at embarrassing stories about HUD, Secretary Ben Carson

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg: Scaramucci Says He Fears John Kelly Will Thwart SkyBridge Sale

Matt Glassman / New York Times: The Root of White House Chaos? A Weak President

Patrick Gillespie / CNNMoney:

Beer and cars could get more expensive because of Trump tariffs — U.S. trade moves could spark Chinese retaliation — Beer, baseball bats and cars could get more expensive after President Trump imposes tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. — And that's only the beginning.

Discussion: CNN

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump declares his trade war: targets steel, aluminum

Discussion: ABC News and Toronto Star

Bloomberg: Trump Says He'll Impose Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports

Fred Imbert / CNBC: Dow sheds 550 points after Trump says steel and aluminum tariffs coming next week

Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Trump to Impose Stiff Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum

Discussion: US News, Axios, The American Spectator, NPR, NBC News and The Daily Caller

CNN:

See HUD's $31,000 mahogany dining set — Washington (CNN)A $31,000 dining set the Department of Housing and Urban Development purchased, which raised eyebrows when first reported Tuesday, includes a table, sideboard, breakfront — all in mahogany — and 10 mahogany chairs with a blue velvet finish …

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Splinter

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
HUD: Carson Directs Agency To Cancel Order For $30,000 Dining Set

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos and Joe.My.God.

Azam Ahmed / New York Times:

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump — MEXICO CITY — The United States ambassador to Mexico plans to resign from her post in May, according to a memo circulated on Thursday to embassy staff, the latest in a string of senior diplomatic departures from the region …

Discussion: Axios and The Daily Caller

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

U.S. ambassador to Mexico stepping down — The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, is resigning from the post, the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the State Department and one that could further complicate the U.S.-Mexico relationship amid lingering tensions over immigration …

Discussion: American Thinker

Pew Research Center:

1. Generations' party identification, midterm voting preferences, views of Trump — Millennial voters continue to have the highest proportion of independents of any generation. But when their partisan leanings are taken into account, they also are the most Democratic generation.

USA Today:

Voters vow to elect a Congress that stands up to Trump, poll shows — WASHINGTON — Americans are mad, and that is putting Republicans at risk. — A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds voters looking toward the midterm elections are overwhelmingly unhappy with the country's direction …

Discussion: Political Wire

Pew Research Center: 4. Race, immigration, same-sex marriage, abortion, global warming, gun policy, marijuana legalization

New York Times:

Kushner's Business Got Loans from Companies After White House Meetings — Apollo, the private equity firm, and Citigroup made large loans last year to the family real estate business of Jared Kushner, President Trump's senior adviser. — Early last year, a private equity billionaire started paying regular visits to the White House.

Andrew Roth / The Guardian:

Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration — President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences … Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia has developed and is testing a new line of strategic, nuclear-capable weapons that would be able …

Discussion: Washington Post, Motherboard and Shakesville

BBC:
Russia's Putin unveils ‘invincible’ nuclear weapons

Discussion: CNN, Big Think, The Root, NPR, CBS Pittsburgh, Axios and Joe.My.God.

Andrew Osborn / Reuters:
Putin, before vote, unveils ‘invincible’ nuclear weapons to counter West

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Ray Sanchez / CNN:
Putin boasts military might with animation of Florida nuke strike

Discussion: RedState and New York Magazine

Mary Jordan / Washington Post:

Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’ — In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

Discussion: Washington Press, The White House, Axios, AOL and Political Wire

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Fights Worth Having — For my money, the best op-ed published in The Times this week was Mona Charen's Feb. 25 barn-burner, “I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC.” Charen is a movement conservative who worked for Nancy and Ronald Reagan and is a longtime contributor to National Review.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox and Weekly Standard

Associated Press:

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged over IS photos — PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors filed preliminary charges Thursday against far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence, in a new blow to a woman long seen as the face of Europe's anti-immigrant populism.

Discussion: The Local, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Miami Superintendent Turns Down New York City Schools Job — MIAMI — Mayor Bill de Blasio's choice to lead New York City's school system said on Thursday that he had changed his mind and would not leave his job as superintendent of the Miami-Dade County system, leading to cheers in a packed meeting room of his school board.

BuzzFeed:

Stop Blaming Russian Bots For Everything — “I'm not convinced on this bot thing,” said one of the men behind the Russian bot thing. — By now you know the drill: massive news event happens, journalists scramble to figure out what's going on, and within a couple hours the culprit is found — Russian bots.

Discussion: RedState, more at Techmeme »

BostonGlobe.com:

State trooper involved in shooting has history of racist online posts — The Massachusetts State Police trooper who fired his rifle during a police confrontation in which a Cape Verdean ATV driver was injured in Boston on Saturday has a long history of posting racist and profane comments …

Discussion: CBS Boston and Raw Story

Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans say Trump is racist — WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Americans, including large majorities of blacks and Hispanics, think President Donald Trump is a racist. More than half think his policies have made things worse for Hispanics and Muslims …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Jezebel, Politicus USA and Axios

Ryan Goodman / Just Security:

Russia “Previewed” Plan to Disseminate Emails with Trump Campaign — A significant recent revelation in the Russia investigation has been largely overlooked in the rush of several breaking news stories over the past few days. A nugget of information is contained in the memo written …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Salon and Raw Story

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Trump, The Day After: “Respect 2nd Amendment!” — Pontificate in haste, repent at leisure. Or perhaps Donald Trump didn't have as much leisure as he might have surmised. After a disastrous performance in a “listening session” yesterday in which Trump ridiculed Republicans for being controlled …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Hill, Raw Story, Washington Post, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, The Guardian, Breitbart, CBS New York, Roll Call, CBS Pittsburgh and Mediaite

Ema O'Connor / BuzzFeed:

The Trump Official Who Blocked Undocumented Teens From Getting Abortions Said He Doesn't Believe They Have The Constitutional Right To The Procedure — Scott Lloyd, the head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, is a central figure in several lawsuits over the Trump administration blocking …

Discussion: Vox

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Trump's corruption deserves to be a central issue in the 2018 midterms — Democrats need to shine a spotlight on conflicts of interest. — Democrats are still licking their wounds from the presidential election, afraid to return to a strategy that many believe cost Hillary Clinton the White House …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and USA Today