memeorandum: The Coming Collusion Bloodbath (Kevin McCullough/Townhall.com)

5:45 PM ET, March 18, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Assails Mueller, Drawing Rebukes From Republicans — WASHINGTON — President Trump appeared on Sunday to abandon a strategy of deferring to the special counsel examining Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, lashing out at what he characterized as a partisan investigation …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Gowdy to Trump: ‘When you are innocent ... act like it’ — Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) urged President Donald Trump and his lawyer on Sunday to stop flailing at special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and to let the probe continue unimpeded. — “When you are innocent ... act like it …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Mother Jones, Realtime Politics, WPIX 11 New York, Political Wire, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, The Week and Politico

Kevin McCullough / Townhall.com:

The Coming Collusion Bloodbath — The firing of Andrew McCabe, the discovery of his “private notes,” the ill-tempered response by other Obama loyalists and a yet to be disclosed Inspector General's report on an investigation that began before Donald Trump had come to office are all pieces …

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Trump said Mueller's team has ‘13 hardened Democrats.’ Here are the facts. … President Trump on Sunday renewed his attacks on the political affiliations of the members of the special counsel team investigating his 2016 campaign for possibly coordinating with Russia, alleging that the group has …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Firing McCabe Is Just the Start — President Trump raged at his TV on Sunday morning. And yet on balance, he had a pretty good weekend. He got a measure of revenge upon the hated FBI, firing former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe two days before his pension vested.

Discussion: CNN, RedState, bizpacreview.com, Washington Post, WIS-TV, Washington Free Beacon, Power Line and CBS Los Angeles

Axios:
What McCabe told Mueller

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, American Thinker, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Sputnik International, Power Line and bizpacreview.com

Emily Stewart / Vox:
Jeff Sessions may have violated his recusal pledge when he fired Andrew McCabe

Discussion: Forbes, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Politico, Breitbart, bizpacreview.com and Realtime Politics

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
James Comey's book is already a best seller, with Trump's help

Discussion: Raw Story, Breitbart, Washington Times, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Realtime Politics, bizpacreview.com and Mediaite

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Fact-checking Trump's error-filled tweetstorm about the Mueller probe

Discussion: Realtime Politics, bizpacreview.com, The Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs, Splinter and The Western Journal

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump rails against Mueller investigation, dismisses McCabe's notes as ‘Fake Memos’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Axios, KTLA, Oxford Mail, Breitbart, Washington Times, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, NPR, Mother Jones, RedState, Raw Story, CBS New York, CNBC and Al Jazeera English

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Republicans warn Trump

Discussion: Shareblue Media, NBC News, Raw Story, fox8.com and The Week

Joseph Weber / Fox News:
Fired McCabe kept notes on Trump, as Comey did, and gave them to Special Counsel Mueller

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Fox News Insider, Mashable, bizpacreview.com, Hullabaloo, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, The Week and Breitbart

Bernard Condon / Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Kushner Cos. filed false documents with NYC — NEW YORK (AP) — When the Kushner Cos. bought three apartment buildings in a gentrifying neighborhood of Queens in 2015, most of the tenants were protected by special rules that prevent developers from pushing them out, raising rents and turning a tidy profit.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, RedState, Raw Story and Outside the Beltway

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:

Trump had senior staff sign nondisclosure agreements. They're supposed to last beyond his presidency. … Back in April 2016, when the notion of Donald Trump in the White House still seemed fanciful, The Post's Robert Costa and Bob Woodward sat down with Trump, and Costa, at one point …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

Facebook investigating employee's links to Cambridge Analytica — Social media giants grilled on ‘fake news’ — Facebook told CNN it is looking into ties between one of its current employees and Cambridge Analytica, the controversial data firm that worked for Donald Trump's presidential campaign …

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:

U.S. and British lawmakers demand answers from Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg … Lawmakers in the United States and Britain are calling on Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to explain how the names, preferences and other information from tens of millions of users ended …

Washington Post:

Facebook may have violated FTC privacy deal, say former federal officials, triggering risk of massive fines … Two former federal officials who crafted the landmark consent decree governing how Facebook handles user privacy say the company may have violated that decree when it shared information …

Discussion: Engadget, more at Mediagazer »

The Guardian:
Pressure mounts on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook over data scandal

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic, New York Times, Recode, ThinkProgress, Spectator USA, Althouse, Refinery29, The Verge and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

Exclusive: Sources contradict Sessions' testimony he opposed Russia outreach — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' testimony that he opposed a proposal for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team to meet with Russians has been contradicted by three people …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media and Booman Tribune

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Democrats hold double-digit lead for 2018 midterm elections — A new NBC News/WSJ poll also shows President Trump's approval ratings edging up — WASHINGTON — Democrats enjoy a 10-point advantage over Republicans in congressional preference for the 2018 midterm elections …

Discussion: CNBC, Politicus USA, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire and Axios

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Regain Double-Digit Advantage Over GOP in Voter Sentiment Poll

Discussion: Politico

Terry Moran / ABC News:

Russian ex-spy's poisoning in UK believed from nerve agent in car vents; at least 38 others sickened: Sources — The Russian ex-spy who along with his daughter was poisoned by a nerve agent in the U.K. may have been exposed to the neurotoxin through his car's ventilation system, sources told ABC News.

Rory Smith / New York Times:
Memo to Theresa May: In Premier League, Russian Roots Run Deep

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Ellen Barry / New York Times:
Britain Says It Has Proof Russia Stockpiled Lethal Nerve Agent

Discussion: NPR, CANNONFIRE, Sputnik International and Politico

Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
Why does Putin treat Britain with disdain? He thinks he's bought it.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and NPR

Chris Riotta / Mediaite:

Durbin: Hillary Clinton's Comments About Trump Voters ‘Not Helpful At All’ — Sen. Dick Durbin described former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent controversial comments about the 2016 election as “wrong” and “not helpful at all” in an interview with Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace.

Frank Bruni / New York Times: Democrats Are Primed for 2018 and Looking Pretty in 2020

Ronald Radosh / The Daily Beast:
The Democrats' Only Hope: Give Up Leftism for Lambism

Discussion: Althouse and The Guardian

Associated Press:

The Latest: Russian liberal candidate comes distant fourth — MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on Russia's presidential election (all times local): — Ksenia Sobchak, a liberal challenger in Russia's presidential election who is a distant fourth in the early vote count, says she's satisfied with her campaign.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

BBC:
Russia election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin

Discussion: ThinkProgress and RedState

CNN: Vladimir Putin retains grip on Russia, exit polls show

Rep. Keith Ellison:

I Have Fought Against Hate My Entire Career — Standing together when those who have never been on our side seek to divide us

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Doree Lewak / New York Post:

Women's March members bail over ties to Farrakhan — The Women's March — a civil-rights group at the center of protests against the Trump presidency — is losing top staffers and supporters over its leadership's refusal to denounce a racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic rant by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon and IJR