memeorandum: McMaster Out As National Security Adviser; Bolton In (Michael Warren/Weekly Standard)

9:35 PM ET, March 22, 2018

Top Items:

McMaster to Resign as National Security Adviser, and Will Be Replaced by John Bolton — WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump's national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation …

Tim Mak / NPR:

John Bolton's Curious Appearance In A Russian Gun Rights Video — Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton recorded a video used by the Russian gun rights group The Right to Bear Arms in 2013 to encourage the Russian government to loosen gun laws. — The episode, which has not been previously reported …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Political Wire

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

McMaster Out As National Security Adviser; Bolton In — Trump has long trusted the former U.N. ambassador over his own national security team. — Long before John Bolton was named Donald Trump's National Security Adviser, the president often trusted the Fox News contributor over his own national security team.

Discussion: ABC News, NPR, Mother Jones, France 24, NBC News, Roll Call, Breitbart and Investor's Business Daily

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

John Bolton, Trump's ultra-hawkish new national security adviser, explained — Bolton has recently called for war with both Iran and North Korea. — President Donald Trump finally jettisoned National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Thursday afternoon. His replacement is John Bolton …

Discussion: New York Times, New Republic, The Atlantic, Axios, New York Magazine, The Guardian, Politicus USA, The Week, WSVN-TV and twitchy.com

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:
H.R. McMaster Out as National Security Adviser as Trump's Purge Continues

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart and Politico

Michele Kelemen / NPR:
Bolton Brings Hawkish Perspective To North Korea, Iran Strategy

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Vox, Hit & Run and 89.3 KPCC

New York Times:

John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Special Counsel Inquiry — WASHINGTON — The president's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation, John Dowd, resigned on Thursday, according to two people briefed on the matter, days after the president called for an end to the inquiry.

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Now I'm F—ing Doing It My Way”: Jubilant and Self-Liberated, the President Prepares for War with Mueller — With John Dowd out, John Kelly and Ty Cobb marginalized, Joseph diGenova on board, and Marc Kasowitz possibly returning, the next battle comes into focus.

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Victoria Toensing joins husband Joseph diGenova on Trump's legal team in Russia probe — President Trump retained the law firm diGenova & Toensing this week to represent him in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates …

Discussion: Fox News Insider

NBC News:

Trump legal team shake-up clears path for possible Mueller interview — The president appears to be moving toward sitting down with the special counsel after John Dowd's departure — WASHINGTON — The shake-up in President Donald Trump's legal team is part of preparations …

Discussion: Political Wire, AOL, Raw Story, Law & Crime and Mediaite

Washington Post:
Trump attorney John Dowd resigns amid shake-up in president's legal team

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Monthly, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Instapundit, Law & Crime, Politico, Washingtonian, Common Dreams, The Atlantic, The Week, WSVN-TV and FOX59

The Daily Beast:

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Lone DNC Hacker’ Guccifer 2.0 Slipped Up and Revealed He Was a Russian Intelligence Officer … Guccifer 2.0, the “lone hacker” who took credit for providing WikiLeaks with stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, was in fact an officer of Russia's military intelligence directorate …

Discussion: Vox, Axios, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Karen McDougal tells CNN Trump tried to pay her after sex — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump once tried to offer Karen McDougal money after they had been intimate, the former Playboy model told Anderson Cooper Thursday in an exclusive interview on CNN. — “After we had been intimate …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politicus USA, NBC News and TVNewser

Rachel Wolfe / Vox:

How to watch the 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels — This is the first time Daniels will appear on national television since the story broke. — Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who says she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and is currently suing him, is speaking out.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, twitchy.com and The Week

Matt Egan / CNNMoney:

Dow plunges 724 points as trade war fears rock Wall Street — U.S. trade moves could spark Chinese retaliation — Trade war fears rocked Wall Street on Thursday after President Trump launched a crackdown on China. — The Dow plummeted 724 points, or 2.9%, underlining mounting concerns among investors …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The White House, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Hit & Run and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Shane / CNNMoney: China plans to hit US with tariffs following Trump trade sanctions

Scott Horsley / NPR:
Trump Orders Stiff Tariffs On China, In Hopes Of Cutting Trade Gap By $50 Billion

Discussion: CNBC, 89.3 KPCC, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump's two-front war

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Washington Post, One America News Network, Breitbart, ABC News, Outside the Beltway and New York Magazine

Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in Eric Holder suit — MADISON - Dealing a setback to Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans, a judge ruled Thursday the governor must call special elections to fill two vacant seats in the Legislature.

Discussion: Salon, ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, The Nation, Daily Kos and Political Wire

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Jeff Zucker Hits “Propaganda Machine” Fox News: “It Is Really State-Run TV” — The CNN chief said the network does a “disservice to the country.” — CNN President Jeff Zucker lashed out at competitor Fox News at an industry conference on Thursday afternoon, saying that Fox News “is really state-run TV.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Axios and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
CNN Chief: Fox News Harms America, Is Worse Than Russian Propaganda

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Katie Langin / Science:

Exclusive: 'I've never seen anything like it.' Video of mating deep-sea anglerfish stuns biologists — Anglerfish, with their menacing gape and dangling lure, are among the most curious inhabitants of the deep ocean. Scientists have hardly ever seen them alive in their natural environment.

Discussion: Daily Mail and Gizmodo

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Rex Tillerson takes an apparent parting shot at Trump … Rex Tillerson is officially done as secretary of state, but he got in what appeared to be one final dig at President Trump before heading out the door. — At the every end of his farewell speech to the State Department on Thursday …

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Tillerson urges ‘kindness’ in a ‘mean-spirited town’ during farewell remarks

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and RedState

Geoffrey Skelley / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Exit Stage Left or Right: Midterm Retirements and Open Seats in the House From 1974 to 2018 — Republicans already have many abandoned districts to defend this November. Are there more to come? — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — By multiple measures — such as retirements, “pure” …

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Joe Biden Could Beat Trump in a Fight—and an Election … Joe Biden is as close as it gets to the real deal for Democrats. I thought of this when, in a speech at the University of Miami this week, Biden said of Donald Trump: “A guy who ended up becoming our national leader said …

Harry Enten / CNN:
Why the Biden-Trump feud of 2018 might be a preview of 2020

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and ABC News

CNN:

More anti-Muslim, conspiratorial tweets emerge from Trump's pick for top UN migration job — (CNN)Ken Isaacs, the Trump administration pick to head the international organization that coordinates assistance to migrants worldwide, once wrote on Twitter that Austria and Switzerland …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Vivian Yee / New York Times:

He Gambles. He Tips Staff. He Eats Alone. All the While, He's Stocking His Vegas Suite With Guns. — Sometimes we see him as other hotel guests would have seen him: as the tall gambler intent on the video poker machine across the casino floor, or as the customer standing in line in front …

Discussion: RedState, AOL, Fox News, Fox News Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Raw Story

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Cynthia Nixon and the Degradation of Experience — You wouldn't want to be operated on by a physician with only a few surgeries under his or her belt, and the assurance that this doctor brought a fresh perspective to anesthesia and incisions wouldn't thrill you.

Discussion: CNN, New York Post and Mashable

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Bannon: If Kelly leaves White House, Trump won't replace him — Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon on Thursday said he believes if chief of staff John Kelly — leaves the White House, President Trump — will not replace him. — Bannon said at a Financial Times event …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Kelly Mclaughlin / Daily Mail:

The Clintons have ‘at least a one-way open marriage’, pollster says — Mark Penn, who served as a pollster for Bill Clinton in the 1990s and chief strategist for Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign, says that the couple's open marriage was possibly ‘not by choice’.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:

Video suggests huge problems with Uber's driverless car program — Video of the fatal driverless car crash in Tempe is damning for Uber. — There's something very wrong with Uber's driverless car program. — On Wednesday night, police released footage of Sunday night's deadly car crash in Tempe …

Discussion: Eschaton

NBC News:

Bill Murray The Parkland kids remind me of the students who helped end the Vietnam War — Their most powerful asset in their fight to bring change is their idealism — We are living in interesting times, and people are becoming politically activated who weren't previously.

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, IndieWire, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Daily Wire and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

Charges Have Been Dropped Against Most Turkish Officers in D.C. Clash — Case had caused a rift between the U.S. and Turkey — WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against 11 of 15 members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security team who were accused in connection …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway

Ian Duncan / Baltimore Sun:

16-year-old victim of Maryland school shooting to be taken off life support, family says — The 16-year-old victim of Tuesday's shooting at Great Mills High School will be taken off life support, her family announced Thursday night. — Jaelynn Willey was one of two students who were injured …

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Deja Vu All Over Again. Health Care Takes Center Stage in 2018 Campaigns — There's always something of a disconnect between what Washington, DC is obsessed about and what the rest of the country is worried about. In DC, of course, the story is Robert Mueller, Russia and White House chaos.

Discussion: Pew Research Center

The Atlantic:

The Atlantic Announces Ideas Columnists Ibram X. Kendi, Annie Lowrey, Alex Wagner, and Kevin D. Williamson — Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2018)—The Atlantic has named the first four contributors to its forthcoming section for ideas, opinion, and commentary at TheAtlantic.com …

Discussion: National Review