memeorandum: Surrounded by hawks, Mattis digs in amid Trump admin chaos (Zachary Cohen/CNN)

8:25 AM ET, March 28, 2018

Top Items:

Zachary Mider / Bloomberg:

Robert Mercer's Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop — Why was the fabulously wealthy Trump donor wearing a badge and a gun in a tiny desert town? To obtain something that's impossible to buy. — Robert Mercer probably would have flown into Roswell. From there—1,800 miles from home …

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Playbook scoop: Republicans to push balanced-budget amendment — BRING 'EM TO THE BALLOT BOX! — THE PRESIDENT at 5:52 a.m.: “THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY.

Discussion: Political Wire

Shane Savitsky / Axios:

Trump: I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un — President Trump confirmed in a tweet this morning that his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still on. The president expressed hope that Kim, who just visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, “will do what is right for his people and for humanity.”

Discussion: Politico, CBS New York, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Sputnik International, NBC News and Mediaite

New York Times:
Kim Jong-un Met Xi Jinping in Secret Beijing Visit, China Says

Discussion: CNN, Boing Boing, Vox, Politico, Union of Concerned Scientists, Financial Times, The New Arab, Gizmodo, Associated Press, TheBlaze, Infowars and VICE News

New York Times:
Trump Secures Trade Deal With South Korea Ahead of Nuclear Talks

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart and Axios

BBC:
Kim Jong-un was in Beijing, China and NK confirm

Discussion: New York Times and Just Security

xinhuanet.com:
Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un hold talks in Beijing

Discussion: CNN, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Week, NPR, Bustle, NBC News and Axios

Politico:
Trump is winning the trade war — for now

Discussion: One America News Network

David J. Lynch / Washington Post:
Trump's early trade gains could come at future cost

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Week

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

The sliming of Parkland students shows the spreading stain of media polarization … Six months ago, the conservative radio host and blogger Erick Erickson wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, inspiringly titled “How to Find Common Ground.” — “We owe it to one another to disagree agreeably …

Discussion: @politifact, The Week, Townhall.com, Media Matters for America, New York Times, alicublog and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Isabelle Robinson / New York Times:

I Was Kind to Nikolas Cruz. He Still Killed My Friends. — My first interaction with Nikolas Cruz happened when I was in seventh grade. I was eating lunch with my friends, most likely discussing One Direction or Ed Sheeran, when a sudden pain consumed my lower back.

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story and Mediaite

Mike Mullen / City Pages:
Rep. Mary Franson compares ‘March for Our Lives’ kids to Hitler Youth

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post, The Hill, ThinkProgress, Bustle, AOL, VICE News and Raw Story

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed:

Robert Mueller's Office Wants A Judge To Consider Jail Time For A Lawyer Who Pleaded Guilty To Lying — Alex van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to special counsel prosecutors and the FBI, is asking for no jail time. — Reporting From Washington, DC

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

New Gates tie alleged in special counsel filing on van der Zwaan sentencing — (CNN)The special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election revealed Tuesday night that prosecutors say they have connected former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates to a person …

Discussion: The Week

Washington Post:
Manafort associate had Russian intelligence ties during 2016 campaign, prosecutors say

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and VICE News

New York Times:

Peter Thiel Employee Helped Cambridge Analytica Before It Harvested Data — As a start-up called Cambridge Analytica sought to harvest the Facebook data of tens of millions of Americans in summer 2014, the company received help from at least one employee at Palantir Technologies …

Discussion: Daily Mail and FiveThirtyEight, more at Techmeme »

Kari Weiler / Sam Harris:

Ezra Klein: Editor-in-Chief — In April of 2017, I published a podcast with Charles Murray, coauthor of the controversial (and endlessly misrepresented) book The Bell Curve. These are the most provocative claims in the book: — Human “general intelligence” is a scientifically valid concept.

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Sam Harris, Charles Murray, and the allure of race science

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and The Atlantic

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump attack unleashes oppo against Mueller — When President Donald Trump lashed out against Robert Mueller by name earlier this month, the president's supporters sprang into action—treating the chief Russia investigator to political campaign-style opposition research.

Discussion: Raw Story, CNBC and LewRockwell

Jordain Carney / The Hill: Dems to top DOJ officials: Publicly promise not to interfere in Mueller's probe

CNN:
CNN Poll: On Russia, Americans' views are settled and partisan

Discussion: Opinion Today

Andy Court / CBS News:

Stormy Daniels' lawyer seeks to depose President Trump, Michael Cohen — Stormy Daniels' attorney asked a federal judge this morning for permission to depose President Donald J. Trump about his knowledge of an agreement to pay the porn star $130,000 a week and a half before the 2016 election.

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Globe and Mail and AOL

Derek Hawkins / Washington Post:
Stormy Daniels asks court to order deposition of Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen

Discussion: Bustle

Betsy Klein / CNN:

Former Disney star joins White House press team — Washington (CNN)The White House press office is getting a bit more Sunshine these days — former Disney Channel star Caroline Sunshine, that is. She's joining the team as a press assistant. — Sunshine, 22, is known for her role alongside Zendaya …

Discussion: Bustle, Raw Story, The Week and TheBlaze

Zachary Cohen / CNN:

Surrounded by hawks, Mattis digs in amid Trump admin chaos — Washington (CNN)Defense Secretary James Mattis is doing his best to downplay notions that he is concerned about working with President Donald Trump's hawkish new national security adviser John Bolton despite signs of a shifting power dynamic …

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Mattis: ‘No reservations, no concerns at all’ in working with Bolton

Discussion: VICE News

Jim Newell / Slate:

When Ryan Costello Knew He Was in Trouble — It only took a week for Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan Costello, a moderate Republican representing suburban Philadelphia, to recognize the headwinds that Donald Trump's presidency would create for him and members in similar districts.

Discussion: Hit & Run

Jeff Singer / Daily Kos: In final screw-you to his party, GOP Rep. Ryan Costello takes name off Pennsylvania primary ballot

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump hates Amazon, not Facebook — Capitol Hill wants Facebook's blood, but President Trump isn't interested. Instead, the tech behemoth Trump wants to go after is Amazon, according to five sources who've discussed it with him. “He's obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.”

Discussion: CNBC and The Week

Karen Freifeld / Reuters:

Exclusive: Spurned by top lawyers, Trump's defense elevates Washington outsider — (Reuters) - A little-known former prosecutor with a doctorate in medieval history will play a central role on U.S. President Donald Trump's legal team, as many top-tier lawyers shy away from representing …

New York Times:

A Cyberattack Hobbles Atlanta, and Security Experts Shudder — ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta's 8,000 employees got the word on Tuesday that they had been waiting for: It was O.K. to turn their computers on. — But as the city government's desktops, hard drives and printers flickered …

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

House subpoena rattles Justice Department; Sessions ‘angry’ at slow response; FBI ‘called on the carpet’ — The FBI is promising swift action on a House subpoena covering three politically charged investigations after word that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has grown angry with the bureau's slow-walking …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

‘He knows he is done’: Veterans Affairs chief lies low amid rumors he'll be ousted … Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin has lived in presidential purgatory for weeks. — The president has told a number of advisers that he wants to oust Shulkin, once a favorite in his Cabinet.

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Facebook Delays Home-Speaker Unveil Amid Data Crisis — Social network had hoped to show off devices at F8 in May — Company still plans to launch products later this year — Facebook Inc. has decided not to unveil new home products at its major developer conference in May …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Talking Points Memo, Gizmodo and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Paul R. La Monica / CNNMoney:
Facebook has lost $80 billion in market value since its data scandal

Discussion: Bloomberg, NY State of Politics, Sputnik International and Gizmodo

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

Dems would need to win nationwide by 11 points to retake House: analysis — A new report warns that district boundaries shaped to favor Republicans could make it tough for Democrats to retake the House in the November midterms. — While the political environment is expected to boost Democratic candidates …

Discussion: Politico, Vox and USA Today

Harry Enten / CNN:
Democrats may already be 35% of the way to a House majority

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Political Wire

New York Times:

At Least Twelve States to Sue Trump Administration Over Census Citizenship Question — WASHINGTON — At least 12 states signaled Tuesday that they would sue to block the Trump administration from adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census, arguing that the change would cause fewer Americans …

Discussion: NPR, FOX2now.com, The Hill, ag.ny.gov, CNN, Splinter, Public Policy Institute …, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, emptywheel and Althouse

Ben Beaumont-Thomas / The Guardian:

R Kelly accused of grooming 14-year-old girl as ‘sex pet’ — In a BBC3 documentary, former girlfriend Kitti Jones alleges the R&B star groomed an underage girl as well as her and other young women; Kelly has refused to comment … The R&B singer R Kelly has been accused of sexually abusing a girl since she was 14 years old.

Discussion: thecut and Jezebel