memeorandum: Single mom of five goes viral with inspiring law school graduation photo (Christina Capatides/CBS News)

12:30 AM ET, April 12, 2018

Top Items:

Raid on Trump's Lawyer Sought Records on ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape — The F.B.I. agents who raided the office and hotel of President Trump's lawyer on Monday were seeking all records related to the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Mr. Trump was heard making vulgar comments about women …

CNN:
FBI sought Trump's communications with his personal lawyer regarding Access Hollywood

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
3 things we want to know about Michael Cohen and the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

Discussion: Bustle, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, National Review and Raw Story

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Federal investigators sought Trump's communications with his lawyer about ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

Discussion: New Yorker, CNN, Law & Crime and Courier-Journal

Alan Dershowitz / Fox News:
Why the FBI raid on Trump's lawyer hurts all of us

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

Ryan Found Himself on the Margins as the G.O.P. Moved Right — WASHINGTON — Paul D. Ryan took the helm of the House two and a half years ago, not because he wanted it, but because he was seen as the only lawmaker who could keep Republicans from devouring themselves.

Discussion: National Review, Vox, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Root, Rewire.News, Bustle, The Week, The Ringer, Raw Story, Grist and No More Mister Nice Blog

Axios:

Paul Ryan won't run for re-election — Speaker Paul Ryan told House Republicans this morning that he will not run for re-election in November. — Why it matters: House Republicans were already in a very tough spot for the midterms, with many endangered members and the good chance that Democrats could win the majority.

Washington Post:

Trump chooses impulse over strategy as crises mount … In a White House known for chaos, the process of developing the U.S. response to the Syrian government's alleged latest gas attack was proceeding with uncharacteristic deliberation, including several national security briefings for President Trump.

Discussion: The Week

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Paul Ryan implodes his party — ahead of schedule … Paul D. Ryan's face has always said more than his words. In the two years since the Republican Party takeover by Donald Trump, it has been a mask of anguish. — So it is no surprise that, come what may for House Republicans in the fall election …

John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:
The Ryan Retirement in Seven Points

Discussion: The Other McCain, Instapundit and New York Times

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
House Speaker Paul Ryan was the biggest fraud in American politics

Discussion: The Week and Splinter

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
Paul Ryan Personifies the Devil's Bargain the GOP Struck With Trump

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Politico, Hot Air, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, FiveThirtyEight, Mediaite, The Week, Vox and twitchy.com

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Fanatic, Fraud, Factotum: The Rise and Fall of Paul Ryan

Discussion: Washington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
How Paul Ryan Went From Young Gun To Gone

Discussion: The American Conservative, CNN and Viking Pundit

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:
Ryan Retirement Puts WI-01 at Risk and Throws House GOP Into Deeper Turmoil

Discussion: Sabato's Crystal Ball and Axios

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Bannon pitches White House on plan to cripple Mueller probe and protect Trump … Stephen K. Bannon, who was ousted as White House chief strategist last summer but has remained in touch with some members of President Trump's circle, is pitching a plan to West Wing aides and congressional allies …

Discussion: CNN, Political Wire, CNBC, The Week, Raw Story, emptywheel and Mediaite

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Justice Dept. turns over document that launched Russia probe

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill, Daily Kos and The Atlantic

Bloomberg:
Trump Ordered DOJ to Hire Controversial Former Aide, Sources Say

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shakesville and New York Magazine

Kansas City Star:

Woman: Sexual encounter with Greitens was not consensual. Lawmakers find her credible — When she tried to leave, sobbing after a non-consensual sexual encounter, she says the man who would be governor physically stopped her. — What happened next, she testified under oath …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CNBC, ThinkProgress and Hot Air

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Woman testifies that Greitens groped and hit her; governor blasts ‘lies’ and ‘tabloid trash’ — Gov. Eric Greitens spoke at a news conference on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, about a report that was about to come out concerning his affair in 2015. Greitens called the investigation a “witch hunt”.

Discussion: Kansas City Star, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Rebecca Berg / CNN:
Report: Woman says Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens coerced her into sexual encounter

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CBS News and Law & Crime

Kansas City Star:
Missouri legislators call on Gov. Greitens to resign in wake of bombshell report

Discussion: Vox and Bustle

New York Times:

Scott Pruitt's Idea to Update an E.P.A. Keepsake: Less E.P.A., More Pruitt — When Scott Pruitt wanted to refashion the Environmental Protection Agency's “challenge coin” — a type of souvenir medallion with military origins that has become a status symbol among civilians …

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine, Mashable, Earther, The Daily Caller, Splinter, Mediaite, Axios and Vox

Jacqueline Alemany / CBS News:

Here are some of the threats made against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — CBS News has obtained an August 2017 report prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency's office of inspector general that contains a list of 13 threats made against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his family.

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Pompeo failed to disclose Chinese business connection — WASHINGTON — CIA Director Mike Pompeo failed to disclose last year that he owned a Kansas business that imported oilfield equipment from a company owned by the Chinese government. — That omission, on the questionnaire Pompeo …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Press, VICE News, New York Times, The American Conservative and Common Dreams

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
Mike Pompeo Could Go Down If Senate Democrats Decide to Fight

Discussion: Common Dreams, CNN and Axios

Erick Erickson / TheResurgent.com:

A Congressman's Profanity Laced Tirade in a Safeway Grocery Store — One of the President's congressional defenders has privately decided he hates Trump and wants to unload. — “If we're going to lose because of him, we might as well impeach the motherf**ker,” said the congressman …

Discussion: Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Press, Conservative News Today, The American Conservative, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Mediaite, American Greatness and Political Wire

CNN:

Deputy national security adviser Nadia Schadlow resigns — Washington (CNN)Nadia Schadlow, the US deputy national security adviser for strategy, has resigned and will leave her position at the end of the month, multiple administration officials told CNN. — Schadlow is the third senior …

Discussion: Washington Press, Washington Free Beacon and Daily Kos

CNN:
Kelly cedes control to new faces amid latest Trump tumult

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and The American Conservative

Associated Press: Another high-ranking official leaves NSC

Fox News Insider:

Tucker Carlson Assad Bombing Civilians Chemical Gas Attack Response Noah Rothman — Tucker Carlson debated a magazine editor who claimed the host “willfully misled his audience and advanced Russian geopolitical narratives” by cautioning against anti-Assad actions in Syria following the chemical attack on civilians there.

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Hot Air and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:
Trump Threatens Syria Before Allies Are on Board

BBC:
Theresa May ‘to act on Syria without MPs’ vote' - sources

Discussion: Townhall, The Cipher Brief, Breitbart, New York Magazine, The Federalist, The Atlantic, Hit & Run, Reuters and NPR

Tim Mak / NPR:

NRA, In New Document, Acknowledges More Than 20 Russian-Linked Contributors — The National Rifle Association has accepted contributions from about 23 Russians, or Americans living in Russia, since 2015, the gun rights group acknowledged to Congress. — The NRA said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden …

Discussion: ABC News, Shareblue Media, BloombergQuint, Washington Press, twitchy.com, MSNBC, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Front Page Magazine and Political Wire

Cindy Adams / Page Six:

Women are lining up to date Rudy Giuliani — The about-to-be-consciously uncoupled Rudy Giuliani is coming off to Upper East Side sex kittens like catnip. They're purring at him. Sidling — if not actually front-ling — in his direction. — It seems power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Senate panel moves to take up bill protecting Mueller — The Senate Judiciary Committee is moving forward with legislation to limit President Trump — 's ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller — (R-Iowa) wants to add the bill to the panel's business meeting agenda scheduled for Thursday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Washington Monthly and Political Wire

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal: Senate Judiciary Committee to Take Up Bill Protecting Mueller

Christina Capatides / CBS News:

Single mom of five goes viral with inspiring law school graduation photo — Ieshia Champs has wanted to be a lawyer since she was 7 years old. In her teenage years, however, the odds began stacking up against her and it appeared that her dream might be permanently out of reach.

Cristina Maza / Newsweek:

RUSSIA PREPARES FOR WAR WITH U.S., INSTRUCTING CITIZENS TO BUY WATER AND GAS MASKS — Claiming that some Americans are preparing for a coming war with Moscow, Russian state-owned television explained to the country's residents how to stock their bunkers with water and basic foodstuffs in case a war breaks out.

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Spectator USA, CNN, Al Jazeera English, Wall Street Journal and NPR

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.:

California Responds to Federal Request for National Guard Personnel — SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today responded to the federal government's request for additional California National Guard personnel with the following letter. The accompanying agreement …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Louder With Crowder, Breitbart, CNBC, Sean Hannity, Politico, Axios and ABC News

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Trump turns to Dershowitz as Mueller probe escalates — Alan Dershowitz, the retired Harvard law professor, had an adorable 6-foot-tall stuffed bear in his daughter's bedroom and a potential legal problem on his hands. — It was the early 1990s, and his client, hotel magnate Leona Helmsley …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: The Trump/Rosenstein Russian Nesting Doll of Nonsense

Brett T. / twitchy.com:

Women pose for open carry pics in solidarity with college student who had gun in her graduation photo — You might remember Twitchy's post from Tuesday about University of Tennessee senior Brenna Spencer, who managed to trigger liberals with her graduation photo, which was both pro-gun and pro-Trump:

Niv Elis / The Hill:

Corker: Tax cuts could be 'one of the worst votes I've made' — (R) said his vote on the GOP tax law could be one of the worst of his career if estimates that it will add $1.9 trillion to deficits over a decade prove correct. — “If it ends up costing what has been laid out here …

Discussion: Splinter and Daily Kos

Associated Press:

Trump weighs plan to allow states to require drug testing for some on food stamps — The Trump administration is considering a plan that would allow states to require certain food stamp recipients to undergo drug testing, handing a win to conservatives who've long sought ways to curb the safety net program.

Andrew Kirell / The Daily Beast:

Zuckerberg Gets More Questions About Diamond & Silk Than Facebook's Role in Myanmar Genocide … When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to Capitol Hill this week, he was bound to face a variety of difficult questions ranging from his company's handling of user information to the proliferation of fake news over its pages.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Bustle, Right Wing Watch, Breitbart, AOL, Mediaite and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Washington Lies In a Parallel Universe — In the real world, the Trump administration is humming along. Its domestic policies are sensible and have been remarkably successful in a short time. Abroad, the administration has pursued American interests, again with considerable success.