memeorandum: Playbook: Eight brutal months are coming up (Daniel Lippman/Politico)

10:05 AM ET, April 12, 2018

Top Items:

Jeff Zeleny / CNN:

Exclusive: Inside the GOP plan to discredit Comey — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's allies are preparing an extensive campaign to fight back against James Comey's publicity tour, trying to undermine the credibility of the former FBI director by reviving the blistering Democratic criticism …

Discussion: Daily Wire, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, The Week and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:

Trump Allies and House Republicans to Paul Ryan: Get Out Now … House Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement announcement Wednesday morning set off a round of heartburn within the White House and among its allies over the damage that may be done in what's left of his term.

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Politico, Washington Examiner and HuffPost

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 Atlantic, New Republic, The Week and Weekly Standard

Axios:

Ryan may be forced to leave speakership by summer — Paul Ryan said he plans to remain as speaker and not call an early leadership election, but well-wired Republicans tell Jonathan Swan and me that Ryan may be forced out sooner. — What we're hearing: One source close to leadership told us …

Discussion: New York Times, Political Wire, Politico and Splinter

Kaitlyn Burton / Politico:

Trump's push to redo $1.3T spending bill he signed sparks GOP revolt — A regretful President Donald Trump wants to roll back spending in a massive omnibus bill he signed into law, but Republicans who helped craft the legislation are in open revolt. — “My attitude is, your word is your bond …

Discussion: Political Wire

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Playbook: Eight brutal months are coming up — THE PRESIDENT at 6:03 a.m.: “If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him. Just more Fake News from a biased newspaper!” ... at 6:14 a.m.: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Post and The Week

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Takes Out Paul Ryan, and 'It's Going to Be a Civil War' … The news that Paul Ryan is retiring from Congress was received by grim-faced members of the GOP caucus finally realizing what they've done, and what's coming. Ryan pulled the ripcord today after a 19-year career in Congress …

New York Times:
Ryan Found Himself on the Margins as the G.O.P. Moved Right

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Crooked Media, The Week and Splinter

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan is abandoning the ship before it sinks

Discussion: The Cook Political Report, CANNONFIRE and Salon

Tim Alberta / Politico:
The Tragedy of Paul Ryan

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan implodes his party — ahead of schedule

Discussion: Balloon Juice

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Federalist and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Why Ryan called it quits

Discussion: The Week, Associated Press, Vox, Informed Comment, FiveThirtyEight, Breitbart, Townhall, Axios, ABC News, RT, Hit & Run, Raw Story, New York Magazine and NBC News

John Bresnahan / Politico:
GOP faction wants Ryan gone now

Discussion: New York Times

Paul Ryan / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘I feel content that I have done my part; I am ready to move on’

Jamelle Bouie / Slate:
What Ryan Wrought — No one person bears singular blame …

Discussion: New Republic, CNN, The Atlantic and Hit & Run

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

Discussion: The Other McCain, New York Times, Instapundit, Viking Pundit and Townhall

Associated Press:

$30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip — NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate who claimed she'd had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid's parent made a $30,000 payment …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

The National Enquirer, a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence — Late in 2015, a former Trump Tower doorman named Dino Sajudin met with a reporter from American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

Discussion: CNBC, Raw Story, Shakesville, CANNONFIRE and Mediaite

RADAR:

Prez Love Child Shocker! Ex-Trump Worker Peddling Rumor Donald Has Illegitimate Child — Fake news or an Oval Office bombshell? You be the judge. — PRESIDENT Donald Trump fathered a secret love child with a Trump Organization employee — a gorgeous 29-year-old medical graduate who is currently living in California!

New York Times:
Investigators Focus on Another Trump Ally: The National Enquirer

Discussion: Bustle, more at Mediagazer »

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: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, The Week, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, Washington Press, CNBC, Raw Story, emptywheel, CNN, Mediaite and Political Wire

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

Discussion: The Hill, Townhall and Daily Kos

Catherine Herridge / Fox News:
Rosenstein lets Nunes, Gowdy review FBI memo that kick-started Russia probe

Discussion: Power Line

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: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, CNN, Mashable, BloombergQuint, Earther, Splinter, Axios, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Jacqueline Alemany / CBS News:
Here are some of the threats made against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt

Discussion: Conservative News Today and New York Magazine

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: Washington Post, Task & Purpose, Breitbart, CNN, Washington Free Beacon and RT

Mark Hodge / The Sun:
DON BACKS DOWN Donald Trump back-pedals on Syria saying he ‘never said WHEN an attack would take place’

Discussion: Townhall, ABC News and Talking Points Memo

Luis Martinez / ABC News:
US ‘still assessing the intelligence’ on alleged Syrian chemical attack, defense secretary says

New York Times:

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, Michael D. Cohen, were seeking details on his relationship with the Trump campaign and his efforts to suppress negative information about Mr. Trump …

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill: Gingrich compares FBI raid of Trump lawyer to Nazi secret police

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: Politico, The Intercept, Washington Post, The Week, AOL, New York Times, The American Conservative, Washington Press, VICE News and Common Dreams

Ishaan Tharoor / Washington Post:
Trump's would-be secretary of state has an Islamophobia problem

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Politico, Bustle and Common Dreams

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Trump Court Pick Thinks Planned Parenthood ‘Kills Over 150,000 Females A Year’ — Wendy Vitter refused to tell senators if she still agrees with a speech she gave at a 2013 anti-abortion rally. — WASHINGTON One of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees, Wendy Vitter …

Discussion: Raw Story, Bustle, NPR, Splinter, Mother Jones, Jezebel and Refinery29

Maggie Astor / New York Times:

Holocaust Is Fading From Memory, Survey Finds — For seven decades, “never forget” has been a rallying cry of the Holocaust remembrance movement. — But a survey released Thursday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, found that many adults lack basic knowledge of what happened …

CNN:

Firing Rosenstein would cross a red line for the rule of law — Source: Trump considering firing Rosenstein — Fred Wertheimer is the founder and president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to promote government accountability and integrity.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, CBS Los Angeles, KTLA and Fox News Insider

Bloomberg:
Trump Discussed Firing Rosenstein But Denies Bid to Oust Mueller

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, CNN, Political Wire, Axios, KTLA and Roll Call

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
The Nation Will Pay if Trump Fires Mueller

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Washington Press, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, Washington Monthly, CNN and The Guardian

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: RedState, Shareblue Media, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MSNBC, CNBC, RRH Elections, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and ThinkProgress

Brian X. Chen / New York Times:

I Downloaded the Information That Facebook Has on Me. Yikes. — When I downloaded a copy of my Facebook data last week, I didn't expect to see much. My profile is sparse, I rarely post anything on the site, and I seldom click on ads. (I'm what some call a Facebook “lurker.")

Discussion: 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

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.

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.

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Stephanopoulos: Comey compared Trump to a ‘mob boss’ … Ex-FBI Director James Comey — compared President Trump — to a “mob boss” in a taped interview with ABC News, according to a promotional video released Wednesday. — “How strange is it for you to sit here and compare the president …

Discussion: Fox News Insider

Matthew Smith / YouGov US Opinion Center News:

Angelina Jolie and Bill Gates are the world's most admired people in 2018 — Thirteen Americans, including three newcomers, make YouGov's Most Admired list — Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie are once again the world's most admired man and woman in YouGov's annual study of which public figures the people of our planet look up to.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Hill and Washington Press