Top Items:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Cohen drops libel suits against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS — Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS over publication of the so-called dossier detailing alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
Discussion:
The Guardian, CNBC, NBC News, Washington Monthly, National Review, Washington Post, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Above the Law, MSNBC, The Week and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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Wall Street Journal:
Cohen Would Turn Against President if Charged, Counselor Warned Trump — Former prosecutor Jay Goldberg says he cautioned president that his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, could be compelled to cooperate with prosecutors — One of President Donald Trump's longtime legal advisers …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, Raw Story, Weekly Standard, emptywheel, Washington Times, Mother Jones, The Week, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Ex-Playboy Model, Let Out of Tabloid Contract, Can Freely Discuss Alleged Trump Affair — The tabloid news company American Media Inc. agreed to let a former Playboy model out of a contract that had kept her from talking freely about an alleged affair with Donald J. Trump, her lawyer said.
Discussion:
The Dale Jackson Show.com, TMZ.com, IJR, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Hollywood Reporter, Raw Story, Washington Post, Washington Press, NBC News, VICE News, Vox, Hot Air, HuffPost, East Bay Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Splinter, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Axios and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump allies worry Cohen will flip — President Donald Trump and his outside advisers are increasingly worried that his longtime personal attorney might be susceptible to cooperating with federal prosecutors. — Two sources close to the president said people in Trump's inner circle …
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump's Lawyer Forgets to Pretend He's Innocent, Also Compares Him to Mobster — One of the ways in which the scandals around President Trump have come to resemble a mob movie, other than the nature of the crimes themselves, is that nobody involved is putting up much of a pretense that Trump is innocent.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico and Raw Story
David Voreacos / Bloomberg:
Trump Lawyer Cohen Drops Suits Against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS
New Yorker:
Inside Rex Tillerson's Ouster — The last days of his brief and chaotic tenure as Secretary of State. — Rex Tillerson's team was fighting again. “So, who's going to go in with him?” Margaret Peterlin, his chief of staff, was saying. She looked me up and down with an expression …
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story and Political Wire
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Politico:
Haley sets a red line for Trump
Haley sets a red line for Trump
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Breitbart, One America News Network, ABC News, Axios and Political Wire
Ted Cruz / TIME:
Donald Trump — President Trump is a flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington by the forgotten men and women of America. The fact that his first year as Commander in Chief disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment is not a bug but a feature.
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
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Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump's “great man” play on North Korea — President Trump views the North Korean crisis as his “great man” of history moment. — The big picture: He came into office thinking he could be the historic deal maker to bring peace to the Middle East. He's stopped talking about that.
Discussion:
Raw Story, ABC News, Althouse, The Week, Breitbart, One America News Network and Political Wire
NBC News:
Pompeo has been sending messages to Kim Jong Un for longer than you think
Pompeo has been sending messages to Kim Jong Un for longer than you think
Discussion:
New York Times, NBC News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, CNN, Sputnik International, The Week and NPR
New York Times:
Treaty to Formally End Korean War Is Being Discussed, South Confirms
Treaty to Formally End Korean War Is Being Discussed, South Confirms
Discussion:
Defense One, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Just Security, CNN, The Week, Front Page Magazine, HeraldScotland, VICE News, Sputnik International, ABC News, NBC News, Townhall, AOL, NPR, CBS Denver, Wall Street Journal, WPIX 11 New York, Breitbart, Fox News Insider, CBS Miami, CBS New York, Roll Call, 89.3 KPCC, Daily Wire, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Fox News and Florida Politics
6abc.com:
Former Trump advisor's father's death in Philadelphia labeled ‘suspicious’: multiple agencies investigate — According to sources, the Philadelphia police homicide unit, the Philadelphia district attorney, the Attorney General's office and the health department are all investigating the death …
Discussion:
RedState, AOL, Mediaite, The Right Scoop, The Week and New York Magazine
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Washington Post:
Trump allies press Rosenstein in private meeting in latest sign of tensions … Two of President Trump's top legislative allies met with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein this week to press him for more documents about the conduct of law enforcement officials involved in the Russia probe …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill, CNN, Daily Kos, Politico, New York Magazine, The Week and ABC News
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Kelly Cohen / Washington Examiner:
Andrew McCabe swipes at James Comey: He's not telling the truth
Andrew McCabe swipes at James Comey: He's not telling the truth
Discussion:
Liberty Unyielding
Manu Raju / CNN:
Trump declared he's running again. Many Republicans aren't ready to back him. — Washington (CNN)A wide array of House and Senate Republicans are not yet ready to endorse President Donald Trump's bid for a second term, a reflection of the deep uncertainty on Capitol Hill …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, Splinter, New York Magazine, The Week, Raw Story and Washington Times
Adam Steinbaugh / FIRE:
Fresno State University won't — and cannot — punish professor for Barbara Bush tweets — Barbara Bush, former First Lady and matriarch of the Bush family, passed away yesterday at her Houston home at the age of 92, leading to statements of condolences from across the world.
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Marnie Eisenstadt / Syracuse Post-Standard:
Upstate NY farmer says ICE officers stormed his farm without a warrant, cuffed him, threw his phone — Rome, N.Y. — John Collins was standing outside the milk house at his dairy farm this morning when he heard yelling coming from inside. He ran in, he says, and saw his worker …
Discussion:
Splinter
Elena Schneider / Politico:
Democrats crush House Republicans in fundraising — House Republicans told themselves 2018 would be better after getting swamped by Democratic cash in 2017. But Republican incumbents are actually in worse financial shape now than at the end of last year. — A whopping 43 House Republicans …
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Political Wire and The Cook Political Report
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Matthew Chapman / Shareblue Media:
GOP freaks out about losing another House seat Trump won by 20 points
GOP freaks out about losing another House seat Trump won by 20 points
Discussion:
DemWrite Press and KTAR.com
Morgan Winsor / ABC News:
Men arrested at Starbucks were there for business meeting hoping to change ‘our lives’ — The two black men who were arrested at a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia last week and accused of trespassing say they were there for a business meeting that they hoped would change their lives.
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Dominick Proto / ABC News:
Starbucks manager told 911 of 2 men ‘refusing to make a purchase or leave’ before their arrests
Starbucks manager told 911 of 2 men ‘refusing to make a purchase or leave’ before their arrests
Discussion:
Fox News, Vox, theGrio, New York Times and San Antonio Current
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Kris Kobach, Face of Trump's Voter Fraud Panel, Is Held in Contempt by Judge — Kris W. Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas and face of the Trump administration's efforts to clamp down on supposed voter fraud, was found by a federal judge on Wednesday to have disobeyed orders …
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Hunter Woodall / Kansas City Star:
Federal judge finds Kris Kobach in contempt of court in voting rights case
Federal judge finds Kris Kobach in contempt of court in voting rights case
Discussion:
Topeka Capital-Journal and NPR
Barack Obama / TIME:
CAMERON KASKY, JACLYN CORIN, DAVID HOGG, EMMA GONZÁLEZ AND ALEX WIND — America's response to mass shootings has long followed a predictable pattern. We mourn. Offer thoughts and prayers. Speculate about the motives. And then—even as no developed country endures a homicide rate like ours …
Discussion:
The Week
Bloomberg:
Palantir Knows Everything About You — Peter Thiel's data-mining company is using War on Terror tools to track American citizens. The scary thing? Palantir is desperate for new customers. — High above the Hudson River in downtown Jersey City, a former U.S. Secret Service agent named …
The Daily Orange:
SU suspends Theta Tau fraternity after video of ‘extremely racist’ behavior surfaces — The Syracuse University chapter of Theta Tau was suspended Wednesday morning after the university confirmed it was involved in the creation of online videos showing fraternity members engaging in behaviors that were …
Discussion:
New York Times, LGBTQ Nation, The Root, ABC News, AOL and Jezebel
Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:
Scott Pruitt's Moroccan calendar draws blanks — Newly released calendars for one of the most controversial trips of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's tenure were largely blacked out before being shared with ABC News. — The 47-hour journey in Morocco …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Across Midwest, Farmers Warn of G.O.P. Losses Over Trump's Trade Policy — China's proposed tariffs on soybeans would hit hard in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota and other states with highly competitive House and Senate races. — CASSELTON, N.D. — Here in the largest soybean-producing county …
Discussion:
MSNBC
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Poll: Cruz running neck and neck with Dem challenger — (R-Texas) is in a statistical dead heat with Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas), his Democratic challenger, a poll released Wednesday showed. — The first Quinnipiac University poll of the race deemed it too close to call.
Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:
McKayla Maroney: Nassar Manipulated His Starving Victims With Food — Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney told NBC News' Savannah Guthrie that she “would've starved at the Olympics” if serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar had not brought her food. In an excerpt of an interview set to air Sunday on Dateline …
Lukas Mikelionis / Fox News:
New York Gov. Cuomo grants 35,000 paroled felons right to vote; GOP sees ‘power grab’ — In an executive order signed Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted some 35,000 paroled felons the right to vote. — The move by the second-term Democrat came after state Republicans blocked a bill in the state Senate.
Discussion:
Splinter, Townhall, Slate, New York Times, Election Academy, Rochester Democrat …, The Right Scoop, The Last Tradition and NY State of Politics
Washington Post:
‘Life is boring and lonely’ — Li Weibin has never had a girlfriend. Boys outnumbered girls in the isolated mountain village where he grew up, in the factories where he worked as a teenager, and on the construction sites where he now earns a modest wage. — Today, 30 years old …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Jezebel
Alex Castellanos / Politico:
Trumpism Without Trump — A little more than six months from now, on November 7, the sun will rise on a political landscape wrecked by President Donald Trump's first midterm election. Thanks to a map that puts more Democratic than Republican seats at risk, our party will still cling …
Vera Papisova / Teen Vogue:
Sexual Harassment Was Rampant at Coachella 2018 — Trigger Warning: This article contains multiple stories describing sexual assault. — The annual Coachella music festival always promises a few things for my social media feeds: selfies in front of a ferris wheel, an array of photogenic …
Indianapolis Star:
Luke Messer didn't disclose DUIs when he replaced lawmaker killed by drunk driver — In U.S. Senate candidate Luke Messer's first successful run for public office, he had to persuade a caucus of local party insiders that he was the right man to replace state Rep. Roland Stine …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Slate:
Being Black in Public — Last Thursday, an employee at a Philadelphia Starbucks called the police on two black men who were waiting for the arrival of a business partner without having ordered anything at the counter. When police arrived, the men were arrested for trespassing.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Resurgent, WHYY and Bloomberg
Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
Harper's Editor Insists He Was Fired Over Katie Roiphe Essay — James Marcus wants the world to know that he was fired from his job as the editor of Harper's Magazine. He is not stepping down voluntarily to work on a book, which he said was the face-saving “official narrative” …
Discussion:
Publishers Lunch, more at Mediagazer »
Damola Durosomo / OkayAfrica:
Uganda's President Wants to Ban Oral Sex, Says the “Mouth is for Eating” — Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has issued what he calls a “public warning” against oral sex. — The president claims the practice has been pushed on Ugandans by “outsiders,” and argues that the mouth is solely for eating.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Progressive Secular Humanist and Breitbart
Washington Post:
Leaders worldwide are falling for a ‘deadly illusion’ — ALTHOUGH HIS audience was the European Parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron articulated truths on Tuesday that resonate for the entire globe. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march. Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege.
Discussion:
New York Times, Hullabaloo and Politico
KNXV:
ABC15 POLL: Kyrsten Sinema takes lead in race for U.S. Senate seat in Arizona — PHOENIX - Exclusive new polling data shows surprising findings about Arizona's hotly-contested race to fill Jeff Flake's Senate seat. — GOP PRIMARY ELECTION — Joe Arpaio is falling behind in the Republican Primary …
Margherita Stancati / Wall Street Journal:
First Saudi Movie Theater in Decades Opens With ‘Black Panther’ — Showing ushers in a historic change in a country that until recently considered cinemas immoral and un-Islamic — RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia opens its first new cinema in 35 years this week with a screening of …