Top Items:
New York Times:
White House Withdraws Jackson Nomination for V.A. Chief Amid Criticism — WASHINGTON — The White House withdrew the nomination of Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, to lead the Veterans Affairs Department on Thursday after lawmakers went public with a torrent of accusations leveled …
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Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump: Tester has a ‘big price to pay’ over VA nominee's withdrawal — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Sen. Jon Tester should “have a big price to pay” with voters this November for his role in the controversy surrounding Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, the president's pick to be the secretary …
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Post, Raw Story and ABC News
Quint Forgey / Politico:
Trump says Cohen ‘represented me’ in Stormy Daniels scandal — Donald Trump said Thursday that attorney Michael Cohen “represented me” by cutting a deal with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, after the president previously said he didn't know about the “hush money” payment.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, National Review, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Common Dreams and ABC News
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Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump says for first time that Cohen represented him in Stormy Daniels case
Trump says for first time that Cohen represented him in Stormy Daniels case
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Above the Law and Business Insider
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump on Cohen: ‘Nothing to do with me’
Trump on Cohen: ‘Nothing to do with me’
Discussion:
RedState, TheBlaze, CNBC and Political Wire
Josh Margolin / ABC News:
President Trump will personally review documents in Cohen case
President Trump will personally review documents in Cohen case
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Politico, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, VICE News, Washington Times, The Week, TalkLeft and Political Wire
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Senate panel advances legislation to protect Robert Mueller from firing — The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation Thursday that would protect special counsel Robert S. Mueller III from being fired by President Trump after the panel's Republican chairman backed off changes that threatened bipartisan support for the bill.
Discussion:
National Review and MSNBC
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Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Senate panel approves bill to protect special counsel
Senate panel approves bill to protect special counsel
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Sean Hannity
Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Mueller likely to find Trump offenses, Trump likely to fire him
Fox News Poll: Mueller likely to find Trump offenses, Trump likely to fire him
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, Washington Press and Political Wire
Lee Fang / The Intercept:
Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Leadership Pressuring Progressive to Leave Race — Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, has for years been a prolific campaigner on behalf of current and potential members of Congress. It was no surprise, then …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post and Breitbart
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
In Bonkers Interview, Trump Threatens to Seize Control of Justice Department — While many reporters have described President Trump's aggrieved psychology, his phone call this morning on Fox & Friends gave outsiders unfiltered access to the sorts of rants he routinely imposes upon his staff.
Discussion:
HuffPost, Common Dreams and MSNBC
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Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Trump says Comey ‘guilty of crimes,’ warns DOJ he won't ‘stay away’ forever
Trump says Comey ‘guilty of crimes,’ warns DOJ he won't ‘stay away’ forever
Discussion:
Vox, Townhall, IJR, CNN and The Daily Caller
Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Trump says he may change his mind on not getting involved in DoJ's Russia probe
Trump says he may change his mind on not getting involved in DoJ's Russia probe
Discussion:
Associated Press and Washington Post
Harper Neidig / The Hill:
Diamond and Silk say under oath they weren't paid by Trump campaign; FEC filings say otherwise — The conservative social media personalities known as Diamond and Silk claimed under oath at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday that they were never paid for their consulting work by President Trump
Discussion:
RedState
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Kathryn Watson / CBS News:
Pro-Trump social media stars Diamond and Silk offer inaccurate testimony under oath — live updates
Pro-Trump social media stars Diamond and Silk offer inaccurate testimony under oath — live updates
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Chicks On The Right and Mediaite
Ashley Gold / Politico:
'We've been censored,' Diamond and Silk tell Congress
'We've been censored,' Diamond and Silk tell Congress
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
NBC News:
Trump's biggest problem might be the competency question — First Read is your briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter — WASHINGTON — This morning, President Trump's pick to head the Department …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and IJR
Kevin D. Williamson / Washington Post:
Kevin Williamson: The punishment I favor for abortion — Kevin D. Williamson is a Texas-based writer. — As a libertarian, I fully accept the motto that what a woman chooses to do with her own body is her business. As someone who can count, I believe that abortion involves two bodies.
Discussion:
The Nation, The Mahablog and Lawyers, Guns & Money
The Montgomery Advertiser:
Our shame: The sins of our past laid bare for all to see — We were wrong. — On the day when people from across the globe come to our capital city to consider the sordid history of slavery and lynching and try to reconcile the horrors of our past, the Montgomery Advertiser recognizes …
Discussion:
The Root
New York Times:
Senate Confirms C.I.A. Chief Mike Pompeo to Be Secretary of State — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday easily confirmed Mike Pompeo as the nation's 70th secretary of state, elevating the current C.I.A. director and an outspoken foreign policy hawk to be the nation's top diplomat.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Kyle Kondik / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Raising the Ceiling, but Not the Floor, on Potential Democratic House Gains — Playing field widens even as odds of turnover don't change — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — The number of potentially vulnerable Republican seats is growing, and we're adding an extra 10 GOP-held seats to the Likely Republican column this week.
Discussion:
New York Times
HuffPost:
New Documents Show Pompeo Failed To Disclose Additional Business Ties To China — The secretary of state nominee continued to deny his foreign entanglements in response to a question submitted by a senator. — CIA Director Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state …
Discussion:
The Week
RealClearInvestigations:
Unpacking the Other Clinton-Linked Russia Dossier — A copy of the little-publicized second dossier in the Trump-Russia affair, acquired by RealClearInvestigations, raises new questions about the origins of the Trump investigation, particularly about the role of Clinton partisans and the extent …
Discussion:
Power Line, Real Clear Politics and Judicial Watch
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Bush 41, Trump, and American Decline — George H.W. Bush once vomited on the prime minister of Japan. It was a mortifying but innocent incident, the result of a nasty stomach bug. Donald Trump has spent the last couple of days effectively doing likewise on France's Emmanuel Macron.
Discussion:
Instapundit
Sarah Mimms / BuzzFeed:
The Center For American Progress Staff Was Shocked After Neera Tanden Named The Anonymous Harassment Victim In An All-Staff Meeting — The meeting comes after BuzzFeed News reported on allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against those who reported at the progressive organization.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and ThinkProgress
Lawrence Ferber / New York Post:
New Yorkers are flocking to this Midwest sanctuary — The year was 2012. A native of Columbus, Ohio's Worthington suburb, Bryan Williamson had studied interior design and learned furniture-making in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, while his NJ-born wife, Catherine, miserably slaved away at a public accounting firm.
Bob Christie / Associated Press:
Arizona's only black legislators chastised after race talk — PHOENIX (AP) — The only two black members of the Arizona Legislature were formally chastised for speaking out against a Republican lawmaker's published column, which included a racial slur and they say derided black activists …
Discussion:
Arizona Republic, Splinter and Raw Story
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Kevin Robillard / HuffPost:
Here's The White House Questionnaire For GOP Candidates Who Want Trump's Backing — It asks about immigration, Pakistan and trade. — The White House has a few questions for candidates in Republican primaries hoping for President Donald Trump's endorsement. — Do you support ending foreign aid to Pakistan?
Washington Post:
The military paid for a study on sea level rise. The results were scary. … More than a thousand low-lying tropical islands risk becoming “uninhabitable” by the middle of the century — or possibly sooner — because of rising sea levels, upending the populations of some island nations …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Climate Impact Lab and Mother Jones
Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Exclusive poll: GOP Senate seats threatened in Arizona, Nevada — Data: SurveyMonkey poll conducted April 2-23, 2018. Poll Methodology; Note: “No answer” responses not shown; Chart: Axios Visuals — Democrats have a real shot at winning two of the three Senate seats where Republicans …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Week and New York Times
WDIO-TV:
At Least 5 Injuries in Superior Explosion — The Superior Fire Department says there are no fatalities in the explosion at the Husky oil refinery, at least 5 Injuries have been reported. — The explosion happened at about 10:06 a.m. at the refinery, which is in the city's East End.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and FOX31 Denver
Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
'Maybe I didn't get her so much': President Trump on first lady's birthday — President Donald Trump kicked off a raucous interview Thursday morning with a candid admission that he's been too busy handling his daily duties as commander in chief to purchase a special birthday present for first lady Melania Trump.
Discussion:
Conservative Review, One America News Network and Washington Post
Damon Young / The Root:
Kanye West Doesn't Care About Black People — Last year Panama Jackson, a man who, in the 14 years that we've known each other, has become one of my best friends, published a piece about his mother's support of Donald Trump, and revealed how that ruined his relationship with her.
Discussion:
People.com, RedState, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Hit & Run, Raw Story, Daily Wire, McSweeney's, Fox News Insider and WPIX 11 New York
Sydney Beveridge / HuffPost:
I Am Woman, Hear Me Apologize: My Quest To Stop Saying 'I'm Sorry' All The Damn Time — I made two New Year's resolutions for 2018: — 1. Curse more. — 2. Apologize less. — I made the first resolution to help liberate my words I had already decided to wildly split infinitives …
Lauren Gardner / Politico:
House sets road rules for FAA bill — With help from Brianna Gurciullo, Stephanie Beasley and Tanya Snyder — ROAD RULES: After a tense day of back and forth over two provisions in the manager's package for the House's FAA reauthorization (H.R. 4 (115)), the ink is finally dry on the package …