Top Items:
NBC News:
Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones — EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier today, NBC News reported that there was a wiretap on the phones of Michael Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal attorney, citing two separate sources with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen.
Discussion:
CNBC, Hot Air, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, The Western Journal, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Washington Press, IJR, courthousenews.com, Power Line, Joe.My.God., twitchy.com, New York Times, CNN, Vox, The Week, Breitbart, The Stream, AOL, Common Dreams, Shakesville, New Century Times, RedState, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, Media Matters for America, Above the Law, National Review, Balloon Juice, Splinter, The Daily Beast, VICE News, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Root, NTK Network, Taylor Marsh, Daily Wire, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Political Wire, Daily Kos, MSNBC and Axios
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Washington Post:
‘I was going to get this over with’: Inside Giuliani's explosive Stormy Daniels revelation — He may have had a strategy, but Rudolph W. Giuliani hatched it almost entirely in secret. — The White House counsel had no idea. Neither did the White House chief of staff …
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
EXCLUSIVE: Giuliani calls for Sessions to ‘step in’ on Cohen investigation — Rudy Giuliani called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions — to intervene in the Michael Cohen case and put the people behind the probe “under investigation” in a phone call with The Hill on Thursday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, HuffPost, Politico, Joe.My.God., Hot Air, Raw Story, IJR, Daily Wire, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Political Wire, The Week, Washington Times and twitchy.com
Wall Street Journal:
The Stormy Daniels Damage — Does Trump want Americans to believe him in a genuine crisis? — Most storms pass eventually. This week Donald Trump tried to ensure that Stormy Daniels doesn't rain down permanent distraction on his Presidency, though at the cost of further damage to his credibility.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Grant Stern / Washington Press:
Kellyanne Conway's husband just taunted Trump and Giuliani over Stormy Daniels admission in viral tweet — A conservative Republican attorney married to President Trump's senior White House advisor just posted a viral tweet mocking Rudy Giuliani's bombshell admissions to Hannity last night on FOX.
Discussion:
USA Today, Mediaite and ThinkProgress
Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Giuliani: I Don't Believe That Michael Cohen Was Wiretapped … President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Thursday he doubted the veracity of a bombshell NBC News report from earlier in the day that federal authorities wiretapped the president's longtime counsel, Michael Cohen.
Discussion:
HuffPost, CBS News, Mediaite, Townhall, CANNONFIRE, The Western Journal, Breitbart, CNN, Washington Post, IJR, Talking Points Memo, The Week, courthousenews.com, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., emptywheel, Vox, RedState and Washington Press
John Santucci / ABC News:
Giuliani believes ‘50/50’ chance Mueller subpoenas President Trump — As Rudy Giuliani enters the center ring of the legal fight between President Donald Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller, the former New York City mayor is already anticipating one possible battle - a subpoena for President Trump to testify.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Political Wire, Washington Press, Mediaite, Washington Post and CNN
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders basically just blamed Trump for misleading her
Sarah Huckabee Sanders basically just blamed Trump for misleading her
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, New Century Times and The Week
New York Times:
Giuliani May Have Exposed Trump to New Legal and Political Perils
Giuliani May Have Exposed Trump to New Legal and Political Perils
Discussion:
Common Cause, Raw Story and Hot Air
Peter Baker / New York Times:
New Revelations Suggest a President Losing Control of His Narrative
New Revelations Suggest a President Losing Control of His Narrative
Discussion:
CNBC, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Welcome To The Giuliani Phase Of The Trump Presidency
Welcome To The Giuliani Phase Of The Trump Presidency
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico and New York Times
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Giuliani outs Trump: Did the president just admit to a campaign finance law violation?
Giuliani outs Trump: Did the president just admit to a campaign finance law violation?
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Magazine and Vox
Anna North / Vox:
Donald Trump just tweeted out the rich man's guide to buying women's silence
Donald Trump just tweeted out the rich man's guide to buying women's silence
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune, Talking Points Memo, TIME, ABC News, Politico, The Mahablog and Breitbart
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
MSNBC Issues HUGE Correction To Michael Cohen ‘Wiretap’ Story
MSNBC Issues HUGE Correction To Michael Cohen ‘Wiretap’ Story
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, twitchy.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Vox and New York Times
Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:
A Pruitt Aide's Attack on Zinke Angers the White House — As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And the White House isn't happy about it.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Washington Press, Vox, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Jezebel, The Week, Political Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt's foreign travel … Scott Pruitt's itinerary for a February trip to Israel was remarkable by any standard for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator: A stop at a controversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Week and POLITICUSUSA
CNN:
Pruitt reimbursed himself $65,000 from Oklahoma attorney general campaign — Pruitt target of at least 11 federal probes — (CNN)A CNN analysis has found that embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt paid himself nearly $65,000 in reimbursements from his two campaigns …
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
House chaplain rescinds resignation after furor over his ouster by Ryan … The Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, the House chaplain who announced his resignation under pressure last month, informed Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) Thursday that he wanted to rescind his offer and remain in his position at least through the end of this year.
Discussion:
NBC News, Politico, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, HuffPost, CNN, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., Vox, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, Axios, The Week, Splinter and NY State of Politics
RELATED:
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea — WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un …
Discussion:
Axios
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Special counsel Robert Mueller focusing sharply on links between Trump confidant Roger Stone and former campaign official Rick Gates, sources say — Special counsel Robert Mueller is focusing intensely on alleged interactions between former top Trump campaign official Rick Gates and political operative Roger Stone.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.
RELATED:
Brandi Buchman / courthousenews.com:
Mueller Seeks 70 Blank Subpoenas in Manafort Case
Mueller Seeks 70 Blank Subpoenas in Manafort Case
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Kylie Atwood / CBS News:
U.S. freezes funding for Syria's “White Helmets” — Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria. — “Our meetings in March were very positive.
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Alan Dershowitz Hired as Harvey Weinstein Consultant — The Harvard Law professor is helping the embattled movie mogul get “exclupatory” emails from The Weinstein Co. — Alan Dershowitz may not want to jump aboard Donald Trump's legal team, but apparently, he has no qualms with advising Harvey Weinstein's legal team.
Discussion:
Deadline, Raw Story, Splinter, Mediaite and New York Times
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Blankenship goes after McConnell's ‘China family’ in new ad — West Virginia GOP Senate hopeful Don Blankenship is amping up his racial attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with a new ad declaring, “Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people.”
Discussion:
Mother Jones, TheBlaze, Townhall, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller and VICE News
RELATED:
Dan Merica / CNN:
Trump's son urges West Virginia Republicans to reject Blankenship
Trump's son urges West Virginia Republicans to reject Blankenship
Discussion:
Roll Call, Washington Post, ThinkProgress and HotAir
Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:
Leak: The Atlantic Had A Meeting About Kevin Williamson. It Was A Liberal Self-Reckoning. — In a staff meeting, Jeffrey Goldberg and Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed the hiring and firing of a conservative writer. But it wound up being about a lot more than that.
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Daily Caller
Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:
A New Book On Hillary Clinton Has Reporters Angry At The New York Times — Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images — At a book party Tuesday evening, reporters and editors at the New York Times toasted the publication of Chasing Hillary, a rollicking new memoir by Amy Chozick …
Discussion:
NewsBusters, Mediaite and twitchy.com
RELATED:
Tessa Stuart / Rolling Stone:
Amy Chozick on Boys' Clubs, Sexism in Politics and Media, and the ‘Real’ Hillary Clinton
Amy Chozick on Boys' Clubs, Sexism in Politics and Media, and the ‘Real’ Hillary Clinton
Discussion:
NewsBusters and The Daily Caller
Sopan Deb / New York Times:
Camille Cosby Compares Husband to Emmett Till and Blames Media — Camille Cosby, the wife of the disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, disparaged the media, Mr. Cosby's accusers and his prosecutors in a caustic statement released Thursday, her first public comments since Mr. Cosby was convicted of sexual assault last week.
Discussion:
Bill Cosby, The Daily Beast, KTLA and USA Today
RELATED:
The Texas Tribune:
Hysteria over Jade Helm exercise in Texas was fueled by Russians, former CIA director says — Gov. Greg Abbott's decision in 2015 to ask the Texas State Guard to monitor a federal military exercise prompted significant criticism. A former CIA director said Wednesday that the move emboldened Russians to next target elections.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Guardian, Snopes.com and ThinkProgress
Twitter:
Keeping your account secure — When you set a password for your Twitter account, we use technology that masks it so no one at the company can see it. We recently identified a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We have fixed the bug, and our investigation shows no indication of breach or misuse by anyone.
Discussion:
Reuters, CNNMoney, RedState, twitchy.com, KTLA, France 24, East Bay Times, abc13.com, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, The Verge, Vox, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, WGN-TV, 9to5Mac, FOX31 Denver, WPIX 11 New York, NBC News, The FADER, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Breitbart, CBS Los Angeles, New York Magazine, Engadget, Politico, CBS Boston, The Week, Mashable, WINK NEWS, CBS Philly and Motherboard, more at Mediagazer »
David French / National Review:
An Open Letter to Trump's Evangelical Defenders — A Christian's primary purpose is not to defend his own religious liberty. It's not even to fight abortion — as vital as that task is. His basic task on this Earth isn't protecting Christian education or preserving the freedom of Christian artists.
Tamar Auber / Mediaite:
Neil Cavuto Calls Out Trump on His Pattern of False Statements: 'Mr. President, That's Your Swamp' — During a monologue on his Fox News show Thursday, Neil Cavuto called out President Donald Trump for railing against “fake news” while constantly giving them ammunition with his inconsistent and often contradictory statements.
Justin Elliott / ProPublica:
Whoops! Jared Kushner Made Even More Mistakes in His Federal Filings — It keeps happening. Jared Kushner filed the wrong information about two of his loans in Brooklyn. He has had to update his disclosure form at least 40 times. — Jared Kushner's ethics disclosure filing misstated …
Eric Holthaus / Grist:
Humans didn't exist the last time there was this much CO2 in the air — The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were this high, millions of years ago, the planet was very different. For one, humans didn't exist. — On Wednesday, scientists at the University of California …
Discussion:
Earther
CNN:
Should Ivanka be off limits to probe as Giuliani insists? - CNN Video — The Lead political panel weighs in.
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
A serial pooper targeted a N.J. high school track. It was a school superintendent, police say. … It was a disturbingly normal discovery for the students and faculty at Holmdel High School in New Jersey: human feces on or near the track and football field, found before the school day began.
The Daily Beast:
Trump and White House Counsel Don McGahn Have Been ‘Barely on Speaking Terms’ … The addition of longtime Washington, D.C., lawyer Emmet Flood to President Trump's legal team on Wednesday marks a major win for another top legal adviser to the president who has, for months, been operating in the Trumpland version of Siberia.