Top Items:
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:
Raw Story, Mediaite and Political Wire
RELATED:
Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
Fox's Cavuto to Trump: 'That's your stink. Mr. President, that's your swamp.' … Fox News host Neil Cavuto ripped into President Trump's trail of conflicting and false statements in a monologue on Thursday, targeting Trump for everything from the Stormy Daniels payment to his exaggerations …
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, Hullabaloo, New York Times and The Daily Beast
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump lives out his LBJ fantasy: no chief of staff — LBJ withheld the title of chief of staff from his top aides, and President Trump is now living out that fantasy even with John Kelly in the building. — As part of his exasperation with being handled, Trump has taken to telling friends that …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico and The Week
NBC News:
Rudy Giuliani insists Trump wasn't aware of Stormy Daniels reimbursement until recently — Giuliani said when he found out, the president responded “'Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for.'” — President Donald Trump only recently found out that he reimbursed his personal attorney …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Wire, NBC News, New York Times and Washington Press
Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump's loyal outsiders elbow Kelly out — As the president increasingly looks to longtime advisers and aides for support, the chief of staff has lost control. — John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, was brought into the White House to impose order, but less than a year later …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Daily Kos
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
EXCLUSIVE: Giuliani calls for Sessions to ‘step in’ on Cohen investigation
EXCLUSIVE: Giuliani calls for Sessions to ‘step in’ on Cohen investigation
Discussion:
HuffPost, Washington Post, Politico, New York Times, Breitbart, Raw Story, IJR, Daily Wire, CNN, Washington Times, Joe.My.God., Hot Air, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and The Week
Washington Post:
Analysts: Giuliani's media blitz gives investigators new leads, new evidence
Analysts: Giuliani's media blitz gives investigators new leads, new evidence
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New York Times, Jezebel and Vox
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, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and The Week
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
MSNBC's Deutsch: Michael Cohen Told Me Giuliani 'Doesn't Know What He's Talking About'
MSNBC's Deutsch: Michael Cohen Told Me Giuliani 'Doesn't Know What He's Talking About'
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Washington Post:
‘I was going to get this over with’: Inside Giuliani's explosive Stormy Daniels revelation
‘I was going to get this over with’: Inside Giuliani's explosive Stormy Daniels revelation
NBC News:
Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones
Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Politico, Weekly Standard, DCReport.org, Axios, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, The Week, Front Page Magazine, The Stream, CBS News, HuffPost, twitchy.com, CNNMoney, USA Today, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, The Western Journal, Washington Times, courthousenews.com, Power Line, IJR, CNN, Vox, neo-neocon, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, CANNONFIRE, The Atlantic, The Hill, Hot Air, Townhall, BuzzFeed, Daily Wire, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, Washington Press, New York Magazine, Common Dreams, New Century Times, Above the Law, TheBlaze, Splinter, National Review, Balloon Juice, VICE News, AOL, The Root, emptywheel, NBC News, Political Wire, NTK Network, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh and 105.9 FM and AM 630
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
MSNBC Issues HUGE Correction To Michael Cohen ‘Wiretap’ Story
MSNBC Issues HUGE Correction To Michael Cohen ‘Wiretap’ Story
Discussion:
Axios, USA Today, twitchy.com, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, CNBC, The Western Journal and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Splinter, The Week, Political Wire and POLITICUSUSA, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
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:
Washington Post, Politico, MSNBC, Associated Press, Washington Press, Daily Kos, Vox, Mother Jones, Jezebel and The Week
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
Why the Justice Department Is Defiant — A House subpoena, another missed deadline. What is the department hiding? — The feud that has simmered for months between Congress and the Justice Department erupted this week into a cage match. That's because the House is homing in on the goods.
RELATED:
Mark Penn / The Hill:
Rod Rosenstein is not above the law — 's reaction to reports of possible impeachment for failing to respond to congressional subpoenas was to proclaim that the Justice Department “will not be extorted.” — I suppose he meant to say, “Only we here at the Justice Department do the extorting …
Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNNMoney:
Unemployment is below 4% for the first time since 2000 — The job market hasn't been this good in a very long time. — The unemployment rate dropped below 4% in April for the first time since 2000. The Labor Department reported Friday that it fell to 3.9% — inching closer to territory not seen in half a century.
RELATED:
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 in April, vs 192,000 jobs expected
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 in April, vs 192,000 jobs expected
Discussion:
National Review and NTK Network
Danielle Paquette / Washington Post:
Unemployment rate falls to 3.9 percent as U.S. economy adds 164,000 jobs
Unemployment rate falls to 3.9 percent as U.S. economy adds 164,000 jobs
Discussion:
New York Times and Outside the Beltway
Vicki Needham / The Hill:
Economy adds 164K jobs in April, unemployment lowest since 2000
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin — Inside the mystery behind the President's surprise invitation to Russia's leader, and his team's struggle to figure out what to do about it. — Late on Monday evening, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, started making calls to European allies.
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, Army Times, CNN, The Hill, Reuters, Just Security, KTLA, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, CNBC, HuffPost, VICE News, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller and New York Post
Ishaan Tharoor / Washington Post:
American and Iranian hard-liners await the end of the nuclear deal … Sign up for the Today's WorldView newsletter. — We are entering the final stretch ahead of President Trump's likely decision to pull out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, LobeLog and Crisis Group
RELATED:
Reuel Marc Gerecht / The Atlantic:
The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd
The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd
Discussion:
Power Line
CBS Chicago:
Deputy Consul General Of Israel Allegedly Forced Out Of Uber Ride For Speaking Hebrew On Phone — CHICAGO (CBS) - The Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Itay Milner, says he was ten minutes into his Uber ride on Lower Wacker Drive Thursday night when he was thrown out by the driver.
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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:
The Week, The Daily Beast, Balloon Juice, Snopes.com, ThinkProgress and Off the Kuff
RELATED:
Justin Miller / The Texas Observer:
How Greg Abbott Got Played by the Russians During His Jade Helm Freakout
How Greg Abbott Got Played by the Russians During His Jade Helm Freakout
Discussion:
The Guardian
New York Times:
They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump. Can Democrats Win Them Back? — RITTMAN, Ohio — In the daily race that is her life, Sharla Baker does not think about politics very much. — She rises early, drives to the gas station to buy coffee, feeds her baby, dresses her two other children …
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.
Discussion:
middleeastmonitor.com
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Then they came for Peppa Pig … Most Americans have never heard of Peppa Pig, the cartoon star of a British television show for preschoolers, which Chinese censors started purging from Internet apps and Chinese social media over the past week. Americans may not be bothered that an animated pig …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
New York Times:
2018 Nobel Prize in Literature Postponed Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal — STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Politico, more at Mediagazer »
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Poll: Murphy leads Democratic gubernatorial primary with GOP running mate Jolly — MIAMI — Former Rep. and 2016 Senate candidate Patrick Murphy would be tied for second if he jumped into Florida's Democratic primary for governor, according to a new poll that shows he could nudge …
Discussion:
The Capitolist
J. Lester Feder / BuzzFeed:
Facebook Targets Major White Nationalist Group In France — Facebook closed some pages of the group Generation Identity, best known for trying to stop immigrants from crossing the Mediterranean last summer. — Facebook has targeted one of the major white nationalist groups in France …
Maggie Astor / New York Times:
It Was 122.4°F This Week in Pakistan, Probably a World Record for April — Even in Pakistan, no stranger to blistering heat, the temperature on Monday stood out: 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit. — The reading came from Nawabshah, a city of 1.1 million people in southern Pakistan …
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Hunt for the Golden State Killer — Paul Holes was on the verge of retirement, having never completed his decades-long mission to catch the Golden State Killer. Then he had an idea: Upload DNA evidence to a genealogy website. — On today's episode:
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.
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:
The American Conservative and Mediaite
Avery Anapol / The Hill:
Detroit radio station boycotting Kanye West music after controversial comments — A hip-hop and R&B radio station in Detroit has decided to stop playing Kanye West's music after the rapper's controversial remarks about slavery. — On-air DJs BIGG and Shay Shay at Detroit's 105.1 …
Discussion:
Detroit Metro Times, The Daily Caller, WGN-TV and 105.1 The Bounce, more at Mediagazer »
Rep. Louie Gohmert / LifeZette:
40 Questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller Needs to Answer Now — A Republican lawmaker contends the prosecutor has a lot to explain about his present job and prior posts as well — A firestorm was ignited earlier this week when The New York Times published a list of 40 questions …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Instapundit and The Nation
Kansas City Star:
Missouri lawmakers agree to call special session to consider Greitens' impeachment — The Missouri General Assembly has taken the historic step of calling itself back into special session to decide whether to impeach Gov. Eric Greitens. — According to the petition signed by 138 House members …
Discussion:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Political Wire and Politico