Top Items:
CNN:
Giuliani: I'm ‘focused on the law more than the facts right now’ — (CNN)President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said Sunday that he is still getting up to speed on the facts of the President's legal situation, but the payment to Stormy Daniels did not require him to have a full accounting of the details at hand.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Mediaite
RELATED:
Justin Fishel / ABC News:
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani won't rule out that president could take the Fifth Amendment in Russia probe — President Donald Trump's top personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said he can't rule out the possibility of the president taking the Fifth Amendment if he testifies in the Russia investigation.
Reuters:
Giuliani suggests it's possible Michael Cohen paid off other women to stay silent about alleged affairs with Trump — President Donald Trump's new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, didn't rule out the possibility that Michael Cohen paid other women during the 2016 campaign to stay quiet about alleged affairs with his client.
Politico:
Trump team makes the midterms about saving his presidency — The president has raised the spectre of impeachment in cautioning his party against letting the House, and even the Senate, fall into Democratic control. — Rudy Giuliani's revelation Sunday that he expects President Donald …
Emily Stewart / Vox:
Rudy Giuliani won't rule out Trump pleading the Fifth Amendment in another bewildering interview
Rudy Giuliani won't rule out Trump pleading the Fifth Amendment in another bewildering interview
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Politico, Breitbart and The Week
Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Giuliani: It is possible Michael Cohen paid off other women for Trump
Giuliani: It is possible Michael Cohen paid off other women for Trump
Brent D. Griffiths / Politico:
Stormy Daniels attorney: Giuliani interview an ‘unmitigated disaster’
Stormy Daniels attorney: Giuliani interview an ‘unmitigated disaster’
Erica Pandey / Axios:
Rudy's return to the television circuit
Rudy's return to the television circuit
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, Politico, The Guardian, NY State of Politics and Breitbart
Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
SNL brings in Ben Stiller, Scarlett Johansson, Stormy Daniels and more for star-studded cold open
SNL brings in Ben Stiller, Scarlett Johansson, Stormy Daniels and more for star-studded cold open
Discussion:
Refinery29 and Balloon Juice
Washington Post:
Gina Haspel, nominee to head CIA, sought to withdraw over questions about her role in agency interrogation program — Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee to become the next CIA director, sought to withdraw her nomination Friday after some White House officials worried that her role …
Discussion:
Washington Press, Associated Press, NPR, NBC News, The Week, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Vox, HuffPost, The American Conservative, Hullabaloo, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., AOL, Splinter, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story, CBS Los Angeles, Common Dreams, CNN, New Century Times, Washington Times, Politico, Axios, Shareblue Media, Mediaite and The Daily Beast
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Washington Post:
Inside Melania Trump's complicated White House life: Separate schedules, different priorities … Donald and Melania Trump's remarkably separate daily routines begin with him getting up around 5:30 a.m., watching cable news shows and tweeting. — The first lady wakes in her own bedroom a bit later …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Corey Kilgannon / New York Times:
96-Year-Old Secretary Quietly Amasses Fortune, Then Donates $8.2 Million — Even by the dizzying standards of New York City philanthropy, a recent $6.24 million donation to the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side was a whopper — the largest single gift from an individual to the social service group in its 125-year history.
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Inside Scott Pruitt's “miserable” bunker — President Trump is unhappy about a report in The Atlantic which says a member of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's press team has been shopping negative stories about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to multiple outlets.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Stunning Developments on Trump/Private Black Ops Oppo Targeting Obama Staffers — We have a pretty stunning development about aides to Donald Trump apparently (though they deny it) hiring the same Israeli dirty ops/private intel firm that Harvey Weinstein used to cover up his history to mount …
Discussion:
Haaretz, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Guardian, Daily Kos and Mother Jones
Wall Street Journal:
House Democrats Plan to Release 3,000 Russian-Linked Facebook Ads — Lawmakers on House Intelligence Committee could release trove of ads as soon as this week — Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are preparing to release 3,000 Russia-linked Facebook ads, according to people familiar …
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Republicans fear a Roy Moore redux in West Virginia — Republicans in D.C. are panicking over Tuesday's West Virginia Senate primary. — The problem: Don Blankenship, a coal baron who's spent time in prison, is running a demagogic campaign in which he's repeatedly invoked the Chinese heritage …
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Root and Politico
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Nicole Sganga / CBS News:
Don Blankenship won't rule out third party bid in West Virginia senate race
Don Blankenship won't rule out third party bid in West Virginia senate race
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Raw Story and Political Wire
Katie Rogers / New York Times:
George Conway, Spouse of Top Trump Counselor, Takes White House to Task on Twitter. — WASHINGTON — In legal circles, George T. Conway III is perhaps best known as the lawyer who argued a securities case before the Supreme Court and won with an 8-to- vote, or for his behind-the-scenes work …
Joel Schectman / Reuters:
Republican House Armed Service chair warns Trump against leaving Iran deal — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican leader of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee said President Trump should not walk away from the Iran nuclear deal. — President Donald Trump is facing a May 12 deadline …
RELATED:
Boris Johnson / New York Times:
Don't Scuttle the Iran Nuclear Deal
Don't Scuttle the Iran Nuclear Deal
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Eclectablog and ThinkProgress
Luis Sanchez / The Hill:
Nikki Haley says she won't defend Trump's ‘communication style’ — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley — said on Sunday that she won't defend President Trump — 's “communication style.” — “First of all, he has his communication style,” Haley told CBS's “Sunday Morning.”
Discussion:
Washington Press
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Wall Street Journal:
Mueller Probe Might Have to Go Dark for Midterm Election — Though there is no legal deadline, Justice Department guidelines say prosecutors should avoid the appearance of trying to sway elections — WASHINGTON—The clock is ticking for special counsel Robert Mueller.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Mother Jones and PJ Media Home
Christopher Carbone / Fox News:
Devin Nunes: AG Jeff Sessions should be held in contempt of Congress — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is going to push Congress to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress. — The Californian Republican's committee has been looking into allegations …
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Joel Kotkin / Orange County Register:
Looking beyond one-party rule in California — It's been a half century since Ronald Reagan shocked California, and the nation, by beating the late Pat Brown for governor by a million votes. Yet although the Republican Party is a shadow of its mid-20th century form, there are some clear signs …
Discussion:
American Greatness
Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:
This Is The Toughest Gun Law In America — Reformers love what Massachusetts is doing. The NRA? Not so much. — NEWTON, Mass. A thirtysomething man sought to buy a rifle here last September, and if he had been living in almost any other part of the country, he could have done so easily.
Discussion:
National Review and twitchy.com