Top Items:
Ed Silverman / STAT:
Trump's lawyer pitched himself as a fixer to Novartis and got paid $1.2 million — T — he curious relationship between one of the world's biggest drug makers and President Trump's personal lawyer began early last year when Michael Cohen, a longtime fixer for the president …
Discussion:
Vox, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Hot Air, Political Wire, The Week, Mediaite, HuffPost, Above the Law, Outside the Beltway, The Real Deal New York, Daily Kos, New Century Times, Patterico's Pontifications, Contemptor, RedState, USA Today, Common Dreams, VICE News, MSNBC, Bustle, AOL, Here & Now, The Reality-Based Community, Axios, CBS Los Angeles, Washington Press and National Review, more at Mediagazer »
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Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Novartis paid Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen more than $1 million for work he was unable to do, company says — Drug giant Novartis paid President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen more than $1 million for work that he actually ended up being “unable” to do, the company said Wednesday.
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Avenatti Accuses The Wrong Michael Cohens Of Making ‘Fraudulent’ Payments — Michael Avenatti, porn star Stormy Daniels' lawyer, released a seven-page dossier on Tuesday containing a list of payments purportedly made to Michael Cohen, the lawyer for President Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Haaretz, The Political Insider, The Right Scoop and Daily Wire
Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
The Porn Star's Lawyer Maps the Trump Money Trail — Michael Cohen's clients included a firm linked to a Russian oligarch and a South Korean aerospace company. — There may be any number of reasons why a management firm linked to a powerful Russian oligarch favored by the Kremlin paid …
Washington Post:
Treasury inspector general launches probe into possible leak of Michael Cohen's banking records — The Treasury Department's inspector general is investigating whether confidential banking information related to a company controlled by President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen may have been leaked, a spokesman said.
Discussion:
Axios, Talking Points Memo and Politico
NBC News:
Stormy lawyer: Transactions suggest Cohen was ‘selling access’ to Trump — Stormy Daniels' attorney said Wednesday that financial transactions he uncovered suggest that Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen was “selling access to the president of the United States.”
Discussion:
Crooked Media, ThinkProgress, CNBC, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Bustle, Daily Wire, Shakesville and The Week
Brian Bennett / TIME:
Trump Told His Lawyers He Knows Nothing About Michael Cohen's Business — President Trump told his lawyers on Tuesday night he didn't know about payments made to his personal attorney by a Russian oligarch and businesses lobbying the federal government. — After the payments were revealed …
Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
Law Firm That Partnered With Michael Cohen Says Shell Company Work Was A Side Hustle — The legal giant Squire Patton Boggs, which had a strategic partnership with Cohen, says it had nothing to do with his shell company. — WASHINGTON A major law firm that formed a strategic partnership …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
Michael Cohen Was Selling Access To Trump, Says Group That Paid Into His Shell Company — Corporations were looking to get closer to the new administration, and Trump's lawyer offered to help. — Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer convinced major corporations to pay into his shell company …
Discussion:
RedState, Washington Post, New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Jezebel
Brian Flood / Fox News:
New York Times slams AWOL Pompeo, then learns he was rescuing Americans — As the New York Times was bashing Mike Pompeo for being missing in action while President Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal, it turned out the secretary of state was busy rescuing three Americans who have been held captive in North Korea.
Discussion:
New York Times, CNBC, NPR and Breitbart
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Washington Post:
North Korea releases 3 American prisoners in apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a planned summit between Trump and Kim
North Korea releases 3 American prisoners in apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a planned summit between Trump and Kim
Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
3 Americans Are Released From North Korea, Trump Says
3 Americans Are Released From North Korea, Trump Says
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, CNN, Fox News, IJR, Bustle, Joe.My.God. and Outside the Beltway
Thomas Wright / Politico:
John Bolton and Mike Pompeo Are Headed for a Clash
John Bolton and Mike Pompeo Are Headed for a Clash
Discussion:
Washington Post, One America News Network, The American Conservative and The Daily Beast
CNN:
CNN poll: Democrats' 2018 advantage is nearly gone — CNN Poll: Trump approval holding steady — Washington (CNN)The generic congressional ballot has continued to tighten, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with the Democrats' edge over Republicans within the poll's margin of sampling error for the first time this cycle.
Discussion:
American Greatness, Axios and The Daily Caller
Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Special Counsel Mueller's Team Questioned Blackwater Founder Erik Prince … Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has spoken with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast. It was not immediately clear what questions Mueller's team …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Politico, ThinkProgress, NPR, Washington Press and HuffPost
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
‘She Should Have Fought Back. Other People Did’: Inside Gina Haspel's Black Site … Ahead of her Senate reckoning, Gina Haspel's defenders in U.S. intelligence circles have adopted the fallback position that she'll be a check on Donald Trump as his CIA director.
Discussion:
Politico, Mother Jones, RedState, Washington Post, ABC News, The Cipher Brief, Hit & Run, New York Times, ProPublica, Breitbart, CNN, The Week, Media Matters for America, Jezebel and Splinter
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Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Daily Beast refuses to budge on its Gina Haspel story
The Daily Beast refuses to budge on its Gina Haspel story
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Times, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Louder With Crowder and Mediaite
CNNMoney:
Trump's latest shot at the press corps: ‘Take away credentials?’ — How to keep up with all of Trump's lies — President Trump has mused privately during his nearly 16 months in office about revoking reporters' press credentials, according to multiple people familiar with his comments.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Fox News Insider, The Week and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump makes it explicit: Negative coverage of him is fake coverage
Trump makes it explicit: Negative coverage of him is fake coverage
Discussion:
Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, CBS Denver, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Root and RT
Phil Owen / The Wrap:
Colbert Goes Off on Trump Over Iran Nuclear Deal: ‘You Literally Just Backed Out of an American Promise’ (Video) — Host was not having Trump's excuses on Tuesday's episode of “The Late Show” — Tuesday was a fairly routine day for the Trump administration, and when I say that I mean …
Discussion:
twitchy.com
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Emily Peck / HuffPost:
Town & Country Magazine Uninvited Monica Lewinsky From An Event Because Of Bill Clinton — Lewinsky seemingly referred to the situation in a tweet Wednesday. — Town & Country magazine disinvited Monica Lewinsky from its annual philanthropic summit on Wednesday because Bill Clinton was attending, HuffPost has learned.
Discussion:
RedState, IJR, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
Scott Bland / Politico:
Top takeaways from the first big primary of 2018 — Republicans can exhale now. — Convicted coal magnate Don Blankenship's surprise third-place finish in Tuesday's West Virginia GOP Senate primary sidestepped yet another debacle for the party after consecutive meltdowns in special elections in Alabama and Pennsylvania.
Discussion:
STAT, Gender Watch 2018, New York Magazine, HuffPost, New Republic, Washington Monthly, NPR and Althouse
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Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
The Eroding GOP Resistance to Trump's Immigration Agenda
The Eroding GOP Resistance to Trump's Immigration Agenda
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Rick Noack / Washington Post:
Hours into his new job, Trump's ambassador to Germany offends his hosts … BERLIN — For the past year, German officials have been urging their U.S. counterparts to send a new ambassador to Berlin. But after finally receiving one, many may be having second thoughts.
Discussion:
HuffPost, RT, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BloombergQuint, Bloomberg, Vox and Breitbart
Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:
There is no Plan B on Iran — The Trump administration has no Plan B on Iran beyond “not Plan A.” — In American foreign policy circles, the worst insult one can lob at someone is to call them naive in their thinking. International relations is a cold, hard business …
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Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Is Krystal Ball's PAC a fresh approach or a get-rich scheme? — A new Democratic group — one with support from Democratic congressmen and three of the biggest names in the tech industry — is testing the boundary between a new approach to politics and a self-enriching scam.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
Mormon Church breaks all ties with Boy Scouts, ending 100-year relationship … The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it will sever all ties with the Boy Scouts of America, ending a century-old tradition deeply ingrained in the religious life of Mormon boys.
Discussion:
Deseret News, Shakesville, LDS Newsroom, Outside the Beltway, Friendly Atheist, Jezebel, Front Page Magazine, Daily Wire and Joe.My.God.
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ResistanceHole:
Mr. Drumpf, Your Newest Nightmare Is A Website Called ResistanceHole — Hey, Drumpf (a.k.a. President Donald Trump), don't get too cozy in the White House, because there is a new website that wants to kill you. It's called ResistanceHole, and it's your new worst nightmare.
Homa Mojtabai / McSweeney's:
I Will Do Anything to End Homelessness Except Build More Homes — Homelessness in America has reached crisis levels and I am determined to do everything in my power to fix the problem as long as it doesn't involve changing zoning laws or my ability to drive alone to work or, well, changing anything, really.
Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
House Democrats obtain new documents from estate of GOP operative in Russia inquiry — Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have received new materials from the estate of Peter Smith, a GOP operative who reportedly led a campaign to obtain missing Hillary Clinton emails …
Alyssa Rosenberg / Washington Post:
Philippe Reines and the pornography of our political hatred … The profound strangeness of the Trump era in American politics has driven people in public life to a lot of unusual behavior. Evangelical Christians are contorting themselves to accommodate the reality of Stormy Daniels …
Discussion:
The Political Insider, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire
Britton O'Daly / Yale Daily News:
Black student reported to YPD for napping in dormitory common room — Yale Police officers on Monday evening interrogated a black graduate student, Lolade Siyonbola GRD '19, for more than 15 minutes, after a white graduate student reported Siyonbola to the police for sleeping in the HGS common room.
Discussion:
Refinery29, Raw Story, theGrio and The Root
Christine Simmons / New York Law Journal:
Schneiderman Hires Lawyer Known for Criminal Fraud, Assault Cases — The former AG has retained Isabelle Kirshner, a prominent New York defense attorney whose law firm, Clayman & Rosenberg, has often represented lawyers in criminal cases. — In the wake of the physical abuse allegations …
Discussion:
HuffPost, New York Times and Slate
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Mulvaney Demotes Unit That Polices Student Loans in Consumer Bureau Reshuffle — Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will move the agency's student loan investigation division into the bureau's consumer information unit, a shift that career officials fear …
Haley Byrd / Weekly Standard:
Moderate Republicans Move Forward on Immigration — What you should know about discharge petitions and the ‘Queen of the Hill’ rule. — Moderate Republicans and Democrats moved forward on a plan to force a vote on a number of immigration proposals on Wednesday after months of inaction …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and Washington Post
Doree Lewak / New York Post:
NYC lunch spots are killing off the chopped salad — That staple of New York City lunch hour, the chopped salad, has been, well, chopped. — Just Salad, with 20 Manhattan locations, is the latest chain to do away with chopped-on-demand greens. You'll just have to chew.
Discussion:
Eater NY
Jeff McMahon / Forbes:
Coal Collapsing Faster Under Trump; Wind, Solar, Gas All Benefit — Contributor From Chicago, I write about green technology, energy, environment. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. … More coal plants are now projected to retire more quickly than experts thought …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress