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:
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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.
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The Atlantic, Vox, ThinkProgress, USA Today, Little Green Footballs, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Reuters, Associated Press, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Political Wire, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Politico, twitchy.com and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
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:
Washington Times, Haaretz, Conservative News Today, twitchy.com, The Political Insider, The Right Scoop and Daily Wire
CNN:
Inside Michael Cohen's aggressive pitch promising access to Trump — Analyst: This is the swampiest of swampy — (CNN)Michael Cohen served loyally as Donald Trump's right-hand man for more than a decade, taking care of anything and everything the New York real estate baron needed to get done.
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:
Politico, Axios, Talking Points Memo and IJR
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 …
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, CNBC, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Motherboard, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Bustle, Daily Wire, Shakesville and The Week
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 …
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
The Special Counsel's Office Has Been Looking Into Payments To Michael Cohen's Company Since Last Year
The Special Counsel's Office Has Been Looking Into Payments To Michael Cohen's Company Since Last Year
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Political Wire, Washington Post and Mother Jones
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ‘appears to be selling access to the president,’ …
Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ‘appears to be selling access to the president,’ …
Discussion:
Common Dreams
Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
Michael Cohen Was Selling Access To Trump, Says Group That Paid Into His Shell Company
Michael Cohen Was Selling Access To Trump, Says Group That Paid Into His Shell Company
Discussion:
ProPublica, Washington Post, RedState, New Republic 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.
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New York Times, CNBC, CNN, NPR, NBC News, Fox News Insider and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »
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CNNMoney:
Trump's latest shot at the press corps: ‘Take away credentials?’
Trump's latest shot at the press corps: ‘Take away credentials?’
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, National Review, NewsBusters, IJR and Mediaite
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
Mike Ives / New York Times:
What's Kim Jong-un's Surname? Mike Pompeo Is Learning the Hard Way
What's Kim Jong-un's Surname? Mike Pompeo Is Learning the Hard Way
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, New Century Times, Bloomberg, Joe.My.God., Fox News Insider, IJR and Daily Kos
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, Washington Post and The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Lawyer Helped Recruit Corporate Client With Ties to Kushner Probe — U.S. Immigration Fund LLC, which supplied Chinese investors to Kushner Cos., is among clients Michael Cohen delivered to Squire Patton Boggs — President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen helped a law …
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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:
Fight for the Future and Washington Post
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.
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Mattias / Leah Vukmir:
While 9/11 mastermind calls for obstruction of Haspel nomination, Baldwin stays silent
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:
ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, Louder With Crowder and Mediaite
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 …
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twitchy.com
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CNNMoney:
Salem executives pressured radio hosts to cover Trump more positively, emails show — Executives at Salem Media Group, a conservative media company that syndicates some of the country's most recognized talk radio hosts and operates a batch of popular commentary websites …
Discussion:
Political Wire
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 and Washington Press
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:
New York Post, RedState, Mashable, IJR, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
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:
Politico, HuffPost, RT, BloombergQuint, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Bloomberg, Vox, Breitbart, Shakesville and Splinter
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 …
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
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:
ABC News, 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
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.
Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
Eager Democrats 2020 prep: DNC eyes convention cities, debates, rule changes — WASHINGTON — Eight cities are in consideration to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention as the party prepares for a presidential contest that is expected to include an unusually large number of candidates.
Discussion:
Political Wire
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:
Fox News, Hot Air and The Political Insider
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.
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump makes it explicit: Negative coverage of him is fake coverage … A generous interpretation of President Trump's views on “fake” news is that he believes that media outlets are overly quick to be critical of his decisions and his administration. In other words, he applies an overly broad term …
Discussion:
Mediaite, New Century Times, Outside the Beltway, CBS Denver, Raw Story, The Root, RT and No More Mister Nice Blog
Joyce Karam / The National:
US wary of Iran-Israel confrontation risk and seeks “collective response” — After Tuesday night's strikes against Iranian targets in Syria, the administration seeks a multilateral response — Twenty-four hours after Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal …
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