Top Items:
New York Times:
Firm Tied to Russian Oligarch Made Payments to Michael Cohen — A shell company that Michael D. Cohen used to pay hush money to a pornographic film actress received payments totaling more than $1 million from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and several corporations with business …
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CNN:
Exclusive: Mueller's team questions Russian oligarch about payments to Cohen — (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to President Donald Trump's personal attorney …
Discussion:
BloombergQuint, Above the Law, CNNMoney, The Atlantic, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, The Week, ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, The Hill, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., CNBC, Washington Press, TVNewser, HuffPost, National Review, Vox, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Washington Times, The Right Scoop and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »
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 …
Discussion:
CNN, Joe.My.God., FOX2now.com, ThinkProgress and Raw Story
Noah Shachtman / The Daily Beast:
Michael Cohen Took Cash From Russian Oligarch After Election — The Daily Beast can confirm that Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company controlled by Putin-aligned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Discussion:
Politico, ThinkProgress, Contemptor, Splinter, VICE News, AOL, One America News Network, The Week, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Awful Announcing, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Bustle, Little Green Footballs, CNN, The Hill and Mediaite
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Trump's Two Biggest Scandals Converge in a Single Tweet — The attorney for adult-film performer Stormy Daniels made an explosive claim on Tuesday, merging the two biggest scandals of Donald Trump's presidency in a single tweet—and setting off a frenzy of fresh speculation about the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Axios, Washington Press, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., Vox and HuffPost
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Is This How Avenatti Found Out? — TPM Reader TH thinks he knows where Michael Avenatti got his amazingly specific details. And it sounds right to me ... I have no idea who leaked this or whether it was a leak per se. But this is extraordinarily detailed information. It all seems accurate.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Tonight's Staggering Revelations
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Mediaite and The Mahablog
Drew FitzGerald / Wall Street Journal:
AT&T Paid Trump Lawyer for ‘Insights’ on Administration
Discussion:
Just Security, Patterico's Pontifications and The Week
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
AT&T confirms it paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for ‘insights’ on administration
Discussion:
Washington Press, Engadget and What The Fuck …, more at Techmeme »
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
How money flowed through Michael Cohen's multi-purpose shell company
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, MSNBC, Politico, Shareblue Media, Mother Jones and VICE News
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:
Washington Monthly, New York Magazine and STAT
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G. Elliott Morris / The Crosstab:
Democrats Scored a Big, Unexpected Win in the May 8 Primaries — For the first time in 2018, an incumbent U.S. House Representative has been ousted by a primary challenger. Republican U.S. House Rep. from North Carolina's 9th Congressional District Robert Pittenger lost his primary bid …
Discussion:
Axios, Splinter and Washington Post
Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Playbook: Oh, to be a House Republican — IT WAS A BAD NIGHT for House Republicans. As Steve Shepard, Elena Schneider and Scott Bland point out below, Rep. Evan Jenkins got his clock cleaned in the West Virginia Senate primary. Indiana Reps. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita spent months whacking …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Jim Morrill / The Charlotte Observer:
Challenger Mark Harris on verge of upsetting U.S. Rep. Pittenger of NC
Discussion:
ABC News, NPR, The Week and Washington Post
Halimah Abdullah / ABC News:
Big stakes in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio bellwether primaries
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Vox, Washington Post, New York Times, MarketWatch, Business Insider, IJR, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, Politico and Daily Kos
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:
Weekly Standard, Washington Post, CNN, Feeds, Splinter and Just Security
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Charlie Savage / New York Times:
9/11 Planner, Tortured by C.I.A., Asks to Tell Senators About Gina Haspel
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Daily Beast refuses to budge on its Gina Haspel story
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Hit & Run and New York Times
Benjamin Wittes / Lawfare:
Why I Support Gina Haspel for CIA Director—Despite a Big Reservation
Discussion:
Townhall, RT, Washington Post, Sputnik International and Just Security
Fatima Boudchar / New York Times:
I Have a Few Questions for Gina Haspel
Discussion:
Reuters and Common Dreams
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:
Bloomberg, Breitbart and Washington Press
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Washington Post:
Why Trump torpedoed Obama's Iran deal … The lobbying campaign to save the Iran nuclear agreement was intense and took months. British Prime Minister Theresa May raised the deal with President Trump in more than a dozen phone calls. French President Emmanuel Macron pressed him on it during an elaborate state visit.
Discussion:
Politico and One America News Network
Peter Baker / New York Times:
No Longer Held Back by His Advisers, Trump Puts His Imprint on Foreign Policy — WASHINGTON — The relative caution that constrained President Trump for much of his first year in office has been cast aside, and an emboldened commander in chief is finally reshaping foreign policy to reflect the …
Discussion:
Contemptor, Washington Times, Hit & Run, Mediaite and Political Wire
Politico:
Trump ‘unleashes general rage’ in scrapping Iran deal — One story dominated front pages across the Continent Wednesday morning: U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Britain's Daily Telegraph led with a quote …
Discussion:
Axios, One America News Network and Associated Press
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Associated Press:
Iran's top leader, lawmakers lash out at US on nuclear deal
Discussion:
RedState, Fox News, Political Wire and Daily Wire
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
A Courageous Trump Call on a Lousy Iran Deal
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Viking Pundit
Kim Hjelmgaard / USA Today:
Iran lawmakers shout ‘death to America,’ burn U.S. flag after Trump nixes nuclear deal
Discussion:
IJR, Task & Purpose, Splinter and CNN
New York Times:
West Virginia Primary Election Results — A tight three-way primary race is underway in West Virginia for the Republican nomination for Senate. — Read more — President Trump on Monday intervened and pleaded with voters to oppose one of the candidates, Don Blankenship …
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New York Times:
6 Takeaways From Tuesday's Primary Elections
Discussion:
Vox, Indianapolis Star, Hullabaloo, ABC News and News and Tribune
James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Primary results confirm 2018 is a terrible year to be a House Republican
Discussion:
MSNBC
Yonhap News Agency:
N. Korea to release 3 U.S. captives: Cheong Wa Dae official … North Korea is expected to release three U.S. citizens held in the communist state on Wednesday, an official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a historic meeting between …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Raw Story, The Right Scoop and Axios
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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
Discussion:
CNBC, Fox News, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, CNN, National Review, Townhall, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Fox News Insider, The Guardian and RT
Louis Nelson / Politico:
North Korea frees 3 Americans ahead of Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, ABC News and One America News Network
Washington Post:
Risk to intelligence source who aided Russia investigation at center of latest showdown between Nunes and Justice Dept. — Last Wednesday, senior FBI and national intelligence officials relayed an urgent message to the White House: Information being sought by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes …
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Week, Raw Story, Axios, Mediaite and Democracy21
Katie Jane Fernelius / News, Indy Week:
A Duke University VP Walked Into the Campus Joe Van Gogh, Heard a Rap Song, Demanded That the Employees Be Fired — On Monday, two employees of Duke University's Joe Van Gogh location had their contracts terminated after vice president for student affairs Larry Moneta and executive director …
Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
MSNBC Under Fire After Host Hugh Hewitt Helped Broker Meeting With EPA Leader — “We'll get back to you,” an MSNBC spokesman told THR when asked about the host's role in brokering a meeting between EPA head Scott Pruitt and lawyers at his firm representing a California water district.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Daily Beast and Politico
RELATED:
Andrew Perez / MapLight:
Ethics Experts Say Scott Pruitt Reimbursements Raise Questions About Double-Dipping
Discussion:
Grist
Marwa Eltagouri / Washington Post:
Rachel Crooks, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her, wins uncontested Ohio House primary … Rachel Crooks, one of at least 19 women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual assault, won an uncontested primary Tuesday for a seat in the Ohio state House of Representatives, her campaign manager confirmed.
Discussion:
HuffPost, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Refinery29, KTLA, Bustle and Raw Story
US Department of State:
Background Briefing on President Trump's Decision To Withdraw From the JCPOA — Special Briefing — Senior State Department Officials — Washington, DC — MODERATOR: All right, thanks everybody. So we are glad to have with us today two folks to talk about the President's decision today to withdraw from the JCPOA.
Discussion:
Defense One and Mondoweiss
Ladders:
Ronan Farrow to Loyola Marymount's Class of 2018: ‘Trust that inner voice’ — “I wish I could tell you I was confident. That I was sure of myself. That I didn't care,” Farrow said of reporting the hardest story of his life. “But the real version was that I was heartbroken and scared …
Chris Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
On the Road With Rose McGowan: An Actress Turned Activist Leaves the “Hollywood Bubble” Behind — Six months since going public with rape accusations about Harvey Weinstein and helping to ignite the #MeToo movement, McGowan has been portrayed as both a fearless hero and flame-throwing narcissist.
Charles J. Sykes / Weekly Standard:
When Everything Is Possible and Nothing Is True — Hannah Arendt proves indispensable in understanding the Trump era. — One of my favorite stories about Winston Churchill goes like this. … Unfortunately, the story is what we would now call fake news.
Kevin Collier / BuzzFeed:
How Two Persian Gulf Nations Turned The US Media Into Their Battleground — For the last year, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been leaking emails to journalists. — Reporting From Washington, DC … Two rival Persian Gulf nations have for the past year been conducting a tit …
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