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 …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, RedState, Washington Post, NBC News, Fox News, Associated Press, New Century Times, Bustle, Daily Wire, New York Magazine, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, MSNBC, The Week, BloombergQuint, The Reality-Based Community, Here & Now, Raw Story, NPR, Mediaite, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., CBS Los Angeles, VICE News and Hullabaloo
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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, ThinkProgress, Washington Press, Shareblue Media and Washington Times
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:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNNMoney, VICE News, Patterico's Pontifications, BloombergQuint, Above the Law, The Atlantic, Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Bustle, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, The Hill, Politico, Joe.My.God., CNBC, Mother Jones, Washington Press, TVNewser, HuffPost, National Review, Vox, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Washington Times, The Right Scoop and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »
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, Raw Story, Contemptor, Shakesville, Splinter, VICE News, AOL, One America News Network, The Week, Awful Announcing, Axios, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Bustle, Little Green Footballs, Joe.My.God., CNN and The Hill
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, Conservative News Today, Axios, Washington Press, IJR, Raw Story and Mediaite
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:
Political Wire
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Tonight's Staggering Revelations
Tonight's Staggering Revelations
Discussion:
The Week, Bloomberg, Raw Story and The Mahablog
Drew FitzGerald / Wall Street Journal:
AT&T Paid Trump Lawyer for ‘Insights’ on Administration
AT&T Paid Trump Lawyer for ‘Insights’ on Administration
Discussion:
The Week
Victor Reklaitis / MarketWatch:
Drugmaker Novartis ties payments made to Trump's lawyer to former CEO
Drugmaker Novartis ties payments made to Trump's lawyer to former CEO
Discussion:
Reuters and Joe.My.God.
John Fritze / USA Today:
Swiss drug maker Novartis was questioned over ties to Trump attorney
Swiss drug maker Novartis was questioned over ties to Trump attorney
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
AT&T confirms it paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for ‘insights’ on administration
AT&T confirms it paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for ‘insights’ on administration
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Splinter, Washington Press and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
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, Hit & Run, One America News Network and Deadline
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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.
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:
Task & Purpose, Contemptor, CNN, Washington Times and Hit & Run
Washington Post:
Trump's Iran decision just brought us closer to war
Trump's Iran decision just brought us closer to war
Discussion:
Just Security, The White House, CNN, Vox and Jezebel
Politico:
Trump ‘unleashes general rage’ in scrapping Iran deal
Trump ‘unleashes general rage’ in scrapping Iran deal
Discussion:
Axios, One America News Network and Associated Press
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
A Courageous Trump Call on a Lousy Iran Deal
A Courageous Trump Call on a Lousy Iran Deal
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Viking Pundit
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:
New Republic, 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
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
Big stakes in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio bellwether primaries
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, NBC News, Vox, New York Times, MarketWatch, Business Insider, Washington Post, IJR, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Breitbart 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, Splinter, Feeds, ProPublica 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
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
The Daily Beast refuses to budge on its Gina Haspel story
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Hit & Run, New York Times and Mediaite
Benjamin Wittes / Lawfare:
Why I Support Gina Haspel for CIA Director—Despite a Big Reservation
Why I Support Gina Haspel for CIA Director—Despite a Big Reservation
Discussion:
Townhall, RT, Washington Post, Sputnik International and Just Security
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
North Korea releases 3 American prisoners in apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a planned summit between Trump and Kim
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, CNN, National Review, Townhall, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, Politico, The Guardian, RT, New York Times, Daily Wire and Roll Call
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:
CNBC, Fox News, Townhall, Outside the Beltway and Joe.My.God.
Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
Pompeo Offers Olive Branch to North Korea During Visit to Free Americans
Pompeo Offers Olive Branch to North Korea During Visit to Free Americans
Discussion:
Politico
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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James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Primary results confirm 2018 is a terrible year to be a House Republican
The Daily 202: Primary results confirm 2018 is a terrible year to be a House Republican
Discussion:
MSNBC
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, The Daily Caller, 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 …
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.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Daily Wire
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:
Vox, HuffPost, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Refinery29, Bustle, Raw Story and KTLA
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.
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 and The Daily Beast
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Andrew Perez / MapLight:
Ethics Experts Say Scott Pruitt Reimbursements Raise Questions About Double-Dipping
Ethics Experts Say Scott Pruitt Reimbursements Raise Questions About Double-Dipping
Discussion:
Grist and Task & Purpose
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.
Bryn Elise Sandberg / Hollywood Reporter:
FX Lands New York Times TV Series ‘The Weekly’ — Hulu will stream episodes of the half-hour series, based on the Michael Barbaro-hosted podcast ‘The Daily,’ the day after their linear premiere. — FX has landed The New York Times' television news series, The Weekly.
Politico:
Shouting match erupts on House floor over chaplain — Two lawmakers on Tuesday evening erupted into a shouting match on the House floor over Speaker Paul Ryan's firing — and then reinstatement — of the House chaplain, reigniting a contentious religious fight the Wisconsin Republican hoped would fade.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo