memeorandum: Suspicions, Demands and Threats: Devin Nunes vs. the Justice Dept. (New York Times)

2:50 PM ET, May 12, 2018

Top Items:

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Inside the room: White House flare-up over McCain leak — At yesterday's meeting of the White House communications team — in the wake of a leak from the prior meeting of a callous remark about John McCain's brain cancer — a visibly upset and furious Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the group …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Contemptor, Raw Story, Mediaite, TheBlaze, ABC News and Common Dreams

Tara Palmeri / ABC News:

Sanders scolded White House staff for leak, called McCain comment ‘unacceptable’: Sources — Press secretary Sarah Sanders scolded her staff Friday for the derogatory comment about Sen. John McCain leaked from a closed-door meeting, according to multiple senior White House officials.

Peter Baker / New York Times:

White House Refuses to Apologize for Kelly Sadler's Joke About McCain — WASHINGTON — The White House declined on Friday to renounce or apologize for an aide whose joke at a meeting that Senator John McCain was irrelevant because he would soon die went viral, outraging relatives, friends and admirers of the ailing lawmaker.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Outside the Beltway, Sputnik International, The Guardian, Taylor Marsh, twitchy.com, WREG-TV, Mediaite, HuffPost and Towleroad

Arizona Republic:
John McCain: The return of the ‘Maverick’

Discussion: CNBC, The Week and Raw Story

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time

Discussion: New Century Times, Instapundit and Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post: The Trump White House crossed a new threshold for political debasement this week

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Speaking out on torture and a Trump nominee, ailing McCain roils Washington

Discussion: Althouse, IJR, Bustle, Joe.My.God. and JONATHAN TURLEY

Axios:

The public case against Trump — One thing is true of all major political scandals: What we know in the moment is but a tiny, obscured, partial view of the full story later revealed by investigators. — Why it matters: That's what makes the Trump-Russia drama all the more remarkable.

Discussion: Power Line

Jack Shafer / Politico:

Week 51: Avenatti Strips Cohen to His Bare Essentials — The porn star's lawyer plays TV prosecutor with the bank records of Trump's attorney and a Russian oligarch's name emerges. — Every political scandal ultimately turns into a money scandal. The article of impeachment brought …

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal:

Mueller Asked Ford for Records After It Rejected Michael Cohen Consulting Overture — Trump's personal lawyer touted his proximity to the president — WASHINGTON)— Michael Cohen, who has served as President Donald Trump's personal attorney, made an overture to provide consulting services …

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Splinter, CNN, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Political Wire, Vox, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

S.V. Date / HuffPost:

Giuliani Says Cohen Never Spoke With Trump About His Big-Dollar Clients — The president's new lead lawyer sees this as proof Trump is draining the swamp. — WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen was paid millions of dollars in consulting fees by corporate clients …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Conservative News Today, Associated Press, New York Post, Axios, RedState, Political Wire, AOL and IJR

MJ Lee / CNN:
Head of Demeter Direct tells CNN he worked for Cohen in Korea Aerospace deal

Discussion: New Century Times, CANNONFIRE and Washington Press

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Mueller Is Investigating Donations To Trump's Inauguration

Discussion: Washington Press, HuffPost, Hot Air and emptywheel

New York Times:

Suspicions, Demands and Threats: Devin Nunes vs. the Justice Dept. — WASHINGTON — Since Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee declared that they had found no evidence of coordination between Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign, its chairman has decisively turned …

Discussion: emptywheel and Raw Story

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Senate chairman: Comey ‘led us to believe’ Flynn wouldn't be charged — Earlier this month, the House Intelligence Committee revealed that then-FBI director James Comey told lawmakers in March 2017 that bureau agents who questioned then-national security adviser Michael Flynn saw no signs that Flynn was lying.

Discussion: Power Line

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Did the FBI Have a Spy in the Trump Campaign? — The Steele-dossier author told Fusion GPS's Glenn Simpson about a ‘human source.’ — Something tells me Glenn Simpson did not make a mistake. Something tells me the co-founder of Fusion GPS was dead-on accurate when he testified …

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line and Daily Wire

Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
The Deep State Mob Targets Nunes

Discussion: The Daily Caller, amp.dailycaller.com and emptywheel

Tom Eblen / Lexington Herald-Leader:

‘Tricked by the devil.’ They backed Trump. Now, his foreign labor cuts may ruin them. — Eddie Devine voted for President Donald Trump because he thought he would be good for American business. Now, he says, the Trump administration's restrictions on seasonal foreign labor may put him out of business.

Discussion: Raw Story

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:

Bloomberg warns of ‘epidemic of dishonesty’ — NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are facing an “epidemic of dishonesty” in Washington that's more dangerous than terrorism or communism. — That's according to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who warned in a commencement speech …

Reuters:

Pakistan bars U.S. diplomat from leaving amid tense relations: media — ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have barred a U.S. diplomat involved in a fatal traffic accident from leaving the country, forcing an American military aircraft flown in for his departure to leave without him, local media reported on Saturday.

WURD Radio:

WURDoftheDay: Why Does Trump Hate The Iran Nuclear Deal So Much? Ask Israel & Saudi Arabia About That — If a casual observer looked at the turmoil in the Middle East, they would come to one naïve conclusion: this is all about religion. — The reality is far more complex and convoluted than one would believe.

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

What happened with Ronan Farrow and NBC? Some answers may be coming — How ‘catch and kill’ is used to bury news stories — Ronan Farrow was working for NBC News when he began investigating Harvey Weinstein. But his bombshell reporting ended up at The New Yorker instead. What happened?

Discussion: Mediaite

Kim Tong-Hyung / Associated Press:

N. Korea to blow up nuke-site tunnels before Trump-Kim talks — SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un's summit with President Donald Trump next month.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:
North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

USA Today:

We read every one of the 3,517 Facebook ads bought by Russians. Their dominant strategy: Sowing racial discord — The Russian company charged with orchestrating a wide-ranging effort to meddle in the 2016 presidential election overwhelmingly focused its barrage of social media advertising …

Discussion: Sputnik International, Joe.My.God. and Big Think

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Whoopi Goldberg Challenges Trump To Be Tortured: “I Would Like You To Try It” — On Thursday's edition of ABC's The View, Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on CIA Director-designate Gina Haspel's testimony at her confirmation hearing yesterday, who stated that torture does not work, and …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post and twitchy.com

Washington Post:
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) announces support for Gina Haspel, Trump's nominee for CIA director …

Discussion: Axios

Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:

In Cuba, the Great American Tourism boom goes bust … HAVANA — As U.S.-Cuba relations warmed in recent years, Matilde Portela, an Airbnb host, reveled in the flood of American tourists. An aspiring business executive at age 73, she quickly learned the art of niche marketing …

Discussion: Babalú Blog

Associated Press:

Polls close across Iraq in first vote since victory over IS — BAGHDAD (AP) — Polls have closed across Iraq Saturday evening in the first national election since the country declared victory over the Islamic State group. The vote — the fourth since the 2003 U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein …

Washington Post:
Iraqis vote in first national election after toppling of Islamic State

Discussion: War on the Rocks

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Sex, Trump and Cecile — Cecile Richards just finished her Planned Parenthood farewell tour. Lots to reminisce about. But let's start with her famous meeting with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. — It was after the election, and Javanka wanted to share their great idea for bridging …

Washington Post:

Trump uses rallies to tell his supporters to vote for him — even if other names are on the ballot … ELKHART, Ind. — Hours before the gym doors opened Thursday night for President Trump's rally, thousands of his supporters formed a line that snaked through the narrow streets of a working-class neighborhood.