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, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, ABC News and Common Dreams
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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.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Sputnik International, Taylor Marsh, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Bustle, Towleroad and HuffPost
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Trump White House crossed a new threshold for political debasement this week
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time
John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time
Discussion:
New Century Times, Instapundit and Raw Story
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Speaking out on torture and a Trump nominee, ailing McCain roils Washington
Speaking out on torture and a Trump nominee, ailing McCain roils Washington
Discussion:
Althouse, IJR, Joe.My.God., JONATHAN TURLEY and WREG-TV
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 and The Daily Caller
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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
Mueller Asked Ford for Records After It Rejected Michael Cohen Consulting Overture
Discussion:
Detroit Free Press, Splinter, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Political Wire, Vox, Axios and Mediaite
MJ Lee / CNN:
Head of Demeter Direct tells CNN he worked for Cohen in Korea Aerospace deal
Head of Demeter Direct tells CNN he worked for Cohen in Korea Aerospace deal
Discussion:
New Century Times, CANNONFIRE and Washington Press
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
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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:
TheBlaze, RealClearPolitics, The Gateway Pundit and Power Line
Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
The Deep State Mob Targets Nunes
The Deep State Mob Targets Nunes
Discussion:
amp.dailycaller.com, Daily Kos 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 …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
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.
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Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Second Democrat announces support for CIA nominee Gina Haspel — Gina Haspel's nomination to be CIA director received a crucial boost Saturday when Sen. Joe Donnelly became the second Democrat to support President Trump's choice despite questions about her role in the previous decade's controversial interrogation program.
Discussion:
IJR
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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
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
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Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:
North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month
North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog:
Democrats On Elite Liberal Art College Faculties Outnumber Republicans By 10:1 — Mitchell Langbert (Brooklyn College), Homogeneous: The Political Affiliations of Elite Liberal Arts College Faculty: — In this article I offer new evidence about something readers of Academic Questions already know …
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Midterm watch: Manchin falls behind GOP challenger — After Tuesday's West Virginia primary, red-state Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is now trailing Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey by two points in his re-election race, according to a new poll conducted by WPA intelligence.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Political Wire
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.
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
Washington Post:
Iraqis vote in first national election after toppling of Islamic State — NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqis on Saturday voted in their first national election since the Islamic State's occupation and eventual collapse upended the political and social order in the country, casting ballots that will help determine …
Discussion:
War on the Rocks
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