Top Items:
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime — Life inside the bunker of Fox News' resident Trumplegänger. — Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Bloomberg/Getty Images (Trump head); Rob Kim/Getty Images (Hannity head); NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images (phone)
Discussion:
Mediaite, Raw Story and Taylor Marsh
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
White House Aide's Plan to Stop Leaks: Spy on His Co-Workers … A former National Security Council official now working for Attorney General Jeff Sessions explored ways to surreptitiously monitor the communications of White House staff for leaks or perceived political disloyalty to Donald Trump …
Discussion:
The Week
RELATED:
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
White House leakers leak about leaking — This White House leaks like there's no tomorrow. — The big picture: The leaks come in all shapes and sizes: small leaks, real-time leaks, weaponized leaks, historical leaks. Sensitive Oval Office conversations have leaked, and so have talks in cabinet meetings and the Situation Room.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Week, Mediaite and The Hill
The Times of Israel:
Iran calls Trump ‘feebleminded’ for moving US embassy to Jerusalem — Tehran parliament speaker urges resistance from Palestinians and world community, says US president will have to ‘pay the price’ — TEHRAN — Iran denounced President Donald Trump as “feeble-minded” …
RELATED:
David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
Israel Feels Pride but Senses Peril as U.S. Moves Embassy — JERUSALEM — When Israel declared its independence in 1948, President Harry Truman rushed to recognize it. He took just 11 minutes, and Israelis, about to go to war to defend their infant state, were euphoric.
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, New York Post, Agence France-Presse, Jezebel, The Guardian and Patterico's Pontifications
Gardiner Harris / New York Times:
He Was a Tireless Critic of the Iran Deal. Now He Insists He Wanted to Save It. — WASHINGTON — While many hands gripped the sword that undercut the Iran nuclear deal, no one outside the Trump administration was a more persistent or effective critic than Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of a hawkish Washington think tank.
Wall Street Journal:
Michael Cohen's D.C. Consulting Career: Scattershot, With Mixed Success — Pitching himself as the president's lawyer to companies expecting a Clinton win, Mr. Cohen won AT&T and Novartis but was spurned by Ford and Uber — When Michael Cohen came knocking after the 2016 election … SL
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and The Week
Steven G. Calabresi / Wall Street Journal:
Mueller's Investigation Crosses the Legal Line — It's unconstitutional under Morrison v. Olson—the decision, not the dissent. — Judge T.S. Ellis has expressed skepticism about the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. “What we don't want in this country is … SL
Discussion:
Law & Crime
New York Times:
Trying for House Gains, Democrats Bless Moderates and Annoy Liberals — CONWAY, Ark. — To many Democratic leaders, the path to power in Washington looks like Clarke Tucker. — He supports the Affordable Care Act, but not a single-payer system. He signals misgivings about Nancy Pelosi as the next House speaker.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
Politico:
Kudlow brings kill 'em with kindness approach to White House — He's trying to avoid the collapse of NAFTA and a trade war with China by seeking consensus and sticking close to Trump. — Larry Kudlow thinks he can steer Donald Trump's chaotic White House away from economic disaster by being the nicest guy in the West Wing.
Discussion:
Axios
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump's improved standing, energized GOP voters worry Democrats — After months of confidence that public discontent with President Trump would lift Democrats back to power in Congress, some party leaders are fretting that their advantages in this year's midterms are eroding amid a shifting political landscape.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Daniel Friedman / Mother Jones:
Qatari Investor Accused in Bribery Plot Appears With Michael Cohen in Picture Posted by Stormy Daniels' Lawyer — Members of the Trump transition team appear to have met on December 12, 2016 with a group from Qatar that included Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, the former Qatari diplomat and current head …
Discussion:
Raw Story, ThinkProgress, HuffPost, Splinter, JONATHAN TURLEY, Law & Crime and Mediaite
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
All the problems at NBC News aren't just coincidence. They're symptoms. — As months go, this has been a terrible one for NBC News. Among the low points: — The ace reporter whose work the network's management couldn't seem to support adequately — Ronan Farrow — broke another huge story for the competitor he fled to.
Discussion:
Instapundit, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
‘Buckle up’: As Mueller probe enters second year, Trump and allies go on war footing … The grand jury witnesses arrive one by one at the windowless room in the federal courthouse on Constitution Avenue in downtown Washington. They are struck first by how commonplace the setting feels …
Discussion:
Axios, HuffPost, Jezebel and Washington Monthly
Associated Press:
Trump says US will help penalized Chinese company — WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising overture to China, President Donald Trump said Sunday he would help a Chinese telecommunications company get “back into business,” saying too many jobs in China are at stake after the U.S. government cut off access to its American suppliers.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Vows to Save Jobs at China's ZTE Lost After U.S. Sanctions
Trump Vows to Save Jobs at China's ZTE Lost After U.S. Sanctions
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Mashable, The Daily Caller, NY State of Politics, New York Magazine, The Verge, twitchy.com and Washington Press, more at Techmeme »
Willie Brown / San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump is more popular than Dems want to admit — It's time for the Democrats to stop bashing President Trump. — It's not going to be easy, given his policies and personality. It might even mean checking into a 12-step program. But setting a winning agenda is like maneuvering an aircraft carrier.
Discussion:
Power Line, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit
Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
‘A rogue state’ — As California defies federal immigration policy, calling itself a sanctuary, the state's conservatives are pushing back — For nearly two decades, Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Don Laventure has kept inmate records at what was once one of the nation's largest jails …
The Times of Israel:
Jerusalem soccer team to be renamed ‘Beitar Trump’ — Controversial sports team permanently rebrands itself in honor of US president recognizing Israel's capital and moving embassy — Jerusalem's largest soccer club announced Sunday that it has changed its name to “Beitar Trump Jerusalem …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York Times, Facebook and The Stream
Evan Osnos / New Yorker:
Trump vs. the “Deep State” — How the Administration's loyalists are quietly reshaping American governance. — Two months after Donald Trump's Inauguration, the White House took a sudden interest in a civil servant named Sahar Nowrouzzadeh. At thirty-four, she was largely unknown outside …
Discussion:
Axios
Gabriela Galindo / Politico:
MI5 chief calls for close security cooperation with Europe after Brexit — Britain and the EU need to maintain a close security relationship after Brexit to counter the threat posed by Russia and the terror group Islamic State, MI5 chief Andrew Parker said Monday.
Discussion:
One America News Network
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
No apology forthcoming for 'he's dying anyway' quip about McCain … Advisers to President Trump paid tribute Sunday to the long service of Sen. John McCain but stopped short of apologizing to him for a cruel remark by a White House communications aide about the Arizona Republican's battle with brain cancer.
Discussion:
Politico
RELATED:
Carl Bildt / Washington Post:
Trump's decision to blow up the Iran deal is a massive attack on Europe — Few ideas are as holy in President Trump's international liturgy as the concept of national sovereignty. His National Security Strategy speaks of a “beautiful vision—a world of strong, sovereign, and independent nations …
RELATED:
Jon Swaine / The Guardian:
US threatens European companies with sanctions after Iran deal pullout
US threatens European companies with sanctions after Iran deal pullout
Discussion:
Axios