Top Items:
Paul Wood / BBC:
Trump lawyer ‘paid by Ukraine’ to arrange White House talks — Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Axios, IJR, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, AOL, Spectator USA, CNBC, New York Magazine, Mediaite and VICE News
Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:
Jared Kushner Gets Security Clearance, Ending Swirl of Questions Over Delay — WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and adviser, has been granted his permanent security clearance, a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, ending a period of uncertainty …
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, Axios, RedState, Daily Kos, infowars.com, Shakesville, Raw Story, Mediaite, HuffPost, Daily Caller News Foundation, AOL and The Week
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Washington Post:
Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to President Trump, receives permanent security clearance — By Washington Post Staff May 23 at 2:45 PM — The FBI's background check into Kushner's financial history and foreign contacts took more than a year, becoming a source of uncertainty for the West Wing aide.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Bob Glauber / Newsday:
Jets chairman Christopher Johnson says he'll pay anthem-related league fines for his players — Christopher Johnson says his Jets players can take a knee or perform another type of protest without fear of repercussion from the team. — ATLANTA — Despite the NFL's approval of a revised policy …
Discussion:
Axios, Political Wire, USA Today, ProFootballTalk, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and CBS New York
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Victor Mather / New York Times:
N.F.L. Teams Will be Fined if Players Kneel During National Anthem — N.F.L. players will be allowed to stay in the locker room during the national anthem, but their teams will be fined by the league if they go onto the field and kneel, according to new rules adopted by owners on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Breitbart, twitchy.com, ProFootballTalk, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, USA Today and Outside the Beltway
ESPN:
New policy requires on-field players, personnel to stand for anthem — ATLANTA — NFL owners have unanimously approved a new national anthem policy that requires players to stand if they are on the field during the performance but gives them the option to remain in the locker room if they prefer, it was announced Wednesday.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, NFL.com, Power Line, Bossip, Fox News, Hit & Run, The Root, infowars.com, theGrio, IJR, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Guardian, ProFootballTalk, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Mashable, Common Dreams, The Nation, Louder With Crowder, CBS Pittsburgh, Daily Wire and The Week
Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
New York Jets chairman, brother of Trump ambassador, says he'll pay fines for team players who protest during anthem
New York Jets chairman, brother of Trump ambassador, says he'll pay fines for team players who protest during anthem
Discussion:
Joe.My.God. and USA Today
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump's FBI Spy Theory Is Completely Insane — In the face of widening evidence of Trump campaign culpability in the Russia investigation, Republicans have churned through a frequently mutating series of conspiracy theories to defend him. The latest, and possibly final, such theory …
Discussion:
USA Today, Rolling Stone, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Conservative Review and Hullabaloo
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump is spinning desperately to distract from his corruption. Democrats should say so.
Trump is spinning desperately to distract from his corruption. Democrats should say so.
Discussion:
NBC News, ABC News, The Guardian, CNN and infowars.com
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Trump reelection bid begins in a hole
Poll: Trump reelection bid begins in a hole
Discussion:
Washington Post, Breitbart, Vox, Political Wire, Axios and ABC News
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
In reversal, Giuliani now says Trump should do interview with Mueller team — President Trump's lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani switched gears Wednesday, saying that he would prefer the president grant an interview to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's office and that a decision would be made within “the next couple weeks.”
Discussion:
Axios, Political Wire, IJR, The Week, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal and Mediaite
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Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Exclusive: Bannon says Rosenstein could be fired ‘very shortly’ — 's former chief strategist Stephen Bannon predicts that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — could be fired “very shortly,” in an interview that will be broadcast Wednesday evening in the United Kingdom.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, BBC, The Daily Caller and Washington Times
CNBC:
Trump can't block Twitter followers, federal judge says — President Donald Trump cannot block users on his Twitter feed, a federal judge in New York City ruled Wednesday. — The suit was filed in July 2017 by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University …
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David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Devin Nunes' fundraising explodes amid aggressive defense of Trump from Russia probe — Rep. Devin Nunes raised an extraordinary approximate sum of $2.25 million in six weeks as grassroots Republicans rewarded the House Intelligence Committee chairman for quarterbacking President Trump's counterattack …
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Most Americans don't realize Robert Mueller's investigation has uncovered crimes — 17 indictments and five guilty pleas so far. — A majority of Americans — 59 percent — say in a new survey that Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia and the 2016 campaign has not yet uncovered evidence …
Discussion:
Politico and Political Wire
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Stefan Halper is just another middleman
Stefan Halper is just another middleman
Discussion:
Axios, National Review and Breitbart
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Garrett in turmoil, might quit Congress — Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) has abruptly parted ways with his chief of staff and is considering not seeking reelection in November, according to three people familiar with the matter. — Garrett, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus …
Aaron Katersky / ABC News:
Families of Sandy Hook victims, FBI agent file defamation lawsuit against right-wing radio host Alex Jones — Six families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, as well as an FBI agent who responded to the scene, filed a defamation lawsuit today …
Discussion:
The Resurgent and NY State of Politics
James Hill / ABC News:
Mueller moves to prepare Papadopoulos for sentencing — In a court filing entered Wednesday, prosecutors representing the special counsel Robert Mueller asked the Court to take the first steps in the sentencing process for former Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Mueller moves to sentence Papadopoulos, signaling key step
Gordon G. Chang / The Daily Beast:
Trump Blames China's Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un Summit … President Donald Trump met his South Korean counterpart in the White House on Tuesday, publicly acknowledged his planned summit with Kim Jong Un may never take place, and called out China's ruler for sabotaging the denuclearization process.
Discussion:
The White House, Breitbart, One America News Network, The Atlantic, Washington Post and Townhall
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Emily Rauhala / Washington Post:
State Department warns U.S. citizens in China after employee suffers possible sonic attack — BEIJING — The U.S. State Department is warning U.S. citizens in China that a government employee reported unusual “sensations of sound and pressure” and was later diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury …
Discussion:
New York Times, Bloomberg, U.S. Embassy & Consulates …, NPR, Daily Caller News Foundation, VICE News, Politico, Gizmodo and infowars.com
RELATED:
Christopher Bodeen / Associated Press:
US employee in China reported strange sounds, pressure
Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
The Risky Business of Speaking for President Trump — Flacks in this White House press office are getting enormous exposure — but potentially at a long-term cost to their credibility. — It was getting late on a Wednesday, and by 2018 standards the evening's news cycle felt almost serene.
Discussion:
Politico and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »
Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Senator Jeff Flake to Harvard Law Grads: Trump ‘Debased’ Presidency … In highly charged and notably ominous terms, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on Wednesday laid bare his fears about the damage Donald Trump was inflicting on the office he holds, and called out his fellow Republicans for lacking the spine to fight to it.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Sopan Deb / New York Times:
We Sat Down With the ‘Arrested Development’ Cast. It Got Raw. — In a wide-ranging conversation about the new season, cast members got emotional as they discussed accusations of sexual misconduct against Jeffrey Tambor. — Perhaps no moment better defines “Arrested Development” …
The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: U.S. Government Can't Get Controversial Kaspersky Lab Software Off Its Networks … Federal agencies are so far unable to comply with a law banning Kaspersky Lab software from U.S. government networks by October, The Daily Beast has learned. Multiple divisions of the U.S. government …
Discussion:
Sputnik International and archive.fo, more at Techmeme »
David Carnoy / CNET:
Would you wear this muzzle around the office for private calling? — A new accessory called Bloxvox muffles your phone conversations in an open office. Just don't share it. — Enlarge Image — Back in January of 2017 I discovered a product at CES called HushMe that I described as …
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Weighs New Tariffs on Imported Vehicles — White House has discussed plans for such tariffs with industry officials — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is considering a plan that would impose new tariffs on imported vehicles on national-security grounds …
Discussion:
Instapundit and Toronto Star
CNNMoney:
EPA again blocks journalists from attending summit: 'They ain't doing the CNN stuff' — Journalists blocked from EPA event — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday barred journalists for the second consecutive day from attending a national summit focused on water contaminants …
Discussion:
Politico, Mediaite and Snopes.com, more at Mediagazer »
Julia Reinstein / BuzzFeed:
That Viral “Odyssey” Post About Coachella Was Actually By A 28-Year-Old Man Who Catfished His Way Into The Site — Meet the real “Kaycie Allen.” — If you were on Twitter on April 22, you might remember this article. — “Sorry Not Sorry, My Parents Paid For My Coachella Trip,” …
Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register:
Three women accuse Iowa governor candidate Nate Boulton of sexual misconduct — Three women have accused Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Nate Boulton of inappropriate sexual conduct. — One woman told the Des Moines Register that Boulton, now 38, repeatedly grabbed her buttocks at a bar in 2015.
Sharyl Attkisson / The Hill:
8 signs pointing to a counterintelligence operation deployed against Trump's campaign — illegally conspired with Russia and was so good at covering it up he's managed to outwit our best intel and media minds who've searched for irrefutable evidence for two years. (We still await special counsel Robert Mueller
Discussion:
The Rush Limbaugh Show and Sharyl Attkisson
Washington Post:
In an internal memo, the White House considered whether to simply ‘ignore’ federal climate research — White House officials last year weighed whether to simply “ignore” climate studies produced by government scientists or to instead develop “a coherent, fact-based message about climate science …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
‘This Is Not of God’: When Anti-Trump Evangelicals Confront Their Brethren — LYNCHBURG, Va. — The night before Shane Claiborne came to town to preach at a Christian revival, he received a letter from the chief of police at Liberty University warning that if he set foot on the property …
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE
Andrea Butler / WACH-TV:
S.C. community outraged by photo of county council candidate in blackface — BRANTLEY TOMLISON-USER SUBMITTED FACEBOOK.jpg — KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — A candidate for the Kershaw County Council is the talk of the town after a controversial photo began circulating on social media.
Discussion:
The State, theGrio, The Daily Beast and Raw Story
Max Fisher / New York Times:
Deep in the Desert, Iran Quietly Advances Missile Technology — When an explosion nearly razed Iran's long-range missile research facility in 2011 — and killed the military scientist who ran it — many Western intelligence analysts viewed it as devastating to Tehran's technological ambitions.
Discussion:
Conservative Review, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com
Sean McElwee / New York Times:
The Rising Racial Liberalism of Democratic Voters — In response to both the election of Barack Obama in 2008 and the backlash in favor of Donald Trump in 2016, analysts and commentators have focused mostly on racial attitudes on the right. Both scholarship and journalistic accounts …