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, Axios, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, Spectator USA, CNBC, Mediaite, VICE News, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Daily Kos
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, The Hill, RedState, Daily Kos, infowars.com, Political Wire, Shakesville, Raw Story, Daily Caller News Foundation, Mediaite, HuffPost and The Week
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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, Hot Air, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, ProFootballTalk, CBS New York and TMZ.com
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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, Outside the Beltway and Sports Illustrated
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.
Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
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 …
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump is spinning desperately to distract from his corruption. Democrats should say so.
Discussion:
NBC News, ABC News, The Guardian, CNN and infowars.com
Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Dem operatives craft Trump-Mueller message for 2018 elections
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Trump reelection bid begins in a hole
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, Breitbart, ABC News, Political Wire and Axios
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” …
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 National Review
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Washington Post:
Special counsel sets in motion sentencing process for Papadopoulos
Discussion:
Political Wire, the daily howler and PolitiFact
James Hill / ABC News:
Mueller moves to prepare Papadopoulos for sentencing
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine 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:
BBC, The Daily Caller and Washington Times
Steven G. Calabresi / The Hill:
The mess Rod Rosenstein made
Discussion:
SSRN, MARK-CM and Conservative Review
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:
Washington Post and Political Wire
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Mackenzie Mays / Fresno Bee:
A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event
Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Top Senate Republicans ask White House for entry into meeting on classified information
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, ThinkProgress, HuffPost, VICE News, Lawfare and Hullabaloo
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 …
Discussion:
Roll Call
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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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
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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
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
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:
HuffPost, The Atlantic, Politico and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »
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 …
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 »
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 »
Kevin Baron / Defense One:
No Joke: Top Special Ops Commander Says No Offense Intended, Lauds Press — 'I don't condone that kind of violence' Gen. Raymond ‘Tony’ Thomas said in an exclusive interview, one day after joking about pretending to shoot at the press. — TAMPA - The commander of U.S. Special Operations Command …
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.
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,” …
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
America's Version of Capitalism Is Incompatible With Democracy — American democracy is unwell; on this much, President Trump's detractors can agree. — But when they turn to the tasks of identifying our republic's symptoms, naming its illness, and writing a prescription, different factions of …
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
Jason Samenow / Washington Post:
NASA head Jim Bridenstine, once doubtful, confirms he believes humans are the leading cause of climate change — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who previously questioned whether humans are primarily responsible for climate change, left no doubt Wednesday that his position has changed.
David Adler / New York Times:
Centrists Are the Most Hostile to Democracy, Not Extremists — The warning signs are flashing red: Democracy is under threat. Across Europe and North America, candidates are more authoritarian, party systems are more volatile, and citizens are more hostile to the norms and institutions of liberal democracy.
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:
Mediaite, The Rush Limbaugh Show and Sharyl Attkisson
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
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