Top Items:
New York Times:
Michael Cohen's Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal — A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure …
New York Times:
5 Key Takeaways From Tuesday's Primaries — It was a night for upsets and breakthroughs: In Georgia, a black woman was nominated for governor by a major party for the first time in any state. In Kentucky, a math teacher defeated a Republican power broker.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, NBC News and WFAA-TV
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New York Times:
Georgia Primary Election Results
Georgia Primary Election Results
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Rewire.News, Politico, HuffPost, The Root, Daily Kos and Refinery29
New York Times:
Stacey Abrams Wins Georgia Democratic Primary for Governor, Making History
Stacey Abrams Wins Georgia Democratic Primary for Governor, Making History
Discussion:
The Nation, The Daily Beast, Stacey Abrams, Washington Post, Refinery29, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Kos and Washington Press
New Yorker:
Philip Roth, the Seminal American Novelist, Has Died — Philip Roth, the seminal American novelist whose book “American Pastoral” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, in 1998, has died, at the age of eighty-five. His great subjects, as Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote in this magazine, in 2006 …
Discussion:
NPR
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Charles McGrath / New York Times:
Philip Roth, Towering Novelist Who Explored Lust, Jewish Life and America, Dies at 85 — Mr. Roth won almost all the major literary awards and published an exceptional sequence of historical novels in his 60s, an age when many writers are winding down. — By CHARLES McGRATH — Comments
Discussion:
New Republic, The Week and Front Page Magazine
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
Giuliani's New Stance On Russian Collusion: So What? It's Not Illegal. — “It was sort of like a gift,” Giuliani said of the Clinton campaign material stolen by Russia. “And you're not involved in the illegality of getting it.” — WASHINGTON His client insists there was “NO COLLUSION” …
Discussion:
MSNBC, Wall Street Journal and Mediaite
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Christopher Dickey / Washington Post:
Former intelligence chief's argument that Putin did indeed sway the 2016 vote — Christopher Dickey, the Paris-based world news editor of the Daily Beast, is the author, most recently, of “Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South.”
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:
ThinkProgress, ABC News and Townhall
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Stefan Halper is just another middleman — By David Ignatius Opinion writer May 22 at 7:21 PM Email the author Follow @ignatiuspost — In the bizarre double helix that is the Russia investigation, one of the recurring themes is the role of would-be influencers.
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Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
The Real Origination Story of the Trump-Russia Investigation
The Real Origination Story of the Trump-Russia Investigation
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Power Line, emptywheel, Politico, Townhall and The Rush Limbaugh Show
David French / National Review:
Yes, a Reasonable Prosecutor Would Have Ordered an Investigation of the Trump Campaign
Yes, a Reasonable Prosecutor Would Have Ordered an Investigation of the Trump Campaign
Discussion:
Axios, Mediaite and Congressman Lee Zeldin
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
The new AG itching to take on Trump — New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has jurisdiction over 20 Trump properties and is ready to step into Eric Schneiderman's void. — The man aspiring to be the new face of the resistance is a practicing Sikh who likes to call attention to his turban …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Comey Rips Trump's ‘Attacks’ on the FBI: ‘How Will Republicans Explain This to Their Grandchildren?’ — Former FBI Director James Comey came to the agency's defense this morning as President Trump continues to attack it over the informant used during the election.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Axios and Raw Story
ProPublica:
An Alarming Tip About a Neo-Nazi Marine, Then an Uncertain Response — A former Marine says he alerted the Corps to a white supremacist in its ranks last October. Six months later, he wonders how seriously the Corps is investigating. — It was Oct. 29, 2017, when Ed Beck decided he had to contact the military police.
Lexington Herald-Leader:
Teacher narrowly upsets Kentucky House GOP leader. A sign of things to come? — As upset teachers across Kentucky Tuesday tried to flex their political muscle, Rockcastle County High School math teacher R. Travis Brenda narrowly defeated House Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Shell …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Splinter, Axios and Political Wire
Kerry Picket / The Daily Caller:
Sources: FBI Agents Want Congress To Issue Them Subpoenas So They Can Reveal The Bureau's Dirt — Sources tell The Daily Caller several FBI agents want congressional subpoenas to testify about the agency's problems. — The sources claim there is a demand within the agency to prosecute former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Discussion:
Townhall and The Gateway Pundit
Natasha Korecki / Politico:
Prominent donor threatens GOP over DACA — CHICAGO — An influential, multi-millionaire GOP donor is threatening to choke off campaign resources to Republican congressmen who haven't engaged in the latest immigration battle in Congress. — Former Exelon chairman John Rowe …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Caller News Foundation and New York Magazine
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:
Politico, Bloomberg, U.S. Embassy & Consulates …, New York Magazine and Daily Caller News Foundation
New York Times:
How the Mueller Investigation Could Play Out for Trump — If Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, finds evidence that Mr. Trump broke the law, he will have decisions to make about how to proceed. We explain them.
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“That Psychopath Is Going Down”: Inside Trumpworld, a Bizarre Counter-Narrative Takes Hold — People in Trump's orbit have become convinced that anti-Trump forces in the F.B.I. entrapped his advisers using informants to plant evidence about Russian collusion—and that former C.I.A. director John Brennan is somehow behind the plot.
Discussion:
Shakesville, The Week and Sputnik International
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.
Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump demands housecleaning on White House communications team — Chief of staff John Kelly has signed off on a plan to dismiss mid-level and junior aides in an effort to limit leaks. — President Donald Trump has demanded changes to his communications team - long seen …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Political Wire, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and No More Mister Nice Blog
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Trump reelection bid begins in a hole — Just 36 percent say they would vote to reelect the president in 2020, compared with 44 percent who would pick the Democrat. — The 2020 presidential election is still two and a half years away, but President Donald Trump's path to a second term …
Discussion:
ABC News, Political Wire and Axios
Navigator:
What Are They Hiding? — Americans Want Answers on Mueller Investigation, Cabinet Scandals, Congressional Oversight, and #MeToo — Welcome to NAVIGATOR — a project designed to better understand the American public's views on the issues of the day and help advocates, elected officials …
Paul Campos / New York Magazine:
Hey, Look: More Evidence That Broidy May Have Been Covering for Trump in That Playmate Affair — was a big day for David Dennison. Dennison — as Donald Trump was called in his hush-money agreement with Stormy Daniels — was taking a break from the golfing trips that had dominated his weekends for that entire fall.
Discussion:
Salon, Politico, Washington Press, The Week, Philly.com, CANNONFIRE, Shakesville, The Mahablog, Washington Post, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Pompeo: US will fight Russian interference in 2018 elections — WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration will not tolerate Russian interference in the 2018 congressional midterm elections. — Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday …
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.
Wall Street Journal:
Israeli Intelligence Company Formed Venture With Trump Campaign Firm Cambridge Analytica — Psy-Group is owned by entrepreneur Joel Zamel, who has been questioned by special-counsel investigators — WASHINGTON—A company owned by Joel Zamel, an Israeli entrepreneur whose work has drawn …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Sputnik International
Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
FBI repeatedly overstated encryption threat figures to Congress, public — The FBI has repeatedly provided grossly inflated statistics to Congress and the public about the extent of problems posed by encrypted cellphones, claiming investigators were locked out of nearly 7,800 devices connected …
Discussion:
The Verge, emptywheel, Engadget, Mediaite and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Kevin Robillard / HuffPost:
GOP Candidate Who Pointed Gun At Teenager Advances To Georgia Governor Primary Runoff — In an ad, Brian Kemp said he would round up undocumented immigrants and “take them home myself.” — A Republican candidate who pointed a gun at a teenager in a campaign ad has advanced to a runoff in Georgia's GOP gubernatorial primary.
Ali Breland / The Hill:
Pro-ISIS propaganda finds fertile ground on Google Plus platform — Scores of pro-ISIS accounts and communities have found a home on Google Plus despite being purged from other social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, according to a review by The Hill.
Dallas Morning News:
Lupe Valdez becomes first Latina to win major-party nomination for Texas governor — Updated at 10:40 p.m. with Lupe Valdez reaction — AUSTIN — Lupe Valdez defeated Andrew White in Tuesday's Democratic runoff for governor, making political history in a couple of ways.
Discussion:
The Texas Tribune and Off the Kuff
Tami Abdollah / Associated Press:
Critics see no end to foreign favors to Trump businesses — WASHINGTON (AP) — First came news that a Chinese government-owned company had signed on to help build an Indonesian project that will include a Donald Trump-branded hotel and golf course. Then, days later, the president tweeted …
Marwa Eltagouri / Washington Post:
A 30-year-old demanded notice for eviction from his parents' house. ‘Outrageous,’ a judge said. — Michael Rotondo refuses to move out of his parents' house. — So much so that the 30-year-old argued for a half-hour with a judge in Upstate New York on Tuesday, saying that while he knew …
Discussion:
CNN, CBS Los Angeles, Outside the Beltway and Fox News
Christal Hayes / USA Today:
‘Stormy Daniels Day’: West Hollywood to award porn star a key to the city — After months of denials, President Donald Trump has acknowledged paying off porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump's story about the $130,000 payment — what he knew about it and when — has evolved over time. (May 4) AP
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hill, Breitbart, CANNONFIRE, Daily Caller News Foundation and CBS Los Angeles