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, Washington Press, Splinter, Spectator USA, Mediaite, IJR, Hot Air, Daily Kos, CNBC, One America News Network, Talking Points Memo, AOL and Joe.My.God.
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:
The Hill, CNN, Breitbart, Politico, ABC News, Axios, New York Magazine, RedState, Daily Kos, Raw Story, infowars.com, Shakesville, Mediaite, The Week, Daily Caller News Foundation, AOL, HuffPost and The Slot
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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:
New York Times, Hot Air, IJR, Mediaite, USA Today, CBS New York, The Daily Caller, ProFootballTalk, Axios and TMZ.com
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New York Times:
N.F.L. Teams Will Be Fined if Players Kneel During National Anthem — Seeking to end a political controversy that has embarrassed professional football, the N.F.L.'s team owners on Wednesday held that players could no longer kneel during the national anthem without leaving themselves open …
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
ESPN:
New policy requires on-field players, personnel to stand for anthem
New policy requires on-field players, personnel to stand for anthem
Discussion:
Niners Nation, NFL.com, Bossip, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Mashable, theGrio, infowars.com, Mother Jones, The Guardian, Common Dreams, The Root, IJR, ProFootballTalk, Fox News, Louder With Crowder, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, The Week, Power Line and CBS Pittsburgh
Sopan Deb / New York Times:
We Sat Down With the ‘Arrested Development’ Cast. It Got Raw. — We Talked to 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.
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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Associated Press:
Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into ‘spygate’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has branded his latest attempt to discredit the special counsel's Russia investigation as “spygate,” part of a newly invigorated strategy embraced by his Republican colleagues to raise suspicions …
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Joe.My.God.
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
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:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, NBC News, RedState, Hullabaloo and ABC News
Jonathan Karl / ABC News:
White House expected to invite Democrats to DOJ briefing on classified documents
White House expected to invite Democrats to DOJ briefing on classified documents
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico and VICE News
NBC News:
Trump can't block users from his Twitter feed, federal judge rules — President Donald Trump cannot block Twitter users for the political views they have expressed, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Wednesday. — Blocking users from viewing his Twitter account …
Discussion:
knightcolumbia.org, Slate and BuzzFeed
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New York Times:
Trump Violates First Amendment by Blocking Twitter Users From Feed, Judge Says
Trump Violates First Amendment by Blocking Twitter Users From Feed, Judge Says
Discussion:
The Root
Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Judge rules Trump can't block users on Twitter
Judge rules Trump can't block users on Twitter
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, NewsBusters, twitchy.com, HuffPost and The Slot, more at Mediagazer »
Jonathan Cheng / Wall Street Journal:
North Korea Threatens to Call Off Summit, Calls Pence a ‘Political Dummy’ — Trump-Kim Jong Un summit planned for June 12 in Singapore — North Korea's senior envoy for U.S. affairs renewed a threat to call off a planned summit with President Donald Trump and warned that Pyongyang could …
Discussion:
Axios, Balloon Juice and Fox News
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Washington Post:
North Korea says it will reconsider summit with Trump ‘if the U.S. continues with its evil acts’ — By Washington Post Staff May 23 at 8:19 PM — The statement, issued by Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, took particular aim at Vice President Pence for his “unbridled and impudent remarks that North Korea might end like Libya.”
Discussion:
Political Wire
Gordon G. Chang / The Daily Beast:
Trump Blames China's Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un Summit
Trump Blames China's Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un Summit
Discussion:
Politico, The White House, One America News Network, The Atlantic, Breitbart, Townhall and Washington Post
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Mueller moves to sentence Papadopoulos, signaling key step — The filing moves towards a sentencing for former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. — A court filing Wednesday from special counsel Robert Mueller's office may be a signal that his investigation …
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Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Most Americans don't realize Robert Mueller's investigation has uncovered crimes
Most Americans don't realize Robert Mueller's investigation has uncovered crimes
Discussion:
Politico, Navigator, Shareblue Media and National Review
Washington Post:
Democratic leaders face pressure to counter Trump's attacks on Mueller's Russia investigation
James Hill / ABC News:
Mueller moves to prepare Papadopoulos for sentencing
Mueller moves to prepare Papadopoulos for sentencing
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Mackenzie Mays / Fresno Bee:
A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event — In 2015, Alene Anase was asked by her employer Alpha Omega Winery to serve guests as part of a charity cruise on the San Francisco Bay. — But what she expected to be a routine shift serving wine turned …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: FBI Seizes Control of Russian Botnet … FBI agents armed with a court order have seized control of a key server in the Kremlin's global botnet of 500,000 hacked routers, The Daily Beast has learned. The move positions the bureau to build a comprehensive list of victims of the attack …
Discussion:
Talos Blog, Gizmodo and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
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:
Politico, BuzzFeed, Washington Monthly, Washington Press, Mediaite, The Week, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, IJR, Axios, New York Magazine and Althouse
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Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Exclusive: Bannon says Rosenstein could be fired ‘very shortly’
Exclusive: Bannon says Rosenstein could be fired ‘very shortly’
Discussion:
BBC, The Daily Caller and Washington Times
Yascha Mounk / Slate:
The Conversations We Need to Have — With every dispiriting headline and each passing day, the full scale of the Trump administration's corruption and lawlessness is coming into a less forgiving view. And yet it is now becoming obvious that many Americans have ceased to see what is going …
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
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:
Arizona Republic, Washington Press and Political Wire
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:
Fox News, Politico, New York Times, Toronto Star and Instapundit
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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.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs
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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 …
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 »
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
Max Boot / Washington Post:
Trump is inflicting long-term damage on the U.S.-Israel alliance — By Max Boot Columnist May 23 at 4:06 PM Email the author Follow MaxBoot — I supported President Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem because that has always been Israel's capital, and I wasn't worried …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, The Daily Beast and Outside the Beltway
Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:
Richard Spencer: The Alt-Right Is Not Pro-Free Speech — Richard Spencer, one of the leading figures in the white supremacist alt-right movement, told his podcast co-host that the alt-right didn't actually believe in free speech and that the alt-right only claimed to advocate for it for “radically pragmatic” reasons.
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 …
Discussion:
Gizmodo
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 and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Neal Pollack / Decider:
David Letterman's Netflix Show Is An Endless, Awkward Parade Of Liberal Guilt — When I was a teenager, I'd set the VCR every night to tape David Letterman. Late Night started at 1 AM where I lived, sometimes 1:30 AM, so staying up to watch the show—in a house where we had one TV—was beyond my reach.
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation