memeorandum: Russian oligarch met with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower during transition (CNN)

1:50 PM ET, May 25, 2018

Top Items:

After summit pullout, South Korea and China have little appetite for Trump's ‘maximum pressure’ — SEOUL — President Trump credited his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions and threats with bringing North Korea to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons program.

Discussion: Axios, Politico, The Week and RedState

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

President Trump Is a Better Dealbreaker Than Dealmaker — His blown-up North Korea summit proves it. — At 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, I was speaking with a senior Administration official involved in the preparations for President Trump's summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and American Thinker

NBC News:

Inside the summit collapse: Trump wanted to cancel before N. Korean leader could — WASHINGTON — Early Thursday morning, after a flurry of calls with a handful of senior advisers, an angry President Donald Trump personally dictated the three-paragraph letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Just Security, South China Morning Post, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Hot Air, CNN, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, VICE News, Joe.My.God., The Straits Times, Daily Wire, The Week, BBC and The American Conservative

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Says North Korea Summit May Be Rescheduled

Discussion: Townhall, New Republic, CNN, Washington Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal and Outside the Beltway

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post: Trump's true talent isn't negotiating. It's marketing.

Conrad Black / American Greatness: Making International Relations Great Again

Axios:
White House officials: We were closer to war with North Korea than realized

Discussion: One America News Network, New York Times and RedState

Associated Press: No deal: Inside Trump's decision to walk on NKorea summit

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Trump suggests June 12 meeting with North Korea may be back on

Discussion: Politico, The Week and New York Magazine

New York Times:

At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations — Eleven days before the presidential inauguration last year, a billionaire Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with Donald J. Trump's personal lawyer and fixer …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, Joe.My.God., KTLA, Political Wire, Raw Story, The Week and Mediaite

CNN:
Russian oligarch met with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower during transition

Discussion: Daily Kos

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Ex-aides say congressman and wife made them his servants — Rep. Tom Garrett and his wife made staffers pick up groceries, clothes — even dog poop, multiple former employees to the freshman Republican told POLITICO. — Freshman Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) and his wife turned the congressman's staff …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Wire, The Daily Beast and The American Spectator

Indianapolis Star:

‘This is surreal,’ parent says of Indiana school shooting — Chad Lancaster, who has an eighth-grade daughter and sixth-grade son at the middle school, said he heard from his ex-wife in a phone call. — Their daughter, hiding under her desk, called the mother. She told her to run.

Discussion: Vox, Raw Story, KTLA, CBS Pittsburgh, CBS Chicago and Splinter

Sabrina Russello / WALV-TV: Two victims transported to hospital after Noblesville school shooting

WDTN-TV:
2 in critical condition, one in custody after shooting at Indiana school

Discussion: Daily Wire

WGN Web Desk / WGN-TV:
At least 2 injured in shooting at Indiana middle school; student in custody

Discussion: Mother Jones, Townhall, Breitbart and IJR

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

Behind the Scenes of Harvey Weinstein's Impending Arrest — After a seven-month investigation, the producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in to the New York Police Department's First Precinct on Friday to face sexual-assault charges. According to law-enforcement officials …

Aaron Katersky / ABC News:
Harvey Weinstein released on $1M bail after arrest on rape, sexual abuse charges

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, New York Times and twitchy.com

Los Angeles Times:
Defiant Harvey Weinstein denies sex crimes charges. He ‘did not invent the casting couch,’ attorney says

Discussion: Mother Jones

Sara M Moniuszko / USA Today:
Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, President Trump react to Harvey Weinstein charges

Discussion: New Republic, CNN, The Daily Beast and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

'We're closed!': Trump vents his anger over immigration at Homeland Security secretary — President Trump began berating Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in the Oval Office earlier this spring, according to administration officials, griping about her performance and blaming her for a surge in illegal border crossings.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Shakesville, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., The Week, Raw Story and Splinter

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

The Real Constitutional Crisis — The FBI and Justice Department continue evading congressional oversight. — Democrats and their media allies are again shouting “constitutional crisis,” this time claiming President Trump has waded too far into the Russia investigation.

Andrew Egger / Weekly Standard:
Why Is Devin Nunes So Quiet?

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic: The Chilling Effect of Trump's War on the FBI

Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times:

Border Patrol union calls Trump's National Guard deployment ‘colossal waste’ … A month after President Trump called for sending National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the head of the national Border Patrol union called the deployment “a colossal waste of resources.”

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, Mother Jones, MSNBC, The Week, IJR, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Lomi Kriel / Houston Chronicle:
Immigrant families separated at border struggle to find each other

Discussion: Paste

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Concerned by Trump, Some Republicans Quietly Align With Democrats — WASHINGTON — Since Donald J. Trump began dominating American politics more than two years ago, Democrats concerned about his policies and behavior have taken solace in a group of influential Republicans who have consistently assailed …

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo and Splinter

Bob Norman / WPLG-TV:

Parents call for investigation into Stoneman Douglas assault involving sheriff's son — Embattled former Deputy Scot Peterson handled case 4 years ago — PARKLAND, Fla. - Several parents of victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre said that if former Broward Sheriff's …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Ryan Saavedra / Daily Wire:
REPORT: Deputy Peterson Accused Of ‘Covering Up’ Alleged Sexual Assault By Broward Sheriff's Son

Discussion: Townhall and twitchy.com

CNN:

GOP House candidate in Illinois is a 9/11 truther, said Beyonce had ties to the Illuminati — (CNN)The Republican nominee for a US House seat in Illinois has said the September 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job and that singer Beyonce Knowles has ties to the Illuminati.

Discussion: The Slot, Daily Caller News Foundation and Raw Story

Jeff Collins / Orange County Register:

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher says it's OK to not sell homes to gays; loses support of Realtors — U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher told a group of Realtors last week that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their homes to gays and lesbians, a statement that cost him the support of a key national Realtor group.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, Vox, Human Rights Campaign, Roll Call, Towleroad, The Week, Raw Story, CBS Los Angeles and Splinter

Bloomberg:

Mick Mulvaney Is Having a Blast Running the Agency He Detests — One of the first things Mick Mulvaney did last year after President Trump asked him to be acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was to read the statute dictating the agency's powers.

Discussion: RGA and Axios

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
A lot of people heard what Barney Frank said about the new banking law. Few knew he works for a bank.

Discussion: FAIR, Splinter and Reuters

Josh Mitchell / Wall Street Journal:

Mike Meru Has $1 Million in Student Loans. How Did That Happen? — Escalating tuition and easy credit have yielded a class of student-loan borrowers with spectacular debt they may never pay back — DRAPER, Utah—Mike Meru, a 37-year-old orthodontist, made a big investment in his education.

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation

KHQ-TV:

FIRST ON KHQ: Former Spokane NAACP president Rachel Dolezal facing felony theft charges for welfare fraud — Former Spokane Chapter NAACP President Rachel Dolezal is now facing legal trouble that could land her behind bars. KHQ has confirmed that Dolezal, who legally changed her name …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Q13 FOX News, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, AOL, Raw Story, The Root, Front Page Magazine, theGrio, Power Line, twitchy.com and WGN-TV

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

Jordan Peterson Does Not Support ‘Equality of Opportunity’ — In the United States today, the richest 0.1 percent of households command as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent combined; the average CEO collects 140 times as large a salary as his (or, very occasionally her) typical employee …

Discussion: Slate Star Codex

Sam Levin / The Guardian:

Stabbed at a neo-Nazi rally, called a criminal: how police targeted a black activist — Exclusive: records show police surveilled and tried to charge a citizen journalist attacked at a California rally. Does it fit a pattern of punishing black protesters?

USA Today:

Keith Olbermann takes an expanded role at ESPN, including a return to ‘SportsCenter’ — Keith Olbermann's most recent return to ESPN just became more prominent. — Olbermann, who has made appearances on various ESPN shows in recent months, will have an increased role on the network as part …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

‘Be Very Careful’: Conversation Cited to Link Qatar to Hack of G.O.P. Donor — The two men had known each other for years around Capitol Hill. Both were hawkish supporters of Israel and active in the Republican Party. But now they were on opposite sides of a remote dispute between wealthy …

Dana Kennedy / The Daily Beast:

John Travolta's Former Scientology Pals Speak Out: He's 'Got a Dark Side and He's Reckless' … CANNES, France - The gay rumors? — Try sitting five inches from John Travolta's wife, in the Carlton Hotel's Grace Kelly suite overlooking the shimmering Mediterranean without being overwhelmed by cognitive dissonance.

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Wire

politics.myajc:

Georgia Democrats test a more liberal comeback strategy — Georgia Democrats took a dramatic turn toward progressive policies in last week's votes, part of a broader realignment that will reshape November's election by shifting the party's philosophy away from decades of centrist appeals.

The Times of Israel:

Brussels chief rabbi declines to wear kippa publicly, citing security concerns — Rabbi Albert Guigui tells Belgian broadcaster he hasn't visibly worn a skullcap since he was assaulted in an anti-Semitic attack in 2001 — Amid reports of widespread fear among Belgian Jews of being attacked …

Washington Post:

Invitations offer wealthy Chinese access to President Trump at fundraiser — The letter circulated to dozens of wealthy entrepreneurs in China last week looked official. Topped with the insignia of a real Republican committee raising money for the party and President Trump's reelection campaign …