memeorandum: Black women candidates feel slighted by Democrats (Alexi McCammond/Axios)

11:40 AM ET, May 30, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Asked Sessions to Retain Control of Russia Inquiry After His Recusal — WASHINGTON — By the time Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrived at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner one Saturday evening in March 2017, he had been receiving the presidential silent treatment for two days.

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:

On Fox News of all places, Trump's ‘spy’ claim is debunked by Trey Gowdy and even Judge Napolitano — President Trump has made it clear he likes what he hears on Fox News. The network often covers the president favorably, bringing on conservative commentators that push the president's agenda and …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Fox News Insider, MSNBC, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, The Root, IJR, VICE News, CNN, The Guardian, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo

Annie Karni / Politico:

White House silence on Melania stokes conspiracy theories — The first lady hasn't been seen in public since her release from the hospital after a routine procedure. — She's left the White House and moved back to New York City. — She's cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: Political Wire and Talking Points Memo

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

FBI was right to deploy informant, senior GOP lawmaker says — A senior House Republican who was part of a highly classified Justice Department briefing last week said on Tuesday that the FBI acted properly when it deployed an informant to gather information from advisers to President Donald Trump's campaign in 2016.

Discussion: Power Line, New Republic, Political Wire, Breitbart, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Andrew Desiderio / The Daily Beast:

Trey Gowdy: FBI's Use of Informant for Trump Campaign Was Appropriate … Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Tuesday that the FBI's use of an informant for the Trump campaign in 2016 was appropriate, joining top Democrats in disputing President …

Discussion: Associated Press and Politico

Emily Tillett / CBS News:
Rep. Trey Gowdy says FBI has “obligation” to run out leads on Russian interference

Discussion: Washington Post

Tim Hains / RealClearPolitics:
Napolitano on Trump's ‘Spygate’ Claims: “I'd Want To See Evidence Before I Made An Allegation That Outrageous”

Discussion: The Week

Fox News Insider:
Donald Trump Russia Probe: Gowdy Says He Should Be Upset With Democrats, Obama Not FBI

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, The Daily Caller, ABC News and The Gateway Pundit

Clare Foran / CNN:
Gowdy says FBI ‘did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do’ in Russia investigation

Discussion: Washington Post and twitchy.com

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:

Keeping Up with the Kushners: With Jared Back on Top, Kim Kardashian Heads to the White House — Months of talks between Jared Kushner and Kim Kardashian is set to culminate in a meeting with President Trump, in which the reality-TV star will ask him to pardon a 62-year-old great-grandmother serving …

Discussion: New York Magazine, CNN, IJR, VICE News, Daily Wire, Washington Times, CBS Pittsburgh, KTLA, The Root and Mediaite

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Ivanka Trump Abruptly Leaves Call After Question About China Trademarks — Ivanka Trump abruptly left a conference call on Tuesday about a coming fitness event after receiving questions about her company's trademarks in China and her father's exercise regimen.

Discussion: Racked, Political Wire, CBS News, CNBC, New York Magazine and Media Matters for America

The Daily Beast:

Trump Aides Brutally Turn on Each Other in War on Leaks … Not long after news broke that White House communications aide Kelly Sadler had made a flippant comment about Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) impending death from brain cancer, President Donald Trump gathered a small group of staffers in the Oval Office.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Mediaite and Spectator USA

Jacqueline Alemany / CBS News:
Ivanka Trump exits White House conference call after questions on Chinese trademarks

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Splinter, Daily Kos and The Week

Reuters:

Roseanne Barr blames sleep aid Ambien for racist tweet — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. comedian Roseanne Barr said she was tired of “being attacked and belittled” and blamed sleep aid Ambien for her tweet that compared a black former Obama administration official to an ape, a racist remark that sparked a wave of outrage.

Discussion: Townhall, Althouse, Boing Boing and The Daily Caller

CNNMoney:
Roseanne Barr blames Ambien: 'I'm not a racist, just an idiot'

Discussion: RedState, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, CBS Boston, Gizmodo, CBS Pittsburgh and WGN-TV

Mike Allen / Axios:
How social media crushed Roseanne for her racist tweet

Discussion: Politico, CNNMoney, NBC News, CNN, CANNONFIRE, Taylor Marsh and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Roger Kimball / Spectator USA:
Disney is considerably more repulsive than Roseanne

Discussion: alicublog and The American Conservative

Roxane Gay / New York Times:
‘Roseanne’ Is Gone, but the Culture That Gave Her a Show Isn't

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, The Nation and ThinkProgress

Anne Helen Petersen / BuzzFeed:
How Roseanne's Bigotry Finally Became A Liability

Discussion: NPR, Conservative News Today and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

S.E. Cupp / New York Daily News: Lesson from the Roseanne debacle: Stop hiring hateful nutjobs

BBC:

Arkady Babchenko: ‘Murdered’ Russian journalist is alive — Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, widely reported to have been assassinated in Kiev on Tuesday, has turned up alive at a press conference. — In an extraordinary development, the high-profile critic of the Kremlin appeared live on Ukrainian TV.

Discussion: NPR

Associated Press:

The Latest: Ukraine faked death of Russian journalist — MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the reported slaying in Ukraine of a Russian journalist: (all times local): — Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who had been reported shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital Tuesday, has shown up at a news conference very much alive.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Week and Meduza.io

David M. Herszenhorn / Politico: ‘Murdered’ Russian journalist turns up alive

Associated Press:
A glance at Russian journalists attacked or killed

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Courtney Kube / NBC News:

CIA report says North Korea won't denuclearize, but might open a burger joint — WASHINGTON — A new U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear weapons any time soon, three U.S. officials told NBC News — a finding that conflicts …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., The Resurgent, Just Security, Washington Press, Palmer Report, The Week, Axios, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Vox, CNN and MSNBC

Victor Skinner / The American Mirror:

Elizabeth Warren praises communist China ‘long-term whole-of-government’ strategy — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren would rather praise communist China than the President of the United States. — The 2020 presidential hopeful and darling of the left appeared on CBS This Morning to hawk …

Discussion: Townhall and twitchy.com

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Trump bragged about classified Syria skirmish at fundraiser — The White House has tried to avoid discussing a February skirmish between U.S. troops and Russian mercenaries in Syria, but that didn't stop President Donald Trump from bragging about the Pentagon's performance at a recent closed-door fundraiser.

Discussion: MSNBC, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Week and Political Wire

Brooke Seipel / The Hill: Trump bragged about classified battle in Syria during fundraiser: report

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Federal prosecutors poised to get more than 1 million files seized from Michael Cohen's phones — Federal prosecutors investigating President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen are poised to receive on Wednesday one million files from three of his cellphones seized last month …

Discussion: Political Wire, Axios, Boing Boing, Politico, Palmer Report and Talking Points Memo

Joe Schneider / Bloomberg: Cohen Prosecutors to Get Seized Phone Data by Wednesday

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The Trump obstruction of justice probe is bigger than we realized — President Trump's fixation on “no collusion” has long belied this reality of the Russia investigation: The obstruction of justice half of the probe appears significantly more troublesome for him personally.

Washington Post:

A televangelist wants his followers to pay for a $54 million private jet. It's his fourth plane. — By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. May 29 at 1:17 PM Email the author — If Jesus were to descend from heaven and physically set foot on 21st-century Earth, prosperity gospel televangelist Jesse Duplantis told …

Discussion: Sputnik International, FOX 61, The Last Tradition and New Orleans Times-Picayune

William Cummings / USA Today:
Televangelist says God told him he needs 4th private plane

Discussion: CBS News, The American Conservative, JONATHAN TURLEY and The Intellectualist

Katie Glueck / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Republicans target Trump voters in California push — WASHINGTON — The GOP's congressional campaign arm has mounted a six-figure digital effort focused on turning out Donald Trump voters in several of next week's California primaries, engaging in an early test of how to juice political participation …

Alexei Koseff / Sacramento Bee:
Independent voters now outnumber Republicans in California

Discussion: New York Times, Axios and The Week

Alexi McCammond / Axios:

Black women candidates feel slighted by Democrats — There are at least 43 Democratic black women running as challengers for U.S. House seats, but only one — Lauren Underwood of Illinois — has the backing of the national campaign organization. — Why it matters: Black women …

Discussion: Splinter

Ben Detrick / The Ringer:

The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account — A collection of Twitter accounts that has criticized Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, disclosed sensitive information, and outlined team strategy shares eye-opening similarities. What does that have to do with the Philadelphia 76ers' decision-maker?

Discussion: Sports Illustrated, USA Today, AOL, Philly.com, CBS Boston, CBS Philly, The Guardian and The Big Lead, more at Mediagazer »

George Avalos / Mercury News:

Silicon Valley tsunami? Tax plans aimed at Apple, Google could start a new wave, city leaders say — Cupertino, Mountain View and East Palo Alto have begun to ponder new taxes based on employer headcounts — levies that could jolt Apple and Google — and if voters endorse the plans …

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

The Man Who Would Be Speaker — They began praying without him. It was already 30 minutes past 7 a.m., when Jefferson Parish's April prayer breakfast was scheduled to begin. More than 100 Louisianans had driven in for the event, filing into the room to a soundtrack of God bless yous …

Associated Press:

AP sources: US to impose limits on some Chinese visas — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to shorten the length of validity for some visas issued to Chinese citizens, the State Department said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump works to counter alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property by Beijing.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Axios, Politico, One America News Network and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google — WASHINGTON — Fei-Fei Li is among the brightest stars in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence, somehow managing to hold down two demanding jobs simultaneously: head of Stanford University's A.I. lab and chief scientist …

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

The Guardian:

Brazil faces calls for return to military dictatorship amid truckers' strike — Days into shutdown that began over fuel prices, some protesters call for military intervention ‘to put the house in order’ — Sam Cowie in São Paulo and Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Discussion: Al Jazeera English