memeorandum: Republicans losing patience with scandal-scarred Pruitt (Politico)

7:40 PM ET, June 6, 2018

Top Items:

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is requesting that witnesses turn in their personal phones to inspect their encrypted messaging programs — Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses to turn in their phones in order to access encrypted messaging applications, sources tell CNBC.

Discussion: Washington Press, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Axios, The Week, Political Wire, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, VICE News and Daily Wire

Paul Rosenzweig / Lawfare:

The Manafort Tampering Allegations — Special Counsel Robert Mueller has accused Paul Manafort of attempted witness tampering. If the allegations are true, Manafort will have violated the conditions of his release and might have his bail revoked. Judge Amy Berman Jackson has scheduled a hearing on the matter for late next week.

Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:

The Astonishing Tale of the Man Mueller Calls ‘Person A’ — In the early years of the century, as Paul Manafort made his way across Moscow and Kiev, he was followed by a diminutive man. With a generous slackening of the tape, the man measured just above 5 feet.

Reuters:

Lawyer to ex-Trump campaign aide Manafort taps ethics adviser — WASHINGTON/MORRISTOWN, N.J. (Reuters) - A lawyer involved in several real estate deals that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating in his criminal case against President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort has hired his own ethics adviser.

Discussion: Political Wire

Aris Folley / The Hill:
Former US attorney says Manafort will likely go to prison Friday

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

CNN:

Exclusive: Trump invokes War of 1812 in testy call with Trudeau over tariffs — Trudeau: No sign of US common sense prevailing — (CNN)President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel …

BuzzFeed:

Ivanka Trump Was In Contact With A Russian Who Offered A Trump-Putin Meeting — Her contact, a Russian Olympic weightlifter, said a meeting between Trump and Putin could expedite a Trump tower in Moscow. — Amid intense scrutiny of contacts between Donald Trump's inner circle and representatives …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Press, New York Magazine, Washington Post, CNBC, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, The Week, New Republic and Mediaite

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

Pruitt Aide Resigns Amid Scandals — A top aide to Scott Pruitt, Millan Hupp, resigned from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a source briefed on the matter and correspondence reviewed by The Atlantic. Her last day will be Friday. — Hupp, who worked as the director …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, CNN, Washington Post, HuffPost, KTLA, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Press, CNNMoney, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com, New York Times, Shareblue Media, Associated Press, Politico, Splinter and Mediaite

Politico:

Republicans losing patience with scandal-scarred Pruitt — ‘I thought that Mr. Pruitt would have learned his lesson,’ says Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. — Republicans on Capitol Hill are growing frustrated with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — and many are now publicly questioning whether …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, HuffPost and Political Wire

Washington Post:
Two of Scott Pruitt's closest aides, also facing scrutiny, are leaving EPA

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, New York Times, New York Daily News and CNN

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Trump has commuted Alice Johnson's life sentence — President Trump has signed a commutation for Alice Johnson, currently serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense, according to a source with direct knowledge. CNN reported earlier today that the White House had prepped …

Discussion: CNN, VICE News, VICE, IJR, ABC News, Refinery29, Public Pool, theGrio, Washington Free Beacon, CNBC, The Root, twitchy.com, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Splinter, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Mic:

President Donald Trump grants clemency to Alice Johnson after Kim Kardashian West involvement — President Donald Trump has granted clemency on Wednesday to Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender who was given a life sentence without parole, Mic has learned.

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Exclusive: Trump considers dozens of new pardons — Washington (CNN)The White House has assembled the paperwork to pardon dozens of people, two sources with knowledge of the developments tell CNN, signaling that President Donald Trump is poised to exert his constitutional power and intervene …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, AOL, Hot Air, CBS Los Angeles, KTLA, Splinter, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Tana Ganeva / The Intercept:
Donald Trump Commutes Alice Johnson's Life Sentence Following Kim Kardashian's Plea

Discussion: Vox, Common Dreams and twitchy.com

NBC News:

Stormy Daniels suit: My old lawyer was a ‘puppet’ for Trump, Cohen — Suit claims the attorneys tried to arrange for her to appear on Sean Hannity's show and deny affair — Stormy Daniels says in a new lawsuit that her former attorney betrayed her and became a “puppet” …

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Press, AOL, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, What The Fuck … and Mediaite

Rebecca R. Ruiz / New York Times:
Stormy Daniels Sues, Saying Michael Cohen Colluded With Her Former Lawyer

Discussion: CNN, Boing Boing and Raw Story

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Giuliani on Stormy Daniels: Melania Trump ‘believes her husband’

Discussion: Globes Online, Washington Press, Splinter, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
New Stormy Daniels Suit Alleges Former Lawyer ‘Colluded’ With Michael Cohen

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Press

Rachael Bade / Politico:

GOP congressman blasts Trump's spy conspiracy — Rep. Tom Rooney, a top Republican lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee, is ripping President Donald Trump's unsupported claim that the FBI inserted a spy inside his campaign. — “What is the point of saying that there was a spy in the campaign when there was none?”

Discussion: Political Wire

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Paul Ryan Dismisses Trump's Charges of a Spy in His Campaign — WASHINGTON — Speaker Paul D. Ryan agreed on Wednesday that the F.B.I. did nothing wrong by using a confidential informant to contact members of the Trump campaign as it investigated its ties to Russia, contradicting President Trump's assertions …

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, Balloon Juice, CNN, New Republic and Political Wire

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Ryan backs Gowdy on FBI's use of informant to contact Trump associates

Discussion: Vox, ABC News, Bloomberg, Fox News, Breitbart, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, National Review and Daily Kos

Felicia Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:

Kim Jong Un Begged for Summit ‘on His Hands and Knees,’ Giuliani Says — With the summit plans back in place, the U.S. has the upper hand, President Trump's lawyer said — TEL AVIV—President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Washington Press, Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Sean Hannity, AOL, National Review, IJR, Bloomberg, Daily Kos and Washington Times

CNN:
Dennis Rodman ‘considering going to Singapore’ for historic summit, agent says

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Secret Obama-era license let Iran tap dollars — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access — albeit briefly — to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.

Discussion: Fox News, Weekly Standard, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com, Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Front Page Magazine, Conservative Review, RedState, Daily Wire and Axios

New York Times:

A Medical Mystery Grows as U.S. Consulate Workers in China Fall Ill — GUANGZHOU, China — A crisis over a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families — which began in Cuba and recently appeared in China — widened on Wednesday. The State Department evacuated at least …

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation

Mike Levine / ABC News:

DOJ watchdog finds James Comey defied authority as FBI director, sources say — The Justice Department's internal watchdog has concluded that James Comey defied authority at times during his tenure as FBI director, according to sources familiar with a draft report on the matter.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Washington Post, National Review, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Althouse, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Sean Hannity, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Washington Times, Conservative Review, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, JustOneMinute and Daily Wire

Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:

Cambridge Analytica director ‘met Assange to discuss US election’ — Brittany Kaiser also claims to have channelled payments and donations to WikiLeaks — A Cambridge Analytica director apparently visited Julian Assange in February last year and told friends it was to discuss what happened during …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Financial Times, Talking Points Memo and Shakesville

John Fund / Fox News:

Odds of Democrats seizing the House just got worse — California's primary Tuesday was important because it could determine who wins control of the House of Representatives in November - along with the power to impeach President Trump. — With the caveat that many absentee ballots …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
No, Democrats haven't shown they're going to win the House

Discussion: NBC News and AOL

Wall Street Journal:

After Steel and Aluminum Tariffs, U.S. Allies Move to Coordinate Retaliation Efforts — Canada, Japan and the European Union look to step up pressure on Trump administration — U.S. allies Canada, Japan and the European Union are banding together to increase pressure on Washington following …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Chris Isidore / CNNMoney:
Mexico imposes tariffs on $3 billion worth of US exports

Discussion: The Daily Signal, WTVR-TV, Shareblue Media, CBS Chicago and CBS Pittsburgh

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:

Mrs. Trump back in public eye after ‘little rough patch’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — There she was, outside the White House walls. — First lady Melania Trump re-emerged Wednesday shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband, President Donald Trump, at the head of a conference table …

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Trump Defends Melania Trump and Spreads Conspiracies About Her in the Process

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Washington Post and twitchy.com

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

Republicans think Trump's culture war is the answer to winning in November — President Trump's instinct for exploiting America's deep cultural divisions could help Republicans nullify the Democratic resistance in the midterm elections, saving the party's vulnerable congressional majorities.

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Get ready for a brutal election about Trump's racism and authoritarianism

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, NPR and Washington Monthly

Politico:

Trump seeks to reorganize the federal government — A soon-to-be released report will recommend combining safety-net programs under HHS while also recommending big changes at other agencies. — The Trump administration is preparing to release a sweeping plan for reorganizing the federal government …

Discussion: Axios, Rewire.News and The Daily Caller

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Border arrests exceed 50,000 for third month in a row — U.S. border agents made more than 50,000 arrests in May for the third month in a row, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday, an indication that escalating enforcement tactics by the Trump administration …

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:

‘Utter chaos’: ICE arrests 114 workers in immigration raid at Ohio gardening company — A swarm of immigration agents arrested more than 100 workers at an Ohio gardening and landscaping company Tuesday morning, one of the largest of several recent workplace raids carried out as part …

Discussion: WTVR-TV, WNWO-TV, Splinter and VICE News

Cynthia Nixon / Refinery29:

Cynthia Nixon On “Being A Miranda” 20 Years After Sex And The City Premiered — When Sex and the City first aired, twenty years ago today, one thing quickly became clear - no one wanted to be a Miranda. — My character, Miranda Hobbes, was decidedly un-glamorous.

Discussion: Splinter

Linda Qiu / New York Times:

Trump Falsely Claims 'We're Now Exporting Energy for the First Time' — The United States has been exporting energy for decades, and is not projected to become a net exporter until 2022. — WHAT WAS SAID … THE FACTS — False. — The United States has exported energy sources like coal …

Discussion: Raw Story

Eli Watkins / CNN:

State Department spokeswoman notes D-Day in answer on ‘strong relationship’ with Germany — Nauert invokes D-Day while praising US-Germany relations — Washington (CNN)State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Tuesday cited the D-Day invasion during an answer about the current state of US-German relations.

Discussion: MSNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times, The Times of Israel and Task & Purpose

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Trump Transition Team Goes to War Over Rogue FBI Agent … At the time, it was one of the more controversial moments of Robert Mueller's probe: Late last year, news broke that a federal agency turned over tens of thousands of private emails of Trump transition team officials to the special counsel's team …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Talking Points Memo

BuzzFeed:

A Pizza Delivery Man Brought Pies To A Military Base. Then He Was Arrested And Turned Over For Deportation. — Pablo Villavicencio delivered pies to Fort Hamilton base in Brooklyn, where he was asked for ID and arrested. — A pizza delivery man was arrested and turned over to Immigration …

Discussion: New York Post, New York Magazine and Common Dreams

Justin Glawe / The Daily Beast:

Steve Mnuchin Blacked Out Schedule on Days of Controversial Trips … Before stepping off a military jet in Kentucky last summer where he viewed a solar eclipse at Fort Knox, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was doing something else in secret. — Mnuchin and his wife's trip on August 21 …

Linda Robertson / miamiherald:

Grave robbers remove bones from Miami's historic cemeteries — At first glance, a tree branch appears to have fallen into the coffin. The lid has been pried off, leaving the contents roasting, naked, in the Miami sun. — “No, that's a leg bone. See where the foot used to be?” …

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation

E&E News:

Bob Murray drafted 6 orders on coal, climate for Trump — This story was updated at 6:10 p.m. EDT. — Coal executive Bob Murray last year presented Trump administration officials with half a dozen draft executive orders aimed at exiting the Paris climate accord and peeling back coal regulations.