memeorandum: Michael Cohen says family and country, not President Trump, is his ‘first loyalty’ (George Stephanopoulos/ABC News)

1:30 PM ET, July 2, 2018

Top Items:

George Stephanopoulos / ABC News:

Michael Cohen says family and country, not President Trump, is his ‘first loyalty’ — Michael Cohen — President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney and a former executive vice president at the Trump Organization — has always insisted he would remain loyal to the president.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Michael Cohen to Trump: I will flip on you if I need to

Discussion: Vox, Conservative News Today, Mediaite and Florida Politics

Wall Street Journal:
Top GOP Fundraiser to Stop Hush Payments Over Affair

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Politico, Mediaite, The Week and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
Cohen Won't Declare Loyalty To Trump, Hints At Danger He Could Pose To Prez

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, New Republic, CNN and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press: Trump's former personal lawyer says he'll put family first

Blair Guild / CBS News:

Two federal judges seen as Trump's leading contenders for Supreme Court — President Trump says he will begin interviewing potential Supreme Court justices today and that he intends to officially nominate his candidate to the nation's highest court in just one week.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, CBS Chicago and The Week

Chuck Schumer / New York Times:

Our Rights Hang in the Balance — Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement has created the most important vacancy on the Supreme Court in our lifetimes. Whoever fills Justice Kennedy's seat will join an evenly divided court with the ability to affect the laws of the United States and the rights of its citizens for generations.

Discussion: Daily Kos, NY State of Politics and CNN

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
White House reorganizing staff as Supreme Court fight looms

Discussion: Breitbart and Weekly Standard

Rick Klein / ABC News:
The Note: Trump, Republicans pounce on progressives' new movement

Discussion: Fox News Insider, The Daily Beast and Breitbart

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Inside the Democratic strategy to oppose Trump's Supreme Court pick

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Raw Story

Ginger Gibson / Reuters:

Exclusive: Largest U.S. business group attacks Trump on tariffs — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business group and customarily a close ally of President Donald Trump's Republican Party, is launching a campaign on Monday to oppose Trump's trade tariff policies.

Discussion: Axios, Townhall, The Daily Caller, The Week and Conservative News Today

Reuters:
Iran diplomat among four arrested over suspected plot against Iranian opposition meeting

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
Trump isn't going to change his mind on trade even if the stock market keeps falling: Wilbur Ross

Discussion: Daily Kos, Political Wire and The Week

Deborah Yetter / Courier-Journal:

Bevin cuts dental, vision benefits to nearly 500K Medicaid recipients — Gov. Matt Bevin's administration has abruptly cut Medicaid dental and vision benefits to nearly half a million Kentuckians, prompting an outcry from Democrats who called the Republican governor's decision “rash.”

Discussion: Splinter, Rewire.News, Joe.My.God. and The American Spectator

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Exclusive: A leaked Trump bill to blow up the WTO — Axios has obtained a leaked draft of a Trump administration bill — ordered by the president himself — that would declare America's abandonment of fundamental World Trade Organization rules. — Why it matters: The draft legislation is stunning.

Discussion: MSNBC, CNN, Washington Post, AOL, IJR, National Review, BloombergQuint, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, Mediaite, VICE News, Hullabaloo, CNBC, One America News Network, The Guardian, Breitbart, Splinter and The Week

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Axios Sneak Peek

Discussion: Breitbart and Wall Street Journal

Kasia Klimasinska / Bloomberg:
‘A Little Premature’ to Discuss U.S. Exit From WTO, Ross Says

Discussion: Axios and CNBC

NBC News:

News media paid Melania Trump thousands for use of photos in ‘positive stories only’ — The First Lady earned six figures from an agreement with Getty Images that paid royalties to the Trumps and mandated photos be used in positive coverage. — Since her husband took office Melania Trump …

more at Mediagazer »

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Russia investigators likely got access to NRA's tax filings, secret donors — WASHINGTON — For months, the National Rifle Association has had a stock answer to queries about an investigation into whether Russian money was funneled to the gun rights group to aid Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Avery Anapol / The Hill:
Legal experts say Mueller team likely gained access to NRA tax filings: report

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

In Denmark, Harsh New Laws for Immigrant ‘Ghettos’ — COPENHAGEN — When Rokhaia Naassan gives birth in the coming days, she and her baby boy will enter a new category in the eyes of Danish law. Because she lives in a low-income immigrant neighborhood described by the government as a …

Discussion: Jezebel, Marginal REVOLUTION and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Harvey Weinstein Faces Life In Prison From New Sex Crime Charges By NYC D.A. From 3rd Victim — Already facing rape and criminal sex act charges and a potential 25-years behind bars, Harvey Weinstein today was hit with even heavier legal weight from the Manhattan D.A. - that could see him in jail for life.

Discussion: New Republic, IndieWire and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Henry / Manhattan District Attorney's Office:
District Attorney Vance Announces Additional Charges Against Harvey Weinstein Including Predatory Sexual Assault

Discussion: Refinery29, VICE News, The Week, Vox and The Guardian

Matthew Schmitz / New York Times:

Trump's ‘Purple’ Family Values — In the months leading up to Donald Trump's election, I noticed a divide in how my acquaintances spoke about his family values — or lack thereof. — People I knew from college or had met in New York expressed distaste for Mr. Trump's behavior.

Discussion: New Republic and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Trump may hold Round 2 with Kim Jong-un in NYC — Some administration officials are so optimistic about making progress with North Korea's Kim Jong-un that they hope a Round 2 with President Trump can be held in New York in September, when world leaders pour into Trump's hometown for the U.N. General Assembly.

Discussion: Raw Story, VICE News, AOL, The Week and Mediaite

Jonathan Cheng / Wall Street Journal:
North Korea Expands Key Missile-Manufacturing Plant

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, Hullabaloo, The Diplomat, Daily Kos, New York Times, Defense One, Salon, The Daily Caller, CNN, Bloomberg, Mediaite and Reuters

Wall Street Journal: North Korea Keeps Enriching Uranium

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Eric Trump rushes into NYC traffic to save ailing woman — An ordinary morning in New York City last week for President Trump's son Eric Trump abruptly turned frantic when he rushed to the aid of a woman who passed out near a train station, dodging rush-hour traffic to chase down a passing ambulance.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:

‘A way of monetizing poor people’: How private equity firms make money offering loans to cash-strapped Americans — The check arrived out of the blue, issued in his name for $1,200, a mailing from a consumer finance company. Stephen Huggins eyed it carefully. — A loan, it said.

Discussion: Splinter

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:

A bad week for Democrats gives rise to a big problem: Outrage could become an obstacle in midterms — Growing liberal agitation over a pivotal Supreme Court retirement and a simmering crisis about immigrant child separation have left Democratic leaders scrambling to keep the political outrage …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review, CNN and New York Times

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Keep the focus on Trump's cruelty and incompetence

Discussion: Fox News, TIME and AOL

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

FBI arrests man it says was plotting July 4 attack in downtown Cleveland — The FBI in Cleveland has arrested a 48-year-old man it says was planning a July 4 attack in the city's downtown, authorities said. — The man — who lived in Maple Heights, a southeastern suburb of Cleveland …

Discussion: Fox News and Daily Wire

Patterico's Pontifications:

Would a Justice Amy Barrett Recuse Herself in Abortion Cases? — Judge Amy Barrett seems to be the new hotness among conservatives. She is being seriously discussed as a credible candidate to replace Anthony Kennedy despite a mighty thin track record as a judge. Why? Let's look at a couple of representative pieces.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch and The Week

Tim Stickings / Daily Mail:

The one result he didn't see coming: Rabiot the octopus - who correctly predicted every outcome of Japan's World Cup group matches - is chopped up and eaten before knockout stages — An octopus who had predicted all three of Japan's group stage results at the World Cup has been turned into seafood.

Brad Wilmouth / NewsBusters:

Rubin: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Should Be Harassed Publicly as a ‘Life Sentence’ — On Sunday's AM Joy, MSNBC contributor and Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin declared that Sarah Huckabee Sanders deserves a “life sentence” of being harassed publicly as she asserted that the White House press secretary …

Discussion: Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Bloomberg:

A Morgan Stanley Star Wants You to Back His Political Movement — Eric Grossman doesn't look like he would want to do anything drastic. The top lawyer at Morgan Stanley is a 51-year-old homeowner in the New York suburbs with twin sons and a seat on the firm's management committee.

Fred Hiatt / Washington Post:

The Trump administration's extraordinary cruelty will always find opponents — In March, as The Post was publishing a series of editorials criticizing the Trump administration for separating a Congolese asylum seeker from her 7-year-old daughter, administration officials contacted me to complain.