memeorandum: Walmart Just Patented Audio Surveillance Technology For Listening In On Employees (Caroline O'Donovan/BuzzFeed)

6:50 PM ET, July 11, 2018

Top Items:

When Trump attacked Germany in Brussels, his aides pursed their lips and glanced away — President Trump kicked off his trip to Europe with a biting critique of the United States' longtime allies, declaring at a breakfast meeting that Germany “is captive to Russia.”

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, NewsWars, CNBC, WGN-TV, Bustle and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Trump says Germany ‘is captive to Russia’ in fiery opening salvo against NATO — BRUSSELS — President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide.

Bloomberg:

Trump Urges Doubling Target for Arms Budgets to 4%: NATO Update — U.S. president accuses Germany of being ‘captive of Russia’ — Back in the U.S., his comments drew criticism from lawmakers — Donald Trump is on the offensive as leaders gathered at a two-day North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Common Dreams, IJR, Reuters, Task & Purpose and The Daily Caller

John Haltiwanger / Business Insider:

White House claims John Kelly looked ‘displeased’ at NATO summit because ‘because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese’ — The White House on Wednesday claimed chief of staff John Kelly looked “displeased” at the NATO summit in Brussels because …

Discussion: AOL, Bustle and Mediaite

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
This remarkable exchange at NATO perfectly captures Trump's ugly bad faith

Discussion: New York Times, Anchorage Daily News and IJR

Washington Post: ‘Rubbing salt in the wounds’: Trump won't take yes for an answer at NATO

Washington Post:
Trump is poisoning NATO. Why?

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg and BBC

Associated Press: No shove, but Trump body language speaks to frosty relations

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Worried about Russia? Then Keep an Eye on Germany's Former Chancellor

Discussion: Atlantic Council, Daily Wire and Axios

Rick Noack / Washington Post:
The Russian pipeline to Germany that Trump is so mad about, explained

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Bloomberg, Forbes, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

Meridith McGraw / ABC News:
Trump issues blistering attacks on Germany at NATO breakfast: ‘Germany is controlled by Russia’

Discussion: Axios, Politico, twitchy.com, IJR, Washington Press and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Germany ‘Captive to Russia’ for Energy, Trump Claims

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Katie Benner / New York Times:

Rosenstein Asks Prosecutors to Help With Kavanaugh Papers in Unusual Request — WASHINGTON — Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, has asked federal prosecutors to help review the government documents of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee …

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNN, Axios, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Law & Crime, Common Dreams, Media Matters for America, Mashable and Weekly Standard

Amy Brittain / Washington Post:

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh piled up credit card debt by purchasing Nationals tickets, White House says — Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities …

Axios:

Joe Manchin: Brett Kavanaugh “has all the right qualities” — Red state Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who will cast a key vote during Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation process, said on Talkline Communications radio Wednesday that Kavanaugh “has all the right qualities” …

Discussion: YouTube, Breitbart, Political Wire and Power Line

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Brett Kavanaugh Was a Mistake — Donald Trump picked the judge who's most inclined to say the president can't be indicted. Pro tip: That makes him look guilty. — To be perfectly clear on the obvious point: Brett Kavanaugh is a lovely man and presumably a good father with a lovely family.

Discussion: National Review, NewsBusters, SCOTUSblog, Latest - Truthout, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

The elite world of Brett Kavanaugh — The Chevy Chase Lounge is a neighborhood joint where bartender Tim Higgins is accustomed to bantering with long-standing patrons, including a middle-aged guy named Brett who likes to pop in for a Budweiser and a burger after coaching his daughters' basketball games.

Discussion: CityLab

Monica Hesse / Washington Post: What men are trying to say when they show off their Female Relationship Résumé

Josh Gerstein / Politico: ‘Ranting and raving’: The time Kavanaugh knocked Chris Ruddy

David French / National Review:
An Open Letter from Yale Law Students Illustrates the Decline of the Radical Legal Mind

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Breitbart and The College Fix

Matt Naham / Law & Crime:

Judge to Manafort: Don't Worry, the Jail You're Going to Knows How to Handle Terrorists, Traitors and Spies — The legal saga of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort took another turn Wednesday as Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) Judge T.S. Ellis has denied his bid to stay put at the jail he is currently residing at.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post: Paul Manafort to be moved from jail where prosecutors say he has ‘VIP’ treatment

Kelly Cohen / Washington Examiner: Robert Mueller files request for another 100 blank subpoenas in Paul Manafort case

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Mueller team listening to Manafort's jail phone calls

Discussion: The Daily Beast

New York Times:

Battling Fake Accounts, Twitter to Slash Millions of Followers — Twitter will begin removing tens of millions of suspicious accounts from users' followers on Thursday, signaling a major new effort to restore trust on the popular but embattled platform. — The reform takes aim at a pervasive form of social media fraud.

Discussion: Twitter, BuzzFeed, VentureBeat, Breitbart, New Republic, Vox, The Verge, CBS Los Angeles and The FADER, more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post: Trump, Obama and other high-profile Twitter users could see a ‘significant drop’ …

Pew Research Center:

Obama Tops Public's List of Best President in Their Lifetime, Followed by Clinton, Reagan — Reagan is top choice among Boomers, Silents — When asked which president has done the best job in their lifetimes, more Americans name Barack Obama than any other president.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, New York Magazine, Vox, Bustle, The Daily Caller, Axios, IJR, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

CNN:

Wife of top Trump aide had radio show where she said women in military should expect sexual harassment — (CNN)Darla Shine, the wife of new White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, hosted a radio show in the late 2000s where she once mocked victims of sexual harassment …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Colleen Long / Associated Press:

Border Protection says NYC mayor crossed border illegally — WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his security detail violated both Mexican and U.S. immigration laws by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection alleges …

Discussion: Daily Wire, National Review, Bustle, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Townhall and Splinter

Los Angeles Times:

Papa John's founder reportedly used racial slur in conference call — A media agency working with Papa John's International Inc. decided to cut ties after the pizza maker's founder and chairman, John Schnatter, allegedly used a racial slur and graphic descriptions of violence against minorities …

Noah Kirsch / Forbes:
Papa John's Founder Allegedly Used N-Word On Conference Call

Discussion: Insider Louisville, TheBlaze, CBS Boston, San Bernardino Sun, Mashable, CNBC, WIS-TV, ProFootballTalk, ThinkProgress, fox8.com, BloombergQuint, Boing Boing, Towleroad, Eater, theGrio, WREG-TV and Mediaite

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Once partners, ‘Game Change’ authors feuding over their shattered franchise — Until their split last year, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were the golden boys of American political journalism. Their collaboration led to a best-selling book about the 2008 presidential campaign, “Game Change …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

HuffPost:

Former Obama Officials Are Riding Out The Trump Years By Cashing In — The revolving door takes a spin. — The last 18 months have been difficult for former members of the Obama administration. They've been replaced by a regime, which, in the words of former Domestic Policy Council …

Discussion: Common Dreams

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:

VP Pence tears into McCaskill, shrugs off disruptions at KC event — Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly tore into U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill at a raucous event Wednesday in Kansas City that highlighted both the stark political division in the country and the role the region will have in deciding …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Natasha Korecki / Politico:
Pence launches Midwest damage control mission

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

House passes resolution in support of NATO by unanimous voice vote — The House on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution expressing support for NATO as President Trump — roiled allies with escalating calls for increased spending from alliance members.

Discussion: IJR

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: Trump keeps promoting myth about NATO debt

Discussion: Althouse

Drew Wilson / Florida Politics:

Vern Buchanan bought yacht after voting for GOP tax bill — A recently filed financial disclosure shows U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan celebrated the Republican Party's successful push for tax reform in quite the lavish way. — According to the disclosure, Buchanan spent between $1 million …

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Daniella Greenbaum / Weekly Standard:

Here Is the Column That Business Insider Spiked — Defending an actress for being hired to do a job is apparently beyond the pale these days. … Scarlett Johansson is the latest target of the social-justice warrior mob. The actress is being chastised for, well, acting.

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon and Hot Air

Caroline O'Donovan / BuzzFeed:

Walmart Just Patented Audio Surveillance Technology For Listening In On Employees — “The sound sensors can capture audio data based on interactions between the employee and the guests, interactions between the guests, and sounds resulting from movement and/or actions of the employees and/or guests.”

New York Times:

Kushner's Firm Deepens Ties to Those With Business in Washington — Eighteen months into Jared Kushner's White House tenure, his family's real estate firm is deepening its financial relationships with institutions and individuals that have a lot riding on decisions made by the federal government.

Mike Snider / USA Today:

Nabbed at airport, ex-Apple engineer was fleeing with secrets to self-driving cars, FBI says — Most new cars come with a range of connected options, from Bluetooth to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Here's how to distinguish among them and how to determine what you need. Kim Komando, Special for USA TODAY

Discussion: Washington Post, Engadget and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

David Corn / Mother Jones:

While America Sleeps: Trump's Treachery and the Russia Scandal — With a summit ahead, Trump works with Putin to cover up Moscow's attack on the US. … Listen to David discuss the president's cover-up of the Russia scandal on the Mother Jones Podcast. — In 1938, Winston Churchill published …

Discussion: The Nation, Hullabaloo, TheStreet and Defense News

Mary Ellen Klas / miamiherald:

Rick Scott and family made $550M in one transaction. How ‘blind’ is his blind trust? — TALLAHASSEE — The reason Gov. Rick Scott's net income rose 55 percent in 2017 has to do with electric cars, China partnerships, a company turnaround, and a single transaction that resulted …

BuzzFeed:

The Professor At The Center Of The Trump-Russia Probe Was A No-Show In Court — At a hearing in Palermo, Italy, Joseph Mifsud was described as “a ghost.” — Reporting From Palermo, Italy — PALERMO, Italy — Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious professor at the center of the Trump-Russia probe, was due in court in Italy on Wednesday.

Jonathan Clegg / Wall Street Journal:

Croatia Stuns England in Extra Time to Advance to World Cup Final — Mario Mandzukic's 109th-minute shot into the left corner of the net sealed a 2-1 comeback win — MOSCOW—Rewriting history isn't supposed to be easy. — But from the moment they arrived at the 2018 World Cup …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit