memeorandum: FBI agent: My work has never been tainted by political bias (Eric Tucker/Associated Press)

11:10 AM ET, July 12, 2018

Top Items:

Trump upends NATO summit, demanding immediate spending increases or he will ‘do his own thing’ — BRUSSELS — President Trump upended the NATO summit here Thursday by calling an emergency meeting of leaders and threatening that if all member countries do not immediately increase …

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNN, Raw Story, Axios, Shakesville, NBC News, The American Conservative, The Week, NPR, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway and CBS Los Angeles

Politico:

Trump threatens to pull out of NATO — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to break with NATO and conduct American security unilaterally — if allies do not rapidly meet higher military spending targets, NATO officials and diplomats said. — Officials inside the room …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The New Civil Rights Movement, VICE News, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and CANNONFIRE

Fox News:

Trump dubs himself ‘stable genius,’ calls NATO summit a success — President Trump pronounced the NATO summit a success and himself a “stable genius” in a freewheeling press conference that followed a sometimes tense meeting of the western alliance. — Trump spoke to international reporters …

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, POLITICUSUSA, Louder With Crowder and AOL

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump creates a big, self-contradictory spectacle at NATO

Discussion: Axios, CNBC and Washington Press

Rebecca Tan / Washington Post:
When Trump attacked Germany in Brussels, his aides pursed their lips and glanced away

CNN:
Trump's barrage of attacks ‘beyond belief,’ reeling NATO diplomats say

Discussion: Shareblue Media, RedState, Politifact.com Truth …, Coffee House, Power Line, FOX59 and KTLA

CBS News:
Trump declares victory at NATO, says U.S. now “treated fairly”

Discussion: Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, TheStreet, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Sam Meredith / CNBC: Trump says NATO allies have agreed to increase their defense spending after crisis meeting

Bloomberg:
Macron and Merkel Play Down Trump's Spending Claims: NATO Update

Discussion: BloombergQuint and twitchy.com

New York Times:
As President Trump Bashes NATO, Republicans Are Largely Silent

Discussion: The Guardian, TheBlaze and ABC News

Gregory Korte / USA Today:
Power breakfast: How Trump lambasted Germany over eggs and fruit salad

Discussion: Mother Jones and Joe.My.God.

Washington Post:
Trump is poisoning NATO. Why?

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, fox8.com, BBC and Booman Tribune

Tom McTague / Politico:
Why Trump has few friends in Europe

Discussion: National Review, Politico and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Trump says he will raise election meddling with Putin at summit

Discussion: Hot Air, ABC News and MSNBC

Associated Press:
The Latest: Romanian president welcomes new NATO base

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, IJR, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, CNBC and VICE News

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 …

Hailey Fuchs / Yale Daily News:

A sports junkie who ate pasta with ketchup: Law school friends reflect on Kavanaugh's time at YLS — In the days following the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh '87 LAW '90 to the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrats have condemned President Donald Trump's pick as an enemy of the left.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Washington Post and BostonGlobe.com

Kevin Daley / The Daily Caller:

What Kavanaugh Was Secretly Caught Doing Hours After Trump's Nomination Will Silence The Critics — President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night. — His nomination has set off a generational fight over the future of the high court.

Discussion: Townhall, CNN, Gun Free Zone, The Resurgent and Chicks On The Right

Megan Brenan / Gallup:

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Want Roe v. Wade to Stand — WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Senate prepares to hold confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the public is strongly opposed to any attempts to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

Discussion: Political Wire

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lauded late Chief Justice Rehnquist for dissenting …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Week

Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal: Kavanaugh and the Culture Wars

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:
MSNBC's Katy Tur: Is It ‘Appropriate’ to Take Originalist View of Constitution Since Americans Are More Progressive Now?

Discussion: Hot Air

CNN:

Stormy Daniels arrested at Ohio strip club. Her attorney calls it a setup. — (CNN)Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was arrested early Thursday at an Ohio strip club for allegedly touching patrons on stage in violation of state law. — Daniels, who gained notoriety …

Discussion: RedState, Chicks On The Right, Splinter, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, KFOR-TV, The Week, WTKR-TV, twitchy.com and KTLA

CBS News:

Stormy Daniels arrested while performing at Ohio strip club — Porn actress Stormy Daniels was arrested at an Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday. While Daniels was performing Wednesday night at Sirens …

Discussion: New York Times, Scared Monkeys, IJR, CBS Miami, WIS-TV and HuffPost

Everett Rosenfeld / CNBC:
Stormy Daniels arrested in Ohio while performing, her attorney says

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Last Tradition, The Week and The Guardian

NBC News:
Stormy Daniels arrested at strip club, charged with sex offenses

Discussion: USA Today, Fox News, Mediaite, fox8.com, NPR, POLITICUSUSA and Joe.My.God.

WBNS-TV:
Police: Stormy Daniels grabbed backside of undercover Columbus officer

Discussion: Fox News, Law & Crime, The Right Scoop, The Gateway Pundit, Bustle, BloombergQuint, Hill Reporter and Daily Wire

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

F.B.I. Agent at Center of Russia Probe Turns Tables on G.O.P. — WASHINGTON — The embattled F.B.I. agent who oversaw the opening of the Russia investigation mounted an aggressive personal defense on Thursday, rejecting accusations that he let his private political views bias his official actions …

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:

FBI agent: My work has never been tainted by political bias — WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI agent whose anti-Trump text messages fueled suspicions of partisan bias will tell lawmakers Thursday that his work has never been tainted by politics and that the intense scrutiny he is facing represents …

Discussion: Roll Call and Raw Story

Committee on the Judiciary: Cummings and Nadler Call for Release of Full Strzok Transcript

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
FBI agent Strzok slams hearing as 'victory notch in Putin's belt'

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News and Joe.My.God.

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
FBI agent Peter Strzok to publicly testify on Capitol Hill about anti-Trump texts

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Wall Street Journal and Fox News

Bloomberg:

North Koreans Are No Show at U.S. War Dead Talks, Yonhap Reports — American officials kept waiting on militarized border — Latest sign of tension after Pompeo's visit last weekend — North Korean officials didn't show up for a planned meeting with U.S. counterparts to discuss returning …

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Adam Taylor / Washington Post:
North Korean officials no-show for meeting about U.S. troop remains

Discussion: Task & Purpose

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Trump wants tough new Air Force One paint job — President Trump wants to update the paint job on the next version of Air Force One, ditching the iconic robin's-egg blue (which he calls a “Jackie Kennedy color") for a bolder, “more American” look. — The big picture …

Discussion: CNN, Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God., FOX6Now.com and The Week

Tom Burgis / Financial Times:

Tower of secrets: the Russian money behind a Donald Trump skyscraper — One October day in 2007, a celebrity real estate developer in a greatcoat and powder-blue tie alighted from a stretch limousine in Toronto's financial district. Before a bank of photographers, he took hold of a golden shovel.

Discussion: Raw Story

Thomas Wright / Politico:

Trump Backed Brexit. Then He Used It As Leverage. — Under this president, the ‘special relationship’ isn't so special anymore. — When President Trump visits the United Kingdom on Friday, he will find the special relationship in its worst shape since the Suez Crisis of 1956.

Discussion: One America News Network

David Lammy / TIME:
I'm a British Lawmaker. Here's Why I'm Protesting Trump's Visit to the U.K.

Discussion: Lawfare

Libby Brooks / The Guardian:
Petition asks for Trump baby balloon to be flown over Scottish golf course

Discussion: New York Times and Politico

Lisa W. Foderaro / New York Times:

Ocasio-Cortez Highlights How Third-Party Quirks Can Muddle Elections — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's political star has risen so high, she can win a primary election without trying — or apparently even knowing. — Last month, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 28, unleashed a political tsunami of sorts …

Discussion: National Review, ThinkProgress, The Week, Mediaite, Chicks On The Right, IJR, New York Daily News, Fox News and The Guardian

Tom McCarthy / The Guardian:

Sean Spicer contradicts Trump's Manafort claims in new book — Exclusive: Trump's former press secretary describes Manafort as impactful and describes the president as ‘a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow’ — Dreamily envisioning Donald Trump as “a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow” …

Discussion: AOL and Raw Story

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:

Trump's top Hill aide leaving White House amid Supreme Court battle — Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, is leaving later this month to join a D.C. consulting firm and teach at UVA. — President Donald Trump's legislative affairs director is heading for the exits …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios, MSNBC, CNBC and Mediaite

Jay Reeves / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Government reopens probe of Emmett Till slaying — BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The federal government has reopened its investigation into the slaying of Emmett Till, the black teenager whose brutal killing in Mississippi shocked the world and helped inspire the civil rights movement more than 60 years ago.

Discussion: The Root, Common Dreams and Raw Story

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: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Mediaite, The New Civil Rights Movement and Washington Post

Brad Heath / USA Today:

Baltimore police stopped noticing crime after Freddie Gray's death. A wave of killings followed. — BALTIMORE - Just before a wave of violence turned Baltimore into the nation's deadliest big city, a curious thing happened to its police force: officers suddenly seemed to stop noticing crime.