memeorandum: Southeast Ohio Republican Party leader resigns over Trump-Putin meeting (Andrew J. Tobias/Plain Dealer)

11:25 PM ET, July 16, 2018

Top Items:

mccain.senate.gov:

SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump's meeting and press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki:

The Daily Beast:

Trump's Own Team: He ‘Looked Incredibly Weak’ Next to Putin … Donald Trump's much-anticipated meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday offered him yet another opportunity to defy those who've criticized his coziness with the Russian leader. — But on a global stage, Trump didn't just cower …

Discussion: Splinter, POLITICUSUSA, Vox and WEEK-TV

Axios:

Trump's Helsinki humiliation — President Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin was a disaster. And that was the assessment of many of his GOP allies. — Why it matters: Trump had a chance to assert himself — and stand up for his countrymen — against foreign interference in our elections.

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Weekly Standard, Politico, Vox, Splinter, RedState, Shareblue Media, ABC News, Bustle, One America News Network, Breitbart and The Daily Beast

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Trump Sheds All Notions of How a President Should Conduct Himself Abroad — WASHINGTON — President Trump made one thing clear after his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday: He is willing to take Mr. Putin's word over those of his own intelligence agencies about whether the Russians tried to fix the 2016 election.

Washington Post:

Trump just colluded with Russia. Openly. — THE ENDURING image of the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki on Monday will be that of President Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin and suggesting he found Mr. Putin's “powerful” denial at least as persuasive as the U.S. intelligence community's …

Discussion: Breitbart, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Defense One and BloombergQuint

Washington Post:

‘Very much counter to the plan’: Trump defies advisers in embrace of Putin — Administration officials had hoped that maybe, just maybe, Monday's summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin would end differently — without a freewheeling 46-minute news conference …

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Political Wire, CNN, Breitbart, CNBC, The Daily Caller, IJR and Shareblue Media

John Harwood / CNBC:

Trump pushed his personal agenda, not the national interest, at Putin summit — Trump faces political and legal jeopardy from the Justice Department investigation of his 2016 campaign and Russia. — Against that backdrop, comments that Republican Sen. Ben Sasse called “bizarre” …

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

This Is the Moment of Truth for Republicans — There are exactly two possible explanations for the shameful performance the world witnessed on Monday, from a serving American president. — Either Donald Trump is flat-out an agent of Russian interests—maybe witting, maybe unwitting …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Associated Press

New York Times:

Republicans Rebuke Trump for Siding With Putin as Democrats Demand Action — WASHINGTON — Republicans across the ideological spectrum rebuked President Trump after Monday's extraordinary news conference with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, with Speaker Paul D. Ryan admonishing Mr. Trump …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera English, National Review, Balloon Juice, NPR, RT, Townhall, TalkLeft and Althouse

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen / Just Security:

Helsinki Summit: A Time for Choosing—Three observations by former senior CIA officer — In his stops in Brussels, London and Helsinki, President Donald Trump demonstrated that he is as much an advocate for Russia's interests than if he were indeed recruited by Russian intelligence and formally responding to Russian tasking.

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Trump Shows the World He's Putin's Lackey — Maybe the president is exactly as compromised as he looks. — No matter how low your expectations for the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Monday, it was hard not to be staggered by the American president's slavish and toadying performance.

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post and Bloomberg

LoveBreedsAccountability:

After Trump-Putin Summit, The Pearl-Clutching Media Is A Laughingstock — The US media, perhaps the most threatened of all the swamp parasites, are melting down because President Trump didn't start a war with Russia. — I'm not sure why the media thinks the rest of us don't know these things, but just to be clear...

Discussion: National Review

Alex Pappas / Fox News:

Putin, in Fox News interview, denies having dirt on Trump, calls meddling charge ‘utterly ridiculous’ — EXCLUSIVE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an occasionally combative interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace, called it “utterly ridiculous” that some people think the Russians …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Townhall, Fox News Insider, RedState, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Beast

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
At Summit With Russia, Trump Betrays His Country in Plain Sight

Discussion: Law & Crime, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Fox News, Vox, MSNBC, NewsBusters, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Mahablog

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times: Trump and Putin vs. America

Manu Raju / CNN:
In rebuke to Trump, senators may vote to side with US intel community

Discussion: KTLA and Jamie Dupree - AJC

Associated Press: Wave of condemnation hits Trump after summit with Putin

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
If you work for Trump, quit now

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, National Review and CNBC

David Frum / The Atlantic:
The Crisis Facing America

Discussion: Media Matters for America and MSNBC

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Putin refuses to look at Mueller indictment during Fox News interview

Discussion: Fox News, Fox News Insider and JONATHAN TURLEY

Meridith McGraw / ABC News:
Trump casts doubt on US intelligence, calls Putin's meddling denial ‘strong and powerful’

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, Raw Story, New York Times, RedState, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and IJR

Axios:
Trump's extraordinary press conference was not normal

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Politico, Bustle, Breitbart, Vox, twitchy.com and The Week

Douglas Schoen / Fox News:
Putin eats Trump's lunch in Helsinki — This is no way to win against Russia

Discussion: The Atlantic, Mediaite, TIME, Wall Street Journal and Raw Story

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Top Republicans in Congress break with Trump over Putin comments

Discussion: Fox News, Bustle, NPR, Test Feed Using Fields, The Atlantic, The Week, Business Insider and The Nation

David Morgan / CBS News:
Trump fist-bumped Turkish leader Erdogan, said he “does things the right way”

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, Vox, Common Dreams, RedState, Bustle, neo-neocon, The Week, Townhall and Joe.My.God.

John Ziegler / Mediaite:
About the Only Evidence Left that Trump Isn't Beholden to Putin is That It's Just Too Obvious

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:
Putin's Attack on the U.S. Is Our Pearl Harbor

Discussion: New York Daily News

Jay Nordlinger / National Review:
Trump and Putin: Some Thoughts

Discussion: Power Line and Mashable

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump is now repaying Putin for helping him win the presidency

Discussion: Lawfare, National Review, Axios, Vox, BostonGlobe.com, Shareblue Media, Weekly Standard, New York Times, Townhall and Little Green Footballs

Grabien News:
John Brennan: Trump's Press Conference an Impeachable Offense, ‘Treasonous’

Discussion: American Greatness

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The moment called for Trump to stand up for America. He chose to bow.

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and Politico

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Trump and Putin: what we know is damning

Discussion: AOL, HuffPost and The American Conservative

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post: After a stunning news conference, there's a newly crucial job for the American press

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
Fox News Host Calls Trump's Presser Performance ‘Disgusting,’ ‘Wrong’

Discussion: The Hill and Daily Kos

Nidhi Prakash / BuzzFeed:
A Senator Said He Thinks “Something Close To” The Trump Pee Tape Exists

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Raw Story, MSNBC and Joe.My.God.

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Putin dismisses question about whether Russia has compromising information on Trump

Discussion: HuffPost and Talking Points Memo

U.S. Department of Justice:

Russian National Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States — A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Post, NBC News, Splinter, Hot Air, NPR, CNN, Lawfare, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Roll Call, Daily Kos, Sputnik International, Booman Tribune, Vox, The Intercept, Balloon Juice, National Review, RT, The Week, emptywheel, Law & Crime, HuffPost and WGN-TV

New York Times:

Mariia Butina, Who Sought ‘Back Channel’ Meeting for Trump and Putin, Is Charged as Russian Agent — WASHINGTON — A Russian woman who tried to broker a pair of secret meetings between candidate Donald J. Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, during the 2016 presidential campaign …

Discussion: HuffPost, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, VICE News, Mother Jones, BloombergQuint and Law & Crime

Washington Post:
Maria Butina, Russian gun rights advocate, charged in U.S. with acting as Russian Federation agent

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, The Trace, TheBlaze, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTLA, Hullabaloo and New Republic

The Guardian:
Russian woman charged with spying for Moscow by ‘infiltrating’ NRA

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Law & Crime, Bustle, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, RedState and Joe.My.God.

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

Trump's ‘Missing DNC Server’ Is Neither Missing Nor a Server … Donald Trump turns to right-wing conspiracy theories when he's cornered, and he was cornered on Monday. Standing feet away from Vladimir Putin at a press conference following their Helsinki tete-a-tete, a reporter challenged Trump …

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

Trump's Stupid ‘Where Is the DNC Server?’ Conspiracy Theory, Explained — Trump refuses to believe all the evidence that Russia hacked the DNC, because he understands nothing about how digital forensics works. — Monday, in a press conference with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump refused …

Discussion: Politifact.com Truth …, Gizmodo and Washington Post

Andrew J. Tobias / Plain Dealer:

Southeast Ohio Republican Party leader resigns over Trump-Putin meeting — CLEVELAND, Ohio — A county Republican Party chairman from Southeast Ohio resigned on Monday, citing President Donald Trump's meeting earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Raw Story

Maria Bustillos / Popula:

Bourdain Confidential — Anthony Bourdain had started smoking again, was the first thing I noticed as he sat down with me last February. He was a bit hung over from a recent working trip to south Louisiana for Cajun Mardi Gras; “Harder partying than I'm used to, I gotta say,” he said, laughing.