memeorandum: 'I Couldn't Stop Laughing. It's So Ridiculous.' A Surreal Week of Excuse-Making at the White House. (Olivia Nuzzi/New York Magazine)

10:40 PM ET, July 20, 2018

Top Items:

Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model — WASHINGTON — President Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model …

Washington Post:

In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss making payments for story of model who alleged affair with Trump — Federal investigators have an audio recording in which then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen discussed in the fall …

Wall Street Journal:
Michael Cohen Taped Conversation With Trump About Buying Rights to Playmate's Story

Discussion: NBC News, Breitbart, Mediaite, Law & Crime and MSNBC

Michael Sykes / Axios:

Trump floats season suspension for NFL players protesting anthem — President Trump took to Twitter Friday to call out the NFL on their national anthem policy. — The NFL National Anthem Debate is alive and well again - can't believe it! Isn't it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart?

Discussion: USA Today, POLITICUSUSA, TheBlaze, ESPN and One America News Network

TMZ.com:

Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis — Subpoenaed by Robert Mueller — EXCLUSIVE — Kristin Davis, the Manhattan Madam who went to prison and was connected to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is being subpoenaed in the Robert Mueller investigation ... TMZ has learned.

Discussion: RedState, Law & Crime, Raw Story, Mediaite, New York Daily News, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit, NY State of Politics, CANNONFIRE and Political Wire

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:
Mueller seeking to question ‘Manhattan madam,’ a friend of Roger Stone, in Russia probe, she says

Discussion: CNBC and Mediaite

CNN: Mueller team wants to talk to ‘Manhattan Madam’

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Four reasons we've reached a tipping point on Trump — As a preliminary matter, I'm delighted to be back from vacation and back in the United States. Easily forgotten during the coverage of the incompetent and intellectually corrupted officials who populate this administration are the honorable men …

Max Boot / Washington Post:

How I miss Obama — How I miss Barack Obama. — And I say that as someone who worked to defeat him: I was a foreign policy adviser to John McCain in 2008 and to Mitt Romney in 2012. I criticized Obama's “lead from behind” foreign policy that resulted in a premature pullout from Iraq and a failure to stop the slaughter in Syria.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Jeremy Shapiro / Foreign Policy:
Trump Is Coming Off as Putin's Poodle, But That Actually Undermines Russia's Main Goal

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Townhall and Esquire

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP attempts to wave Trump off second Putin summit

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Post, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Sarah Palin, Shareblue Media, IJR and Washington Monthly

Abigail Tracy / Vanity Fair:
“There Is a Reason We Tried to Kill This”: After Helsinki, the Deep State Fears Trump Cannot Be Saved

Discussion: Brookings and Foreign Policy

Blake Hounshell / Politico:
Why I'm No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic

Discussion: National Review, CANNONFIRE, Raw Story and New Yorker

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

'I Couldn't Stop Laughing. It's So Ridiculous.' A Surreal Week of Excuse-Making at the White House. — It's the end of the week in Washington, and there are some things that we know to be true: It's 83 degrees and partly cloudy, with 47 percent humidity. At 11:30 a.m., Donald Trump's …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Digs In Against Criticism on Multiple Fronts — A hectic week that began with the controversial Putin summit ends with new tariff threats, public pressure on Fed — WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump ended a turbulent week by shrugging off criticism of his dealings with Russia …

Discussion: Raw Story

Erica Werner / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans drop bid to block Trump from helping Chinese telecom giant ZTE

Discussion: The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Bad Debts, Fraud Claims Trail Boyfriend of Alleged Russian Agent — Paul Erickson, a smooth-talking U.S. political activist, was romantically involved with alleged Russian agent — They both had secrets. — Maria Butina worked clandestinely as an agent of the Russian government …

CNN:

How Mark Sanford met Maria Butina — (CNN)Rep. Mark Sanford, the South Carolina Republican and frequent critic of President Donald Trump, had his own run-in with accused Russian spy Maria Butina at his family farm last year. — Butina and her boyfriend, Paul Erickson …

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The entire Republican Party is becoming a Russian asset

Discussion: RedState, Hullabaloo and Shareblue Media

Jamil Smith / Rolling Stone:
The NRA Is Awfully Quiet About Maria Butina

Discussion: Task & Purpose

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Are Republicans Covering for Trump, or for Themselves?

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Nation, CNN and Mother Jones

David French / National Review:

The Sliming of Ben Shapiro — The progressive mob doesn't have a monopoly on truth. — I've got some questions for my progressive readers. When you think of Colin Kaepernick, do you define him by his quiet kneeling and many thoughtful interviews? Or do you define him by the socks he wore once, dehumanizing cops as pigs?

Discussion: Conservative Review, alicublog, The Daily Beast, Vox and Fox News

Ben Shapiro / Daily Wire:
So, Here's A Giant List Of All The Dumb Stuff I've Ever Done (Don't Worry, I'll Keep Updating It)

Discussion: RedState

Bethany Mandel / Ricochet:
How to Handle the Outrage Mob

Discussion: The Federalist, RedState and The Resurgent

Yaniv Kubovich / Haaretz:
Major Escalation in Gaza: Israel Launches Massive Attack After Hamas Snipers Fire at Troops

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall, NBC News, Common Dreams and CNN

Hollywood Reporter:

James Gunn Fired as Director of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ — The move comes after controversial tweets from the filmmaker were resurfaced. — James Gunn is exiting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. — The move comes after conservative personalities resurfaced old tweets Thursday …

Discussion: USA Today, Polygon, Hot Air, IndieWire, Fox News, Vox, Breitbart, Deadline, The Verge, The Daily Caller, Meduza.io, The Gateway Pundit, The Ringer, CBS Pittsburgh, Observer, twitchy.com, Bustle, Gizmodo, Mashable, news.avclub.com and Daily Wire

Trey Williams / The Wrap:
Disney Drops James Gunn From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Franchise After Offensive Tweets

Discussion: Louder With Crowder and twitchy.com

Brent Lang / Variety:
James Gunn Fired From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Discussion: RT, Bounding Into Comics, Full Feed and The Daily Caller

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Why I Needed to Pull Back From Twitter — The viciousness, toxic partisan anger and intellectual dishonesty are at all-time highs. — WASHINGTON — I woke up last Sunday morning feeling anxiety in my chest as I checked the Twitter app on my phone, scrolling down to refresh, refresh, refresh.

Discussion: Mediaite and Splinter

David Lawder / Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. open to lifting sanctions off aluminum giant Rusal - Mnuchin — SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury is open to removing Russian aluminum producer Rusal from a U.S. sanctions list, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, adding the objective was “not to put Rusal out of business.”

CNN:

GOP congressman said blacks have ‘entitlement mentality’ and view themselves as victims — GOP rep. defends prior comments on ‘slut’ women — (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis has a long history of racist rhetoric about African-Americans, pushing claims of a “racial war” …

Discussion: Raw Story, Axios and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Senate candidate Corey Stewart says New York Times reporter broke into aide's apartment — Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Corey Stewart has accused a New York Times reporter of breaking into the apartment of a campaign aide, saying the “far left media” was trying to undermine his campaign against Sen. Tim Kaine in Virginia.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:
NY Times Denies Reporter Broke Into Corey Stewart Staffer's Home: His Claim ‘Is Entirely False’

Discussion: The Daily Beast

The Daily Beast:

Seb Gorka in Talks to Be Salem Radio's New Host, as Network Plots a ‘Coup’ Against Its Trump Critics … Salem Radio Network, a national right-wing news and talk radio operation that's home to prominent conservative voices such as Hugh Hewitt and Lou Dobbs, is looking to bring on Sebastian Gorka …

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving the Atlantic — Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving his position as a national correspondent for the Atlantic, a publication where he has emerged as one of the country's top reporters and thinkers. He has not signed on with a competing publication.

Discussion: New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Iran has laid groundwork for extensive cyberattacks on U.S., say officials — Iran has positioned cyber weapons to hit private firms and infrastructure, but there is no suggestion an attack is imminent, say U.S. officials. — ASPEN, Colo. — Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry …

Discussion: AOL, IJR and Axios

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Inside the Putin-Netanyahu-Trump deal on Syria

Discussion: Home Page Rotator

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Fox News' Kimberly Guilfoyle leaving the network to hit campaign trail with Donald Trump Jr. — Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Fox News host and longtime network personality, plans to leave her role at the cable news channel, two people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Mediaite, HuffPost, TheBlaze, IJR, Conservative News Today, TVNewser, Splinter, Daily Wire, Washington Times, RedState, The Daily Caller, AOL, twitchy.com and Talking Points Memo

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Kimberly Guilfoyle Did Not Leave Fox News Voluntarily, Sources Say: Scoop

Discussion: AOL, twitchy.com, Hot Air and Contemptor

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Henry Kissinger: ‘We are in a very, very grave period’ — It was not hard to entice Henry Kissinger to meet for lunch. Though he is 95, and moves very slowly, the grand consigliere of American diplomacy is keen to talk. He hops on and off planes to see the likes of Russia's Vladimir Putin …

Discussion: The American Conservative, Washington Post, Althouse and Political Wire

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Whoopi Goldberg: Jeanine Pirro ‘Cursed’ Us Out in Front of ‘The View’ Audience … “Unless you were under a rock yesterday, you know all about Jeanine Pirro's appearance here on the show,” Whoopi Goldberg said Friday morning on The View, putting an extra bit of snark on the Fox News host's name.

Discussion: Hot Air, IJR, Contemptor, Breitbart, Mediaite, Page Six and The Daily Beast

BuzzFeed News:

Here Are The Victims Of The Missouri Duck Boat Accident — At least 17 people are dead after a tourist duck boat sank during a sudden storm Thursday near Branson, Missouri. — Nine members of an 11-person family group from Indianapolis, Indiana, aboard the vessel are among the victims, Gov. Mike Parsons said Friday.

Discussion: FOX59, AOL and Springfield News-Leader

Washington Post:

Russian operatives blasted 18,000 tweets ahead of a huge news day during the 2016 presidential campaign. Did they know what was coming? — On the eve of one of the newsiest days of the 2016 presidential election season, a group of Russian operatives fired off tweets at a furious pace, about a dozen each minute.