Top Items:
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, CBS San Francisco, TheBlaze and One America News Network
New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
ABC News, Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, France 24, Hot Air, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, FOX News Radio, Washington Post, Vox, Raw Story, Bustle, POLITICUSUSA, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic, Law & Crime, Conservative News Today, Political Wire, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, VICE News, The Week, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, MSNBC, CNBC, Politico, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, Boing Boing, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RT, Contemptor, What The Fuck …, Splinter, Mother Jones, PJ Media Home, Above the Law, The Root, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Common Dreams, WPIX 11 New York, KTLA, AOL, TheJournal.ie, Axios, WGN-TV and The Guardian
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Wall Street Journal:
Michael Cohen Taped Conversation With Trump About Buying Rights to Playmate's Story — Conversation took place in September 2016, according to people familiar with the matter — Michael Cohen taped a conversation in person with Donald Trump in which the two men discussed buying the rights …
Discussion:
Breitbart, NBC News, CNN, MSNBC and Law & Crime
Washington Post:
In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss making payments for story of model …
In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss making payments for story of model …
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Dworkin Report, Breitbart, The Atlantic, Bustle, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Law & Crime, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNBC, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, ABC News, HuffPost, VICE News, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Politico, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Joe.My.God. and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »
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, The Gateway Pundit, New York Daily News, Law & Crime, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., CANNONFIRE, Raw Story, NY State of Politics and Political Wire
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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
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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
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP attempts to wave Trump off second Putin summit
Senate GOP attempts to wave Trump off second Putin summit
Discussion:
Associated Press, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Townhall, Sarah Palin, Washington Monthly, IJR and Shareblue Media
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 …
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Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The entire Republican Party is becoming a Russian asset
The entire Republican Party is becoming a Russian asset
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, The Nation and The Daily Caller
Casey Michel / ThinkProgress:
Neo-Confederates reach out to their ‘Russian friends’ in new project
Neo-Confederates reach out to their ‘Russian friends’ in new project
Discussion:
al.com, Washington Monthly and Raw Story
Jamil Smith / Rolling Stone:
The NRA Is Awfully Quiet About Maria Butina
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) — This week, in the space of 24 hours, I went from a nice person with good intentions who differs politically from liberals but doesn't bend the truth to a racist, sexist, bigot homophobe …
Discussion:
Conservative Review, Mediaite and RedState
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David French / National Review:
The Sliming of Ben Shapiro
The Sliming of Ben Shapiro
Discussion:
alicublog, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Vox and Fox News Insider
Yaniv Kubovich / Haaretz:
Major Escalation in Gaza: Israel Launches Massive Attack After Hamas Snipers Fire at Troops
Major Escalation in Gaza: Israel Launches Massive Attack After Hamas Snipers Fire at Troops
Discussion:
NBC News, Townhall, Common Dreams, New York Times and CNN
Bethany Mandel / Ricochet:
How to Handle the Outrage Mob
How to Handle the Outrage Mob
Discussion:
The Federalist, RedState and The Resurgent
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.
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, Sputnik International, The Ringer, Vox, Meduza.io, The Verge, The Gateway Pundit, CBS Pittsburgh, twitchy.com, Gizmodo, Breitbart, Observer, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Bustle, news.avclub.com and Daily Wire
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Trey Williams / The Wrap:
Disney Drops James Gunn From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Franchise After Offensive Tweets
Disney Drops James Gunn From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Franchise After Offensive Tweets
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder, RT and twitchy.com
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 …
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, Springfield News-Leader and FOX 61
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Republicans Bow to White House on Chinese Telecom Firm ZTE — WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers backed away from a plan to reinstate stiff penalties on Chinese telecom firm ZTE, handing a win to President Trump, who had personally intervened to save the Beijing company.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Wall Street Journal
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Erica Werner / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans drop bid to block Trump from helping Chinese telecom giant ZTE
Senate Republicans drop bid to block Trump from helping Chinese telecom giant ZTE
Discussion:
The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
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.”
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.
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:
Axios, Raw Story and Political Wire
Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Paramount Television President Amy Powell is fired over inappropriate comments — Paramount Television President Amy Powell has been fired after making inappropriate comments, the movie and TV studio's Chief Executive Jim Gianopulos told staff Thursday. — In a memo obtained by The Times …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Hollywood Reporter
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 …
Andrew Jeong / Wall Street Journal:
North Korea Signals Reluctance on Reunions, Nuclear Program — Pyongyang dials back apparent commitments to South and U.S. in statements Friday — SEOUL—North Korea put planned reunions of families separated by the Korean War into question and denounced South Korea's latest demands …
Jeremy Shapiro / Foreign Policy:
Trump Is Coming Off as Putin's Poodle, But That Actually Undermines Russia's Main Goal — Trump isn't as useful to Putin as one might think. — The broad consensus among U.S. and Western commentators is that Vladimir Putin “owned” Donald Trump at the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki this week.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Townhall
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Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Inside the Putin-Netanyahu-Trump deal on Syria
Inside the Putin-Netanyahu-Trump deal on Syria
Discussion:
Home Page Rotator
Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:
NY Times Denies Reporter Broke Into Corey Stewart Staffer's Home: His Claim ‘Is Entirely False’ — GOP Senate nominee Corey Stewart claimed New York Times reporter Stephanie Saul broke into one of his staffer's homes for a story; the newspaper of record responded by calling the allegation “entirely false.”
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
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