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John Brennan: President Trump's Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash — That's why the president revoked my security clearance: to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him. — Mr. Brennan was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, CNN, Politico, Associated Press, The Guardian, Power Line, IJR, Shareblue Media, DC Tribune, Washington Post, HuffPost, KTLA, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Mediaite, Althouse, Axios, The Week, The National Memo, CNBC and WTKR-TV
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Trump blurts out another Lester Holt moment — It really was the Russia investigation all along. — In an interview with the Wall Street Journal posted late Wednesday, President Trump once again gave away the ballgame when it comes to his efforts to impact the probe and tear down its leaders (both current and former).
Discussion:
Hot Air, Just Security, MSNBC, The Week and Mediaite


Trump Revokes Ex-CIA Director John Brennan's Security Clearance — Brennan has been a vocal critic of President Trump — WASHINGTON—President Trump revoked the security clearance of former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, a prominent critic of the president, the White House said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Bloomberg, Washington Post, The National Memo, MSNBC, Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC, Daily Kos, New York Times, The Week, Axios, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, HuffPost, ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo


Trump Says His Tariffs Will Rescue U.S. Steel Industry
Discussion:
Politico, MSNBC, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, CNBC, The Week, CBS Baltimore, Political Wire, Hot Air and Mediaite

Intel Official: “Brennan's Actions are Unconscionable...Trump Did The Right Thing”
Discussion:
Townhall, CNN, Fox News Insider, Fox News, ABC News and Liberty Unyielding

The Daily 202: The U.S. economy is thriving. Can Republicans ride that to a midterm upset?


Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76 — Aretha Franklin, universally acclaimed as the “Queen of Soul” and one of America's greatest singers in any style, died on Thursday at her home in Detroit. She was 76. — The cause was advanced pancreatic cancer, her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, said.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Power Line, Shakesville, France 24, BloombergQuint and Mashable
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Aretha Franklin Is As Immortal As Can Be — The eternal challenge is to answer grief with something that resembles love. To choose not to just sit around decrying hardship and injustice but to instead uncurl your fists and approach sorrow with grace, power, and, most incredibly, gratitude …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New York Times and Vox


Aretha Franklin, music's ‘Queen of Soul,’ dies at 76
Discussion:
New York Times, Religion News Service and Balloon Juice

Aretha Franklin Dead at 76: A Queen Who Embodied Black Music's Spirit and Vision
Discussion:
Politico and One America News Network


‘If they take the House, he wins big’: Trump loyalists see upside in impeachment — Why some Trump allies think his path to reelection runs through an effort to kick him out of the Oval Office. — There's a new way of demonstrating loyalty to Donald Trump and his Republican Party …
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Pelosi, Under Threat in Her Own Party, Says She Is Building Bridge to New Leaders — Nancy Pelosi is confronting rising threats from different corners of the Democratic Party, and is girding for a mortal challenge to her leadership after the November midterm elections or even sooner.
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller and CNN


Trump's military parade is now estimated to cost $92 million - $80 million more than earlier estimate — President Donald Trump's military parade is estimated to cost $92 million, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment.
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She works for Trump. He can't stand him. This is life with Kellyanne and George Conway. — Kellyanne Conway is in her living room, showing me an enormous painting of Audrey Hepburn wearing a peacock on her head, but her husband, George, really wants us to come into his office and look …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mashable, Patterico's Pontifications, New York Times, Conservative News Today, HuffPost, Hot Air, The Week, Law & Crime, TheBlaze, AOL and Mediaite


Manafort trial Day 13: Jury deliberations begin, verdict timing unknown — Jurors began deliberating Thursday in Paul Manafort's trial on bank- and tax-fraud charges, but the possible timing of a verdict remains unknown. — U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III sent the 12-person jury off …
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CEO compensation surged in 2017 — What this report finds: This report looks at trends in chief executive officer (CEO) compensation, using two different measures. The first measure includes stock options realized (in addition to salary, bonuses, restricted stock grants, and long-term incentive payouts).
Discussion:
Splinter
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Trump, Seeking to Relax Rules on U.S. Cyberattacks, Reverses Obama Directive — It isn't clear what rules the president is adopting to replace the existing ones — President Trump has reversed an Obama-era memorandum governing how and when the U.S. government can deploy cyberweapons …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Defense One, Engadget, VICE News, Front Page Magazine and middleeastmonitor.com, more at Techmeme »


Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents — The number of informants executed in the debacle is higher than initially thought. — It was considered one of the CIA's worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities …


Almost 350 news outlets to publish editorials denouncing Trump's ‘dirty war’ on press — Participation comes after a push organized by the Boston Globe to run coordinated editorials against Trump's attacks on the media — Nearly 350 news organizations are set to publish editorials …
Discussion:
Tablet Magazine, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, New York Times and The Moderate Voice, more at Mediagazer »
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Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed — “Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans.” — An idealistic young American couple was killed in an Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack …
Discussion:
Conservative News Today, Daily Wire and Clarion Project


My trust fund made me miserable — Over the past six years, Lane Fury has collected more than $185,000 in family money. Eventually, Fury stands to inherit roughly $6 million, but the 27-year-old doesn't see this good fortune as a positive thing. — “I don't actually want it,” says Fury.
Discussion:
smokeroom.com


The Los Angeles Times is not participating in today's nationwide editorial page protest against Trump's attacks on the press. Here's why — More than 300 newspapers around the country will participate today in a group protest of President Trump's frequent attacks on the news media.
Discussion:
CNN, The Week and Roll Call, more at Mediagazer »


The Weekly Standard's Ties to Fusion GPS — In his online appeal for money after being fired this week, disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok credited an unlikely source to vouch for his victim status: The Weekly Standard. — At one time a leading conservative magazine …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Unyielding, Washington Times, Breitbart, 100PercentFedUp.com and National Review
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Little-Known Justice Dept. Official Makes Trump's Security Clearance List
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Power Line and Vox


Iraqi National Wanted for Murder in Iraq Arrested In California — Had Previously Attempted To Gain Lawful Permanent Resident Status — Omar Ameen, 45, an Iraqi national, wanted on a murder charge in Iraq, appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Sacramento, California today in connection …
Discussion:
Front Page Magazine and Breitbart
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Trump Staffer Says He Recruited Lobbyists for Russian Mogul — In the time since the election, a little-known Trump campaign staffer named Daniel Gelbinovich reached out to a number of Washington lobbyists with an eyebrow-raising ask: to shield a Putin ally from U.S. sanctions.


Jack Dorsey says he's rethinking the core of how Twitter works — Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said he is rethinking core parts of the social media platform so that it doesn't enable the spread of hate speech, harassment and false news, including conspiracy theories shared by prominent users like Alex Jones and Infowars.
Discussion:
The Verge, NBC News, Gizmodo, Poynter, Engadget, Mediaite and BuzzFeed News, more at Mediagazer »
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The Hill Interview: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explains what got Alex Jones suspended
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit


Trump's Speeches Feature Mystery Men the White House Won't Name — The president leans on unidentified allies to back policies — White House won't identify people Trump describes in remarks — One of the biggest supporters of President Donald Trump's trade policies …

Espy Poll of Mississippi Senate Race Shows Path to Victory for Democrats — A Democratic poll of the Mississippi Senate special election shows former Rep. Mike Espy having a path to finishing first in a runoff this fall. — Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed earlier …
Discussion:
Political Wire


The Belt and Road Illusion — China's international-development project reflects its global ambitions but masks problems at home. — The president is a man who often makes aspirational statements and presents them as fact. He has a grandiose sense of what he is accomplishing …


Papadopoulos's Wife Says He Should Scrap His Plea Deal With Mueller — The wife of Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos is making the bombshell suggestion that her husband drop a plea deal he has with special counsel Robert Mueller. — Papadopoulos is scheduled to be sentenced …
Discussion:
Observer and Law & Crime