Top Items:
John O. Brennan / New York Times:
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:
CNN, Townhall, Vox, NPR, Breitbart, CNBC, Politico, Washington Free Beacon, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, KTLA, IJR, DC Tribune, Shareblue Media, Balloon Juice, Defense One, ThinkProgress, VICE News, Althouse, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, The New Neo, Washington Times, HuffPost, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Week, Power Line, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The National Memo and WTKR-TV, more at Techmeme »
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William H. McRaven / Washington Post:
Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President — William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. — Dear Mr. President:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
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:
Hullabaloo, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Breitbart, Shakesville, Hot Air, New York Times, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA and The National Memo
Fox News Insider:
Gen. Tata: ‘Communist John Brennan’ Never Should Have Had a Security Clearance — A ‘clear and present danger’ to the nation. — U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Anthony Tata (Ret.) said President Trump was justified in revoking the security clearance of John Brennan, who Tata described as a “clear and present danger” to the nation.
Discussion:
Townhall, Daily Wire, CNN, Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit and Liberty Unyielding
Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:
Trump connects revoking Brennan's security clearance to Russia investigation
Trump connects revoking Brennan's security clearance to Russia investigation
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, The Daily Banter and IJR
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“Death Spiral”: Why Omarosa Totally Triggered Trump — The perceived betrayal of a longtime female ally, and her perfectly executed Trumpian tactics, made the feud too personal to ignore. — In the days before Omarosa Manigault Newman rolled out her White House tell-all, Unhinged …
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Adam Edelman / NBC News:
Omarosa releases secret tape of Lara Trump offering her $15K/month campaign job — The tape, which was broadcast on MSNBC, was made just days after the former “Apprentice” contestant left her White House job. — Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who became a top White House aide …
Discussion:
New Republic, Axios, Common Dreams, Taylor Marsh and MSNBC
Nicholas Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
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:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KTLA, BloombergQuint, Washington Post, CNN, theGrio and IJR, more at Mediagazer »
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Omarosa Manigault Newman releases secret recording of $15,000-a-month job offer from Lara Trump
Omarosa Manigault Newman releases secret recording of $15,000-a-month job offer from Lara Trump
Emily Zauzmer / People.com:
Omarosa Claims Ivanka Trump ‘Would Not Stop’ Complaining About SNL's ‘Complicit’ Perfume Ad
Omarosa Claims Ivanka Trump ‘Would Not Stop’ Complaining About SNL's ‘Complicit’ Perfume Ad
Discussion:
Towleroad Gay News, RightWire, Hullabaloo, AOL and twitchy.com
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
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.
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, AOL, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Task & Purpose, Daily Kos, VICE and Splinter
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Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Pentagon punishes reporters over tough coverage
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Forecasting the race for the House — Our forecast for every district — The chance of each candidate winning, with all 435 House districts shown at the same size — CartogramMap — Dem. — Solid — Likely — Lean — Rep. — ≥95% — ≥75% — ≥60% — Toss-up
Discussion:
ABC News, Political Wire and DC Tribune
Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
‘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 …
Discussion:
New Republic, Raw Story and The Week
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Amanda Petrusich / New Yorker:
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, Washington Post and Gothamist
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Melissa Stephenson / WTKR-TV:
Argument over Aretha Franklin leads to Suffolk shooting, witnesses say
Argument over Aretha Franklin leads to Suffolk shooting, witnesses say
Discussion:
FOX31 Denver, Raw Story, KFOR-TV and WPIX 11 New York
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump: ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin ‘will be missed’
Trump: ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin ‘will be missed’
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Vox and Talking Points Memo
Michael Sinkewicz / pluralist:
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:
Washington Post, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and Clarion Project
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
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 …
Discussion:
ABC News
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Nathan McDermott / CNN:
Corey Stewart used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players in 2017 campaign event — (CNN)Corey Stewart, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Virginia, used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players who protest during the National Anthem in an online exchange with his supporters last year.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Vox
Zach Dorfman / Foreign Policy:
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 …
Jon Levine / The Wrap:
‘Queer Eye’ Star Jonathan Van Ness Under Fire After Saying ‘Not All Republicans Are Racist’ — “Ah, yes... ‘mutual understanding’ with racists,” says one commenter after Bravo reality star advocates for “center left candidates” — “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness had to defend himself …
Discussion:
The Federalist, Front Page Magazine, twitchy.com, Daily Wire and Gay Star News
Economic Policy Institute:
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:
Mother Jones, Vox, The Guardian, Washington Post and Splinter
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CNN:
CNN Poll: Brett Kavanaugh nomination has lowest public support since Robert Bork — Trump's SCOTUS pick could change America — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, receives a cooler public reception than nearly every nominee for the last four administrations …
Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:
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 …
Roll Call:
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
YouTube:
GOP Rep. Dave Joyce's campaign ad pushing back on Republicans and Donald Trump … U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a Republican from Bainbridge Township, is currently running this ad on cable television. The ad is notable for highlighting his vote against Obamacare and pushing back on Republican President Donald Trump …
Arizona Republic:
Back in Arizona, Meghan McCain rips Rep. Martha McSally's snub of dad Sen. John McCain — President Trump signed a $716 billion defense policy bill named for Sen. John McCain after delivering remarks that failed to mention the senator. The measure boosts military pay by the largest amount in nine years and replaces aging equipment.
Discussion:
Roll Call
Timothy Gardner / Reuters:
In setback for TransCanada, judge orders Keystone XL pipeline review — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly delaying the project's construction …
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation
Erin B. Logan / Washington Post:
Ryan Zinke blames ‘environmental terrorist groups’ for severity of California wildfires — Wildfires strike California every year. But they're getting worse, causing deaths and uprooting communities. But who is to blame for these increasingly destructive wildfires?
Ryan Gallagher / The Intercept:
Google Staff Tell Bosses China Censorship is “Moral and Ethical” Crisis — Google employees are demanding answers from the company's leadership amid growing internal protests over plans to launch a censored search engine in China. — Staff inside the internet giant's offices have agreed …
Discussion:
VentureBeat and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Betsy Woodruff / amp.thedailybeast.com:
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.
Discussion:
Politico
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
'We have more that we're planning to do' if Turkey doesn't release American pastor, treasury secretary says — The United States will take further action against Turkey if it continues to detain American pastor Andrew Brunson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday in a sign …
Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Trump labels media ‘the opposition party’ as newspapers push back en masse — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at the media Thursday morning, identifying the “fake news” as “the opposition party” on the same day that hundreds of newspapers nationwide printed editorials critical …
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, CNBC, ABC News and The Moderate Voice
Hannah Sparks / New York Post:
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