memeorandum: Revoking Brennan's Security Clearance: The Right Thing, Even if for the Wrong Reason (Andrew C. McCarthy/National Review)

3:50 PM ET, August 18, 2018

Top Items:

White House Counsel Has Cooperated Extensively With Mueller's Obstruction Inquiry — WASHINGTON — The White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, has cooperated extensively in the special counsel investigation, sharing detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, Mediaite, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Hullabaloo and Political Wire

Linda Qiu / New York Times:

Truth-Testing Trump's 250-Plus Attacks on the Russia Inquiry — We assessed President Trump's claims about Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the ensuing federal investigation of his campaign. — The federal investigation into whether Russia actively sought to help Donald J. Trump win …

Discussion: The White House

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
AP source: It's not just audio, Manigault Newman has video

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CBS Los Angeles:

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Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Daily Mail, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Splinter

Mike Allen / Axios:

Inside the security clearance revolt — Several wanted to fiddle with the punctuation, some wanted to add nice things about John Brennan; others thought it would be wiser to pare them back. — But in 12 hours, a couple of former CIA senior aides pulled off a first in American history.

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, CBS Chicago, Hullabaloo and KTLA

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Revoking Brennan's Security Clearance: The Right Thing, Even if for the Wrong Reason — It's right because he is irresponsible and untrustworthy and has politicized intelligence. — I do not share my friend David French's theoretical constitutional concerns about the president's revocation …

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Breitbart, NPR and 100PercentFedUp.com, more at Mediagazer »

Kori Schake / War on the Rocks:

McRaven's Rousing Protest: Are Civil-Military and Democratic Norms in Tension? — President Donald Trump withdrawing the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan has set off a cascade of former professionals from the military and intelligence community condemning the president's public …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Defense One and Liberty Unyielding

Thom Geier / The Wrap:

Trump Blasts Social Media ‘Censorship’: ‘Discriminating Against Republican/Conservative Voices’ — “Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won't let that happen,” POTUS says in Saturday tweet-storm — President Trump on Saturday issued a tweet-storm following the removal …

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post and Shareblue Media, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Twitter's Jack Dorsey: ‘We are not’ discriminating against any political viewpoint — Twitter CEO: 'I haven't done enough' to be transparent — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey knows the tech world has a problem. He's asking big questions like “How do we earn peoples' trust?”

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Axios and POLITICUSUSA

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Netflix's ‘Classless’ Cancellation of Michelle Wolf's ‘The Break’ … Well, that was fast. On Friday, Netflix quietly pulled the plug on The Break with Michelle Wolf, one of the only “late-night” shows on “television” hosted by a female comedian, just three months after it premiered.

Discussion: Fox News, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart, Hollywood Reporter, Don Surber, Mediaite, twitchy.com, The Verge, Instapundit and Mashable

Pete Kasperowicz / Washington Examiner:

National debt jumps $500 billion in less than six months — The U.S. national debt has increased by more than half a trillion dollars in less than six months, amid predictions that the U.S. is on the verge of returning to another explosion in government borrowing.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Hullabaloo

Alan Cowell / New York Times:

Kofi Annan, Diplomat Who Redefined the U.N., Dies at 80 — Kofi Annan, a soft-spoken and patrician diplomat from Ghana, who became the seventh secretary general of the United Nations, projecting himself and his organization as the world's conscience and moral arbiter despite bloody debacles …

Stanley Meisler / Washington Post:
Kofi Annan, former U.N. secretary general, dies at 80

Discussion: The Week, CNN and Outside the Beltway

Latest from the Office of the Spokesperson …:
Statement by the Secretary-General on the passing of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan …

Discussion: Fox News, Daily Caller News Foundation and France 24

Associated Press:
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies at age 80

Discussion: WAMU, Politico and PinkNews

Joshua Posaner / Politico:
Kofi Annan, former UN chief, dies aged 80

Discussion: The Elders, One America News Network, Joe.My.God. and The Guardian

The Daily Beast:

Alleged Russian Agent Marina Butina Moved to Virginia Jail, Unclear Why … Maria Butina, the Russian national accused of acting as a Kremlin agent in the United States, was abruptly moved from a jail in Washington to a lockup in Alexandria, Virginia, according to her lawyer.

Souad Mekhennet / Washington Post:

Austria's far-right government ordered a raid on its own intelligence service. Now allies are freezing the country out. — VIENNA — The raids came without warning, surprising even the intelligence operatives whose job is to never be caught off guard. — On the morning of Feb. 28 …

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Charter Spectrum plans to report local TV news, 24 hours a day, in Los Angeles — Local TV news has settled into a familiar routine: a pingpong of live shots with reporters standing near the scene of a crime, a wildfire or the wreckage of a deadly crash. Newscasts are peppered with helicopter views …

Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:

AP Interview: Top Republican opens up about Russia probe — WASHINGTON (AP) — For much of the last two years, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr has been the Russia investigator who is seen but rarely heard on Capitol Hill. — In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press …

Discussion: Power Line

Los Angeles Times:

Trump backed ‘space force’ after months of lobbying by officials with ties to aerospace industry … When President Trump spoke to Marines at the Miramar Air Station in San Diego on March 13, he threw out an idea that he suggested had just come to him. — “You know, I was saying it the other day …

Quinta Jurecic / Lawfare:

Document: George Papadopoulos Sentencing Memo — The government has filed a sentencing memorandum in the case of George Papadopoulos, recommending a sentence of between zero to six months. The document is available in full below.

Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
Mueller prosecutors seek up to six months in prison for George Papadopoulos in Russia probe

Discussion: Raw Story

David Alexander / Reuters:
U.S. special counsel recommends six months in prison for Papadopoulos

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Patsy McGarry / The Irish Times:

Cardinal in Pennsylvania withdraws from World Meeting of Families in Dublin — Cardinal Donald Wuerl was to give a keynote address on families at RDS on Wednesday — A Cardinal who was heavily criticised for his handling of child sexual abuse allegations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report …

Discussion: The American Conservative and Washington Post

Washington Examiner:
For the church's and the nation's sake, Cardinal Wuerl must go

Discussion: RedState

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Democrats know they need to talk about how Kavanaugh would rule, and yet they fall into the trap of Senate process — Two weeks before Senate confirmation hearings, Democrats keep reminding themselves to stick to the script in their fight against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh …