memeorandum: U.S. imposes fresh sanctions for Russian cyber-related activity (Reuters)

1:55 PM ET, August 21, 2018

Top Items:

Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen discussing plea deal with prosecutors — The deal could come as early as today, say sources familiar with the matter. — Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, is discussing a possible guilty plea with federal prosecutors in Manhattan …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Week, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Kara Scannell / CNN:

Michael Cohen in talks to plead guilty to criminal charges — (CNN)Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, is in talks to plead guilty to criminal charges in a deal that would bring an end to a months-long investigation that has riled the President, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Political Wire, VICE News, Outside the Beltway and Vanity Fair

Associated Press:
Watergate wisdom? Cohen lawyer turns to Nixon turncoat

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

New Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups, Microsoft Says — BOSTON — The Russian military intelligence unit that sought to influence the 2016 election appears to have a new target: conservative American think tanks that have broken with President Trump and are seeking continued sanctions …

Discussion: NBC News, HuffPost, The Week, Reuters and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Luke Harding / The Guardian:

Author of Trump-Russia dossier wins libel case in US court — Suit against Christopher Steele by three Russian oligarchs thrown out by judge — The former MI6 officer Christopher Steele has won a legal battle in the United States against three Russian oligarchs who sued him over allegations …

Discussion: Raw Story and Vox

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:

Microsoft says it has found a Russian operation targeting U.S. political institutions — SAN FRANCISCO — A group affiliated with the Russian government created phony versions of six websites — including some related to public policy and to the U.S. Senate — with the apparent goal of hacking …

Discussion: Reuters, CNBC, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo and POLITICUSUSA

Brad Smith / Microsoft on the Issues:

We are taking new steps against broadening threats to democracy — It's clear that democracies around the world are under attack. Foreign entities are launching cyber strikes to disrupt elections and sow discord. Unfortunately, the internet has become an avenue for some governments …

Discussion: Vox, Mother Jones, Associated Press, CNN, Mashable, France 24, Sputnik International, TheBlaze, The Verge, NPR, VICE News, Politico, BloombergQuint, Engadget, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, KTLA, Al Jazeera English, Mediaite, Roll Call and AOL

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

Rand Paul, Russian Stooge — What does the kooky libertarian see in the authoritarian Putin regime? — Senator Rand Paul has been making the rounds in recent days touting deeper U.S. engagement with Vladimir Putin's Russia. It's often the case when Senator Paul talks about foreign policy …

Discussion: New York Times and The Week

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:

E.P.A.'s New Coal Pollution Rules Will Lead to More Deaths, Agency's Numbers Show — Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up for our Climate Fwd: newsletter. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New Republic, The White House, Axios, MSNBC, Daily Kos, The Verge, HuffPost, KTLA, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Jezebel

Bloomberg:
Trump Promised to Bring Back Coal. It's Declining Again

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Kate Mishkin / Charleston Gazette-Mail: Experts: Coal's decline imminent, with or without Trump's regulatory changes

Mitchell P. Brook / USA Today:

Donald Trump should sue John Brennan to bring civility back to our politics — Believe it or not, a libel lawsuit against John Brennan could force political commentators back into the realm of fact and reality. — CONNECT — Now that President Donald Trump revoked ex-CIA Director John …

Discussion: IJR, Washington Free Beacon and The Western Journal

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump denies report that he considered restricting Obama's intelligence briefings

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, ThinkProgress, HuffPost and Political Wire

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal: Treason, Trust—and Trump

Emily Stewart / Vox:
Trump is treating security clearances like reality TV

Discussion: RedState, ThinkProgress and Breitbart

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“They're Squeezing Don Jr. Right Now”: As the Mueller Siege Tightens, Trump's Twitter Rage Crests — White House counsel Don McGahn's interviews with Mueller have rattled Trump to his core. “Total meltdown,” one outside adviser said of his mood, while a Republican ally described him as “extremely frustrated.”

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and ABC News

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:

Facebook is rating the trustworthiness of its users on a scale from zero to one — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook has begun to assign its users a reputation score, predicting their trustworthiness on a scale from zero to one. — The previously unreported ratings system, which Facebook has developed …

Discussion: The Sun, Motherboard, Louder With Crowder, The Verge, Engadget, NewsWars and Patterico's Pontifications, more at Mediagazer »

Katherine Lam / Fox News:

Mollie Tibbetts, missing Iowa student, found dead, her father says — Two sources tell Fox News that the body of the missing Iowa student has been found; Matt Finn reports. — The body of missing college student Mollie Tibbetts was found Tuesday, her father and two sources told Fox News …

Discussion: Associated Press, IJR, 100PercentFedUp.com, FOX59, KTLA, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Law & Crime

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new reform bill would ban members of Congress from owning individual stocks — Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposes a new bill that would ban members of Congress and the White House staff from owning individual stocks. — As an apparent alternative, the legislation would create …

Discussion: Political Wire and Daily Kos

Zachary Warmbrodt / Politico:
Warren proposes sweeping crackdown on lobbying

Discussion: Axios and The Daily Beast

Tara Palmeri / ABC News:

Nazi death camp guard arrested by ICE, deported to Germany: Authorities — A man who authorities believe is the last known Nazi collaborator living in the U.S. has been arrested and deported to Germany. — At the order of President Donald Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents …

Associated Press:
US deports former Nazi camp guard, 95, to Germany

Discussion: The Week and Politico

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

GOP candidate jokes: ‘The Russians are going to help me’ win in November — A Republican candidate running for governor in Pennsylvania joked that the Russian government will help him win in November. — Scott Wagner, who is running to unseat incumbent Gov. Tom Wolf (D) …

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Eliot Nelson / HuffPost:
GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Jokes, ‘The Russians Are Going To Help Me’

Discussion: Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, PennLive, Pushback, Mediaite, Sputnik International and Raw Story

Ian Talley / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Russian Firms for Allegedly Helping North Korea — Sanctions hit Russian shipping firms for banned North Korea energy shipments — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Tuesday levied new sanctions against Russian firms it accused of violating trade bans …

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Kirsti Knolle / Reuters: No indication North Korean nuclear activities stopped: IAEA

New York Times:

Facebook Fueled Anti-Refugee Attacks in Germany, New Research Suggests — ALTENA, Germany — When you ask locals why Dirk Denkhaus, a young firefighter trainee who had been considered neither dangerous nor political, broke into the attic of a refugee group house and tried to set it on fire, they will list the familiar issues.

Discussion: New Republic, more at Techmeme »

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh / Oregonian:

He brought an American flag to protest fascism in Portland. Then antifa attacked him — Portland antifa attack fellow counter-protester carrying American flag — Warning: This story contains graphic content — Paul Welch came to the downtown protest Aug. 4 to let his political leanings be known.

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Hit & Run, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NewsWars, CANNONFIRE, TheBlaze, Don Surber, Law & Crime, Louder With Crowder, Washington Free Beacon and Daily Wire

emptywheel:

It Is False to Claim There Was No Follow-Up to the June 9 Meeting — On July 15, 2017 — a week after the June 9 meeting was reported in a NYT story publishing the first of numerous White House statements attempting to explain the meeting — Rhona Graff sent Rob Goldstone an email (PDF 44).

Discussion: The Week

Michael Wilson / New York Times:

A New Wife, a Secret Past and a Trail of Loss and Blood — A widower met a younger woman on the street in 2013. They married soon after. Then he got to know her. — FORT LEE, N.J. — A young man wearing a baseball cap sat alone in his convertible at the drive-through lane of a Dunkin' Donuts here …

Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump is worried that Mueller interview could be a ‘perjury trap’ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was worried that any statements under oath he provides to Special Counsel Robert Mueller could be used to bring perjury charges against him as part …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, The Daily Banter, IJR, MSNBC, The Week, Splinter, New Republic, Axios, New York Daily News, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Emily Badger / New York Times:

The Bipartisan Cry of ‘Not in My Backyard’ — The housing secretary wants to encourage mixed-income, multifamily development as a way of making housing more affordable. But it's a notion homeowners of all political leanings tend to oppose. — Ben Carson, the secretary of the Department …

Discussion: CityLab

Kelly Marie Tran / New York Times:

I Won't Be Marginalized by Online Harassment — Editor's note: The actress deleted her Instagram posts this summer in response to online harassment. Here she speaks out for the first time. — It wasn't their words, it's that I started to believe them. — Their words seemed to confirm …

Discussion: Glamour, news.avclub.com, IndieWire, Mashable, Jezebel and Vox

The Guardian:

Arctic's strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record — Usually frozen waters open up twice this year in phenomenon scientists described as scary — The oldest and thickest sea ice in the Arctic has started to break up, opening waters north of Greenland that are normally frozen, even in summer.

Discussion: Washington Post, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT, Joe.My.God. and The Week

Charlie Kirk / The Hill:

President Trump is making diplomacy great again — Russia hysteria has reached such a fever pitch in “the swamp” that one must wonder if we'll soon have to scrub our bars of Vodka, lest we be accused of colluding with Russia. — Congratulations if you consider that an absurd notion …

John Tibbetts / Washington Post:

Sea level rise is eroding home value, and owners might not even know it — CHARLESTON, S.C. — Elizabeth Boineau's 1939 Colonial sits a block and a half from the Ashley River in a sought-after neighborhood of ancient live oaks, charming gardens and historic homes.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:

Hypocritical politically motivated feminism is killing #MeToo. Just ask Keith Ellison. — Feminism died in 1998 when Democrats attacked Bill Clinton's accusers, and the campaign against sexual harassment is again suffering the same fate. — CONNECT — Feminism, Maureen Dowd once explained, died in 1998.

Discussion: New Republic and Weekly Standard

Pratheek Rebala / TIME:

The State Department Hired Cambridge Analytica's Parent Company to Target Terrorist Propaganda — Newly unearthed documents describing the relationship between SCL Group, parent company of embattled data firm Cambridge Analytica, and the State Department provide a rare glimpse into the nation's effort to counter terrorist propaganda.

Discussion: Gizmodo

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News:

Facebook Is Removing More Than 5,000 Ad Targeting Options To Prevent Discrimination — Facebook is planning to remove more than 5,000 ad targeting options in an effort to prevent discriminatory advertising. — The bulk of the 5,000 targeting options, slated for removal by this fall …

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

U.S. imposes fresh sanctions for Russian cyber-related activity — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two Russians, one Russian company and one Slovakian firm for what Washington said were their actions to help another Russian company avoid sanctions …