Top Items:
Sonia Moghe / CNN:
Exclusive: Ex-Trump World Tower doorman releases ‘catch-and-kill’ contract about alleged Trump affair — (CNN)A former Trump World Tower doorman who says he has knowledge of an alleged affair President Donald Trump had with an ex-housekeeper, which resulted in a child, is now able to talk …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Hill Reporter, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos
Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Daily News:
Rudy Giuliani distances himself from Trump over his ‘flipping’ comments: ‘The President is not a lawyer’ — When it comes to flipping, Rudy Giuliani won't budge. — The former federal prosecutor — famous for coaxing New York mobsters into spilling the beans on their bosses …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God. and Talking Points Memo
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Nancy Cook / Politico:
Aides expect Trump to go rogue on Manafort pardon — The president's comments are being read as a signal that he wants to ignore his lawyers and exonerate his former campaign chairman. — President Donald Trump's lawyers and a cadre of informal White House advisers claim they've convinced …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., AOL, The Hill, Yahoo and The Daily Caller
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
QAnon Leaders Crack Down on Mentions of Cohen After He Turned on Trump
QAnon Leaders Crack Down on Mentions of Cohen After He Turned on Trump
Discussion:
Politico, Mashable and Hullabaloo
Adam Davidson / New Yorker:
Allen Weisselberg, the Man Who Knows Donald Trump's Financial Secrets, Has Agreed to Become a Coöperating Witness
Allen Weisselberg, the Man Who Knows Donald Trump's Financial Secrets, Has Agreed to Become a Coöperating Witness
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, 1A and Little Green Footballs, more at Mediagazer »
Michael Kruse / Politico:
Trump on Weisselberg: ‘He Did Whatever Was Necessary’
Trump on Weisselberg: ‘He Did Whatever Was Necessary’
Discussion:
Politico, USA Today, Bloomberg, The Atlantic and MSNBC
Jesse Eisinger / ProPublica:
Why Manafort and Cohen Thought They'd Get Away With It
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump's hell week: fear and fury
Trump's hell week: fear and fury
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The National Memo and Vox
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Trump Meets QAnon Kook Who Believes Democrats Run Pedophile Cult … President Donald Trump posed for Oval Office photos on Thursday with one of the leading promoters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that top Democrats are part of a global pedophile cult.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Boing Boing, New Republic, Balloon Juice and twitchy.com
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The three illegal acts that may have helped Trump win the presidency — The nation heard this week accusations that Donald Trump was personally involved in the decision to offer two women money shortly before the 2016 election to keep them from sharing stories of alleged affairs.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
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New York Times:
Allen Weisselberg, Top Trump Organization Official, Was Granted Immunity for Testimony — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan struck a deal earlier this summer with Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, granting him immunity for his grand jury testimony …
Discussion:
Salon, The Guardian, Daily Kos, The Real Deal New York and The Root
David French / National Review:
Stop Blaming Investigators More Than Criminals for Trump's Woes — At the end of a yet another tawdry, scandalous week, I'm seeing the same thing I see at the end of every other tawdry, scandalous week. Lots of folks on the right continue to believe that the true scandal is not that the president …
Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
Bad blood between McCain and Trump lingers, even as the Arizona Republican nears the end — It got off to a bad start, and President Trump's venomous relationship with Sen. John McCain probably won't end well either. — The president was reportedly disinvited to McCain's funeral months ago …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
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Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:
TPUSA Members Quit in Protest of ‘Exploiting’ Mollie Tibbetts' Death … The University of Iowa chapter of a conservative student organization declined a proposal that the campus host two of the group's highest-profile national leaders for an “immigration event” following the alleged murder …
Discussion:
Althouse, Right Wing Watch and Mediaite
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Roger Cohen / New York Times:
How Far America Has Fallen — The thing with every shocking revelation about Trump is that it's already baked into his image. I've never met a Trump supporter who did not know exactly who he is. — RIDGWAY, Colo. — It's different in the West. It's easier to feel in touch with some essence of what America is.
Grace Segers / CBS News:
Beto O'Rourke says “nothing more American” than NFL players protesting the national anthem — Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate challenging Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, was featured in a viral video posted to Twitter on Tuesday giving an answer at a town hall defending NFL players who kneel during the national anthem before games.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Hot Air and theGrio
New York Times:
Kremlin Sources Go Quiet, Leaving C.I.A. in the Dark About Putin's Plans for Midterms — The spy agency does not believe its Russia informants have been killed, but sources have gone largely dormant amid heightened scrutiny and rising threats. — Technology companies and political campaigns …
Cory Bennett / Politico:
Trump anxiety spreads through South Korea — Many South Koreans worry that the U.S. president — though hailed for bringing Kim Jong Un to the table — lacks the patience for a true breakthrough with the North. — SEOUL — South Koreans are growing more anxious about President Donald Trump's commitment …
Discussion:
Axios, Shareblue Media and Joe.My.God.
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Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
Paul Manafort's trial in D.C. to take 3 weeks, probe Ukraine lobbying world — The Paul Manafort trial set for September in Washington is expected to last three weeks and, on the basis of a list of 1,500 possible exhibits, will delve far more deeply into how he operated as a lobbyist …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Tucker Carlson walks back bogus South Africa scaremongering — On his Wednesday evening program, Fox News host Tucker Carlson roared about the issue of land reform in South Africa. “The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has begun — and you may have seen this in the press …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
Bloomberg:
Putin's Economic Armor Suffers Cracks in Showdown Over Sanctions — Bank of Russia pauses foreign-currency purchases to aid ruble — Growing fears of U.S. curbs put Russian assets under pressure — The upheaval set off by the threat of American sanctions is roiling …
Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Trump says it's ‘probably tougher’ for GOP to retain control of House — COLUMBUS — President Trump acknowledged a “probably tougher” path to retain GOP control of the House at the state party's annual dinner here, injecting some political reality into his standard rhetoric that boasts of a “red wave” in November.
Discussion:
Axios
Grace Gottschling / Campus Reform:
Clemson RAs freed from mandated ‘commitment to social justice’ — Clemson University has dropped its requirement that Resident Assistants “demonstrate a commitment to social justice” in order to qualify for the position. — This year's position description does asks RAs to interact with residents …
Discussion:
The College Fix
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Devin Nunes silent after Trump gang's 16 convictions and guilty pleas — Rep. Devin Nunes seems to hope that ignoring the damning news will make it go away. — Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is one of Trump's most outspoken defenders. He even admitted, during a private fundraiser …
Nick Reisman / NY State of Politics:
Gillibrand Says Trump Should Resign — U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told reporters in Syracuse Friday that President Donald Trump should resign after his former personal lawyer implicated him in violating campaign finance law. — But she stopped short of saying whether impeachment proceedings …
Wall Street Journal:
Michael Cohen Guilty Plea Reveals Link to Qatari Royal Family — Trump's former lawyer received a $100,000 brokerage fee for a Florida real-estate deal in which he represented a company owned by Sheikh Abdul Aziz — A $100,000 real-estate brokerage fee that was part of former Trump attorney …
Discussion:
The Political Insider and Raw Story
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Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:
How This Will End — Michael Gerson, one of the most eloquent and principled critics of Donald Trump, insists that we are at June 1973, the moment when John Dean's testimony broke the dam that a year later swept Richard Nixon off into disgrace. Others agree: This is an inflection point.
Dvora Meyers / Deadspin:
Here's The Special Issue Of The MSU Alumni Magazine On Sexual Abuse That Was Spiked By School President John Engler — Back in June, the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan State president John Engler spiked a special issue of the alumni magazine that was supposed to focus exclusively …
Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed News:
Michael Avenatti's Next 2020 Move: His Own PAC — Michael Avenatti, the self-described potential 2020 contender and lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Donald Trump, is launching his own federal PAC to support Democratic candidates with “the size and the presence …
Discussion:
Observer, Splinter, Daily Caller News Foundation, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite
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Alex Thompson / VICE News:
“Hottie Avenatti” brings his show to the DNC summer meeting
“Hottie Avenatti” brings his show to the DNC summer meeting
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, twitchy.com, Balloon Juice and Politico