Top Items:
Bloomberg:
Trump Says He'll Keep Sessions Until November Despite ‘Illegal’ Probe — The attorney general has resisted Trump's pressure to resign — Mueller probe is ‘an illegal investigation,’ president says — President Donald Trump said Attorney General Jeff Sessions's job is safe at least until the midterm elections in November.
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Did Trump just admit that he tried to fire Mueller and Sessions? — President Trump has made a habit out of admitting things — often via Twitter — that he perhaps shouldn't. Did he just do it again? — In a tweet Thursday morning, Trump called it “fake news” that now-outgoing White House Counsel …
Discussion:
CNN, Roll Call, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Bloomberg, Vox and SARAH PALIN
Bloomberg:
Trump Defends His Handling of McCain's Death — Won't say if McCain would've been better president than Obama — 'I've done everything that they requested' for senator — President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he properly honored John McCain following his death but wouldn't say whether …
Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Donald Trump Is Setting Up A Lame-Duck Crisis — President Trump is preparing to thrust the country into a crisis as soon as the midterm elections are behind him—irrespective of which party wins the race for control of Congress—and Republicans are lining up to make sure he gets away with it …
Discussion:
CNN and Washington Post
Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone says he expects Mueller to charge him with a crime
Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone says he expects Mueller to charge him with a crime
Discussion:
Political Wire
CBS News:
Lindsey Graham says Trump's stand on John McCain “pisses me off to no end”
Lindsey Graham says Trump's stand on John McCain “pisses me off to no end”
Discussion:
HuffPost, Political Wire and Talking Points Memo
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Is a Snob Who Secretly Despises His Own Supporters
Trump Is a Snob Who Secretly Despises His Own Supporters
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, CNN, Hot Air, Shakesville, Joe.My.God. and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
National Enquirer Had Decades of Trump Dirt. He Wanted to Buy It All. — Federal investigators have provided ample evidence that President Trump was involved in deals to pay two women to keep them from speaking publicly before the 2016 election about affairs that they said they had with him.
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Trump Says Weisselberg Is ‘Wonderful Guy’ Who Didn't Betray Him — CFO of Trump Organization cooperated in Michael Cohen probe — Weisselberg has worked for Trump family for more than 40 years — President Donald Trump said Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization …
Ben Smith / BuzzFeed News:
I Helped Create Insider Political Journalism. Now It's Time For It To Go Away. — Traditional political journalists were the last people to notice in 2016 that the world had changed. Candidate Donald Trump took advantage of a stubborn refusal to recognize the power of right-wing ideology …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Shakesville
Stephanie Murray / Politico:
Trump bashes CNN, NBC media executives — President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday morning at top media executives from NBC and CNN, continuing his tirade against media coverage that he considers unfair from outlets he has labeled “fake news.” — “The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN …
Discussion:
twitchy.com and Mediaite
Lauren Meier / Axios:
Trump eliminates pay raises for civilian federal employees — In a letter sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday, President Trump announced that civilian federal employees will not receive pay increases next year, undoing the original 2.1% pay increase that was set to take place in 2019.
Discussion:
ABC News, CNBC, Hullabaloo, Associated Press, Second Nexus and Joe.My.God.
RELATED:
Kate Davidson / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Says He'll Eliminate Pay Raises for Civilian Federal Employees Next Year — The president says federal agency budgets can not sustain 2019 pay increases — WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said he will invoke his emergency authority to freeze pay for civilian federal workers next year, citing strained federal budgets.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Politico
The Daily Beast:
Rudy Giuliani Is Putting Together a ‘Counter-Report’ to Question Robert Mueller's ‘Legitimacy’ — It's being done with the explicit blessing of Trump who is ‘happy’ that this is part of his legal team's ‘strategy,’ the president's lawyer says. — President Donald Trump's legal team is crafting a …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, NY State of Politics, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story
Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:
Judge Rules Against Alex Jones and Infowars in Sandy Hook Lawsuit — A Texas judge denied the motion by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him and his Infowars operation by the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, in a ruling released on Thursday.
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Chuck Todd Warns of Possible Mueller Bombshell: 'I Wouldn't Miss Work Tomorrow' — MSNBC's Chuck Todd issued a warning to the press on Thursday evening regarding the Russia investigation: Don't miss work tomorrow. — Todd's MTP Daily panel was discussing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe …
Bloomberg:
Trump Says Democrats Can't Impeach Him Because He's Doing a ‘Great Job’ — President cites good economy, precedent for future presidents — Any impeachment effort would face high hurdles in Congress — President Donald Trump said that Democrats shouldn't try to impeach him …
RELATED:
Adam Edelman / NBC News:
White House ethics lawyer Stefan Passantino leaving administration
White House ethics lawyer Stefan Passantino leaving administration
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, MSNBC and Bloomberg
Justice News:
California Man Charged with Making Violent Threats Against Boston Globe Employees — BOSTON - A California man was arrested today and charged with making violent threats against Boston Globe employees in retaliation for the newspaper's editorial response to political attacks on the media.
RELATED:
Brittany Martin / Los Angeles Magazine:
Your Favorite Burger Chain Just Donated a Bunch of Money to the Republican Party — In-N-Out just dropped $25,000 into the GOP's coffers — Orange County is shaping up to be one of the hottest political battlegrounds going into the midterm elections-and, it appears, Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger has cast their vote early.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Power Line, The Hill, San Francisco Chronicle, Hit & Run, Daily Wire, Conservative News Today, The Right Scoop, Breitbart, IJR, Townhall, East Bay Times, Mashable, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CBS Sacramento, twitchy.com, HuffPost, TheBlaze, fox5sandiego.com, Liberty Unyielding, CBS Los Angeles and Washington Free Beacon
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Trump Threatens to Pull U.S. Out of WTO If It Doesn't ‘Shape Up’ — Step would undermine cornerstone of international trade system — Trump has complained Geneva-based body treated U.S. badly — President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the World Trade Organization …
Discussion:
Axios
RELATED:
Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:
Ron DeSantis's ‘monkey’ comment was just the start of his racist dog-whistling — Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum's victory in the Democratic primary for Florida governor wasn't even 12 hours old when his Republican challenger, Rep. Ron DeSantis, hurled a few race cards into the general-election campaign.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America
RELATED:
Tim Elfrink / Miami New Times:
Ron DeSantis Was Reportedly an Admin of Racist Facebook Page
Ron DeSantis Was Reportedly an Admin of Racist Facebook Page
Discussion:
Second Nexus, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and ThinkProgress
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Trump's Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime — Bruce Ohr. Lisa Page. Andrew Weissmann. Andrew McCabe. President Trump has relentlessly attacked these FBI and Justice Department officials as dishonest “Democrats” engaged in a partisan “witch hunt” …
Discussion:
Just Security, RedState, HuffPost and LifeZette
RELATED:
Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:
Watergate Whistleblower to Testify Against Brett Kavanaugh During Confirmation Hearings — Famed Watergate whistleblower John Dean is set to testify as an outside witness against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during next week's confirmation hearings.
RELATED:
Rob Wile / Sacramento Bee:
Bank of America freezing accounts of customers suspected of not being US citizens — Saeed Moshfegh woke up earlier this month to discover the strangest thing: though he had plenty of money in his Bank of America account, he couldn't access it. — An Iranian getting his Ph.D in physics …
Discussion:
Splinter and The Outline
New York Times:
A Broken Relationship and Accusations of Emotional Abuse: The Case of Keith Ellison — MINNEAPOLIS — When Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006, it made him an instant national star: a charismatic young black leader who was now a symbol of the Democratic Party's commitment to diversity and equal rights.
Discussion:
twitchy.com, The Week, Power Line and Mediaite
Catherine Shoard / The Guardian:
Woody Allen's new film shelved by Amazon — A Rainy Day in New York may never be screened, after distributor says no release date has been set — Woody Allen's latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, has been left in limbo after Amazon Studios appeared to shelve it indefinitely.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Page Six
Alex Pappas / Fox News:
Dem rep warns immigration officers following ‘illegal’ Trump orders: ‘You will not be safe’ — A Democratic lawmaker issued a startling warning to government officials involved in “illegal” deportations that they “will not be safe” from future punishment when Donald Trump is no longer president.
Michael Tackett / New York Times:
Postal Service Accepts Blame for Release of Candidate's Security File, and Asks for It Back — WASHINGTON — The Postal Service on Thursday said it “deeply regrets our mistake in inappropriately releasing” the official personnel file of Abigail Spanberger, a former C.I.A. operative now running …
Discussion:
Politico, Lawfare and Balloon Juice
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Getting to Know White Voters — There are LOTS of opinions and narratives out there about white voters. … Most of these narratives are built on data supplied by the 2016 exit polls and the “education level” cross-tabs in current polling. However, new data and analysis of the 2016 vote suggest …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Top 2008 campaign aides shut out of McCain funeral — Campaign manager Steve Schmidt, senior adviser Nicolle Wallace, and longtime strategist John Weaver were snubbed, as was former running mate Sarah Palin. — John McCain's funeral will spotlight some of the late senator's political rivals …
Discussion:
Hot Air, NPR, The Last Refuge, The Political Insider, New York Times, HuffPost, The Hill, Joe.My.God. and Power Line
Bloomberg:
Trump Says He Has ‘Patience’ for North Korea's Kim to Make Deal — President called off a Pompeo trip to North Korea last week — He's accused China of undermining U.S. efforts to press Kim — Donald Trump said he can be patient with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un …
Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
Sept. 11 is still killing FBI agents: 'It's like Bin Laden reaching out from the grave' … FBI Agent Dave LeValley was driving to work in Manhattan when he saw the first jetliner strike the World Trade Center on a bright September morning 17 years ago. He quickly parked his car and sprinted …
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
St. Louis prosecutor says she will no longer accept cases from 28 city police officers … St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner enters the fourth floor library to read a prepared statement at a press conference at the Carnahan Courthouse, Wednesday, May 30, 2018, in St. Louis.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Washington Post:
Trump administration to end U.S. funding to U.N. program for Palestinian refugees — The Trump administration has decided to cancel all U.S. funding of the United Nations aid program for Palestinian refugees, part of its determination to put its money where its policy is as it seeks …
Discussion:
The Intercept, Foreign Policy and Axios
Josh Meyer / Politico:
Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears — The cut-off is not a hard-and-fast rule, but some former prosecutors expect Mueller to bend over backward to avoid taking steps that might be construed as improper before the midterms. — The window closes next week …
Discussion:
Newsweek and BuzzFeed News