Top Items:
Washington Post:
Poll: 60 percent disapprove of Trump, while clear majorities back Mueller and Sessions — President Trump's disapproval rating has hit a high point of 60 percent, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that also finds that clear majorities of Americans support the special counsel's …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog and Axios
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Gary Langer / ABC News:
Trouble for Trump: Disapproval at a high, 63% back Mueller, half favor impeachment — Disapproval of Donald Trump is at a new high, support for the Mueller investigation is broad and half of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll favor Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against the president.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Political Wire, POLITICUSUSA, Women in the World and Mediaite
Washington Post:
Most Americans oppose Trump firing Sessions — Poll Questions — Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat? — Hide Results — Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy?
Discussion:
Political Wire, Roll Call, The Guardian, The Week, Politico and Axios
Maxwell Tani Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:
Sources: NBC Threatened Ronan Farrow if He Kept Reporting on Harvey Weinstein — Ronan Farrow had already left NBC News. But a top lawyer at the network threatened to smear him if he continued to pursue the Hollywood mogul, multiple knowledgeable sources say. — Lachlan Cartwright
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John Koblin / New York Times:
Ronan Farrow's Ex-Producer Says NBC Impeded Weinstein Reporting — In October, when Ronan Farrow published his first article in The New Yorker on the alleged transgressions of Harvey Weinstein, people in the media and entertainment industries wondered how NBC had missed the story.
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, CNNMoney, Conservative News Today, TVNewser, Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon, Deadline and Mediaite
Associated Press:
Concern in White House over shortage of lawyers, press aides — WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly convinced that the West Wing is wholly unprepared to handle the expected assault from Democrats if they win the House in November, President Donald Trump's aides and allies are privately raising alarm …
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Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Trump cancels pay raises for federal employees — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump told lawmakers on Thursday he wants to scrap a pay raise for civilian federal workers, saying the nation's budget couldn't support it. — In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Trump described the pay increase as “inappropriate.”
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, CNBC, The Western Journal, Hot Air, The Hill, The White House, LifeZette, Second Nexus, TheBlaze, Joe.My.God., The Atlantic and Balloon Juice
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:
Hot Air, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, NY State of Politics, Raw Story, Political Wire and ABC News
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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 …
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Josh Meyer / Politico:
Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears
Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears
Discussion:
Breitbart, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit and HuffPost, more at Techmeme »
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
‘Tough decisions have to be made’: House Republicans prepare for pain — Party officials begin deciding which GOP lawmakers to save and which ones to cut loose. — With a massive field of vulnerable House incumbents to defend and limited resources to go around, Republicans are readying …
Discussion:
Political Wire and Raw Story
Travis Clark / Business Insider:
Neil Armstrong movie ‘First Man’ omits the American flag being planted on the moon, and star Ryan Gosling defended the decision — The upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man” omits the American flag being planted on the moon. — Star Ryan Gosling defended the decision …
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder, NTK Network, Daily Wire and Mediaite
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Catherine Herridge / Fox News:
DOJ's Bruce Ohr kept Mueller deputy ‘in the loop’ about anti-Trump dossier, sources say — Embattled Justice Department official Bruce Ohr had contact in 2016 with then-colleague Andrew Weissmann, who is now a top Robert Mueller deputy, as well as other senior FBI officials …
Discussion:
Sara A. Carter, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop
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Craig Unger / Just Security:
Understanding Trump vs. Bruce Ohr: Think Russia's top crime boss, Semion Mogilevich
Understanding Trump vs. Bruce Ohr: Think Russia's top crime boss, Semion Mogilevich
Discussion:
The Last Refuge
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Trump's Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime
Trump's Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime
Bloomberg:
Trump Defends His Handling of McCain's Death — Opinion — Iran's Fake News Is a Fake Threat — If the Iranians were any good at social media trolling, it might be something to worry about. — August 31, 2018 — Mark Gongloff — Nafta's Dying. What Comes Next?
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Splinter, Washington Post, CNN, TMZ.com, AOL, Mediaite and HuffPost
Lorraine Woellert / Politico:
While Washington mourns McCain, Trump leaves town — Supporters at the raucous rally didn't seem to mind that Trump had been snubbed by the McCain family. — As Washington prepared a last hero's welcome for Sen. John McCain Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump left town.
Discussion:
ABC News and News and Tribune
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Justin Doom / ABC News:
Washington says goodbye to McCain, who will lie in state at the Capitol
Washington says goodbye to McCain, who will lie in state at the Capitol
Discussion:
Politico
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Top 2008 campaign aides shut out of McCain funeral
Top 2008 campaign aides shut out of McCain funeral
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, NPR and Hot Air
Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Former Nixon counsel John Dean to be witness opposed to Kavanaugh nomination to Supreme Court — Democrats seeking to defeat the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh have recruited former Nixon White House counsel John Dean to testify during next week's hearing on Capitol Hill …
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Annie Karni / Politico:
Why Mark Penn Is Sounding Trumpy — The longtime Clinton strategist insists his objection to the Mueller investigation is about principle, not opportunism. His critics beg to differ. — Mark Penn recently moved into a brand new office on Washington, D.C.'s I Street …
Andrea Long Chu / Chronicle of Higher Education:
I Worked With Avital Ronell. I Believe Her Accuser. — The humanities are ablaze. This month The New York Times reported that the Title IX office had found Avital Ronell, a professor of German and comparative literature at New York University and a superstar in literary studies …
Discussion:
Althouse
New York Times:
How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born? — As the world warms because of human-induced climate change, most of us can expect to see more days when temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or higher. See how your hometown has changed so far and how much hotter it may get.
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.
Discussion:
Daily Wire, CNNMoney, Joe.My.God., Splinter, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal:
Poll Shows NFL Fan Interest Remains Lower, Stark Divisions Over Anthem Protests — Fewer people, in particular Republicans, are following the NFL closely than they did four years ago, according to new WSJ/NBC News poll — With less than a week until the 2018 NFL season kicks off …
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, more at Mediagazer »
John Bowden / The Hill:
Trump: ‘When you get good ratings, you can say anything’ — leaned into his attacks against the news media Thursday night at a rally in Indiana, blasting news outlets for what he said was unfair coverage driven by ratings. — After mocking a protester who was escorted out at the beginning of his rally …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Joe.My.God., HuffPost, AOL and Political Wire
Laura McGann / Vox:
Critics say Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can't hang with the intellectual heavyweights ... in Congress — Male politicians aren't told to put training wheels back on after a fact check. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't just a House hopeful; she's an emerging Democratic star who's been barnstorming …
Discussion:
National Review
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
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Ashe Schow / Daily Wire:
SJWs Lose It After Peter Dinklage Cast As ‘Filipino.’ There's Just One Problem. — Backlash over Peter Dinklage's casting as Hervé Villechaize — star of “Fantasy Island” — has highlighted one of the great problems with identity politics and social justice: they actually reduce people to perceived identities.
Discussion:
RedState, East Bay Times and Canberra Times
Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Fact-checking Republican attack ads in tight House races — Attack ads are our bread and butter at The Fact Checker — and, boy, are we swimming in butter this week. — The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), has been running a series …
Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
Democrats, Beware of Falling in Love With Fundamentally Flawed Candidates — From Andrew Gillum to Keith Ellison, the party's heart is pulling harder than political reality. — BEAST INSIDE — The thing about political waves is that they sweep in sturdy and rickety boats alike.
Discussion:
Big League Politics
Reuters:
Exclusive: Chief U.S. spy catcher says China using LinkedIn to recruit Americans — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' top spy catcher said Chinese espionage agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets, and the company should shut them down.
Louisa Loveluck / Washington Post:
A final Syrian showdown looms. Millions of lives are at risk. Here are the stakes. — With Syria's rebels nearing defeat after seven years at war, President Bashar al-Assad's army says it is turning its firepower against their final stronghold. The target, Idlib province …
Nick Miroff / Washington Post:
Homeland Security staffer with white nationalist ties attended White House policy meetings — Ian M. Smith, a Department of Homeland Security analyst who resigned this week after he was confronted about his ties to white nationalist groups, attended multiple immigration policy meetings at the White House …
Discussion:
Splinter, HuffPost, Vox, Mother Jones, Fortune and Washington Monthly