memeorandum: The Mueller probe's troubling reliance on journalists as sources (John Solomon/The Hill)

8:05 AM ET, September 6, 2018

Top Items:

I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration — We work for the president but we have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. … President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader. — It's not just that the special counsel looms large.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Federalist, Washington Monthly, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Raw Story, Axios, Associated Press, Politico, Washington Examiner, Hit & Run, twitchy.com, CNBC, Mediaite, Real Clear Politics, Althouse, Daily Wire, MSNBC, JustOneMinute, The Moderate Voice, The American Conservative, Newsweek, Weekly Standard, The Hill, Al Jazeera English, Breitbart, HuffPost, Informed Comment, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, The Reality-Based Community, POLITICUSUSA, American Greatness, Townhall, RedState, alicublog, Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, Patterico's Pontifications, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Law & Crime, FOX News Radio, NPR, Roll Call, ImmigrationProf Blog, Mother Jones, National Review, The Poke, Rantt, Vox, The Last Refuge, BloombergQuint, France 24, FOX31 Denver, CBS Chicago, The Root, Daily Kos, Above the Law, Splinter, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Jamie Dupree - AJC, TheBlaze, The Daily Beast, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, the way of improvement …, Full Feed, AOL, Mashable, Bloomberg, Hot Air, NY State of Politics, Washington Times, CANNONFIRE, Washington Free Beacon, New Republic, illegal immigration …, Little Green Footballs, Fox News Insider, Booman Tribune, Instapundit, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, PJ Media Home and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘The sleeper cells have awoken’: Trump and aides shaken by ‘resistance’ op-ed — President Trump and his aides reacted with indignation Wednesday to an unsigned opinion column from a senior official blasting the president's “amorality” and launched a frantic hunt for the author …

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

The story behind the New York Times' anonymous op-ed blasting Trump — Several days ago a senior official in the Trump administration used an intermediary to contact New York Times op-ed page editor Jim Dao. — Through the go-between, the senior official expressed interest in writing …

Discussion: Washington Post and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

David Frum / The Atlantic:

This Is a Constitutional Crisis — Impeachment is a constitutional mechanism. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment is a constitutional mechanism. Mass resignations followed by voluntary testimony to congressional committees are a constitutional mechanism. Overt defiance of presidential authority …

Axios:

Exclusive: Trump's nightmare: “The snakes are everywhere” — President Trump is not just seething about Bob Woodward. He's deeply suspicious of much of the government he oversees — from the hordes of folks inside agencies, right up to some of the senior-most political appointees …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Political Wire, New York Times, Raw Story, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit and The Guardian

BuzzFeed News:

I Am Part Of The Resistance Inside The New York Times Opinion Desk — BuzzFeed News today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous, and entirely satirical, op-ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior editor for the New York Times Opinion page …

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

We're Watching an Antidemocratic Coup Unfold — The title of Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, contains a multitude of meanings. For one thing, it describes the attitude of many of President DonaldTrump's own aides toward his judgment. — It's not just that many sources were willing …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Trump, alone — DRIVING THE DAY — ALONE. — THAT IS WHAT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP must be feeling this morning. In the last two days, the Washington establishment has pummeled him like no president has been pummeled before. BOB WOODWARD's book “Fear” …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HuffPost and Axios

Associated Press:

Trump rips searing Times op-ed from unnamed senior official — WASHINGTON (AP) — In a striking anonymous broadside, a senior Trump administration official wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times on Wednesday claiming to be part of a group of people “working diligently from within” …

Jessica Roy / Los Angeles Times:
No, anonymous Trump official, you're not ‘part of the resistance.’ You're a coward

Discussion: CBS Chicago, Politico and Political Wire

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Trump Staff's Resistance Can't Avert a Crisis. It Is One.

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and BloombergQuint

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
An Insider's Lament About Trump Serves No Public Good

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN and Washington Post

NBC News:
Trump admin rejected report showing refugees did not pose major security threat

Discussion: Splinter

Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:
White House Searches For Anonymous Inside Critic

Discussion: Townhall, CNN, Washington Post, ABC News and The Guardian

New York Times:
Trump Lashes Out After Reports of ‘Quiet Resistance’ by Staff

Discussion: Daily Wire, Raw Story, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, New Republic and Mother Jones

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

The White House is discussing potential replacements for Jim Mattis — Well before this week's revelations about President Trump's interactions with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Bob Woodward's new book, officials inside the White House have been actively discussing who will replace Mattis …

Discussion: Defense One, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Raw Story, Fox News Insider, AOL and Hollywood Life

Jeff Zeleny / CNN:

Woodward book prompts West Wing witch hunt, sources say — Sanders discredits Woodward book on Trump — (CNN)President Donald Trump, showing his outrage over Bob Woodward's explosive new book, is ordering a real witch hunt in the West Wing and throughout his administration …

Discussion: Daily Kos, CBS Baltimore, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Balloon Juice and Political Wire

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Attack on Woodward's Book Hits a Bump: He Actually Did Call Jeff Sessions a ‘Retard’

Discussion: Hot Air, Sputnik International and TheBlaze

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“Everybody on the Inside Knows It's True”: Woodward's Reality Bomb Is Blowing Up the West Wing

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Raw Story, Slate and Hot Air

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Woodward's Account of Trump's Mock Interview With Prosecutors Isn't Pretty

Discussion: Vox and CNN

David Siders / Politico:

‘This is the first wave of an invasion’ — Channeling their anger, progressives are staging their own tea party-style revolt. — Ordinary voters flocking to political protests. Activists channeling their anger at the president and his policies. Several otherwise safe incumbents taken down in primaries.

Discussion: illegal immigration … and Washington Free Beacon

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Want to Be the Next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Be Careful What You Wish. — Politics, like Hollywood, often looks to repeat a good thing: Find a formula that works, and stick with it. — That strategy has led Democrats across the country, in races large and small, to search for candidates …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, The Forward and Vox

Politico:
Liberal insurgency targets Delaware senator next

Discussion: The Hill

Marc Caputo / Politico:
DeSantis to name Nuñez as Florida's first Cuban-American female running mate

Discussion: Florida Politics

Eugene Scott / Washington Post:
Ayanna Pressley's victory proves it matters to Democratic primary voters ‘who those Democrats are’

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Washington Times and Daily Kos

Justin Sink / Bloomberg:

Trump Hits Campaign Trail as Prospect of Midterm Defeat Looms — Democrats need to pick up 23 seats to gain control of House — President to hold rallies in Montana, Dakotas this week — Donald Trump takes his fight to keep his party in control of Congress to the Great Plains this week …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Daily Caller:
Full Transcript Of Trump's Oval Office Interview With The Daily Caller

Discussion: HuffPost, Vox, Washington Post, CNN, IJR, Raw Story, Front Page Magazine and Mediaite

Reuters:
In quick reversal, Trump threatens shutdown over border wall

Discussion: HuffPost

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Jerome Corsi, Conspiracy Theorist, Is Subpoenaed in Mueller Investigation — Jerome Corsi, a conspiracy theorist and political commentator with connections to the former Trump adviser Roger J. Stone Jr., has been subpoenaed to testify on Friday before the grand jury in the special counsel investigation …

Discussion: Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, New York Daily News, ABC News, emptywheel, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, NBC News, Right Wing Watch, Raw Story, Washington Times and Political Wire

John Solomon / The Hill:

The Mueller probe's troubling reliance on journalists as sources — 's team has sent a subpoena to veteran writer Jerome Corsi — the first publicly known effort to compel a journalist's testimony in the Trump-Russia collusion investigation. — Corsi, whose work has been showcased for years …

Discussion: American Greatness

Johnathan Silver / Austin American-Statesman:

Unapproved O'Rourke text message asks for ‘undocumented immigrant’ vote — A person who a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke's Senate campaign said was pretending to be a “texting team” volunteer sent an unauthorized message to voters Wednesday asking them to help “transport undocumented immigrants” to the polls.

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Roll Call and New York Times

Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:

Judge orders independent candidate off the ballot in Va. congressional race, citing ‘out and out fraud’ — RICHMOND — A Richmond Circuit Court judge on Wednesday ordered independent candidate Shaun Brown removed from the ballot in Virginia's 2nd District congressional race …

Discussion: WAVY-TV, Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Splinter and Roll Call

Patrick Wilson / Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Richmond judge finds ‘out and out fraud,’ …

Discussion: LEX18.com and ThinkProgress

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Kavanaugh stumbled over two critical tripwires — More than abortion or gun control or health care, what is at stake in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh is the security of our constitutional system and the rule of law. We've not had such a Supreme Court battle …

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Kavanaugh debates and dodges on Day 2 of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico, Breitbart, SCOTUSblog, Media Matters for America, Axios and ABC News

CNN:

State Department's top candidate to lead efforts countering disinformation: A Fox News reporter — (CNN)A Fox News correspondent is a leading candidate to head the State Department agency tasked with combating propaganda and disinformation from foreign adversaries, CNN has learned.

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

NBC/Marist poll: Democrat Joe Donnelly has slight edge in Indiana Senate race — Donnelly leads 49 percent to Mike Braun's 43 percent support among likely voters in a two-way race. — WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly has a slight advantage over Republican challenger Mike Braun …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo