memeorandum: Who Is a Senior Administration Official? It Depends (Matt Flegenheimer/New York Times)

9:10 AM ET, September 7, 2018

Top Items:

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Crazytown: A Bob Woodward Book, an Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, and a Growing Crisis for the Trump Presidency — The Republican “resistance” goes public (sort of), and everyone freaks out. — On Wednesday morning, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders …

Denis Slattery / New York Daily News:

White House officials flagged Trump's behavior to psychiatrist last year — White House officials reached out to a noted Yale University psychiatrist last fall out of concern over President Trump's increasingly erratic behavior. — Dr. Bandy Lee, who edited the best-selling book …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, CANNONFIRE, Political Wire, Washington Times and Tennessean.com, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘A never-ending cycle’: Some aides work to slow-walk or ignore Trump's directives — This week's revelations of a purported “resistance” force of senior government officials acting as guardrails against President Trump — manipulating him, infantilizing him and ignoring his directives — raised the specter of a shadow administration.

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, New York Times, Axios, Metro.co.uk, CBS Boston, NewsBusters, Mashable, Front Page Magazine, Tennessee Star, Liberty Unyielding, Splinter and The American Conservative

The Daily Beast:

‘We See Ourselves as Rebels’: Trump's Internal Resistance Celebrates — There were smiles—and fear that a blockbuster New York Times op-ed could backfire on those inside the bureaucracy trying to blunt the President. — Either Wednesday's explosive New York Times op-ed becomes the start of a bigger …

Discussion: American Greatness and Liberty Unyielding

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

We are a superpower run by a simpleton — One of the major problems with President Trump's impulsivity is its utter predictability. — A recent op-ed in the New York Times by an anonymous administration official accused the president of impetuous, reckless rants, and Trump responded with impetuous, reckless rants ("TREASON?").

Discussion: RealityChek, New York Times, American Greatness, HuffPost and USA Today, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Who Is a Senior Administration Official? It Depends

Discussion: Power Line, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The Hill, HuffPost, KASW-TV, Mediaite, Breitbart and Townhall

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
Trump insists all's calm at White House after bombshell op-ed

Discussion: MSNBC, The Daily Beast and ABC News

Manu Raju / CNN:
Elizabeth Warren: Time to use 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office

Discussion: Townhall, CBS Philly, The Gateway Pundit, Bustle, Breitbart, AOL, New York Times, Axios, HuffPost, Washington Times and CBS San Francisco

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Warren calls for 25th Amendment to be invoked against Trump

Discussion: Salon, Bloomberg, The Federalist, Axios, Politico, Investor's Business Daily, Raw Story, CNBC and Breitbart

The Daily Beast:
Secret Trump Resistance Rebels Are ‘Fist-Bumping’ Each Other

Discussion: Raw Story, CBS News and The Daily Beast

Washington Post:
Trump raises the specter of impeachment at Montana rally

Discussion: Axios, Politico and Common Dreams

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Giuliani to AP: Trump will not answer obstruction questions — NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump will not answer federal investigators' questions, in writing or in person, about whether he tried to block the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Raw Story, Splinter and Mother Jones

NBC News:

Giuliani says Trump will not answer Mueller's obstruction questions — “That's a no-go. That is not going to happen,” Rudy Giuliani said. “There will be no questions at all on obstruction.” — NEW YORK — President Donald Trump will not answer federal investigators' questions …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Matthew Mosk / ABC News:
Papadopoulos to be sentenced in Russia investigation

Discussion: Political Wire

Axios:
Trump dares Mueller to subpoena him

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post and Mediaite

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

In a shift, Trump approves an indefinite military and diplomatic effort in Syria, U.S. officials say — President Trump, who just five months ago said he wanted “to get out” of Syria and bring U.S. troops home soon, has approved a new strategy for an indefinitely extended military …

Discussion: Just Security, The American Conservative and Bloomberg

Barbara Starr / CNN: Russia warns US of pending attack in Syrian area with US troops

New York Times: Trump to Preside Over U.N. Security Council, Prompting Anxiety All Around

Jenavieve Hatch / HuffPost:

Brett Kavanaugh Refers To Birth Control As ‘Abortion-Inducing Drugs’ At Confirmation Hearing — Trump's Supreme Court nominee defended his support of Priests for Life on the third day of his hearing. — On the third day of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing …

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Salon, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

HuffPost:
Here's Another Brett Kavanaugh Email Republicans Didn't Want You To See

Discussion: twitchy.com and AOL

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard: Desperate Democrats

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:

Kerri Harris, Progressives' Next Big Hope, Falls Short Against Tom Carper in Delaware — Long-term incumbent Sen. Tom Carper beat back a progressive primary challenge in his toughest race in years—and will now serve what he has said could be his last term. — The latest insurgent Democrat over-performed once again.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Another Democratic Ambush? Not in Delaware, as Carper Rebuffs Outsider's Bid

Discussion: Political Wire

The Intercept:
Kerri Harris Got More Votes Than She Thought She Needed, But it Wasn't Enough

Discussion: The Independent, HuffPost and CNBC

Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

Twitter bans Alex Jones and InfoWars — Why Facebook, YouTube and Apple are removing InfoWars content — Twitter banned far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website InfoWars from its platform Thursday afternoon, a month after several of its Silicon Valley counterparts did so.

Discussion: Breitbart, USA Today, Fox News, New York Times, RedState, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Mother Jones, National Review, Engadget, Deadline, FOX31 Denver, ThinkProgress and New Republic, more at Techmeme »

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Frustration and Finger-Pointing as G.O.P. Pulls Out of Deal Talks on Hacked Materials — WASHINGTON — House Republicans withdrew on Thursday from negotiations with Democrats over a pact that would have effectively barred both parties from using hacked or stolen material on the campaign trail this fall.

Discussion: Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Polling the 2018 Midterm Elections in Real Time — The Upshot has partnered with Siena College to poll dozens of the most competitive House and Senate races across the country. Our poll results are updated in real time, after every phone call. We hope to help you understand how polling works, and why it sometimes doesn't.

Discussion: Political Wire

David Crow / Financial Times:

Opioid billionaire granted patent for addiction treatment — A billionaire pharmaceuticals executive who has been blamed for spurring the US opioid crisis stands to profit from the epidemic after he patented a new treatment for drug addicts. — Richard Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma …

Discussion: STAT

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump: American flag needed in moon docudrama — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): — President Donald Trump says a docudrama about the moon landing would have been a “much bigger success” had it shown the planting of the American flag.

Discussion: Politico and Breitbart

Daily Mail:

Boris Johnson splits with lawyer wife Marina after she accuses him of ANOTHER ‘fling’ — Boris Johnson splits with lawyer wife of 25 years Marina after she accuses him of ANOTHER fling and his daughter brands him a ‘selfish b*****d’ — Boris Johnson has been kicked out of his marital home …

Wall Street Journal:

Iran Defies U.S. Bid to Curb Its Middle East Influence — Tehran has kept up the flow of arms and financial support to proxy forces even as Washington pressures Iran's economy — Iran is signaling that it will buck U.S. efforts to roll back its military presence in the Middle East …

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Economy adds more jobs than expected in August, and wage growth hits post-recession high — Nonfarm payrolls grew by 201,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected a 191,000 increase.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and NTK Network

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Dead even: AJC/Channel 2 poll shows Georgia governor's race is tied — The race for Georgia governor couldn't be closer just two months before the election, as an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll showed Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp deadlocked at 45 percent.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Political Wire

CBS Pittsburgh:

College Removes Uniforms Featuring Nike Logo To Protest Kaepernick Deal — (AP) — The endorsement deal between Nike and Colin Kaepernick prompted a flood of debate Tuesday. It was a trending topic on Twitter and other social networks, with some fans urging a boycott of the company's clothes …

Discussion: Daily Wire, RedState and CBS Sacramento

John Wagner / Washington Post:

'I don't talk the way I am quoted': Trump offers fresh criticism of Woodward book — President Trump took fresh aim Friday at Bob Woodward's forthcoming book on his presidency, calling it “a scam” and disputing quotes attributed to him. — “I don't talk the way I am quoted,” Trump said in a tweet.

Discussion: Politico, Sputnik International, Political Wire and AOL

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

At rally, Trump brings up ‘the impeachment word’ to embolden voters ahead of midterms — The president also accused the The New York Times of “treason” for recently publishing an opinion piece by an unnamed administration official. — BILLINGS, Mont. — Republicans have to show up to the polls …

Discussion: MSNBC, Talking Points Memo and HuffPost

New York Times:

Jumaane Williams Is Democrats' Best Bet for Lieutenant Governor — The City Council member from Brooklyn can bring welcome change to Albany. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Trump crosses a new threshold for anti-media rhetoric, jokingly praising a congressman for assaulting a reporter — This post has been updated. — President Trump on Thursday night ratcheted up his not-so-veiled attacks on the media, making light of an assault perpetrated by a Republican member …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

Trump: I ‘most likely’ won't shut down government over border wall — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he “most likely” will not shut down the government before this November's midterm elections over funding for his promised border wall, backing down somewhat from comments he made earlier …

Discussion: Political Wire