memeorandum: Exclusive: FBI Kept From U.S. Spy Court Russian View of Carter Page as ‘an Idiot’ (Paul Sperry/RealClearInvestigations)

10:00 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: USA Today, Washington Post, CNN, The Federalist, Weekly Standard, Wall Street Journal, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic, Townhall, The Guardian, Raw Story, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Hit & Run, Politico, Talking Points Memo, MSNBC, Breitbart, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, YouTube, Roll Call, The Intercept, Splinter, twitchy.com, Post On Politics, POLITICUSUSA, No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America, ABC News, CNBC, Althouse, Daily Wire, Axios, Newsweek, HuffPost, Vox, Real Clear Politics, The Daily Caller, The Hill, JustOneMinute, Informed Comment, The American Conservative, NY State of Politics, Al Jazeera English, Power Line, NPR, American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit, The Reality-Based Community, RedState, The Mahablog, The Poke, Rantt, The Last Refuge, Hullabaloo, The Root, FOX News Radio, Mother Jones, Patterico's Pontifications, Law & Crime, France 24, TheBlaze, CBS Chicago, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jamie Dupree - AJC, National Review, Full Feed, the way of improvement …, Above the Law, FOX31 Denver, Mashable, Lawyers, Guns & Money, BloombergQuint, abc7chicago.com, alicublog, Daily Kos, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Washington Times, New Republic, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, ImmigrationProf Blog, Fox News Insider, Sputnik International, illegal immigration …, Booman Tribune, Little Green Footballs, Instapundit, Outside the Beltway, PJ Media Home, Balloon Juice and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

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: USA Today, CNN, Washington Post, MSNBC, Raw Story, The Guardian, Hit & Run, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Political Wire, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, ABC News, Breitbart, CNBC, Townhall, Althouse and New York Times

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: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

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 …

Washington Post:

Trump's reputation precedes him. So does Woodward's. — BOB WOODWARD'S new book, “Fear,” does not paint a different picture of the early Trump White House than the one that has already emerged from credible news organizations in daily reporting on President Trump.

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, The Guardian, Breitbart and POLITICUSUSA

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 …

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: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and ABC News

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
The White House is discussing potential replacements for Jim Mattis

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, The Atlantic, CNN, Defense One, Slate, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Hot Air, Raw Story, Fox News Insider, Investor's Business Daily and AOL

Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:
Pence and Pompeo Deny Writing Op-Ed Critical of the Trump Administration

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico and Axios

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

Discussion: Washington Post, MSNBC, BloombergQuint and Vox

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
We're Watching an Antidemocratic Coup Unfold

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

Associated Press: Trump rips searing Times op-ed from unnamed senior official

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

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post and CNN

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

Discussion: Washington Post, HuffPost and Breitbart

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

Discussion: Splinter

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Leaked Documents From Kavanaugh's Time in White House Discuss Abortion and Affirmative Action — WASHINGTON — As a White House lawyer in the Bush administration, Judge Brett Kavanaugh challenged the accuracy of deeming the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to be …

Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:

Senator Ben Sasse On Day Two Of The Kavanaugh Hearings — Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Judiciary Committee, joined me this morning: — 09-06hhs-sasse — Transcript: — HH: Joined by Ben Sasse, Senator from Nebraska. Senator, welcome back.

Elana Schor / Politico:
Kavanaugh stumbles when grilled on whether he discussed Mueller probe

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, twitchy.com, Political Wire, HuffPost, SCOTUSblog and IJR

Sean Wilentz / New York Times: Why Was Kavanaugh Obsessed With Vince Foster?

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Revealed: Trump inauguration crowd photos were edited after he intervened — Exclusive: documents released to Guardian reveal government photographer cropped space ‘where crowd ended’ — A government photographer edited official pictures of Donald Trump's inauguration …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Government Photographer Edited Inauguration Pics to Make Crowd Look Bigger: Documents — A U.S. government photographer edited the official pictures of Donald Trump's January 2017 inauguration to make the crowd appear bigger, following a personal intervention from the president …

Molly Ball / TIME:

Nancy Pelosi Doesn't Care What You Think of Her. And She Isn't Going Anywhere — Nancy Pelosi stopped caring about what people think of her a long time ago, so she has no qualms about eating ice cream for breakfast with a stranger. Dark chocolate, two scoops, waffle cone.

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico: Pelosi vs. McConnell could dominate Congress in 2019

Washington Post:

Trump administration to circumvent court limits on detention of child migrants — The Trump administration said Thursday it is preparing to circumvent limits on the government's ability to hold minors in immigration jails by withdrawing from the Flores Settlement Agreement …

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 and Washington Monthly

David Siders / Politico:
‘This is the first wave of an invasion’

Discussion: Washington Post and illegal immigration …

Daily Mail:

Four UFOs are spotted flying over US president's Scottish golf course — Trump's visitors! Four UFOs are spotted flying over US president's Scottish golf course — Four UFOs were spotted flying over US President Donald Trump's golf course in Scotland. — A golf fan shared a picture …

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: HuffPost, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

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

Discussion: HuffPost

Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations:

Exclusive: FBI Kept From U.S. Spy Court Russian View of Carter Page as ‘an Idiot’ — The FBI omitted from its application to spy on Carter Page the fact that Russian spies had dismissed the former Trump campaign adviser as unreliable - or as one put it, an “idiot” - and therefore unworthy of recruiting …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Putin's ‘Friend’ Had Early Access to Trump's Infamous Pro-Russia Speech — Photos obtained by The Daily Beast show that think tank chief Dimitri Simes—whom Putin called a ‘friend and colleague’—was closer than previously known to the speech's drafting. — In the morning of April 21 …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Ellen Barry / New York Times:

From Mountain of CCTV Footage, Pay Dirt: 2 Russians Are Named in Spy Poisoning — LONDON — In March, when British detectives began their investigation into the poisoning of Sergei V. Skripal, the former Russian spy, they had little to work with but mounds of CCTV footage.

Discussion: New York Times

Danielle Decker Jones / Virginian-Pilot:

A campaign to beat cancer — YOU OR SOMEONE in your life has been touched by cancer. Ideally you have celebrated successes: the cures cooperated, science and prayer prevailed, and you or your loved one “beat cancer.” — Likely you've also witnessed someone “lose the fight” …

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: The Texas Tribune, Splinter, Dallas Morning News, New York Times and Roll Call

Mike Wall / NBC News:

Weird hexagon on Saturn is way bigger than scientists thought — The sharp-cornered structure extends a staggering 180 miles above the ringed planet's cloud tops. — The weird hexagon swirling around Saturn's north pole is much taller than scientists had thought, a new study suggests.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight

Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:

Roy Moore sues Sacha Baron Cohen, CBS and Showtime for $95 million, claiming ‘extreme emotional distress’ — Of all the absurd antics on Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series “Who is America?” — which took aim at figures such as O.J. Simpson and former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and New York Times