memeorandum: U.S. military drawing up options should Syria use chemical weapons (Phil Stewart/Reuters)

8:40 AM ET, September 8, 2018

Top Items:

David Brock / NBC News:

David Brock I knew Brett Kavanaugh during his years as a Republican operative. Don't let him sit on the Supreme Court. — We were part of a close circle of cynical hard-right operatives being groomed for much bigger things. — Created with Sketch. — I used to know Brett Kavanaugh pretty well.

Lisa Graves / Slate:

I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About — Much of Washington has spent the week focusing on whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed to the Supreme Court. After the revelations of his confirmation hearings, the better question is whether …

Discussion: Vox, New York Times, Daily Kos, twitchy.com, SARAH PALIN, Above the Law, News One, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HuffPost, Mother Jones and Common Dreams

Grant Stern / The Dworkin Report:

This is why we just filed a criminal complaint against Brett Kavanaugh — Scott Dworkin explains why he and the Democratic Coalition filed a criminal complaint to the US Department of Justice against Judge Brett Kavanaugh with the legal counsel of Massachusetts lawyer J. Whitfield Larrabee.

David French / National Review:
The Character Assassination of Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, Slate and twitchy.com

Reason:
What Should Have Happened at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing

Discussion: Hit & Run

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
John Dean: If Kavanaugh's confirmed, a president who shoots someone on Fifth Avenue can't be prosecuted in office

Discussion: Vox and MSNBC

Nikki Haley / Washington Post:

When I challenge the president, I do it directly. My anonymous colleague should have, too. — Nikki Haley is U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. — We have enough issues to deal with in the world, so it's unfortunate to have to take time to write this, but I feel compelled to address …

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“He's Destroying Your Presidency”: In the Op-Ed Aftermath, Javanka Quickly Blamed John Kelly and His Deputy—And a New Suspect Emerges — With Trump “punch-drunk,” Ivanka and Jared Kushner are taking the lead in the mole hunt—and they've set their sights on an old enemy. — BY - GABRIEL SHERMANSeptember 7, 2018,

Discussion: Washington Monthly, DC Tribune, New York Post, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, American Prospect, New York Magazine and Hit & Run

CNN:

White House aides narrow search for anonymous op-ed writer to a few people, source says — (CNN)Aides to President Donald Trump believe they have the search for the anonymous author of the New York Times op-ed that shook the political world down to a few individuals, a source close to the White House told CNN on Friday.

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Political Wire and IJR

William Saletan / Slate:
The Obvious Suspect — The quest to unmask the New York Times …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, Washington Times and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »

MJ Lee / CNN:

Michael Cohen seeks to tear up Stormy Daniels deal, wants money back — (CNN)Michael Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants, filed a status report Friday evening agreeing to tear up the original 2016 agreement with adult film star Stormy Daniels, in which Cohen arranged to pay her $130,000 …

Discussion: Political Wire and Mediaite

Josh Gerstein / Politico: Michael Cohen seeks to unwind hush money deal with Stormy Daniels

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:
Michael Cohen firm seeks to void nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels

Discussion: HuffPost

Justin Miller / The Daily Beast:

Elliott Broidy's Mistress Shera Bechard Says He Demanded She Get Abortion — Shera Bechard also accused Elliott Broidy of having unprotected sex with her—'without telling her he had genital herpes.' Broidy denies the claims. — Lachlan Cartwright — A major Republican fundraiser allegedly demanded …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Marshall Cohen / CNN:

Papadopoulos breaks silence, 'can't guarantee' he didn't tell Trump campaign about Russian dirt — Watch Jake Tapper's exclusive interview with the ex-Trump campaign aide in CNN Special Report “The Mysterious Case of George Papadopoulos” Friday at 11 p.m. ET.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Vox, ThinkProgress and The Hill

New York Times:
Excerpts From the New York Times Interview With George Papadopoulos

Discussion: Raw Story and illegal immigration …

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller: Papadopoulos Stint In Jail Will Be A Lot Less Than He Expected — And A Lot Less Than Mueller Wanted

New York Times:
George Papadopoulos, Trump Campaign Adviser, Is Sentenced to 14 Days in Jail

Discussion: CNBC, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Common Dreams, Hit & Run, Shareblue Media, twitchy.com, Politico and Political Wire

Andrew Kirell / The Daily Beast:

We Found the ‘Plaid Shirt Guy’ Who Trolled Trump's Rally With Hilarious Faces — The plaid-clad man who flashed puzzled grins behind Trump's back is a 17-year-old student and self-described social democrat. The Daily Beast spoke with him about his wild night.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding, BuzzFeed News and Daily Wire

Mike Kordenbrock / Billings Gazette:

plaidshirtguy at Trump rally is ... a Billings high schooler — Billings West High School senior Tyler Linfesty learned Thursday morning during first period that he had been selected for VIP treatment at President Donald J. Trump's rally at MetraPark. — Linfesty had applied for tickets to the rally earlier in the week.

Bloomberg:

Manafort Weighing Plea Deal to Avoid New Criminal Trial, Source Says — Talks said to center on possible admissions, sentencing length — Ex-Trump campaign chief was convicted in Virginia last month — Paul Manafort's lawyers have talked to U.S. prosecutors about a possible guilty plea …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Bloomberg:

Trump Executives Face U.S. Campaign-Finance Probe, Source Says — Manhattan prosecutors continue inquiry after Cohen guilty plea — What did Weisselberg know and sign off on as company's CFO? — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether anyone …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Law & Crime, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Political Wire and electionlawblog.org

BuzzFeed News:

Apple Just Permanently Banned Infowars' App From The App Store — A day after being banned from Twitter, Alex Jones and Infowars have been booted from yet another platform: Apple's popular App Store. As of Friday evening, searches on the App Store for Infowars return no results.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, Engadget and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Conspiracy Theories Made Alex Jones Very Rich. They May Bring Him Down

Discussion: Refinery29, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers — The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, according to American officials …

Discussion: KABE-LP

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

None of You Idiots Is Spartacus — Our politics are getting dumber because we're defining ourselves by the caricatures of our enemies. … Dear Reader (Including all of you at Kasowitz, Benson & Torres to whom I may or may not have spoken about the Mueller investigation),

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and Tennessee Star

Joe Schneider / Bloomberg:

DNC Lawyers Raise Prospect That Papadopoulos's U.K. Contact May Be Dead — On the day Donald Trump's former foreign-policy adviser George Papadopoulos was sentenced to two weeks in jail for lying to investigators about his contacts with a U.K. professor peddling dirt from Russian officials …

Chris Morris / Fortune:

Colin Kaepernick Campaign Gives Nike a Big Sales Boost — Nike's selection of Colin Kaepernick as one of the new faces of the company has certainly brought media attention and controversy, but it's also having a noticeable effect on the bottom line. — A new report from Edison Trends …

Discussion: ProFootballTalk and illegal immigration …

Ciara Linnane / MarketWatch:
Nike's online sales jumped 31% after company unveiled Kaepernick campaign, data show

Discussion: Bloomberg, Dazed, HuffPost, Raw Story, TheBlaze and DC Tribune

Daniel McCarthy / Test Feed Using Fields:

A Mutiny Amid the Republican Party? … One man does not a revolution make, even when that man is the president of the United States. Donald Trump has shaken up Washington as no one else has in living memory. But within his own administration, he faces stiff resistance.

Damian Paletta / Washington Post:

Ryan, McConnell try to coax Trump away from shutdown — using props and flattery — The top two Republicans in Congress arrived at the White House this week armed with props aimed at flattering and cajoling President Trump out of shutting down the government at the end of this month.

Discussion: CNBC

The Seattle Times:

Amazon has patented a system that would put workers in a cage, on top of a robot — Amazon said it never implemented the technology described in the patent, granted in 2016, and has no plans to. — A patent Amazon has received would pair humans and machines. In this case, the humans would be in a cage.

Discussion: Althouse

Daniel Dale / Toronto Star:

Trump warns he could cause the ‘ruination’ of Canada — WASHINGTON— Returning to his bellicose trade rhetoric, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Friday that he would cause the “ruination” of Canada if he imposed tariffs on Canadian-made cars. — Trump issued the threat during another …

Discussion: New Republic

Victor Skinner / The American Mirror:

HE'S BACK! Obama refers to himself 102 times during 64-minute speech — Former President Barack Obama visited The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Friday to accept the school's ethics in government award, and to offer his take on “the state of our democracy.”

Discussion: HuffPost and AOL

Hilary Leichter / The Cut:

I Refused to Write Steve Bannon's Bio for The New Yorker Festival — I've been on this planet for 33 years, and I have had more than that many jobs. Most recently, I worked on the upcoming season of The New Yorker Festival. — When you have many jobs, you get asked to do many strange things.

Daily Mail:

Trump says he could use MILITARY to build his wall if Congress won't fund it through DHS — Trump says he could use the MILITARY to build his wall if Congress won't fund it through Homeland Security's budget - and he won't rule out another government shutdown to get his way

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and illegal immigration …

Robert Duncan / americamagazine.org:

Vatican officials knew of McCarrick allegations in 2000, letter confirms — VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A top official from the Vatican Secretariat of State acknowledged allegations made by a New York priest in 2000 concerning Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, according to a letter obtained by Catholic News Service.

U.S. Department of Justice:

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition Of Alleged Russian Hacker Responsible For Massive Network Intrusions At U.S. Financial Institutions, Brokerage Firms, A Major News Publication, And Other Companies — Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York …

Discussion: Motherboard, more at Techmeme »