Top Items:
Washington Post:
Conservatives mount a whisper campaign smearing Khashoggi in defense of Trump — Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a dark whisper campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident …
Discussion:
Power Line, CNN, The Atlantic, Breitbart, Shareblue Media, Salon, Common Dreams, Hullabaloo, Shakesville, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Spectator USA, Front Page Magazine, San Diego Free Press, Joe.My.God., VICE News, Mother Jones, The Week, Axios, Bloomberg, HuffPost, NBC News, New York Times, Media Matters for America, Political Wire and TIME
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Washington Post:
Mnuchin still plans to attend Saudi anti-terror financing meeting after Khashoggi disappearance — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to take part in an anti-terror finance meeting with Saudi security officials and their Middle Eastern counterparts in Riyadh later this month …
Discussion:
Axios and Joe.My.God.
Reuters:
As Khashoggi crisis grows, Saudi king asserts authority, checks son's power: sources — DUBAI (Reuters) - So grave is the fallout from the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that King Salman has felt compelled to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family said.
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro Accuses Kushner of Orchestrating Khashoggi Killing — Without evidence, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), a member of the House intelligence committee, said Jared Kushner might have passed a “hit list” to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulting …
Discussion:
twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
A President Who Believes He Is Entitled to His Own Facts — WASHINGTON — He accepts less-than-credible denials from autocratic heads of state about nefarious acts. He disputes the existence of man-made climate change and insists that photographic evidence of the crowd at his inauguration is fake, part of a media plot to harm him.
Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
Khashoggi's alleged murder says as much about America as Saudi Arabia — The apparent barbaric killing of Jamal Khashoggi tells us something important about Saudi Arabia. But it also tells us something important about the United States. — First, Saudi Arabia.
Discussion:
LifeZette, The Nation, Breitbart, Middle East Eye and Vox
Ian Pannell / ABC News:
Pompeo listened to an alleged recording of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Turkish Source — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard an alleged audio recording of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a senior Turkish official.
Discussion:
Just Security, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, The Week, CNN, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Al Jazeera English, Breitbart, National Review and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
NBC News:
Trump's closing argument is full of conspiracy theories and brute force. And it just might work. — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — In the final days …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Washington Post, Politico and Political Wire
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Republicans smear murdered journalist to cover for Trump — Trump's allies are orchestrating a smear campaign against Jamal Khashoggi to take the heat off Trump for his failure to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. — In a sick new form of victim-blaming, Republicans and right-wing pundits …
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, Mashable and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »
Jonathan Schanzer / The Atlantic:
The Experts Were Wrong About the Middle East
Discussion:
The American Conservative, Breitbart, The Federalist and New York Times
Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:
Trump praises Gianforte for assault on Guardian reporter: 'He's my guy'
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
As we mourn a colleague, Trump celebrates violence against a journalist
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, CNN and The Federalist
Haley Britzky / Axios:
Top Democrats want fundamental changes in U.S.-Saudi relationship
Discussion:
Breitbart and One America News Network
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Praises Republican Criminal for Attacking Journalist
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Media Matters for America and The Globe Post
Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
'That's My Kind of Guy,' Trump Says of Republican Lawmaker Who Body-Slammed a Reporter
Discussion:
The Guardian, Media Matters for America, Politico, The Week and Joe.My.God.
CNN:
GOP Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who felt traumatized by unwanted touching — GOP rep. defends prior comments on ‘slut’ women — (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who were traumatized by unwanted sexual advances, including those inappropriately kissed …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Observer, Boing Boing, Raw Story and Political Wire
Annie Karni / Politico:
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hillary? — She's not going away—and Democrats aren't sure what to do about it. — In recent months, some reporters who cover the Trump White House have received phone calls from the last person they would expect: Hillary Clinton.
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Uh Oh: Woman Claims “Unwanted” Sexual Advance By Senate Dem In “Late 1980s” — Shall we go by the old rules or the new rules? Rep. Jim Renacci's (R-OH) Senate campaign has highlighted a claim by an anonymous woman that incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) might have sexually harassed or assaulted her in the late 1980s.
Discussion:
Roll Call and Cincinnati.com
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Andrew J. Tobias / Plain Dealer:
Jim Renacci issues statement from lawyer alleging Sherrod Brown made ‘unwanted, sudden’ …
Discussion:
Cincinnati.com, RedState, Washington Times, Daily Wire, Roll Call, Political Wire, twitchy.com and TheBlaze
Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Haley breaks with Trump: ‘In America, our political opponents are not evil’ — Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley insisted Thursday night that “in America, our political opponents are not evil,” a shark rhetorical break from her boss, President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Althouse, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABC News
RELATED:
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump considering Richard Grenell for U.N. ambassador
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Joe.My.God.
Katie Benner / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Rank-and-File Tell of Discontent Over Sessions's Approach — WASHINGTON — During his 20 months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has swept in perhaps the most dramatic political shift in memory at the Justice Department, from the civil rights-centered agenda of the Obama era …
Discussion:
The Week, Law & Crime and Raw Story
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Georgia Is Using Amateur Handwriting Analysis to Disenfranchise Minority Voters — The scourge of “signature mismatch” laws strikes again. — Say you live in Georgia. You're eager to vote in this year's election—a tight race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Trump acolyte Brian Kemp …
Discussion:
WhoWhatWhy, New York Times and Raw Story
RELATED:
The Guardian:
I pulled a 1,500-year-old sword out of a lake — People are saying I am the queen of Sweden because of the legend of King Arthur — Every summer, my parents, my six-year-old brother and I go to stay in a cabin by a lake called Vidöstern in Tånnö in southern Sweden, not far from where we live.
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas / Brookings:
Record-setting White House staff turnover continues with news of Counsel's departure — With the recent departure of White House Counsel, Don McGahn (and premature announcement of his successor, Pat Cipollone), turnover within the most senior level of White House staff members bumped up to 83 percent.
Discussion:
Axios and Washington Post
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Naomi Jagoda / The Hill:
Harris rolls out bill to create new middle class tax credit — Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Thursday rolled out a proposal to create a new refundable tax credit for low- and middle-income individuals and families — the latest economic policy proposal from the potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Discussion:
twitchy.com
RELATED:
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment — And be forewarned that the special counsel's findings may never be made public. — President Donald Trump's critics have spent the past 17 months anticipating what some expect will be among the most thrilling events of their lives …
Discussion:
USA Today
Joe Concha / The Hill:
CNN's Acosta sends private message to former Melania Trump aide: ‘F— you’ — CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta sent a direct message to a Twitter follower that read “F— you” after being mocked on the social media platform on Thursday night.
Discussion:
RedState, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire and The Root
RELATED:
Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:
CNN's Jim Acosta Sends Vulgar Twitter DM To Former Trump Staffer
Discussion:
WayneDupree.com, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and Mediaite
Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:
Fake intern who recorded McCaskill campaign had access to voter info, campaign says — A conservative activist with Project Veritas posed as an intern with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign and had access to voter information, according to a stack of documents McCaskill's lawyer delivered …
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Alan Fram / Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: Just 1 in 4 thinks Kavanaugh told entire truth — WASHINGTON (AP) — Just 1 in 4 people thinks Brett Kavanaugh was completely honest when as a Supreme Court nominee he gave sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, with Republicans and Democrats holding …
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
Fentanyl smuggled from China is killing thousands of Americans — The Zheng drug trafficking organization was hardly clandestine. The Shanghai-based network sold synthetic narcotics, including deadly fentanyl, on websites posted in 35 languages, from Arabic and English to Icelandic and Uzbek.
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
For a Change, Democrats Seem Set to Equal or Exceed Republicans in Turnout — Polls show enthusiasm surging in many mostly white suburban districts, but less so among young and nonwhite voters. — A wide range of evidence indicates that Democratic voters are poised to vote in numbers unseen …
Akela Lacy / The Intercept:
South Carolina Is Lobbying to Allow Discrimination Against Jewish Parents — The Trump administration is considering whether to grant a South Carolina request that would effectively allow faith-based foster care agencies in the state the ability to deny Jewish parents from fostering children in its network.
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
What does Trump's ascendance mean about America? — It is a sign of the times — the kind involving the seven-horned beast, and the rain of fire, and the end of days — that recent news has been dominated by Kanye, Stormy and the misogynist boor who is president of the United States.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
Putin touts downfall of US as a global leader: 'It's almost done' — Putin used his annual public address to celebrate America's fading global influence under the Trump administration. — In his annual public address before the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Financial Times and HuffPost
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