memeorandum: Trump talked up Russia during now-revealed secret Moscow project talks (Greg Sargent/Washington Post)

9:10 AM ET, November 30, 2018

Top Items:

The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower Moscow — President Donald Trump's company planned to give a $50 million penthouse at Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the company negotiated the luxury real estate development during …

Washington Post:

‘Individual 1’: Trump emerges as a central subject of Mueller probe — In two major developments this week, President Trump has been labeled in the parlance of criminal investigations as a major subject of interest, complete with an opaque legal code name: “Individual 1.”

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Trump Was Totally Caught Off Guard by the Cohen Plea”: Inside Trumpworld, Some Fear Mueller Has Laid a Perjury Trap — Rudy Giuliani is frustrated at Mueller's tactics. The White House is in a defensive crouch. “It's an untethered situation,” a person close to the president said.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and ThinkProgress

Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:

Mueller eyes Ivanka and Don Jr.'s work on Trump Tower Moscow — WASHINGTON - Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into President Donald Trump's efforts to build a skyscraper in Moscow has led him to ask questions about the role two of the president's children played in attempting …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Just Security, POLITICUSUSA, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Lawfare, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Boing Boing, Vox and BuzzFeed News

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Conservatives, Prepare Yourself Now for What Mueller May Find — How we react in the aftermath of the special counsel's findings will determine the future of the Republican Party and, possibly, the country. — Matt Lewis — Things are speeding up in Robert Mueller's universe.

Discussion: Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump talked up Russia during now-revealed secret Moscow project talks — Thanks to a new plea agreement that Michael Cohen has reached with the special counsel, we now know that Donald Trump and his company were pursuing a real estate deal in Russia up until June 2016 …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Lawfare and Mediaite

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Trump Is Compromised by Russia — Michael Cohen's latest plea is proof. — One of the chief questions in the Trump-Russia scandal has been whether Vladimir Putin has leverage over the president of the United States, and, if so, what that leverage looks like.

Discussion: Daily Kos, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, CNN and Mediaite

Garrett M. Graff / Axios:

The new clues we have about where the Mueller investigation is going — Garrett M. Graff — author of a book focused on Mueller, and one of the investigation's best narrators — writes for Axios that we now have a host of new clues to Mueller coming attractions.

Discussion: ABC News

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Trump's inner circle has always been a cesspool — President Trump recently tweeted: “Did you ever see an investigation more in search of a crime?” — It is usually a bad idea to raise a rhetorical question when the answer is both obvious and unfavorable.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Federalist

David French / National Review:

Trump's Unacceptable Campaign Conduct and Two Other Takeaways from the Cohen Plea — Today, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen surprised America by pleading guilty to lying to Congress. You can read the complete criminal information here, but the summary is simple.

Discussion: Vox and Viking Pundit

Greg Farrell / Bloomberg: Cohen's Plea Suggests Russians Held ‘Kompromat’ on Trump

Emma Loop / BuzzFeed News:
House Intelligence Committee Will Investigate Trump Company's Plan To Give Putin A $50 Million Penthouse

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Trump's Recall of Moscow Deal Matches Cohen's, President's Lawyers Say

Discussion: Wired, Vox, The Guardian, RedState, CNBC, Law & Crime, Splinter, Mother Jones, New Republic, TheBlaze, Townhall, Axios, Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Above the Law, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Outside the Beltway

Gabby Orr / Politico:
Mueller stalks Trump abroad — again

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, One America News Network, Political Wire, CNBC and Raw Story

New York Times:
How a Lawyer, a Felon and a Russian General Chased a Moscow Trump Tower Deal

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Intercept, Breitbart, Hit & Run, Axios and Taylor Marsh

Politico:
‘The perfect witness’: Dems want Cohen to testify on the Hill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and HuffPost

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
The Legal Perils That Michael Cohen's Guilty Plea Poses for Donald Trump

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, Law & Crime, National Review, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice and The Intellectualist

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
In Argentina, Trump keeps Mueller on his mind

Discussion: Washington Post and Axios

Ken White / The Atlantic:
Three Remarkable Things About Michael Cohen's Plea

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Patterico's Pontifications, Law & Crime and Hot Air

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:
Donald Trump Gave Russia Leverage Over His Presidency

Discussion: Vox

Wall Street Journal:
Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty to Lying to Congress About Effort to Build Moscow Tower

Discussion: CNN, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Canceling Planned Meeting With Russia's Putin Over Ukraine Situation

Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Daily News: Manafort lawyers fed confidential Mueller probe info to Trump's legal team, Giuliani says, raising criminal concerns

Washington Post:
‘We will be in Moscow’: The story of Trump's 30-year quest to expand his brand to Russia

Discussion: Sputnik International, One America News Network, Raw Story, VICE News, Law & Crime, ABC News, Vox, Breitbart, New Republic, Little Green Footballs and Splinter

New York Times:

Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros — Sheryl Sandberg asked Facebook's communications staff to research George Soros's financial interests in the wake of his high-profile attacks on tech companies, according to three people with knowledge of her request …

Discussion: Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Gizmodo, Engadget, Boing Boing, Politico, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Mashable and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Sheryl Sandberg Requested Research On Billionaire George Soros

Discussion: Financial Times

The State:

Scott to oppose Farr nomination to federal bench in NC, ending chances of confirmation — Sen. Tim Scott said Thursday he will oppose the nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bench, assuring the controversial pick will not be confirmed. — The South Carolina Republican was the deciding vote …

Elana Schor / Politico:
Senate Republicans unload on Flake

Discussion: Vox, Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Jessica Taylor / NPR:
Trump Judicial Nominee Set To Fail Amid Voter Suppression Charges

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox and Politico

Marriott News Center:

Marriott Announces Starwood Guest Reservation Database Security Incident — Marriott has taken measures to investigate and address a data security incident involving the Starwood guest reservation database. On November 19, 2018, the investigation determined that there was unauthorized access …

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Motherboard, Engadget, The Verge, CBS Pittsburgh, Techaeris, answers.kroll.com, FOX 61, VICE News and CBS Boston, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Marriott Says Up to 500 Million Affected by Starwood Breach — Information in the breach includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, and travel details — Marriott International Inc. said it has found a data breach in its Starwood guest reservation system …

Washington Post:

Trump scores political win with signing of new North American trade pact at G-20, but deal still faces a hurdle in Congress — BUENOS AIRES — President Trump celebrated a major political win Friday, joining the leaders of the Mexican and Canadian governments in signing a new North American trade deal …

Politico:
NAFTA 2.0 is signed — but it's far from finished

Discussion: One America News Network

Washington Post:

Certification in limbo in N.C. House race as fraud investigation continues — Mounting evidence of voter fraud in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District could indefinitely delay the certification of a winner, as state election officials investigate whether hundreds of absentee ballots were illegally cast or destroyed.

Discussion: HuffPost

Jim Morrill / The Charlotte Observer: ‘Tangled web’ in Bladen County has questions swirling about votes in the 9th District

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

On the Trump-Mood Beat — But Why? — “Let's start with the state of Donald Trump,” Fox News's Chris Wallace said at the outset of the president's latest on-camera interview, on Nov. 17, in the manner of a support-group facilitator pausing for a little check-in before an unpacking of recent events.

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Google Employees Debated Burying Conservative Media In Search — Google employees debated whether to bury The Daily Caller and other conservative media outlets in the company's search function as a response to President Donald Trump's election — “Let's make sure …

Discussion: RedState

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Ryan casts doubt on ‘bizarre’ California election results — Weeks after House Republicans lost their majority, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday cast serious doubts about the “bizarre” election system in California, where it appears that seven GOP-held seats will flip to Democratic control.

Discussion: Sacramento Bee, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, Shareblue Media, IJR and Los Angeles Times

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan isn't saying there was voter fraud in California. But . . .

Discussion: The Federalist, Townhall, Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Press, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times and CNN

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Federal Employees Are Warned Not to Discuss Trump ‘Resistance’ at Work — WASHINGTON — At workplaces across the United States, it is routine for Americans' conversations to turn to President Trump — whether his policies are good, whether he should be impeached, what to think about the “resistance.”

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA