Top Items:
CNN:
Exclusive: Mueller investigators questioned John Kelly in obstruction probe — Washington (CNN)White House chief of staff John Kelly was interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team in recent months, three people with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, CNBC, Law & Crime, Joe.My.God., emptywheel, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Mediaite
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Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
White House chief of staff John Kelly expected to resign soon — Washington (CNN)John Kelly is expected to resign as White House chief of staff in the coming days, two sources familiar with the situation unfolding in the West Wing tell CNN. — Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
KBZK, Breitbart, ABC News, The Root, Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The Week, Politico, Balloon Juice and Jezebel
Axios:
Trump's trio of traps ahead of 2020 — President Trump faces three clear and imminent threats as he heads toward his 2020 reelection race — the economy slipping, Congress flipping and a Russia probe drip, drip, dripping. And few inside the White House feel he is yet prepared or staffed for the hell about to hit them.
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, The Resurgent, KTLA, Joe.My.God., FOX6Now.com, Raw Story, Breitbart and One America News Network
Wall Street Journal:
Kelly Is Expected to Leave Post as Trump Shakes Up Administration — Move comes amid new nominations for U.N. ambassador, attorney general — WASHINGTON—Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to leave his post soon, people close to the White House said, as President Trump begins putting …
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘It violates the law’: Tillerson vents about having to repeatedly push back against Trump — Nearly nine months after his unceremonious firing by tweet, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is breaking his silence on his time in the Trump administration, venting that he had to repeatedly …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Vivian Salama / Wall Street Journal:
As Trade Battle Unfolds, Trump Keeps Close Focus on Markets
As Trade Battle Unfolds, Trump Keeps Close Focus on Markets
Discussion:
CNBC, Test Feed Using Fields, The Week and Raw Story
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed News:
The Justice Department Still Hasn't Told The Government Accountability Office That Jeff Sessions Quit
The Justice Department Still Hasn't Told The Government Accountability Office That Jeff Sessions Quit
Discussion:
Political Wire
Sergio Chapa / Houston Chronicle:
Rex Tillerson makes rare public appearance in Houston — Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections, former Secretary of State and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said during a Thursday evening visit to Houston. — Making his first public appearance in nearly nine months …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, CNN, Vox, The Daily Beast, Axios, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Washington Times
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Rex Tillerson on Trump: ‘Undisciplined,’ 'doesn't like to read' and tries to do illegal things — Rex Tillerson came a little bit closer Thursday to saying what he actually thinks of President Trump. — The fired secretary of state, who while in office reportedly called Trump a “moron” …
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News, Mother Jones, New Republic, Joe.My.God., Above the Law and Boing Boing
Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Tillerson says he often had to tell Trump that his directive ‘violates the law’
CNN:
Inside the frantic decision to open a Trump obstruction probe before Mueller got the job — Washington (CNN)In the hectic eight days after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and top FBI officials viewed Trump as a leader who needed to be reined in …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Instapundit, KBZK, Washington Times, Breitbart, Raw Story and The Week
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Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Poll: Republicans Are Only Group That Mostly Sees Mueller Probe As A ‘Witch Hunt’
Ryan Lucas / NPR:
The Mueller Russia Investigation: A Full Docket Of Developments Set For Friday
The Mueller Russia Investigation: A Full Docket Of Developments Set For Friday
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost and Raw Story
Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
President Trump to address law enforcement conference
President Trump to address law enforcement conference
Discussion:
Townhall, Chicks On The Right and Breitbart
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Robert Mueller's big Friday: The special counsel is set to release new details about former …
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Mueller to Reveal New Details in Manafort and Cohen Inquiries
Mueller to Reveal New Details in Manafort and Cohen Inquiries
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Mediaite and IJR
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Mueller's new filings on Manafort and Cohen could reveal more about the investigation
Mueller's new filings on Manafort and Cohen could reveal more about the investigation
Discussion:
Washington Post
New York Times:
North Carolina Republican Owes $34,310 for Disputed Absentee Ballot and Turnout Work, Records Show — LUMBERTON, N.C. — The congressional campaign of Mark Harris disclosed late Thursday night that it owed more than $34,000 in connection with an absentee ballot and voter turnout operation …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Daily Kos, WRAL-TV, Jamie Dupree, The Charlotte Observer and Washington Post
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Dylan Scott / Vox:
What we know about the alleged ballot tampering plot in North Carolina
What we know about the alleged ballot tampering plot in North Carolina
Discussion:
Politico, HuffPost, The Daily Signal and BuzzFeed News
Bloomberg:
Trump to Pick Nauert to Replace Haley as UN Ambassador, Sources Say — Nauert has been State Department spokeswoman, Fox News anchor — Maintaining North Korea sanctions, defending Israel key jobs — President Donald Trump has decided to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert …
Discussion:
Washington Post, NPR, Joe.My.God., Politico, CNN, Chicks On The Right, Axios, CNBC, Fox News, IJR, Outside the Beltway, twitchy.com, Townhall, HuffPost, New York Post and Washington Times
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Wall Street Journal:
Only the Best Candidates for Federal Courts — We should stop bringing candidates with questionable track records on race before the full Senate for a vote. — Over the past two years the Senate has confirmed a record number of judicial nominees. I have proudly voted for more than 99% of them …
Discussion:
Vox, Talking Points Memo and Politico
Emily Jashinsky / The Federalist:
Kevin Hart Missed A Big Opportunity To Stare Down The Outrage Mob — Kevin Hart should be hosting the Oscars. But now he won't, because of homosexuality-related jokes he made a decade ago. — Kevin Hart was supposed to host the Oscars. The comedian was tapped by the Academy on Tuesday to preside over February's ceremony.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Chicks On The Right and USA Today
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Kristopher Tapley / Variety:
Kevin Hart Refuses to Apologize, Despite Academy Ultimatum, for Past Anti-Gay Comments
Kevin Hart Refuses to Apologize, Despite Academy Ultimatum, for Past Anti-Gay Comments
Discussion:
Hot Air, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., Instapundit, FOX6Now.com, FOX31 Denver, Sputnik International, The Root, Full Feed, TMZ.com and The Week
Washington Post:
German conservatives pick a Merkel ally to be party leader, signaling continuity and a long goodbye — HAMBURG, Germany — Germany's conservatives on Friday picked Chancellor Angela Merkel's preferred successor as party leader, delivering Merkel a badly needed victory that solidifies her legacy …
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Miriam Jordan / New York Times:
Victorina Morales Spoke Out Against President Trump. What Price Will She Pay? — Victorina Morales, a housekeeper at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., disclosed in an interview with The New York Times this week that she had been working illegally at the facility for more than five years.
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Anti-Zionism Isn't the Same as Anti-Semitism — American Jews have nothing to fear from the new congressional critics of Israel. — On Monday, in an interview with The Intercept, Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat who in November became the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress …
BBC:
TUI refunds holiday for ‘horrifying’ dead son tribute — Hotel staff created a “horrifying” effigy of a couple's dead son in a misguided attempt at a tribute. — Karen Baker had arranged for workers at a Jamaican resort to dress a room for friends Faye and Andrew Stephens, whose son Alex died in 2014.
Salvador Hernandez / BuzzFeed News:
Ammon Bundy Is Quitting The Militia Movement After Breaking With Trump On Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric — For more than six years Ammon Bundy and his family amassed hundreds of followers and supporters willing to pick up a gun at a moment's notice and rally to their side for a confrontation with the federal government.
Carla Marinucci / Politico:
State GOP chairman warns California is ‘canary in the coal mine’ for national party — SAN FRANCISCO — The outgoing chair of the California GOP — the nation's largest state Republican Party — has issued a dire warning that his state represents “the canary in the coal mine” …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Fredreka Schouten / CNN:
Beto O'Rourke lands big Obama fundraiser — but many elite donors are playing the field in 2020 — WaPo: Obama met with Beto O'Rourke last month — (CNN)One of the Democratic Party's most prolific fundraisers says he has pledged to raise campaign money for rising political star Beto O'Rourke …
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Federal Judge: Hillary E-Mail Dodge “One Of The Gravest Modern Offenses To Government Transparency” — Yes, Virginia, there actually is a corruption scandal in Hillary Clinton's e-mail choices — or at least that's what Judge Royce Lamberth thinks. In allowing a lawsuit by Judicial Watch to continue …
Discussion:
Politico
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Readies Charges Against Chinese Hackers — Government-linked hackers allegedly engaged in a multiyear scheme to break into U.S. technology service providers — Federal prosecutors are expected to unseal criminal charges as soon as next week against hackers linked to the Chinese government …
Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
I'm not calling to revive WASP culture. Just to learn from it. — The death of George H.W. Bush has occasioned a fair amount of nostalgia for the old American establishment, of which Bush was undoubtedly a prominent member. It has also provoked a heated debate among commentators about that establishment …
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump to nominate William Barr as attorney general — President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to nominate former Attorney General William Barr to his old job, naming a formal replacement for Jeff Sessions after ousting him last month and inserting a new controversial figure …
Discussion:
Esquire, New Republic, Mother Jones, ABC News, Axios, CANNONFIRE and LifeZette
Tucker Carlson / Die Weltwoche:
Trump is not capable — Weekday nights Fox News Channel star, Tucker Carlson, can be found merrily berating hapless guests, grilling liberal pundits, and defending America's working and middle classes. Puckish and pugilistic, the 49-year-old insists the Washington elites among whom he grew up despise America's “normal people.”
Discussion:
The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, SARAH PALIN, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, Hot Air, The American Conservative, Breitbart, Daily Wire, AOL and Mediaite