memeorandum: Nick Ayers is Trump's next chief of staff — unless his enemies can stop him (Gabby Orr/Politico)

1:55 PM ET, December 8, 2018

Top Items:

Mueller Is Telling Us: He's Got Trump on Collusion — The special counsel is connecting the dots and it doesn't paint a pretty picture for Trump. — For nearly two years, since the U.S. intelligence community released its report on the Russian campaign to assist Donald Trump in the 2016 election …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Politico, One America News Network, The Guardian, Breitbart, Raw Story, Algemeiner.com, Associated Press, Mother Jones and ABC News

New York Times:

Is This the Beginning of the End for Trump? — Sentencing memos reveal damning evidence about collusion and campaign finance violations. — Mr. Berke is a lawyer specializing in white-collar criminal defense. Mr. Bookbinder is a former federal corruption prosecutor.

Discussion: Vox, Roll Call, Politico, Spectator USA, TheBlaze, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Common Dreams, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, Fox News Insider, NPR, Washington Monthly and Townhall

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

The Mueller Investigation Nears the Worst Case Scenario — WE ARE DEEP into the worst case scenarios. But as new sentencing memos for Trump associates Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen make all too clear, the only remaining question is how bad does the actual worst case scenario get?

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Bloomberg, Althouse and New York Times

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

A Home Run by Trump — In nominating William Barr for AG, the president could not have done better — In 2007, the Justice Department was in disarray. Though it was largely exaggerated, a controversy over the firing of some United States attorneys, the intrusion of politics …

Discussion: Sputnik International, Variety and Mediaite

Ken White / The Atlantic:

Manafort, Cohen, and Individual 1 Are in Grave Danger — Federal prosecutors filed three briefs late on Friday portending grave danger for three men: the former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, the former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, and President Donald Trump.

Discussion: USAPP

Lawfare:

‘Totally Clears the President’? What Those Cohen and Manafort Filings Really Say — President Trump responded to today's filings from federal prosecutors in the cases of Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort with a Twitter cry of triumph: … Don't spend a lot of time looking through …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, NPR, ABC News, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, CNBC and Joe.My.God.

Mike Allen / Axios:

When Russia approached, Trump officials gladly obliged — The flashing siren in the “known knowns” of the Russia probe is how often people close to Vladimir Putin approached people close to Donald J. Trump — and how often they gladly connected. And then lied about it.

Discussion: Raw Story, Breitbart and Politico

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

The latest filings show that nobody can save Trump now — At the end of the day Friday, we learned what federal prosecutors in New York think of Michael Cohen: … This is bad news for Cohen, but there's something else interesting in the filing: Prosecutors explicitly state that Cohen coordinated …

Discussion: The Week and Townhall

Just Security:

Mueller's Roadmap: Major Takeaways from Cohen and Manafort Filings — Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and from the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed significant documents in the criminal cases of President Donald Trump's former personal attorney …

David French / National Review:

The Special Counsel's Cohen Sentencing Brief Is Ominous for Trump — Friday evening, the Special Counsel's Office and the Southern District of New York filed three key documents: two sentencing memos for former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and a sentencing memo for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Discussion: Associated Press, FOX6Now.com, Raw Story, Chicks On The Right, CNBC, CBS San Francisco and Mediaite

Elie Honig / CNN:
Mueller is putting the puzzle pieces together on Trump

Discussion: KBZK

Reuters: Trump says prosecutors have found no evidence of Russia collusion

Washington Post:
In corporate role, William P. Barr clashed with Justice Department that he now seeks to lead

Discussion: FOX News Radio, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:
Michael Cohen Was Paid More Than $4 Million by Promising Access to Trump, Prosecutors Say

Discussion: Sputnik International, Washington Press and HuffPost

Adam Rawnsley / The Daily Beast:
Mueller: Manafort Lied About Contacts With Trump Officials

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, Politico and Axios

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Mueller Weaves Trump, Manafort and Cohen Ever Closer

Discussion: emptywheel, NPR and CNN

Mikhaila Fogel / Lawfare:
Document: Special Counsel's Office Files Submission in Support of Breach Determination in Manafort Case

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Washington Monthly

Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:
Prosecutors: Illegal hush-money paid at Trump's ‘direction’

Discussion: MyNorthwest.com

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Department of Justice Calls Donald Trump a Felon

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Vox, Washington Press, Common Dreams and The American Conservative

New York Times:
Michael Cohen, Trump's Ex-Fixer, Should Get Prison Term of About 4 Years, Prosecutors Say

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, HuffPost, Contemptor, The Week, Mother Jones, The Root, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Mediaite and New Republic

New York Times:

The Wooing of Jared Kushner: How the Saudis Got a Friend in the White House — Senior American officials were worried. Since the early months of the Trump administration, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and Middle East adviser, had been having private, informal conversations …

Discussion: Sputnik International and Raw Story

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
How a chilling Saudi cyberwar ensnared Jamal Khashoggi

Discussion: Boston Magazine

Hisham Melhem / Deep State Radio Network: Mohammed Bin Salman; A Prince Who Should Not Become A King

New York Times:

John Kelly, Trump's Chief of Staff, to Leave White House — WASHINGTON — John F. Kelly, the retired Marine general tapped as chief of staff by President Trump last year to bring order to his chaotic White House, will leave the job by the end of the year, Mr. Trump said on Saturday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Townhall and Mashable

Wesley Morgan / Politico:
Trump announces Army chief Mark Milley as pick for next Joint Chiefs chairman

Discussion: Washington Post

Anne-Elisabeth Moutet / New York Post:

In France, les deplorables strike back — PARIS — Glittering shops from Louis Vuitton to Dior are boarded up on both sides of the Champs-Élysées. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre will be closed. Paris has hunkered down for the latest Yellow Saturday, the fourth in a row …

New York Times:
Police Crack Down on ‘Yellow Vests’ in France With Tear Gas and Hundreds of Arrests

Discussion: Vox, Politico, ThinkProgress, Daily Caller News Foundation, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Splinter, The Week, Outside the Beltway and Axios

Carol Matlack / Bloomberg:
Pro-Russia Social Media Takes Aim at Macron as Yellow Vests Rage

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Outside the Beltway

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Eric Trump Weighs In on Kellyanne Conway's Husband. He Doesn't Like Him. — WASHINGTON — George Conway, a prominent conservative lawyer, is married to Kellyanne Conway, a White House counselor well known to cable viewers as a passionate defender of President Trump.

Discussion: Chicks On The Right

Christina Cauterucci / Slate:

I'm So Sorry to Report that Ted Cruz's New Beard Looks Great — I have no particular fondness for this subject and it brings me no pleasure to cover it. But as a truth-seeking journalist, I feel I must write what follows: Sen. Ted Cruz's new beard looks great.

Discussion: Althouse

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

McConnell resists pressure to move on criminal justice overhaul, angering some Republicans — Republican supporters of legislation overhauling prison sentencing rules have a message for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): It's now or, most likely, never.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump leans on McConnell to vote on criminal justice reform

Discussion: Hit & Run, Breitbart and Washington Post

New York Times:

Mattis Erupts Over Niger Inquiry and Army Revisits Who Is to Blame — WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was livid last month when he summoned top military officials to a video conference at the Pentagon to press them about an investigation into a 2017 ambush in Niger that killed four Americans on a Green Beret team.

Discussion: Task & Purpose

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

GOP power grabs pour gas on ‘resistance’ in key Midwest states — Republican efforts to weaken incoming Democratic governors in Michigan and Wisconsin have reignited the grass-roots fervor that flipped both states in November, turning the typically sleepy post-election period …