memeorandum: Russia is backing a viral video company aimed at American millennials (CNN)

11:50 PM ET, February 15, 2019

Top Items:

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Special counsel prosecutors say they have communications of Stone with WikiLeaks — Washington (CNN)Prosecutors said for the first time that they have evidence of Roger Stone communicating with WikiLeaks, according to a new court filing from special counsel prosecutors.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and VICE News

CNN:

Exclusive: WH press secretary Sarah Sanders interviewed by special counsel's office — Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, she told CNN on Friday. — “The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration …

Discussion: Townhall, Associated Press, Daily Kos, KVOA-TV, Washington Post, CNBC, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

USA Today:

Mueller's office seeks prison sentence of 20 years or more for ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — WASHINGTON - Russia special counsel Robert Mueller asked a federal judge on Friday to send former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to prison for between 20 and 24 years for his conviction on multiple financial fraud charges.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Mueller says Paul Manafort should serve 19-24 years in prison

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Beast

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Judge gags Roger Stone from Mueller comments around D.C. courthouse

Discussion: CNN, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Axios, Reuters, TheBlaze and The Week

Fox News:
Judge imposes partial gag order in Roger Stone case

Discussion: Associated Press, Daily Wire and Townhall

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:

Trump's National Emergency Just Got Its First Legal Challenge — Legal advocacy group Public Citizen filed suit on behalf of landowners in Texas and an environmental group. More lawsuits are expected. — Reporting From — Washington, DC — WASHINGTON - A consumer advocacy group filed …

Discussion: Axios, Hit & Run, Mother Jones, Law & Crime, ThinkProgress and The Week

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Trump Isn't Just Defying the Constitution. He's Undermining SCOTUS. — The president defended his national emergency by boasting that he'll win at the Supreme Court because it's full of his judges. — In a Rose Garden speech Friday morning announcing that he was declaring a national state …

Discussion: Just Security, Washington Post and Law & Crime

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Ann Coulter Fires Back at Trump: ‘The Only National Emergency Is That Our President Is an Idiot’ — The president said she had gone ‘off the reservation’ during his Rose Garden address declaring a national emergency for the wall. — Matt Wilstein — Ann Coulter says she's thankful …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Contemptor and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Trump's bewildering national emergency press conference, annotated — President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on Friday — but not without making a scene full of false claims, offbeat comments and tense exchanges. — Below is the full transcript, with annotations in yellow.

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Moderate Voice, Althouse and Mother Jones

Henry Olsen / Washington Post:

Words are a president's strongest weapon. Trump is terrible at words. — The lawyers will fight over the legality and constitutionality of President Trump's national emergency declaration. What his legal team can't salvage is the American people's assessment of his ability to do his job.

Discussion: Raw Story

Victoria Albert / The Daily Beast:
Ann Coulter: National Emergency Designed ‘for Trump to Scam the Stupidest People in His Base’

Discussion: Mediaite, Hill Reporter, ThinkProgress and Breitbart

ACLU:
ACLU to Challenge National Emergency Declaration

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Wire, CREW, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Jeff Greenfield / Politico:

Why Trump's Going to Win on the National Emergency — All through the 2016 campaign Donald Trump warned about the menace of immigration by reciting the lyrics of a song called “The Snake,” about a kind woman who takes a snake into her home, only to die when he bites her.

Discussion: Breitbart

The Bulwark:

A Defining Moment for the GOP — President Trump's emergency declaration is a red line for Republicans. — Now that President Trump has declared a national emergency to circumvent Congress and build his wall, Republican legislators face a time for choosing: Support Trump or the rule of law.

Discussion: Raw Story and Hill Reporter

David French / National Review:

Trump's Emergency Declaration Is Contemptuous of the Rule of Law — This is no Trump v. Hawaii; the president's discretion is dramatically limited. — One thing that is abundantly clear from reading the full text of President Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the southern border …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Beast, Vox, The White House, Constitution Daily, Cronkite News and NPR

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Declares a National Emergency, and Provokes a Constitutional Clash

Lawfare:
What Authorities Is President Trump Using to Build a Border Wall?

Discussion: Foreign Policy, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Washington Post:
‘A recipe for disaster’? Trump's border emergency drags the GOP into a risky fight ahead of 2020.

Discussion: Philly.com, Raw Story, The Atlantic and Vox

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump just plunged the country into dangerous new territory. Here's what's really at stake.

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and Vox

President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
President Donald J. Trump's Border Security Victory

Discussion: Hill Reporter, Public Pool, KOAA-TV, Daily Wire, Cronkite News, Washington Free Beacon and ABC News

Shannon Vavra / Axios: House Judiciary to investigate Trump's emergency declaration

Josh Blackman / Lawfare:
How Congress and President Obama Made Trump's Wall Possible

Discussion: New York Times and CNN

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
There's an emergency — and it's Trump's power grab

Discussion: New York Times, Orlando Sentinel and NBC News

Chicago Tribune:

Aurora mass shooting updates: 6 dead, including gunman, and 5 officers wounded in attack at Illinois manufacturing firm — Six people, including a gunman, died in a shooting at a manufacturing warehouse in Aurora on Friday afternoon, and five officers were struck by gunfire, officials said.

Discussion: abc7chicago.com, Breitbart, CBS Chicago, KBZK, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

At least 5 civilians dead and 5 officers wounded in shooting in Aurora, Ill., officials say — Five people were killed and five police officers wounded Friday afternoon when a gunman opened fire inside of a warehouse in Aurora, Ill., police say. — Aurora Police Chief Kristin Zimen confirmed the suspect …

Discussion: Splinter

Daily Herald:
Suspect in custody after multiple Aurora cops, civilians shot

Discussion: CNN, WGN-TV and Breitbart

Doha Madani / NBC News:
Several injured, shooter apprehended at Aurora, Ill., manufacturing plant

Discussion: KOAA-TV, Perez Hilton, Raw Story, Vox, KVOA-TV and CBS Chicago

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

How Dumb Is Ocasio-Cortez? — The two hottest commodities in the Democratic Party are Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Earlier this week, Omar exhibited stunning ignorance in her hostile questioning of Elliott Abrams. Similarly, Ocasio-Cortez has often displayed a surprising lack …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Breitbart and Daily Wire

Nolan Hicks / New York Post:
De Blasio rips into AOC's Amazon opposition: Working people ‘want jobs’

Discussion: Hot Air, Chicks On The Right, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:
After Amazon Deal's Demise, ‘Raw’ Feelings and Democratic Infighting

Discussion: Politico and Common Dreams

New York Times:
Why the Amazon Deal Collapsed: A Tech Giant Stumbles in N.Y.'s Raucous Political Arena

Discussion: Vox, naked capitalism, Outside the Beltway and Common Dreams

Liam Quinn / Fox News:
Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren celebrate Amazon canceling New York headquarters amid backlash

Discussion: Fox News Insider and NB Blog

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Cummings: 2 Trump attorneys may have lied about Cohen payments — House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday that his panel received new documents showing that two attorneys for President Donald Trump may have lied to government ethics officials about Trump fixer Michael …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Political Wire

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal: Ethics Office Notes Show ‘Evolving Stories’ on Trump's Reimbursement of Michael Cohen, House Oversight Committee Says

Jennifer Smith / Daily Mail:

PICTURED - Two Nigerian actor brothers are arrested over Jussie Smollett attack, as it's revealed they are FRIENDS with the Empire star amid claims the assault was staged to save his career — Police are now treating the two brothers as suspects and not persons of interest but neither has been charged

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, CBS Los Angeles and Breitbart

Taylor Day / American Thinker:
Two Nigerian immigrants to be charged for Jussie Smollett ‘hate crime’

Discussion: TMZ.com, Daily Wire, Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

Katherine Tully-McManus / Roll Call:

Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation — A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to mix: the Senate basement.

CNN:

Russia is backing a viral video company aimed at American millennials — New York (CNN)Three online video channels designed to appeal to millennials have collected tens of millions of views on Facebook since September. But the pages pushing the videos do not disclose that they are backed by the Russian government.

Discussion: Alliance For Securing …