Top Items:
David Corn / Mother Jones:
A Florida Massage Parlor Owner Has Been Selling Chinese Execs Access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago — The latest Trump political donor to draw controversy is Li Yang, a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Hullabaloo, Splinter, USA Today, POLITICUSUSA, Slate, Contemptor, Daily Kos, Political Wire, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Mahablog, miamiherald, The Guardian, KTLA, The Stranger and WTVR-TV
Clark Pettig / American Oversight:
Sessions Letter Shows DOJ Acted on Trump's Authoritarian Demand to Investigate Clinton — American Oversight has uncovered the signed directive from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructing a federal prosecutor to carry out President Trump's authoritarian demand to investigate Hillary Clinton.
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Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
It Exists: DOJ Finds Letter Ordering Scrutiny of Uranium One, Hillary Clinton — Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote the letter on Nov. 22, 2017 for Utah U.S. Attorney John Huber. Read it here. — Betsy Woodruff — After it claimed no such document existed …
Washington Post:
Is Paul Manafort's sentence too light? He fared worse than many fraudsters, data shows. — Paul Manafort's prison sentence of less than four years on bank- and tax-fraud charges Thursday sparked outrage from commentators who said it was too light a punishment for his crimes.
Discussion:
RedState
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Ken White / The Atlantic:
6 Reasons Paul Manafort Got Off So Lightly
6 Reasons Paul Manafort Got Off So Lightly
Discussion:
Hit & Run, USA Today, New York Times and Forbes
Adam Rawnsley / The Daily Beast:
Manafort's Judge Gave This Jamaican Woman More Time for Similar Crimes
Manafort's Judge Gave This Jamaican Woman More Time for Similar Crimes
Discussion:
Politico
New York Times:
Bernie Sanders-Style Politics Are Defining 2020 Race, Unnerving Moderates — IOWA CITY — The sharp left turn in the Democratic Party and the rise of progressive presidential candidates are unnerving moderate Democrats who increasingly fear that the party could fritter away its chances …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
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Sydney Ember / New York Times:
A ‘Beat Trump’ Fervor Is Producing Big Turnouts for 2020 Democrats
A ‘Beat Trump’ Fervor Is Producing Big Turnouts for 2020 Democrats
Discussion:
NB Blog, Hullabaloo, Axios and Raw Story
Liam Quinn / Fox News:
CNN to be sued for more than $250M over ‘vicious’ and ‘direct attacks’ on Covington High student: lawyer — CNN is likely to be hit with a massive lawsuit worth more than $250 million over alleged “vicious” and “direct attacks” on Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann, his lawyer has told Fox News.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
Washington Post:
Howard Schultz's ‘nightmare’: How his first big gamble outside Starbucks ended in defeat — When Howard Schultz bought the Seattle SuperSonics in 2001, his friends told the Starbucks chief he was overestimating what he could do to save the struggling basketball franchise.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and Splinter
Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
The Aristocracy of Victimhood — If anti-Semitism is wrong, it's no less wrong no matter how bad Ilhan Omar's childhood was. … Dear Reader (including Paul Manafort, who will finally have the time to catch up on back issues of this “news"letter), — Imagine a semi-prosperous middle …
Washington Post:
Trump invokes new demand for extracting billions of dollars from U.S. allies — In private discussions with his aides, President Trump has devised an eye-popping formula to address one of his long-standing complaints: that allies hosting U.S. forces don't pay Washington enough money.
NBC News:
Illegal border crossings from Canada quietly rising, data shows — More than 960 people crossed into the U.S. illegally from the northern border with Canada last year, according to data released from CBP. — DERBY LINE, Vermont — More than 960 people crossed into the U.S. illegally …
Discussion:
Axios
David Siders / Politico:
'It's a bit much': Beto drags out his 2020 tease at South by Southwest — The Texas Democrat confirmed more than a week ago that he'd made his decision on a potential run for president. He just won't say what it is. — AUSTIN, Texas — Beto O'Rourke took his 2020 campaign tease to South …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Axios
Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:
In another blow to Trump, judge rules in favor of ACLU in family separations case — In a legal blow to the Trump administration, a federal judge ruled Friday that all migrant families separated during the government's border crackdown should be included in a class-action lawsuit.
Discussion:
Splinter, ACLU, POLITICUSUSA and USA Today
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Matthew Haag / New York Times:
Amazon's Tax Breaks and Incentives Were Big. Hudson Yards' Are Bigger. — At Hudson Yards, the expansive real estate development that is about to open in Manhattan, seven floors of retail are occupied by Fendi, Dior, Neiman Marcus and other high-end shops.
Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
Springing forward to daylight saving time is obsolete, confusing and unhealthy, critics say — The annual time change is under legislative challenge in states and in Congress. — This weekend, Americans will once again navigate their complex relationship with the chronically confusing and arguably misnamed daylight saving time.
Discussion:
Slate
Jennifer Senior / New York Times:
Teen Fiction and the Perils of Cancel Culture — Readers, not a Twitter mob, should decide the fate of a book. — Late last month, a young man named Kosoko Jackson became the second young adult author in five weeks to pull a debut work just before it hit the shelves.
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:
Ex-Mercenary CEO Erik Prince Admits To Trump Tower Meet With Donald Jr. And Saudi Emissary — He said the campaign huddle focused on “Iran policy,” and suggested his congressional hearing transcript when he failed to mention it was inaccurate. — Erik Prince, former head of mercenary business Blackwater …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and POLITICUSUSA
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Sara Carter / Sara A. Carter:
Bruce Ohr's Testimony Contradicts Testimony Provided By Rosenstein And Simpson — Department of Justice senior official Bruce Ohr's testimony contradicts testimony given by other senior government officials and key witnesses who testified before Congress regarding the FBI's investigation …
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Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
In Surprise Move, House Republican Releases Bruce Ohr Transcript
In Surprise Move, House Republican Releases Bruce Ohr Transcript
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com