Top Items:
The Daily Beast:
MSNBC's Trump-Russia Ratings Fizzle: ‘Time to Pivot to 2020’ — The Mueller report and its potential implications have driven the network's coverage—and monster ratings—for two years. Now it's ended with a whimper, leaving execs in a bind. — Attorney General William Barr's short …
Discussion:
Hot Air, RedState, National Review, IJR, Politico, Breitbart, Althouse, Vanity Fair, Roll Call, Mediaite, Fox News and Fox News Insider, more at Mediagazer »
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Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
James Comey says he is confused by Mueller's decision on obstruction — “The entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren't making the key charging decisions,” the former FBI chief said. — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former FBI Director James Comey told an audience …
Discussion:
ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Breitbart, Raw Story, Washington Times and New York Post
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Mueller grand jury ‘continuing robustly,’ prosecutor says — The special counsel's grand jury investigating Russian collusion into the 2016 presidential election is “continuing robustly” despite the end of Robert Mueller's probe, a federal prosecutor said in court Wednesday.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Mueller's Investigation Erases a Line Drawn After Watergate — WASHINGTON — After Watergate, it was unthinkable that a president would fire an F.B.I. director who was investigating him or his associates. Or force out an attorney general for failing to protect him from an investigation.
George T. Conway III / Washington Post:
George Conway: Trump is guilty — of being unfit for office — George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York. — Very little was surprising about the conclusion of the special counsel's investigation. For one thing, it wasn't surprising that Robert S. Mueller III's probe prompted great commotion …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, Politico, The Daily Caller, The Week, Mediaite and Quartz
Kim Wehle / The Bulwark:
Debunking Three Myths About Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report
Debunking Three Myths About Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Media Matters for America and Quartz
James Ball / The Atlantic:
Expectations for the Mueller Report Were Set Too High
Expectations for the Mueller Report Were Set Too High
Discussion:
Washington Post and POLITICUSUSA
Susan Page / USA Today:
Barbara Bush: Did she still consider herself a Republican? 'I'd probably say no today.' — Barbara Bush, in a forthcoming book, had given up on the Republican Party. Susan Page expounds upon the story from her book, “The Matriarch.” — CONNECT — EXCLUSIVE: This story is adapted …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Politico, CNN, Mediaite, Slate, Breitbart, Washington Times, Political Wire, Axios, NB Blog, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Raw Story, Fox News, New York Post, HillReporter.com, Contemptor, The Daily Caller and The Week
John Kass / Chicago Tribune:
Column: Kim Foxx cleans Jussie Smollett up, the Chicago Way — The office of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, shown speaking Jan. 24, 2019, on Tuesday dropped all charges that actor Jussie Smollett staged a fake attack. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Townhall, Contemptor and Power Line
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Crime In Boystown / CWB Chicago:
Exclusive: Chicago Police Department's complete investigative file of Jussie Smollett case — CWBChicago is posting the complete Chicago Police Department investigative file on the Jussie Smollett “hate crime” investigation that we have received in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Discussion:
RedState, Fox News, JustOneMinute, The Gateway Pundit, Conservative Review, twitchy.com, Hot Air, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Townhall
Burgess Everett / Politico:
White House Obamacare reversal made over Cabinet objections — The Trump administration's surprising move to invalidate Obamacare on Monday came despite the opposition of two key Cabinet secretaries: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General William Barr.
Discussion:
WCSH, USA Today, National Review, New York Times, Quartz, Talking Points Memo, The Resurgent, The Week, Raw Story, Big League Politics, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Outside the Beltway, Vox, twitchy.com, Slate and The Hill
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Axios:
Scoop: Kevin McCarthy tells Trump new health care push makes no sense — Reflecting widespread concerns within his party, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told President Trump he disagrees with the Trump administration's attempt to get the entire Affordable Care Act thrown out in court.
Discussion:
The Week, Washington Post, Politico and Raw Story
The Daily Beast:
‘WTF Is Wrong With Them’: Republicans Horrified as Trump Goes After Obamacare Again — Basking in the best week of his presidency, Trump decided to re-engage the issue that's vexed him the most. — Over the past 24 hours, Republican officials have watched in horror as the Trump administration …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, CNN, YouTube, Splinter, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Politico, Denver Post, Fortune, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo
Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Donald Trump is very committed to taking away your health insurance
Donald Trump is very committed to taking away your health insurance
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, POLITICUSUSA, CNN and Contemptor
Los Angeles Times:
For Michael Avenatti, a luxury lifestyle built on a purported house of cards — Long before he was Stormy Daniels' lawyer, well before he was accused of trying to shake down Nike for millions of dollars, Michael Avenatti was an Orange County plaintiff's attorney living a luxe life adorned with fast cars …
Des Moines Register:
EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth Warren lays out plan to target corporate agriculture, support family farms — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is taking aim at some of the nation's largest agribusiness companies, such as Tyson and Bayer-Monsanto, continuing her campaign's assault on corporate consolidation.
Discussion:
Motherboard and Common Dreams, more at Techmeme »
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Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
‘Undoubtedly there is collusion’: Trump antagonist Adam Schiff doubles down after Mueller finds no conspiracy — President Trump, emboldened by the special counsel's determination he was not part of a criminal conspiracy to sway the 2016 election, has an early target as he seeks recompense from his critics …
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John Bowden / The Hill:
Almost half in new poll still say Trump, Russia colluded
Almost half in new poll still say Trump, Russia colluded
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico and Raw Story
Motherboard:
Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism — After a civil rights backlash, Facebook will now treat white nationalism and separatism the same as white supremacy, and will direct users who try to post that content to a nonprofit that helps people leave hate groups.
Discussion:
Quartz, more at Mediagazer »
Chris Cillizza / CNN:
129 seconds that perfectly explain why liberals go wild for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — (CNN)On the day that the Senate rejected — by a vote of 0-57 — the broad strokes of the so-called “Green New Deal,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), one of the leading voices for the legislation …
Discussion:
New York Post, Breitbart, Refinery29 and Shareblue Media
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Doha Madani / NBC News:
Betsy DeVos grilled in Congress over proposed elimination of Special Olympics funding — “What is it that we have a problem with, with children who are in special education?” a Democratic representative asked the education secretary. — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News and KTLA
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Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Five Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago would cover Betsy Devos's proposed Special Olympics cuts
Five Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago would cover Betsy Devos's proposed Special Olympics cuts
Discussion:
Rolling Stone and Raw Story
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
John Roberts, Legislator — A new book tells of political horse-trading at the Supreme Court. — During a 10-day break for the Supreme Court in April 2012, several justices left Washington to give lectures or take short vacations. But both John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy remained in Washington …
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Robert L. Tsai / Politico:
Trump's Travel Ban Faces Fresh Legal Jeopardy
Anita Kumar / Politico:
Departing Trump aides failed to disclose next job as law requires — Watchdog groups have regularly criticized the Trump administration for failing to prioritize ethics. — Seven former senior Trump aides, including the White House's top ethics official, may have violated federal law …
Discussion:
Heritage Foundation
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Nancy Cook / Politico:
How Frank Luntz went from Trump enemy to White House insider
How Frank Luntz went from Trump enemy to White House insider
Discussion:
ABC News
Sean McElwee / New York Times:
People Actually Like the Green New Deal — Mitch McConnell's show vote in the Senate on Tuesday rejected the plan, but Republicans may come to regret their mockery. — Mr. McElwee is one of the founders of Data for Progress. — Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader …
Discussion:
Curbed, Common Dreams and Mercury News
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
A job-scarce town struggles with Arkansas's first-in-nation Medicaid work rules — Marianna, ARK. — At the center of Court Square in this old Mississippi Delta town, the monument to the county's Confederate dead is inscribed: “No braver bled for a brighter land. No brighter land had a cause so grand.”
Discussion:
Splinter and The Guardian
Niklas Magnusson / Bloomberg:
Swedbank Laundering Case Explodes With Alleged Manafort Link — Swedish bank is now reportedly being investigated in the U.S. — Bank's headquarters in Stockholm were raided on Wednesday — The Swedbank AB money laundering scandal grew considerably more serious this week amid reports …
Washington Post:
U.S. has hit ‘breaking point’ at border amid immigration surge, Customs and Border Protection commissioner says — EL PASO — Outside a Border Patrol station overflowing with Central American families, the top U.S. border security official made an urgent appeal to lawmakers Wednesday …
Discussion:
Fox News, The American Mirror and ABC7
Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks. The girls fought back. — Yasmin Behbehani had just walked into her third-period health class when her friend asked her if she had seen the list. — “There's a list of the girls' names,” her friend Nicky Schmidt …
Discussion:
Jezebel
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
How America's Biggest Theater Chains Are Exploiting Their Janitors — Every night, after the last show ended at the AMC theater in Santa Monica, Maria Alvarez arrived at work. — She and her husband had a key to let themselves in. It was after midnight, and the building was empty.
Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Gillibrand Discloses 2018 Taxes, Pushing 2020 Rivals to Follow Suit — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York disclosed on Wednesday that she earned about $218,000 last year through her congressional salary and a book deal, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to disclose …
Discussion:
Axios, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Week, Washington Free Beacon and YouTube
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Inside the Trump campaign's plan of attack — Some candidates haven't even formally announced their decision to run yet, but President Trump's re-election campaign is already gathering ammunition to use against his opponents and mapping out the regions where he is weakest.
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Steve King, Facing Backlash From Both Parties, Fights for Political Life — ALGONA, Iowa — For nearly two decades, Representative Steve King pummeled Republican primary challengers, dispatched Democrats, even a former Iowa governor's wife, and glided to victory in his conservative district.
Discussion:
Political Wire