Top Items:
James Comey / New York Times:
How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr — Accomplished people lacking inner strength can't resist the compromises necessary to survive this president. — Mr. Comey is the former F.B.I. director. — People have been asking me hard questions. What happened to the leaders in the Trump administration …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Fox News, Washington Post, The Hill, Politico, Raw Story, Spectator USA, Washington Press, Vox, The Root, RedState, The Atlantic, POLITICUSUSA, Splinter, The Daily Caller, The Mahablog, CNN, Washington Monthly, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, Mediaite, emptywheel, Outside the Beltway and Business Insider
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Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:
Why Barr Can't Whitewash the Mueller Report — We have a system in place for our government to uncover evidence against a sitting president. And it's working. — Mr. Katyal drafted the special counsel regulations under which Robert Mueller was appointed.
Discussion:
The American Spectator and PBS NewsHour
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Moderate Democrats fret they made a ‘big mistake’ backing Barr — Three Senate Democrats voted for William Barr to be attorney general. Now at least two of them say they might have made a mistake. — After revelations that special counsel Robert Mueller took issue with Barr's presentation …
Discussion:
Associated Press, ABC News, Vox, Raw Story, The Week, Splinter, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, FiveThirtyEight, Townhall and The Daily Beast
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Barr Released the Mueller Report. How Is That a Scandal? — The attorney general has acted properly in his oversight of the Mueller report and investigation. — It was only a month ago that many Democrats were hoping Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Editorial Board, Slate, New Republic and IJR
Wall Street Journal:
A Real Attorney General — Bill Barr gets smeared for refusing to duck and cover like Loretta Lynch. — By The Editorial Board — Washington pile-ons are never pretty, but this week's political setup of Attorney General William Barr is disreputable even by Beltway standards.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
William Barr's ‘snitty’ slip-up gives away his game — Attorney General William P. Barr came in front of Congress on Wednesday having been accused of misleading about and pre-spinning the Mueller report for President Trump. He also came on the heels of a newly reported letter …
Discussion:
American Greatness, swampdrain.com, The Guardian, New York Post and Daily Wire
Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:
The GOP's Just a Racket Now, and Trump Is Its Godfather, Barr Its Wartime Consigliere — We see now with a new and oddly liberating clarity that these next 18 months may well be the most consequential and frightening time in living history. — Michael Tomasky — It's May Day, and this was a Mayday all right.
Discussion:
Washington Post
David French / National Review:
Three Thoughts on Barrgate — The controversy over Robert Mueller's letter to Bill Barr strikes me as much ado about not much at all. Here are my quick thoughts: — 1. Mueller's frustration is understandable. Yes, I totally understand Mueller's argument that Barr's short memo …
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
William Barr has shamelessly corrupted the debate over the Mueller report — One of our most colorful legal concepts is the “fruit of the poisonous tree.” The phrase was introduced by Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter 80 years ago to hold that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used to convict a defendant.
Discussion:
Raw Story, RealClearPolitics, Shareblue Media and The Daily Signal
Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
We Should Not Have Been Surprised About Bill Barr
We Should Not Have Been Surprised About Bill Barr
Discussion:
Washington Post and Hullabaloo
emptywheel:
William Barr Absolved Trump of Obstruction without Having the Faintest Clue What He Obstructed
William Barr Absolved Trump of Obstruction without Having the Faintest Clue What He Obstructed
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, USA Today and Washington Post
Washington Post:
William Barr torched his reputation. His testimony compounded the damage.
William Barr torched his reputation. His testimony compounded the damage.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Times, Boston Globe and Axios
Rich Lowry / National Review:
No, Bill Barr Didn't Lie or Mislead
No, Bill Barr Didn't Lie or Mislead
Discussion:
American Greatness, Contemptor, Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post and Daily Kos
Jerry Portwood / Rolling Stone:
Barr Didn't Even Try to Pretend He's an Honest Broker for the Justice Department
Barr Didn't Even Try to Pretend He's an Honest Broker for the Justice Department
Discussion:
USA Today, NPR and New York Times
NBC News:
Barr declines to testify before House Judiciary Committee, setting stage for subpoena battle
Barr declines to testify before House Judiciary Committee, setting stage for subpoena battle
Zachary Basu / Axios:
AG Bill Barr cancels appearance before House Judiciary Committee
AG Bill Barr cancels appearance before House Judiciary Committee
Discussion:
Political Wire
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Nadler threatens contempt citation against Barr
Nadler threatens contempt citation against Barr
Discussion:
Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit
Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Barr won't testify before House panel Thursday
Barr won't testify before House panel Thursday
Discussion:
Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, One America News Network, Daily Kos, Fox News, Viking Pundit and Just Security
Washington Post:
Barr's refusal to testify before House panel increases likelihood of contempt citation from Congress
Barr's refusal to testify before House panel increases likelihood of contempt citation from Congress
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Slate, Daily Kos, Vox, CNN and The Stranger
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
William Barr and his horrible hearing
William Barr and his horrible hearing
Discussion:
New York Times, swampdrain.com, Townhall and The Bulwark
New York Times:
Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies — WASHINGTON — It was a foreign policy role Joseph R. Biden Jr. enthusiastically embraced during his vice presidency: browbeating Ukraine's notoriously corrupt government to clean up its act.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:
A Former Alt-Right Member's Message: Get Out While You Still Can — If you remember Katie McHugh, it's probably because of the tweets. — A short selection: “British settlers built the USA. ‘Slaves’ built the country much as cows ‘built’ McDonald's. Amateur...”
Bill Lambrecht / Houston Chronicle:
Rep. Joaquin Castro won't run for U.S. Senate in 2020 — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn, choosing instead to continue pursuing a fast-rising career in Congress focusing on security and border issues.
Discussion:
Fox News, Dallas Morning News, Splinter, Roll Call and Politico
RELATED:
WSOC-TV:
Source: UNCC shooting victim jumped on gunman to save others — Two people were killed and four others injured after a gunman opened fire in a classroom at UNCC Tuesday — Police arrested and charged 22-year-old Trystan Terrell with 2 counts of murder and 4 counts of attempted murder
Discussion:
WLOS-TV, CNN, WBTV-TV, ABC11, WSB-TV, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and myfox8.com
RELATED:
John Solomon / The Hill:
Nellie Ohr's ‘Hi Honey’ emails to DOJ about Russia collusion should alarm us all — First came the text messages between FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, which gave us a painful glimpse at potential political bias inside America's most famous crime-fighting bureau.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Biden calls for end to U.S. support for Saudi war in Yemen — Former vice president Joe Biden is taking his first major foreign policy stance since officially announcing his candidacy for president by calling for the United States to end its assistance to Saudi Arabia for its war in Yemen.
Discussion:
NBC News, Outside the Beltway, RealClearPolitics and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump downplays Biden threat: 'He's a sleepy man'
Washington Post:
Former CIA officer Jerry Lee admits conspiracy to spy for China — A former CIA case officer long suspected in the intelligence community of being a devastating mole for the Chinese government admitted Wednesday he conspired to commit espionage in that country.
Discussion:
NPR
RELATED:
CNN:
How an anti-Semitic cartoon ended up in The New York Times — New York (CNN Business)Reporters in The New York Times (NYT) newsroom could hear the protesters outside on Monday. “Shame on you!” they shouted. Some held signs that accused the newspaper of being anti-Semitic.
Associated Press:
US hopes for Venezuela change fizzle for 3rd time this year — WASHINGTON (AP) — For the third time this year, the big moment in Venezuela has turned into a bust. — Trump administration officials had expected that Wednesday might turn out to be the beginning of the end for President Nicolas Maduro …
Discussion:
Politico, The Atlantic, Bloomberg and The American Conservative
RELATED:
Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:
A 16-Year-Old Unaccompanied Immigrant Boy Has Died In US Government Custody — A 16-year-old unaccompanied immigrant boy died in US government custody in Texas on Tuesday, officials said. — The boy was handed over to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Raw Story and Splinter
Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:
The alleged synagogue shooter was a churchgoer who talked Christian theology, raising tough questions for evangelical pastors — Before he allegedly walked into a synagogue in Poway, Calif., and opened fire, John Earnest appears to have written a seven-page letter spelling out his core beliefs …
Discussion:
Religion News Service