Top Items:
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump, Wrecker of Reputations — On Attorney General William Barr's testimony and the coming constitutional crisis. — In the first year of the Trump Presidency, White House advisers often promised reporters that this would be the week when they would unveil Trump's plans for a massive investment in American infrastructure.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Resurgent, Mother Jones, NB Blog, IJR, Slate and Raw Story
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Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
For Fear of William Barr — The attorney general gets attacked because his probe endangers many powerful people. — The only thing uglier than an angry Washington is a fearful Washington. And fear is what's driving this week's blitzkrieg of Attorney General William Barr.
Discussion:
Power Line, The Hill and twitchy.com
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
William Barr's 2 strangest defenses of Trump haven't gotten enough attention — Democrats have accused Attorney General William P. Barr of shilling for President Trump and effectively acting like his defense lawyer. The Post reports Friday morning on the question of whether that is really what is going on …
Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Trump is already set to use the government to destroy the Democratic nominee — The 2020 election is going to be ugly in many different ways. If you thought Donald Trump ran a rancid campaign when he was trying to make it to the White House, just you wait until he's fighting to preserve his power.
Discussion:
Salon, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, The Week, Fox News and RedState
CNN:
Nadler threatens to hold Barr in contempt if DOJ doesn't comply with new Democratic offer on Mueller report — Sarah Sanders: Nadler ‘incapable’ of asking Barr questions — Washington (CNN)House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Friday sent his latest offer Attorney General William Barr …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
In Barr, Trump has found someone who licks his boots out of principle
In Barr, Trump has found someone who licks his boots out of principle
Discussion:
USA Today, New Republic and Washington Monthly
Kimberley A. Strassel / Fox News:
Kimberly Strassel: AG Barr gets attacked because his probe endangers powerful people
Kimberly Strassel: AG Barr gets attacked because his probe endangers powerful people
Discussion:
RedState, Hot Air, The Rush Limbaugh Show and Big League Politics
Washington Post:
Trump finds in Barr the attorney general — and shield — he long sought
Trump finds in Barr the attorney general — and shield — he long sought
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, Politico, The National Interest, Denver Post, Wall Street Journal, Townhall, IJR and The Atlantic
Justin Wise / The Hill:
Biden says Barr ‘should’ resign: 'He's lost the confidence of the American people'
Biden says Barr ‘should’ resign: 'He's lost the confidence of the American people'
Discussion:
Politico, The Guardian, Daily Wire, Washingtonian, CNN and The Daily Dot
Quin Hillyer / Washington Examiner:
Barr's theory would create a tyrannical presidency
Barr's theory would create a tyrannical presidency
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Atlantic and Vox
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Jobs surge in April, unemployment rate falls to the lowest since 1969 — KEY POINTS — US added 263,000 jobs in April, vs 190,000 expected — The U.S. jobs machine kept humming along in April, adding a robust 263,000 new hires while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest in a generation …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Instapundit and The Week
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Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:
U.S. Added 263,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 3.6%
U.S. Added 263,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 3.6%
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Political Wire
Ben Casselman / New York Times:
Why Wages Are Finally Rising, 10 Years After the Recession
The Daily Beast:
Mark Halperin Enlists Pals Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and Michael Smerconish to Rehab His Career After Sexual Misconduct Scandal — The disgraced pundit has re-emerged from #MeToo hiding and has met with media friends for new punditry work—including a scrapped gig with the hosts of MSNBC's ‘Morning Joe.’
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Fox News and Mediaite
Barbara Allen / Poynter:
Letter from the Editor — Dear readers: — On Tuesday, April 30, Poynter posted a list of 515 “unreliable” news websites, built from pre-existing databases compiled by journalists, fact-checkers and researchers around the country. Our aim was to provide a useful tool for readers to gauge …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, RedState, Fox News, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
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Joe Schoffstall / Washington Free Beacon:
Poynter ‘Blacklist’ of Conservative News Sites Was Created by SPLC Employee
Poynter ‘Blacklist’ of Conservative News Sites Was Created by SPLC Employee
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, NB Blog and Instapundit
Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Inside Bernie Sanders's 1988 10-day ‘honeymoon’ in the Soviet Union — Bernie Sanders was bare-chested, towel-draped, sitting at a table lined with vodka bottles, as he sang “This Land Is Your Land” to his hosts in the Soviet Union in the spring of 1988. — The just-married socialist mayor …
Discussion:
Shakesville, Althouse and Dispatches
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Holly Otterbein / Politico:
‘Anyone Ever Seen Cocaine?’ What We Found in the Archives of Bernie Sanders's Long-Lost TV Show.
‘Anyone Ever Seen Cocaine?’ What We Found in the Archives of Bernie Sanders's Long-Lost TV Show.
Discussion:
The Week
Alexandria Neason / Columbia Journalism Review:
On Twitter, news outlets amplify Trump's false statements: study — When a president speaks, what he says is, by journalistic norms, inherently newsworthy. But when a president lies—on social media, at press conferences, and in speeches—news organizations have to reconsider old rules …
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Rachel Frazin / The Hill:
California Senate passes bill that would keep Trump off 2020 ballot unless he releases tax returns — The California state Senate on Thursday approved a bill to require candidates appearing on the presidential primary ballot — including President Trump — to release five years' worth of income tax returns.
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Adam Beam / Associated Press:
California renews bid to get presidential candidates' taxes
California renews bid to get presidential candidates' taxes
Discussion:
Townhall, Joe.My.God. and Axios
Greg Farrell / Bloomberg:
Someone Did Get to Look at Trump's Tax Returns: Deutsche Bankers
Someone Did Get to Look at Trump's Tax Returns: Deutsche Bankers
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Watergate had the Nixon tapes. Mueller had Annie Donaldson's notes. — The notes, scribbled rapidly on a legal pad, captured the fear inside the White House when President Trump raged over the Russia investigation and decreed he was firing the FBI director who led it: “Is this the beginning of the end?”
Discussion:
Raw Story
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘Bigger than WATERGATE’: Trump hails NYT report on FBI meeting with Papadopoulos — The White House on Friday seized on revelations that the FBI during the 2016 campaign sent an undercover investigator to meet with an aide to then-candidate Donald Trump, with the president calling the news “bigger than Watergate.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire
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John Gage / Washington Examiner:
Obama saw the 2016 loss of Hillary Clinton as a ‘personal insult’
Obama saw the 2016 loss of Hillary Clinton as a ‘personal insult’
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Daily Wire and TheBlaze
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
The Coming Subpoena Fights Between Trump and Congress, Explained — WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr defied on Thursday a deadline imposed by a congressional subpoena to provide lawmakers with the full-text Mueller report. — President Trump, meanwhile, has vowed to resist …
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Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
William Barr's Justice Department Just Filed the Most Nakedly Political Brief in the Agency's History
William Barr's Justice Department Just Filed the Most Nakedly Political Brief in the Agency's History
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
The 2019 governor's race that has Trump's team sweating — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is a presidential phone-buddy and White House regular who's become one of President Donald Trump's loudest surrogates. — He's also one of the most unpopular governors in the country, facing a treacherous reelection in November.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media and Raw Story
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
The Economy and the Election — For as long as I've covered politics, the conventional wisdom has been that presidents win re-election in good economic times and they lose when the economy stinks. Ronald Reagan won re-election when the economy was booming. Jimmy Carter lost when we sunk into economic “malaise.”
Katie Zezima / Washington Post:
Senate Democrats ask NRA execs, PR firm for documents related to alleged self-dealing — Three Senate Democrats have asked current and former National Rifle Association executives and the organization's public relations firm to turn over letters, third-party audits, memos and other materials …
Discussion:
The Trace
John Solomon / The Hill:
Ukrainian embassy confirms DNC contractor solicited Trump dirt in 2016 — The boomerang from the Democratic Party's failed attempt to connect Donald Trump to Russia's 2016 election meddling is picking up speed, and its flight path crosses right through Moscow's pesky neighbor, Ukraine.
Discussion:
RedState, Fox News, twitchy.com, PJ Media Home, News Agency UNIAN, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire
The New York Times Company:
Sarah Kliff of Vox to Join Investigations — Sarah Kliff, a versatile journalist who has used a variety of media to explain complex health legislation, will be based in Washington. Read more in this note from Rebecca Corbett, Dean Murphy and Carolyn Ryan.
Associated Press:
Cohen's prison reality: ‘The Situation’ and Shabbat services — NEW YORK (AP) — “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next. — It's not reality TV. It's a federal prison 70 miles …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Matthew Cole / The Intercept:
How Erik Prince Used the Rise of Trump to Make an Improbable Comeback — When Erik Prince arrived at the Four Seasons resort in the Seychelles in January 2017 for his now-famous meetings with a Russian banker and UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed, he was in the middle of an unexpected comeback.
Discussion:
Raw Story