Top Items:
Washington Post:
Mueller says accusing Trump of a crime ‘not an option’ under Justice Dept. guidelines — BREAKING NEWS: A House Democratic leadership aide said Wednesday moments after Robert S. Mueller III's statement that they were hoping to avoid a compulsory measure to get his testimony, but a subpoena remains an option.
Discussion:
Power Line, Axios, Reuters, Breitbart, Progress Pond, CANNONFIRE, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
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Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:
Robert Mueller to Make Statement on Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, will speak about the Russia investigation at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, his first public comments since he took over the inquiry two years ago, the Justice Department announced.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, Commentary, Political Wire, Liberty Unyielding, Althouse and VICE News
CNN:
Mueller: ‘If we had confidence the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so’ — Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller said in a rare and remarkable public statement Wednesday that charging President Donald Trump was not an option his office could consider.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Media Matters for America, KTLA, Sara A. Carter, KFOR-TV, The Colorado Sun and The Root
Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
Robert Mueller breaks silence, does not want to testify, says charging Trump ‘not an option’ — Special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday broke more than two years of silence about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice …
Discussion:
Reason, Conservative Review, Vox, Politico, Washington Post, Conservative News Today and The Week
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Mueller: “We would have said” if confident Trump did not commit a crime — In his first on-camera public statement since he was appointed two years ago, special counsel Robert Mueller told the country: “If we had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
Discussion:
The Week
U.S. Department of Justice:
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III Makes Statement on Investigation into Russian Interference …
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III Makes Statement on Investigation into Russian Interference …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Quartz, Breitbart, UPI and Rolling Stone
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Robert Mueller to make public statement about Russia probe on Wednesday
Robert Mueller to make public statement about Russia probe on Wednesday
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Politico
Grace Segers / CBS News:
Mueller: If it was clear president committed no crime, “we would have said so”
Mueller: If it was clear president committed no crime, “we would have said so”
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story
Ted Barrett / CNN:
In reversal from 2016, McConnell says he would fill a potential Supreme Court vacancy in 2020 — (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year's presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by President Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Daily Wire, RedState, ThinkProgress, Vox, NBC News, Politico, WPSD Local 6WPSD Local 6, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Conservative News Today, NPR, Vanity Fair, The Week, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, Splinter, New York Post, Raw Story, Washington Times, Washington Free Beacon, Slate, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Political Wire
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Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
McConnell Hasn't Reversed Himself — The Washington Post joins a host of media outlets this morning in contending that Mitch McConnell has “reversed” his position on considering Supreme Court appointments in presidential election years. McConnell said last night that he would “fill” any Supreme Court vacancy that arose next year.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Washington Post and Instapundit
Edward Helmore / The Guardian:
Bannon described Trump Organization as ‘criminal enterprise’, Michael Wolff book claims — Former White House adviser says financial investigations will take down president in sequel to Fire and Fury — The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization …
Discussion:
Mediaite, CNBC, Raw Story, Contemptor, TheBlaze, National Review and American Greatness
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Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Biden: America is less divided now than it was in the early 1970s
POLITICO Playbook: Biden: America is less divided now than it was in the early 1970s
Discussion:
NBC News, Splinter, Washington Post and The Week
Renae Merle / Washington Post:
House subpoenas for Trump's bank records put on hold while president appeals
House subpoenas for Trump's bank records put on hold while president appeals
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Axios:
Trump muses about Protestant Supreme Court picks in Michael Wolff's new book
Trump muses about Protestant Supreme Court picks in Michael Wolff's new book
Discussion:
Raw Story and New York Times
Mark Landler / New York Times:
White House Insider Account Has Feel of an Outside View, and Prompts a Mueller Denial
White House Insider Account Has Feel of an Outside View, and Prompts a Mueller Denial
Discussion:
RedState, New Republic, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and Spectator USA
Zach Montellaro / Politico:
DNC makes it more difficult to qualify for 3rd debate — ABC News, in partnership with Univision, will host the third Democratic presidential debate in September, the Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday, saying it was raising both the polling and fundraising bars for candidates to qualify.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The Week and Splinter
RELATED:
Bill Barrow / Associated Press:
Democrats up requirements for 2nd round of primary debates
Democrats up requirements for 2nd round of primary debates
Discussion:
The Resurgent and Axios
Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
DNC to raise qualifying threshold for third presidential debate
DNC to raise qualifying threshold for third presidential debate
Discussion:
Shakesville
Sheena McKenzie / CNN:
Boris Johnson, favorite to be Britain's next PM, to face court for alleged Brexit lies — London (CNN)The leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as British Prime Minister has been ordered to appear in court to face allegations he lied to the public during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.
Discussion:
The Week
RELATED:
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Planned Parenthood's false stat: ‘Thousands’ of women died every year before Roe — “We face a real situation where Roe could be overturned. And we know what will happen, which is that women will die. Thousands of women died every year pre-Roe.” — “Before Roe v. Wade …
Discussion:
National Review, Fox News, The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, Daily Wire, Students For Life, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse
RELATED:
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Clarence Thomas Pens Screed Comparing Women Who Obtain Abortions to Eugenicists
Clarence Thomas Pens Screed Comparing Women Who Obtain Abortions to Eugenicists
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, New York Times, The Root and Common Dreams
Greg P. / twitchy.com:
CRINGE: Joe Biden gets handsy with young girl, says 'I'll bet you're as bright as you are good-looking' — Just to update you on this story we told you about last night, we now have video of 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden getting handsy with a young girl at an AFT town hall and telling her …
Discussion:
YouTube, Summit News, Washington Times, Althouse and Dan Bongino
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Maggie Haberman Reacts to Criticism of Her Reporting: ‘The Tenor Has Gotten Extremely Personal’ — NY Times reporter and CNN contributor Maggie Haberman addressed a recent New York magazine article entitled “Of Course Trump Hates Maggie Haberman. Why Does the Left?” Wednesday morning.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Magazine
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Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Says Russia Likely Conducting Low-Yield Nuke Tests, Defying Test Ban Treaty — Intelligence assessment marks first time U.S. has said Kremlin failed to observe Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty commitments — Russia has likely been secretly carrying out very low-yield nuclear tests …
Discussion:
Meduza.io and Political Wire
Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:
Can Jaime Harrison End the Democrats' Drought in South Carolina? — The Times talked to Mr. Harrison, the first black chairman of the state's Democratic Party, about his bid to unseat Senator Lindsey Graham. — Let's begin with the obvious: No Democrat has won a statewide race in South Carolina since 2006.
James Comey / Washington Post:
No ‘treason.’ No coup. Just lies — and dumb lies at that. — James Comey is a former director of the FBI and a former deputy attorney general. — It is tempting for normal people to ignore our president when he starts ranting about treason and corruption at the FBI. I understand the temptation.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Reuters, IJR, Dan Bongino, PJ Media Home, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Last Refuge, twitchy.com, Townhall, Politico, CNN, The Week, Washington Times and The Guardian
Pew Research Center:
Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X outvoted older generations in 2018 midterms — Midterm voter turnout reached a modern high in 2018, and Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X accounted for a narrow majority of those voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available Census Bureau data.
Discussion:
The Week
Melanie Zanona / Politico:
GOP impeachment champion gets a hero's welcome back home — GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Rep. Justin Amash is a lonely man in Congress, the sole Republican to back Donald Trump's removal from office. But back home on Tuesday night, the Michigan lawmaker got the red-carpet treatment in his first face …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, New York Times, The Resurgent, The Daily Beast, The Hill, NBC News, Washington Post, CNN, IJR and The Week
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
Last-Minute Dress Code Left NYT Reporter Wearing Her Wedding Dress to Cover Trump's Dinner at Japan's Imperial Palace — “Here I am, pooling a presidential event in my wedding dress,” reporter Annie Karni tweeted Monday — There is a saying among veteran White House correspondents that theirs is …
Discussion:
Japan Times
Axios:
Trump's 2020 plan to target black, Hispanic and suburban female voters — Trump campaign officials have been discussing a digital campaign to boost President Trump's 2020 support among three key demographic groups: African Americans, Hispanics and suburban women, two sources familiar with the plan tell Axios.
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
How to make sense of the clown show that is Trump's foreign policy — Watching the clown show that has been President Trump's foreign policy lately, you wonder whether there's any coherent logic embedded in his erratic, internally conflicting statements about Iran, North Korea and other issues.
RELATED:
Kristi Govella / Washington Post:
Trump's trip to Japan reveals some mixed signals
Trump's trip to Japan reveals some mixed signals
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Diplomat and Diamond & Silk
Yahoo Finance:
China Gears Up to Weaponize Rare Earths in Trade War — (Bloomberg) — Beijing is gearing up to use its dominance of rare earths to hit back in its deepening trade war with Washington. — A flurry of Chinese media reports on Wednesday, including an editorial in the flagship newspaper …
New York Times:
New York Can Tell Congress Lots About Trump's Taxes — His state returns will give the House a glimpse of past I.R.S. audits, before and after he entered the Oval Office. — Mr. Hemel is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Rosenthal is a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Discussion:
Raw Story