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Attorney General William Barr on caring about his reputation: “Everyone dies” — Looking back on his lengthy career as a top Department of Justice official, Attorney General William Barr doesn't seem fazed by critics questioning his relationship with President Trump and alleging he's …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime, VICE News, Sean Hannity, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, Splinter and Balloon Juice
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No President Is Above the Law — When Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released on April 18, I sat down and read it. All 448 pages of it. I started reading it that afternoon, and I read all through the night and into the next morning. And when I got to page 448, three things were clear to me.
Discussion:
National Review, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Axios, The Daily Beast, Vox, Bipartisan Report, Law & Crime, Observer, Joe.My.God., The Week, Political Wire, Daily Kos, C-SPAN.org and Splinter

William Barr interview: Read the full transcript — In an exclusive interview with “CBS This Morning,” Attorney General William Barr said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller could have reached a decision on whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice …


Mueller Played by the Rules. Trump Made New Ones. — The special counsel led an investigation that was disciplined, quiet, and by the book — and the president seized the opportunity. — WASHINGTON — The president of the United States appears to believe that you don't matter unless you are on television.
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Press Herald and Orlando Weekly


Barr says Justice Department and Mueller sparred over “legal analysis” in Russia report — In an exclusive interview with “CBS This Morning,” Attorney General William Barr said Robert Mueller and the Justice Department disagreed over the “legal analysis” in the special counsel's report …

Elizabeth Warren Wants Congress to Ensure Presidents Can Be Indicted
Discussion:
VTDigger


Trump's tariff threat to Mexico may upend trade deal, undermine the economy — President Trump's surprise announcement of an escalating series of new tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico is likely to upend hopes for early congressional action on his proposed North American trade deal …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, The Week, Associated Press, Vox, Daily Kos and CNBC
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Mnuchin and Lighthizer were opposed to Trump tariffs on Mexico, source says — KEY POINTS — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer opposed President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on Mexico, according to a source close to the White House.


Trump's latest Mexico tariff gambit is reckless and mindbogglingly stupid
Discussion:
CNBC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Diamond & Silk, The Hill, Don Surber, Outside the Beltway, The Week and Raw Story

Trump pushes ahead with plan to slap Mexico with tariffs even as lawmakers and businesses angrily protest
Discussion:
The White House


Fox News Host Laura Ingraham Defends White Supremacist and Anti-Semite — Laura Ingraham defended a famed white supremacist known for brazen racism and anti-Semitism as a “prominent voice censored by social media” — Ingraham kicked off her segment Thursday night with a defense of literal fake news …
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Beast, Media Matters for America, Right Wing Watch, twitchy.com, Splinter and Alternet.org
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Maggie Haberman: Trump Was Unsettled by Mueller on TV Because He Hasn't Read the Report — Was President Donald Trump particularly vexed as he addressed a press gaggle assembled on the White House lawn on his way to address the Air Force Academy graduation?

Nadler: ‘There certainly is’ justification for impeaching Trump
Discussion:
Fox News


North Korea's Kim Jong Un carrying out purge after Hanoi summit collapse: Chosun Ilbo — SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea executed Kim Hyok Chol, its special envoy to the United States, and foreign ministry officials who carried out working-level negotiations for the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Townhall, Power Line and TheBlaze
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Team Obama Tells Iran: Don't Escalate, Don't Take Trump's Bait — As tensions with Iran heat up, former Obama administration officials have quietly urged government officials there to keep their cool. — As the Trump administration sent warplanes and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf …
Discussion:
Conservative Review, Breitbart, Daily Wire and One America News Network


Leaked Navy emails show top officers struggling with how to handle a former governor ensnared in scandal — The year was just beginning when a Trump administration official contacted the Navy with a question about former Missouri governor Eric Greitens, a veteran of the wars in Iraq …


Fed candidate slams bank's ‘Soviet’ power over markets — Judy Shelton, a senior US official who is being vetted for a job on the board of the Federal Reserve, has attacked the central bank for wielding undemocratic, Soviet-style powers over markets and suggested it should not even be in the business of setting interest rates.


Kasich says there's ‘no path’ to the White House for him in 2020 — Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday quashed the idea of him launching a presidential run, arguing there is “no path” to the White House for him in 2020. — “I don't see a way to get there,” said Kasich, one of Trump's challengers in the 2016 Republican primary.
Discussion:
Detroit News
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Kasich on 2020: ‘There is no path right now for me’
Discussion:
Political Wire


“Inconsistent, Incoherent, and Poorly Conceived”: As the Times Clamps Down on Reporters Going on MSNBC, Is This a Liberal-Media War? — The Times recently yanked one of its journalists from Rachel Maddow amid concerns about cable-news “bias.” Dean Baquet “thinks it's a real issue.”


Exclusive: Watchdog finds detainees ‘standing on toilets’ for breathing room at border facility holding 900 people in space meant for 125 — Washington (CNN)The Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General has found “dangerous overcrowding” and unsanitary conditions at an El Paso …
Discussion:
KTLA, The Week, Law & Crime, American Greatness and New York Post


Trump and Bibi's Bad Week — They're both at war with those who would investigate them. But are they winning or losing? — We knew that this particular Presidential meltdown was coming. By the time President Trump ranted to the media on Thursday morning, shouting over the noise …
Discussion:
Foreign Policy


Making Sense of the New American Right — Column: Keeping track of the Jacksonians, Reformicons, Paleos, and Post-liberals — I like to start my classes on conservative intellectual history by distinguishing between three groups. There is the Republican Party, with its millions of adherents …


Inside Romney's Trump strategy — When asked about Republicans' criticism of his occasional anti-Trump stances, Mitt Romney doesn't miss a beat: “I have to show you something.” — He grabs his iPad and pulls up an article: “Romney: why the Republican pros distrust him.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Breitbart


Italy is evicting Steve Bannon from the medieval monastery he planned to turn into a far-right training academy — The Italian government has delivered a potentially fatal blow to Steve Bannon's plans to transform a medieval monastery near Rome into a training academy for the far-right.


5 Ways Trump Has Remade the Democratic Party — For years, a growing stripe of Democrats has argued that what their party needs is a leader willing to shatter old assumptions, a radical disrupter. — Well, Democrats already have found their transformational figure for the 2020 campaign.
Discussion:
Diamond & Silk


Cory Booker and the Orthodox rabbi were like brothers. Now they don't speak. — OXFORD, England — The Jewish festival of Purim was in full swing: Music was blasting, family and friends were bouncing to the beat, and 6-foot-3 Cory Booker was laughing and dancing while carrying a 5-foot-6 Orthodox rabbi in a clown suit on his back.


Donald Trump ‘wants us to impeach him,’ Nancy Pelosi tells Jimmy Kimmel — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that President Donald Trump actually wants to be impeached because he believes the Republican-controlled Senate would bail him out.
Discussion:
Breitbart, twitchy.com, Political Wire and Eschaton


Kirsten Gillibrand's Failure to Launch — HAMPTON, New Hampshire—Kirsten Gillibrand is only asking for a dollar. — It's not that she couldn't use more money. In the first quarter of 2019, the junior senator from New York raised just $3 million for her presidential campaign …
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Shakesville and Splinter


A New Right-Wing Disinformation Campaign: Biden Was Part of a Deep State Plot Against Trump — The evidence? The veep attended meetings about Russia's attack on the 2016 election. — Washington, DC, Bureau Chief — That didn't take long. Joe Biden had barely joined the 2020 presidential race …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner


After dazzling debut, Kamala Harris falls from top of presidential pack … When Kamala Harris launched her presidential bid four months ago, the stars all seemed to align. — She drew a crowd of roughly 20,000 to a lavish Oakland rally. She raised $1.5 million in just 24 hours.


Carmakers See $18 Billion Wiped Out by Trump's Mexico Threat — World auto manufacturers index falls to lowest since July 2016 — 25% tariffs would ‘cripple’ the industry, Deutsche Bank says — The automotive industry is bearing the brunt of trade-war crossfire again …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.


Clarence Thomas tried to link abortion to eugenics. Seven historians told The Post he's wrong. — In the opinion he wrote on the Supreme Court's recent decision about two abortion laws, Justice Clarence Thomas reached back into history. — Thomas argued that the door for abortion rights …
Discussion:
Althouse, Alternet.org and National Review


Contract Buying Robbed Black Families In Chicago Of Billions — Black families in Chicago lost between $3 billion and $4 billion in wealth because of predatory housing contracts during the 1950s and 1960s, according to a new report released Thursday. — The Samuel DuBois Cook Center …