Top Items:
Ben Dooley / New York Times:
‘Flying Object’ Struck Tanker in Gulf of Oman, Operator Says, Not a Mine — TOKYO — One of the tankers that were attacked in the Gulf of Oman was struck by a flying object, the ship's Japanese operator said on Friday, disputing at least part of the account of United States officials who had blamed Iran for the attack.
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Barbie Latza Nadeau / The Daily Beast:
Japanese Tanker Owner Says U.S. Is Wrong About Gulf Attack — Yutaka Katada, the owner of one of the stricken fuel tankers crippled in explosions in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, says the U.S. is wrong about the way the attack was carried out. Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday …
Discussion:
Slate, The Daily Beast, Washington Press, CNN, Bloomberg, American Military News and Patterico's Pontifications
CBS News:
Tanker owner seems to dispute U.S. account of Gulf of Oman attack — The Japanese owner of the Kokuka Courageous, one of two oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, said Friday that sailors on board saw “flying objects” just before it was hit, suggesting the vessel wasn't damaged by mines.
Discussion:
Fox News, Clayton Cramer and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
NBC announces lineup of Democrats for each of the two nights for first 2020 debate — To decide the match-ups, candidates' names were drawn manually at NBC News' headquarters in New York. — NBC News on Friday announced the lineups of Democratic presidential candidates who are appearing …
Discussion:
CNN, BuzzFeed News, Breitbart, Townhall, Vanity Fair, ABC News, Patterico's Pontifications, KTVQ-TV, Shakesville, UPI and Denver Post
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New York Times:
Here's How the Candidates Will Be Divided for the First Democratic Debates — The presidential candidates participating in the debates, on June 26 and 27 in Miami, will be split into two groups of 10. — Elizabeth Warren will share the stage with Beto O'Rourke on one night …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, MinnPost, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, twitchy.com and KTVQ-TV
Zogby Analytics:
The Zogby Poll®: Biden has big leads in key battleground states; Sanders in distant second, while Warren makes gains in OH, WI, SC, and AZ … Zogby Analytics® conducted online surveys of likely Democratic primary voters in seven battleground states - Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Here's Who Will and Won't Get to Face Joe Biden in the First 2020 Democratic Debate
Here's Who Will and Won't Get to Face Joe Biden in the First 2020 Democratic Debate
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
4 early takeaways from the Democratic debate lineups
4 early takeaways from the Democratic debate lineups
Discussion:
Associated Press and FiveThirtyEight
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
See a Design of the Harriet Tubman $20 Bill That Mnuchin Delayed — WASHINGTON — Extensive work was well underway on a new $20 bill bearing the image of Harriet Tubman when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced last month that the design of the note would be delayed for technical reasons …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Splinter, KTVQ-TV, The Week, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Summit News
Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
President Trump's internal polling data from March showed him far behind Joe Biden in key battleground states — Data from President Donald Trump's first internal reelection campaign poll conducted in March, obtained exclusively by ABC News, showed him losing a matchup by wide margins …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Orlando Weekly, The Week and Mediaite
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Todd Spangler / Detroit Free Press:
Donald Trump trails Joe Biden by double digits in new statewide Michigan poll
Donald Trump trails Joe Biden by double digits in new statewide Michigan poll
Discussion:
Breitbart, PJ Media Home, Joe.My.God., Fox News, LGBTQ Nation and Washington Free Beacon
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Sarah Sanders was the disdainful Queen of Gaslighting — When Sarah Sanders said Thursday that she hopes to be remembered for her transparency and honesty, the first impulse was to laugh. — But lying to citizens while being paid by them really isn't all that funny.
Discussion:
Guacamoley and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
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Roger Kimball / Spectator USA:
Godspeed, Sarah Sanders
Godspeed, Sarah Sanders
Discussion:
CNN, NB Blog and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »
Annie Karni / New York Times:
White House Considers Restoring the Daily Briefing for the Next Press Secretary
White House Considers Restoring the Daily Briefing for the Next Press Secretary
Discussion:
On Point, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway and Progress Pond
Orion Rummler / Axios:
The highlights from Trump's 50-minute birthday “Fox & Friends” call
The highlights from Trump's 50-minute birthday “Fox & Friends” call
Discussion:
Politico, Wonkette and Washington Post
Justin Fishel / ABC News:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump disputes account of White House counsel's testimony to Mueller — President Donald Trump is directly disputing the account of a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible obstruction of justice during the course of the Russia probe saying that it …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Fox News, The Hill, Slate, Wonkette, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Politico, New York Post, Bloomberg, Joe.My.God. and VICE News
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Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
ABC Stations Helped Trump Build a Campaign Email List on His Birthday — Some of the network's largest affiliates promoted on their websites a ‘birthday card’ for President Trump that is really just a list-building campaign. It's since been removed. — On Friday morning …
Discussion:
Politico, Media Matters for America, TVNewser, Palm Beach Post, Political Wire and abc7NY, more at Mediagazer »
Bloomberg:
Ivanka Trump Made $4 Million From President's D.C. Hotel — Husband Jared Kushner had at least $27 million in debt — Former adviser Cohn paid for Mulvaney's golf tournament fees — Ivanka Trump made $4 million from her investment in her father's Washington hotel last year …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, VICE News, Shareblue Media, Joe.My.God. and Axios
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HuffPost:
Sara Gideon, Maine's Democratic House Speaker, To Run Against Senator Susan Collins — The GOP senator faces intense backlash from state Democrats and abortion rights activists over her vote for Brett Kavanaugh. — Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, is expected to formally announce …
Discussion:
Press Herald and Political Wire
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Illiberal Right Throws a Tantrum — By the tail end of the Obama administration, the culture war seemed lost. The religious right sued for détente, having been swept up in one of the most rapid cultural shifts in generations. Gone were the decades of being able to count …
Discussion:
Reason, Eschaton and Acton Institute PowerBlog
Maureen Groppe / Indianapolis Star:
Exclusive: Indiana Republican Susan Brooks will not seek re-election to Congress — WASHINGTON — Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, one of only 13 Republican women in the House as well as the head of GOP recruitment for 2020, found someone she could not convince to run: herself.
Discussion:
The Week, Politico, Joe.My.God. and UPI
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Maureen Groppe / USA Today:
Exclusive: GOP lawmaker who sought to recruit more women to run in 2020 is herself retiring
Exclusive: GOP lawmaker who sought to recruit more women to run in 2020 is herself retiring
Discussion:
Townhall, CNN, Washington Post, Newser, ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and Washington Times
Newsweek:
We know the real Donald Trump. America needs four more years | Opinion — No President in history has taken a bigger financial hit by occupying the Oval Office than Donald J. Trump. — The cost to him personally, and to his company in general, is astonishing and amounts to hundreds of millions …
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Reveal:
Inside hate groups on Facebook, police officers trade racist memes, conspiracy theories and Islamophobia — Hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States are members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia groups on Facebook, a Reveal investigation has found.
Discussion:
Boing Boing
New York Times:
The Youngest Known Child Separated From His Family by the Trump Administration — Caitlin Dickerson is a Peabody award-winning national immigration reporter, who profiles the lives of immigrants, including those without legal status. Last year, Caitlin reported that the Trump administration …
John Solomon / The Hill:
Delirious Democrats are now accusing Team Obama of treason — If you read the newspapers, tuned into the cable TV pundits or received an email from one of the Democrats running for president, you'd swear Donald Trump was back to his treasonous ways. — All that was missing …
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Bloomberg:
Trump Delayed Pence's Tiananmen Square Speech in Hopes of Landing Xi Meeting — Administration debating how tough rescheduled speech should be — Trump says 'it doesn't matter' if he gets meeting with Xi — Vice President Mike Pence was set to deliver a speech criticizing China's …
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Trump camp's latest lies cannot obscure what's now been exposed — The large outlines of the Russiagate scandal have long been hiding in plain sight: President Trump and his campaign encouraged, eagerly sought to benefit from and worked to conspire with a foreign power's sweeping effort …
Discussion:
HuffPost
Peter Jamison / Washington Post:
Trump still owes D.C. $7 million in inauguration costs as he plans July Fourth gala — President Trump's speech at the Lincoln Memorial on the Fourth of July is expected to drive up security costs for an annual event that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the nation's capital.
Discussion:
KTVQ-TV, Daily Kos, Washington Times, Joe.My.God. and The Guardian
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Federal employees turn their backs on Agriculture secretary after relocation plans announced — Members of the American Federation of Government Employees turned their backs on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday, apparently over plans to relocate them from Washington to the Kansas City area.
Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:
Tucker Carlson's Curious Turn From Koch Brothers Evangelist to Their Harshest Critic at Fox News — Last week, Fox News star Tucker Carlson accused Republicans of rejecting economic patriotism out of fear they “might make the Koch brothers angry.” While he now castigates those lawmakers …
León Krauze / Washington Post:
Trump bullied Mexico into becoming his wall. But success is far from guaranteed. — The deal that led to President Trump's calling off his threat to impose tariffs against Mexico has led to a peculiar debate. Did Mexico manage to talk its way out of a trade war by selling Trump on a series …
Discussion:
The Intercept and USA Today
Lara Bazelon / San Francisco Chronicle:
Open Forum: Exaggerating California crime to protect their livelihoods — California has seen seven years of transformative justice system reforms: AB109, enacted in 2011, lowered the prison population; Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014, reduced certain nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors; Prop.
Serena O'Sullivan / Arizona Republic:
Body of 7-year-old girl from India found in Arizona desert, officials say — The body of a 7-year-old girl was found Wednesday about 17 miles west of Lukeville, in a remote desert area, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. — Officials believe the child was from India trying to cross …
Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:
‘They are worthy of death’: A cop preached that the government should execute LGBTQ people — Standing at the front of the All Scripture Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., Pastor Grayson Fritts had the rapt attention of his congregation. It was June 2, the first Sunday of Pride Month, and Fritts had planned a timely sermon.
Discussion:
Metro Weekly, Newser, Knoxville News-Sentinel and Queerty
Ezra Klein / Vox:
Elizabeth Warren isn't Hillary Clinton — How Warren is using many policies to reinforce one message, and a few other notes from our conversation. — My old American Prospect editor Mark Schmitt had a maxim I always liked: “It's not what you say about the issues; it's what the issues say about you.”
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Rashaan Ayesh / Axios:
Justice Department backs Treasury on blocking Trump tax returns — The Department of Justice is backing the Department of Treasury's decision to not release President Trump's tax returns to Congress. — Why it matters: The DOJ is asserting the request for Trump's tax returns serves no …
Discussion:
One America News Network