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As Trump's defense pick withdraws, he addresses violent domestic incidents — In the months that he has served as President Trump's acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan has worked to keep domestic violence incidents within his family private. His wife was arrested after punching him in the face …
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FBI examining 2010 domestic fight involving acting defense secretary Shanahan; accounts differ on aggressor — Before he worked at the Pentagon, Patrick Shanahan spent over 30 years at Boeing. Now, he's the new acting secretary of defense. — CONNECT — WASHINGTON — The FBI …
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ThinkProgress, Axios, CBS News, NPR, Reuters, Slate, Vanity Fair, Politico, Vox, Conservative News Today, Al Jazeera, OpenSecrets.org, Financial Times, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, USNI News, TheBlaze, Shareblue Media, American Military News, Outside the Beltway, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Shakesville, VICE, UPI, Newser, New York Post and Splinter


Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan steps down, withdraws from Cabinet consideration
Discussion:
Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Washington Press and Slate

Trump announces acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will step down
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, Breaking Defense and New Republic


Our endorsement for president in 2020: Not Donald Trump | Editorial … Donald Trump is in Orlando to announce the kickoff of his re-election campaign. — We're here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020, or, at least, who we're not endorsing: Donald Trump.
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USA Today, Daily Kos, Daily Wire, Breitbart, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, Vox, Big League Politics, CNN, Politico, Shakesville, Newser, Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, CNBC, Washington Times, UPI, Roll Call, Mediaite and Slate, more at Mediagazer »
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The Orlando Sentinel just issued an unprecedented 2020 endorsement ahead of Trump's kickoff rally

Inside Donald Trump's Florida obsession
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Orlando Sentinel, 10NEWS, Breitbart, One America News Network, LifeNews.com, Shareblue Media and Factbase


The Evangelical, the ‘Pool Boy,’ the Comedian and Michael Cohen — Jerry Falwell Jr. defied expectations when he supported Donald J. Trump in 2016. Now details are emerging about behind-the-scenes maneuvering before the endorsement. — MIAMI BEACH — Senator Ted Cruz was running neck …


Biden/Sanders, Warren/O'Rourke to be center stage at first debate — The candidates with the highest polling averages will stand side-by-side at the NBC-sponsored face-off on June 26 and 27. — When the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates take the debate stage in downtown Miami next week …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Political Wire
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The stage is set for the first Democratic debate. Here's a primer on Night 1 and 2.
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New York Times

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Two Paths for the American Left
Discussion:
Boing Boing


Alex Jones hit with sanctions by judge in Sandy Hook lawsuit as case gets a proposed trial date — New York (CNN Business)A Connecticut judge on Tuesday sanctioned right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for suggesting that a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, who are suing the InfoWars founder …
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Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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Newtown parents score a win in growing fight against hoaxers
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Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »


“Crickets. They're Gone”: Why the Mercers, Trump's Biggest 2016 Backers, Have Bailed on Him — Robert Mercer is disillusioned. “Bob views all his political spending as a bad investment,” says a source close to Mercer. “This whole thing did not end up well for them,” says Sam Nunberg.
Discussion:
Splinter and Talking Points Memo


Watchdogs Sue Trump Administration Over Missing Notes From Putin Meeting — A new lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo broke the law by allowing President Donald Trump to seize the notes from a key meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and failing …
Discussion:
Washington Press


A Foreigner Paid $200,000 for Tickets to Trump's Inaugural. Now He Says He Was Duped. — WASHINGTON — A Ukrainian-Russian developer who wanted access to President Trump's inauguration filed a lawsuit on Tuesday saying he was bilked out of the $200,000 he paid for what he thought would be V.I.P. tickets to the event.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


First on CNN: Controversial political appointee expected to be named Customs and Border Protection press secretary — Washington (CNN)Katharine Gorka, a political appointee at the Department of Homeland Security who has stirred controversy for her views on terrorism and her role …
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ABC News, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Progress Pond, The Daily Caller and Hullabaloo


'This Isn't a Game': Four Women Sue Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill for Sexual Harassment — The statehouse staffers say they want their alleged harasser to be held accountable after investigations found their claims to be ‘credible’ but went no further.
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Washington Press, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and South Bend Tribune
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Indiana attorney general sued over groping allegations
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The Daily Caller and CBS Chicago


Billionaire GOP donor and Trump supporter says he rejected Joe Biden's request for fundraising help in 2020 — KEY POINTS — Democratic front runner Joe Biden on Monday appealed to a billionaire Republican donor for fundraising help in his presidential campaign.
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, Common Dreams, Splinter and Washington Post


Exclusive: Pompeo blocks inclusion of Saudis on U.S. child soldiers list - sources — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a U.S. list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts' findings that a Saudi-led coalition …
Discussion:
New York Post and The American Conservative


Michael Savage Has Doubts About Trump. His Conservative Radio Audience Does Not. — Michael Savage was one of the first radio hosts to endorse Mr. Trump. Now he thinks the president's fans are too uncritical. But his listeners aren't so sure. — TIBURON, Calif. — In January 2011 …
Discussion:
Mediaite


Dems to grill Hope Hicks on alleged Trump obstruction — House Democrats intend to question former White House communications director Hope Hicks on Wednesday about five specific incidents that special counsel Robert Mueller detailed as part of his investigation into whether President Donald Trump tried …
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Washington Post, Axios, Daily Caller News Foundation and One America News Network


White House Explored Legality of Demoting Fed Chairman Powell — White House counsel came to closely held conclusion on Powell — Fed spokeswoman says chairman can only be removed ‘for cause’ — The White House explored the legality of demoting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in February …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Politico and Axios

Trump campaign manager says he'd win in an “electoral landslide” as of today — President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale is predicting Mr. Trump will win even more electoral votes than in 2016 — “an electoral landslide” — dismissing independent polling that shows the president trailing top Democrats.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Political Wire


$1 billion for 20,000 Bay Area homes — As we work to build a more helpful Google, we know our responsibility to help starts at home. For us, that means being a good neighbor in the place where it all began over 20 years ago: the San Francisco Bay Area. — Today, Google is one of the Bay Area's largest employers.
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TechCrunch, Curbed SF, Fortune, Financial Times, CNBC, The Real Deal New York, KTLA, Bloomberg, East Bay Times, NPR, Mashable, Engadget, The Verge, San José Spotlight, UPI, Daily Caller News Foundation and ABC7, more at Techmeme »


Trump Plans to Live-Tweet Democratic Debate — President Trump's political advisers wanted to keep the president off of Twitter during the Democratic debates next week, arguing that there was an advantage in letting potential challengers attack one another without distraction. — Now, there's a new strategy.
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Politico, abc7NY, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, Conservative News Today, Talking Points Memo, IJR, POLITICUSUSA, Fortune, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Shakesville and New York Times


John Cusack Retweets, Deletes Anti-Semitic Meme, Blames Bot — Actor John Cusack shared and defended an anti-Semitic meme Monday night on Twitter, before deleting the post and tweeting an explanation that blamed a “bot” for the mistake. The tweet, which was only up for a short while, quickly drew the ire of many of his followers.
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Townhall, Israellycool, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Algemeiner.com, Conservative News Today, Page Six and Mediaite
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John Cusack slammed for antisemitic retweet
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NB Blog, Daily Wire, The Resurgent and Newser


Exclusive: President Trump Calls Alleged Iranian Attack on Oil Tankers ‘Very Minor’ — Facing twin challenges in the Persian Gulf, President Donald Trump said in an interview with TIME Monday that he might take military action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon …
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Washington Post, Agence France-Presse, Mercury News, Washington Monthly, Politico, Task & Purpose, The Guardian, middleeastmonitor.com, Jihad Watch, Splinter, twitchy.com, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Just Security, CNN, ABC News, VICE, CNBC, Axios, One America News Network, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, RealClearPolitics, Reuters, Townhall, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS News, The Sun, NBC News, Media Matters for America, Political Wire, Home Page Rotator, Vanity Fair, Newser, Foreign Policy and Washington Free Beacon


Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House With a Yard on Every Lot — Townhomes, duplexes and apartments are effectively banned in many neighborhoods. Now some communities regret it. — Single-family zoning is practically gospel in America, embraced by homeowners and local governments …
Discussion:
Reason


A Top Immigration Official Appears To Be Warning Asylum Officers About Border Screenings — The newly appointed leader of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, sent an email to staffers Tuesday in which he appeared to push asylum officers to stop allowing …
Discussion:
CNN and Talking Points Memo


Ocasio-Cortez Calls Migrant Detention Centers ‘Concentration Camps,’ Eliciting Backlash — WASHINGTON — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the liberal freshman Democrat from New York who has made fighting for immigrants' rights a signature issue, on Tuesday described …
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Washington Examiner, RedState, Townhall and Contemptor


Facebook Plans Global Financial System Based on Cryptocurrency — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook unveiled an ambitious plan on Tuesday to create an alternative financial system that relies on a cryptocurrency that the company has been secretly working on for more than a year.


Democrats can both impeach Trump and win 2020 | Opinion — By now, we are well past debating whether Donald Trump deserves to be impeached. His latest argument that he would again accept help from a foreign government to win in 2020 serves as a coda to the first half of the Mueller report …
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Big League Politics


Democratic Voters Don't Actually Understand ‘Medicare For All,’ New Report Says — They have some pretty important misconceptions, though the political implications aren't clear. — A new poll about “Medicare for All” should make you think twice before trusting polls on Medicare for All.
Discussion:
Front Page Magazine, CNN, The Henry J. Kaiser …, Washington Post, Bloomberg and Navigator


Tony Robbins Punishes Followers By Making Them Drink Unidentified Brown Liquid “Designed To Have A Lasting Effect” — At high-pressure seminars, the self-help superstar punishes people who don't measure up by feeding them a “gross shot” of unidentified brown liquid. His lawyers denied the mixture contains laxatives.


Publishers Plead With Trump Not to Impose a China ‘Bible Tax’ — Books and printed materials on list of products targeted — U.S. can't make enough specialized materials, officials say — Book publishers are imploring President Donald Trump not to impose “a Bible tax.”


Is the Religious Right Privileged? — The history of race and religion under liberalism is a tangle, not just a morality play. — Fair warning: This will be an entire column about a single paragraph. — The paragraph's author is Adam Serwer, a writer for The Atlantic …
Discussion:
alicublog and Washington Monthly