memeorandum @ 4:05 PM ET, October 30, 2017

4:05 PM ET, October 30, 2017

Top Items:

Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Told to Surrender — WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates were told to surrender to federal authorities Monday morning, the first charges in a special counsel investigation, according to a person involved in the case.

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Tony Podesta stepping down from lobbying giant amid Mueller probe — Democratic power lobbyist Tony Podesta, founder of the Podesta Group, is stepping down from the firm that bears his name after coming under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: Mother Jones, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Washington Times, National Review, New York Times, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, Mediaite and Vox Popoli

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:

Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton — WASHINGTON — A professor with close ties to the Russian government told an adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign in April 2016 that Moscow had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire, The Mahablog and New York Magazine

CNN:

Manafort to turn himself in to Mueller, source says — Source: Manafort to turn himself in to Mueller — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Manafort is the first person in Trump's orbit charged in connection with the special counsel investigation — Washington (CNN)Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort …

Discussion: CBS News, Village Voice, The Gateway Pundit, KTLA, Popehat, IJR, Hit & Run, KFOR-TV, Washington Free Beacon, Media Matters for America, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, bizpacreview.com, Raw Story, Axios and AOL

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

The Manafort Indictment: Not Much There, and a Boon for Trump — Do not be fooled by the “Conspiracy against the United States” heading. — The Paul Manafort indictment is much ado about nothing . . . except as a vehicle to squeeze Manafort, which is special counsel Robert Mueller's objective …

Discussion: Power Line, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, ThinkProgress and Lawfare

New York Times:

How the Russia Investigation Entangled a Manafort Protégé — Nearly everywhere Paul Manafort went, it seemed, Rick Gates followed, his protégé and junior partner. Election campaigns in Eastern Europe and Africa. Business ventures with a Russian tycoon.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, AOL, Axios, Mediaite, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Splinter, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, The Week, Mother Jones and IJR

SHennessey / Lawfare:

Robert Mueller's Show of Strength: A Quick and Dirty Analysis — The first big takeaway from this morning's flurry of charging and plea documents with respect to Paul Manafort Jr., Richard Gates III, and George Papadopoulos is this: The President of the United States had as his campaign chairman …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, CNN, RedState, New York Times, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, New York Magazine, emptywheel, Bloomberg, Weekly Standard, Popehat, Fox News, Mediaite, Axios, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, TheStreet, Power Line and CNBC

Washington Post:
Manafort and former business partner asked to surrender in connection with special counsel probe

Discussion: Fox News, TheBlaze, ThinkProgress, The Week, Hullabaloo, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, Mother Jones, The Hill, Washington Times and New York Magazine

CNN:
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender to FBI: Live updates

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and The Federalist

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump campaign aides charged in Mueller's Russia probe

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, RedState and Shakesville

Dave Lawler / Axios:
How the Russia probe closed in on Paul Manafort

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, KFOR-TV, KTLA, Just Security, Washington Free Beacon, Portland Mercury and IJR

NBC News:
Ex-Trump Adviser George Papadopoulos Pleads Guilty in Mueller's Russia Probe

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New Yorker, Booman Tribune, NBC News, bizpacreview.com, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and Politicus USA

Derek Robertson / Politico:
Manafort's clothing tab: $1.3 million

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:
How to Interpret Robert Mueller's New Charges

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and Power Line

Aruna Viswanatha / Wall Street Journal:
Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Charged in Russia Probe

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and The Week

Wall Street Journal:
Begging Your Pardon, Mr. President

Discussion: The Atlantic and New York Magazine

Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
How Fox News is covering the toughest day of the Trump presidency

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Shareblue Media, The Daily Caller and IJR

Bmaz / emptywheel:
Some Thoughts On The Manafort Indictment

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Hullabaloo and IJR

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Trump campaign adviser admitted to lying about Russian contacts

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, ABC News, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and IJR

Adam B. Vary / BuzzFeed:

Actor Anthony Rapp: Kevin Spacey Made A Sexual Advance Toward Me When I Was 14 — The Star Trek: Discovery actor says women speaking out about sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry has compelled him to come forward about the Oscar winner. — Last June, Anthony Rapp settled …

Dominic Patten / Deadline: Netflix Cancels ‘House Of Cards’, “Deeply Troubled” Over Kevin Spacey Sexual Advances Claims

Ira Madison III / The Daily Beast:
How Kevin Spacey's ‘Coming Out’ Grossly Conflates Pedophilia and Homosexuality

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mashable, The Daily Caller, CNN, ABC News, Washington Post, The Guardian, CBS Los Angeles, AOL, bizpacreview.com and The Resurgent

Andrew Scurria / Wall Street Journal:

FBI Is Probing Puerto Rico Power Contract — Deal for $300 million to fix electrical grid after Hurricane Maria was made by the island's public-power monopoly known as Prepa — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a $300 million contract awarded by Puerto Rico's government power company …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Whitefish Energy Holdings …, Axios, Politico, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Week and Yahoo! Finance

Washington Post:

Puerto Rico moves to cancel contract with Whitefish Energy to repair electric grid — Puerto Rico's electric company moved Sunday to cancel a $300 million contract with a small Montana firm for repairs to the territory's hurricane-ravaged electrical grid, saying controversy surrounding …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Root, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, ABC News and Democrats.com

The Hill:
FBI investigating Whitefish deal: report

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:

Federal judge blocks enforcement of Trump's directive banning military service by transgender individuals — By WASHINGTON POST STAFF October 30 at 1:04 PM — The court upheld part of the president's directive blocking military personnel from having sex reassignment surgery.

Discussion: RedState

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill:
Court partially blocks Trump's transgender military ban

Discussion: The Root and IJR

Associated Press:
US court bars Trump from reversing transgender troops policy

Discussion: The Week

New York Times:

Trump Is Expected to Name Jerome Powell as Next Fed Chairman — WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to name Jerome H. Powell as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Janet L. Yellen, the current chairwoman whose term expires early next year, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN:

Menendez rests defense case after judge denies mistrial request — Newark, New Jersey (CNN)Sen. Bob Menendez and a wealthy ophthalmologist rested their defense case Monday in their bribery trial after a federal judge rejected their lawyer's motion for a mistrial.

Matt Friedman / Politico:
Judge denies Menendez mistrial request

Discussion: The Federalist and The Daily Caller

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

NBC News, MSNBC cut ties with Mark Halperin — Mark Halperin apologizes after sexual harassment claims — NBC News and MSNBC have severed ties with “Game Change” co-author and veteran journalist Mark Halperin, days after multiple women told CNN he sexually harassed or assaulted them during his time at ABC News.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill, Booman Tribune, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, IJR and Mediaite

Hot Air:

Did George Papadopoulos Wear A Wire For Mueller? — I noted in the Papadopoulos post this morning that his plea deal says he's cooperating with Mueller's investigation. Brad Heath of USA Today made a nifty catch, though, about the possible extent of that cooperation.

David Catanese / US News:

Flake Considers Independent Senate Run — The Centrist Project plans to poll how the Trump critic and Arizona Republican would fare in a three-way race for his seat. — Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is considering running for his seat as an independent and has given his blessing …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times and Washington Free Beacon