memeorandum: It's now illegal in Russia to share an image of Putin as a gay clown (Washington Post)

10:15 PM ET, April 5, 2017

Top Items:

Trump Says Susan Rice May Have Committed a Crime — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he thought that the former national security adviser Susan E. Rice may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of Trump associates who were mentioned on intercepted communications …

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

Bannon Removed From National Security Council Role in Shakeup — President Donald Trump reorganized his National Security Council on Wednesday, removing his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, and downgrading the role of his Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert, according to a person familiar with the decision and a regulatory filing.

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

What Steve Bannon's demotion tells us about the Trump White House — Washington (CNN)President Trump's decision to remove chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council's principals committee suggests a potentially significant change in the power balance among the four top White House advisers.

Liam Stack / New York Times:

Who Is Mike Cernovich? A Guide — President Trump has frequently derided the news media as “fake news,” and on Tuesday his son, Donald Trump Jr., told the world there was one person he wants to see win the Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in American journalism: Mike Cernovich.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America and ThinkProgress

Carol E. Lee / Wall Street Journal:

Steve Bannon Removed From National Security Council With Trump's Sign-off — National security adviser McMaster also orders top intelligence officials to be restored as members — WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has been removed from the National …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, KQED News, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
Stephen Bannon removed from National Security Council

Discussion: Towleroad, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, Israpundit and vice

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Removes Stephen Bannon From National Security Council Post

Discussion: Shareblue, Daily Wire, Atlanta Black Star, Lawfare and Vocativ

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
Trump defends Bill O'Reilly: 'I don't think Bill did anything wrong'

Bryan Bender / Politico:
Bannon's departure solidifies McMaster's control over the NSC

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, Raw Story, ABC News, Occupy Democrats, RedState and Talking Points Memo

Fox News:
Susan Rice's alleged unmasking requests not so routine, ex-officials say

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and IJR

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Trump, Asked About Accusations Against Bill O'Reilly, Calls Him a ‘Good Person’

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo and IJR

CNN:

First on CNN: Secret Service agent on VP's detail caught after meeting with prostitute at Maryland hotel — Secret Service scandals Story highlights — Washington (CNN)CNN has learned from multiple law enforcement sources that a Secret Service agent on Vice President Mike Pence's detail …

Discussion: Political Wire, Business Insider, The Week, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Republicans considering broader change to Senate rules — Republicans are discussing making an additional change to the Senate's rules to more quickly confirm President Trump's nominees. — The change is separate from an expected vote Thursday that would prevent Democrats from using …

Discussion: ABC News

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Negotiations to avert nuclear option collapse ahead of Gorsuch vote — Bipartisan negotiations involving as many as 10 senators hoping to avoid a floor blowup over the Senate rules and Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch have collapsed, setting up a partisan showdown on Thursday.

Discussion: Hot Air

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
McConnell: ‘Nuclear option’ helps Senate. McCain: ‘Whoever says that is a stupid idiot.’

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Rubio: It's no coincidence that Syria gas attack happened after ‘concerning’ Tillerson comments — (CNN)Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he doesn't think it's a coincidence that a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria occurred shortly after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson …

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Politico, The Hill, NPR, Hit & Run, IJR, Hot Air, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, RedState, Shareblue and Raw Story

Eleanor Mueller / CNN:
Congressman: 'I don't think' Assad is behind Syria attack

Discussion: Politico, Lawfare, Talking Points Memo and TheBlaze

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Haley rips into Russia as Security Council weighs resolution on Syrian chemical attack

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, CNN, TheBlaze, Common Dreams, RedState and The Federalist

New York Times:
Trump's View of Syria and Assad Altered After ‘Unacceptable’ Chemical Attack

Discussion: The Atlantic

Alex Pareene / Fusion:

The Long, Lucrative Right-wing Grift Is Blowing Up in the World's Face — If you want to understand intra-GOP warfare, the decision-making process of our president, the implosion of the Republican healthcare plan, and the rest of the politics of the Trump era, you don't need …

myajc:

Ossoff pulls in record donations for Georgia special election — GEORGIA-POLITICS By Aaron Gould Sheinin and Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Democrat Jon Ossoff has raised more than $8.3 million for his campaign to represent suburban Atlanta in Congress …

Discussion: Political Wire, Political Insider and Political Insider blog

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue:
Dem challenger has GOP so scared of losing safe Georgia seat, they're dredging up bin Laden

Discussion: Daily Kos

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

Every story I have read about Trump supporters in the past week — Since Donald Trump's approval rating now looks like something that got stuck to the bottom of my shoe, I joined the flood of journalists who went to Real America to see how the Trump supporters are getting along.

New York Times:

Partial Transcript: Trump's Interview With The Times — WASHINGTON — The following is a partial transcript of President Trump's interview with The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush. It has been lightly edited for content and clarity, and omits several off-the-record comments and asides.

Jacob Fenton / The Huffington Post:

Conservative Megadonor Wrote $450,000 Check To Spread Indicted Congressman's Fake News Across Texas, Prosecutors Say — The indictment of former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) offers a rare look at how a wealthy conservative's money was spent. — Late last month, federal prosecutors indicted ex …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Before This Is Over, Republicans Are Going to Wish Hillary Clinton Won — Imagine what the political world would look like for Republicans had Hillary Clinton won the election. Clinton had dragged her dispirited base to the polls by promising a far more liberal domestic agenda than Barack Obama …

Discussion: Liberal Values and Progress Pond

Alex Ritman / Hollywood Reporter:

Shia LaBeouf's ‘Man Down’ Likely to End U.K. Run With Just 3 Tickets Sold — YOUTUBE — A box-office jump of 200 percent since its much-derided opening will bring the film's final theatrical haul in the U.K. to $26. — While a 200 percent box-office leap is something most producers might offer …

Discussion: USA Today, IJR and The Times of Israel

Daniel Victor / New York Times:

Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter — Pepsi has apologized for a controversial advertisement that borrowed imagery from the Black Lives Matter movement, after a day of intense criticism from people who said it trivialized the widespread protests against the killings of black people by the police.

Patrick Shanley / Hollywood Reporter:
Pepsi Apologizes, Pulls Kendall Jenner Protest Ad After Criticism

Discussion: Breitbart, Mother Jones, New York Post, USA Today, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York's PIX11, Mashable, The Week, Washington Post, Townhall.com, NBC News, Mediaite and BizPac Review

Chicago Tribune:

Emanuel wants to add a CPS graduation requirement: Get acceptance letter — Mayor Rahm Emanuel talks with school staff members before meeting with students participating in a dropout and violence prevention program at Parker Community Academy on March 14, 2017. — Privacy Policy

Discussion: The Root

CBS Chicago:
CPS To Set New Graduation Requirement: Acceptance Letter

Discussion: Hit & Run

The White House:

Background Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the Visit of President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China — SENIOR ADMINISTRATON OFFICIAL: Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience. We'd like to welcome you here for today's briefing on the upcoming visit between China and the United States.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Business Insider, New York Times, Washington Post and The Diplomat

David Usborne / The Independent:
Donald Trump will find China's Xi Jinping unmoved by the usual golf-and-cocktails Mar-a-Lago treatment

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

It's now illegal in Russia to share an image of Putin as a gay clown — Russia has banned a picture depicting President Vladimir Putin as a potentially gay clown. — Russian news outlets are having trouble reporting exactly which image of the Internet's many Putin-gay-clown memes is now illegal to share.

Discussion: Heat Street, PinkNews and Mashable

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

The IRS took millions from innocent people because of how they managed their bank accounts, Inspector General finds — The Internal Revenue Service has seized millions of dollars in cash from individuals and businesses who obtained the money legally, according to a new Treasury Inspector General's report.

Discussion: Breitbart, U.S. Department …, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Instapundit and Hit & Run

Robin Givhan / Washington Post:

Melania Trump and the politics of airbrushing — The official portrait of first lady Melania Trump is jarring because her face appears to be heavily retouched, or perhaps just photographed through a lens smeared with Vaseline. It is devoid of fine lines and pores.

Discussion: New York Times

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Jared Kushner Hiring Hollywood PR Exec for White House Role (Exclusive) — President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser will name Blumhouse Productions' Josh Raffel to run communications for the nascent Office of American Innovation, as former Universal executive Teri Everett takes Raffel's position.

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Business Insider

Mará Rose Williams / Kansas City Star:

New Pittsburg, Kan., High School principal resigns after student journalists question her credentials — Days after student reporters at Pittsburg High School in Kansas dug into the background of their newly hired principal and found questionable credentials, she resigned from the $93,000-a-year job.

Discussion: usd250, NBC News, Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, Mashable, Mediaite, Fox News Insider, AOL and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

The President Is This Presidency's Worst Enemy — The administration doesn't suffer from a failure of ideas, but a failure of character. — The conservative commentariat is full of suggestions these days for how Donald Trump can salvage his first 100 days.

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

Producers, Director Say Alec Baldwin Lies in Memoir's Claim of Sex Scenes With Underaged Actress — The actor says he was misled by ‘Fifty Shades’ producer Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey about how old his co-star and onscreen lover was on the 2006 film 'Mini's First Time,' prompting Brunetti to say …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, RedState, Fox News, East Bay Times and Refinery29