memeorandum: Flynn, Manafort Are Key Figures In Russia Probe Mueller Will Lead (NBC News)

9:40 PM ET, May 17, 2017

Top Items:

Flynn, Manafort Are Key Figures In Russia Probe Mueller Will Lead — Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI's investigation into Russian campaign interference, which has just been taken over by a special counsel, four law enforcement officials told NBC News.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, The Week, NBC News, The Guardian, Daily Kos, The Reality-Based Community and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election — The Justice Department has decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials seeking to meddle in last year's election …

Discussion: Power Line, Refinery29, Shareblue, Political Wire, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Daily Kos

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

First Republican raises impeachment for Trump — (R-Mich.) on Wednesday said reports that President Trump pressed ousted FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation would merit impeachment if true, becoming the first Republican lawmaker to broach the idea.

Discussion: Shareblue, Politico, ABC News, Refinery29, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and NPR, more at Mediagazer »

Bill Allison / Bloomberg:

Pence Takes Steps to Build War Chest as White House Stumbles — Political action committee registered Wednesday with FEC — Neither Biden nor Cheney had active leadership PACs in office — While President Donald Trump's White House grapples with the fallout from his firing of the former FBI director …

Discussion: The Last Tradition

Rebecca R. Ruiz / New York Times:

Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has appointed Robert S. Mueller III, the former F.B.I. director, to serve as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into Russian meddling in the election …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, Take Care Blog, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Political Wire and Booman Tribune

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Justice names special counsel for Russia investigation — The Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russia's involvement in the U.S. election. — Mueller, a former prosecutor who served a 12-year term at the helm of the bureau …

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and RedState

Mike Levine / ABC News:

Robert Mueller appointed special counsel to oversee probe into Russia's interference in 2016 election — The United States Department of Justice has announced that a special counsel has been appointed to investigate Russian interference into last year's presidential election and links …

Discussion: Axios, Politico, Little Green Footballs and Washington Free Beacon

Politico:
Democratic leaders seek to stifle impeachment talk

Discussion: RedState

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Comey Memo Fallout: Mueller Is Named Special Counsel

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Politico

Jonathan Turley / The Hill:
The Comey memo offers no proof for impeachment of Trump

New York Times:
The Criminal President? — After the revelations of the past 24 hours …

Discussion: New York Post, USA Today, Liberal Values, IJR, TheBlaze and Washington Post

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
Trump Has Really Screwed Himself This Time

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Axios, CBS News, Talking Points Memo and New York Times

AJ Vicens / Mother Jones:
Two GOP Congressmen Suggest Trump May Have Committed Impeachable Offense

Discussion: Breitbart, Vox, twitchy.com, Townhall.com, Shareblue, The Week and Mediaite

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
First Republicans talk possibility of impeachment for Trump

Discussion: Breitbart, Vox, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Signal, TheStreet, NBC News, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Justice Dept. names Mueller special counsel for Russia probe

Discussion: RedState and Axios

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The guy who predicted Comey's memos thinks the former FBI director may be trying to take down Trump

Discussion: Raw Story

Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
Jack Welch: Impeachment of Trump would ‘blow the market away’

Discussion: Breitbart and Washington Post

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Under the Obama Precedent, No Trump Obstruction of Justice

Discussion: Townhall.com, New York Times, Breitbart, Politico, Media Matters for America, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Above the Law, Media Matters for America, NPR and The Guardian

Adam Entous / Washington Post:

House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump — KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation …

Dan Merica / CNN:

Trump to graduates: ‘No politician in history... has been treated worse’ — New London, Connecticut (CNN)President Donald Trump, amid his own swirling controversies, advised United States Coast Guard Academy graduates that while things aren't always fair, “you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight.”

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Hit & Run, IJR and TheBlaze

Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Trump turns to ex-campaign aides as scandals pile up

Discussion: Mediaite

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump to interview Joe Lieberman, 3 others for FBI post

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Breitbart, PRI, Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNBC, Common Dreams, New York Magazine, Mashable, Talking Points Memo, Indy Week, Hullabaloo, Just Security, IJR and New York Post

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump considering Joe Lieberman for FBI director

Discussion: Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Latest from Crooks and Liars

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
The scariest thought: What if Donald Trump just doesn't know what he's doing?

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Hill, Shareblue, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, RedState and AOL

Associated Press:
White House offers muted response on Comey memo

Discussion: ABC News

Annie Karni / Politico:
Trump looks to foreign trip for reset after domestic drama

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, ABC News and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House — WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign …

Jeff Larson / ProPublica:

Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago — We tested internet security at four Trump properties. It's not good. — Two weeks ago, on a sparkling spring morning, we went trawling along Florida's coastal waterway. But not for fish. — We parked a 17-foot motor boat in a lagoon …

Discussion: The Hill, Gizmodo, Axios, Mashable and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Michelle Kosinski:

This is How Your Government Responds to Unfavorable News Coverage — Monday night, as the story of the President giving classified information to the Russians was in full evolution, I get a call from this guy: — RC Hammond, the State Department's communications advisor, who had his facts wrong about what was reported and by whom.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:

What Does Barack Obama Really Think of Donald Trump? 'He's Nothing But a Bullsh-ter' — She packs her own lunch, and he still isn't allowed to drive. Subscribe now for all about Michelle and Barack Obama's lives after moving out of the White House - only in PEOPLE

Discussion: The Root, Politicus USA, IJR, Mediaite, Infowars, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Raw Story

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke accepts job in Department of Homeland Security — Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. will leave office next month to accept a federal appointment as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress, The Resurgent, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, RT, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, The Week and IJR

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Sheriff David Clarke lands job at Homeland Security

Discussion: TheBlaze, Axios, Talking Points Memo, FOX6Now.com and Right Wing Watch

Austin American-Statesman:

‘THIS IS CRAZY’: Austin man sues date for texting during movie — A man is suing a Round Rock woman for texting during a movie date at the Barton Creek Square theater, according to a petition filed in small claims court in Travis County. — Brandon Vezmar, 37, of Austin filed the claim Thursday against his date.

Discussion: Breitbart, IJR, The Daily Caller, Refinery29 and IndieWire

Wall Street Journal:

Russian State-Run Bank Financed Deal Involving Trump Hotel Partner — A Russian-Canadian developer put money into a Donald Trump hotel project in Toronto after receiving hundreds of millions from a deal involving Russian state-run bank VEB.

Discussion: Axios, ThinkProgress, AOL, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Week and Raw Story

Max Kutner / Newsweek:

FBI NOT PROBING DNC STAFFER SETH RICH'S MURDER, DESPITE WIKILEAKS CLAIM — U.S. SETH RICH #DNCLEAKS DNC HACK DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE — The FBI is not investigating the unsolved murder of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, Newsweek has learned.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, The Daily Caller, RT and Right Wing Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Family of slain DNC staffer demands retractions from Fox News, local TV station

Discussion: HuffPost, Infowars, IJR, DCist, Mediaite, Media Matters for America and ThinkProgress

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:

Jimmy Fallon Was on Top of the World. Then Came Trump. — Ambling onto the Art Deco set of “The Tonight Show” for his monologue rehearsal one Monday afternoon, Jimmy Fallon gave the crowd here at Studio 6B a warm, practiced welcome before trying out a new batch of jokes about the French election …

Discussion: AOL, Refinery29, Gothamist, The Guardian, IndieWire, Shakesville, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Matt O'Brien / Washington Post:

Why liberal democracy only dies when conservatives help — Liberal democracy is not dead, but it's not well. From Hungary to Poland to even the United States, far-right populists have won power, and, in a few cases, are busy consolidating it. — In some sense, it shouldn't be too surprising …

David Montero / Los Angeles Times:

Alex Jones settles Chobani lawsuit and retracts comments about refugees in Twin Falls, Idaho — Inside the Chobani Yogurt factory in Twin Falls, Idaho. — Alex Jones backed down. Again. — The far-right conspiracy theorist agreed Wednesday to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against him by Greek yogurt manufacturer Chobani.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Bloomberg:

Trump Said to Rule Out Moving Israel Embassy to Jerusalem — The embassy will remain in Tel Aviv for now, official says — Administration seeks to avoid provoking Palestinians — President Donald Trump has decided not to immediately move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem …