memeorandum: The single county to watch in Montana's special election (Ryan Struyk/ABC News)

5:40 AM ET, May 24, 2017

Top Items:

Statement on coverage of Seth Rich murder investigation — On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.

Mary Rich / Washington Post:

We're Seth Rich's parents. Stop politicizing our son's murder. — The writers are the parents of Seth Rich, who was killed in the District in 2016. — Imagine living in a nightmare that you can never wake up from. Imagine having to face every single day knowing that your son was murdered.

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Mediaite, RedState, The Guardian, Media Matters for America, TheBlaze and Little Green Footballs

John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:

The Shame of Defaming Seth Rich — The conspiracy theorizing has to stop. — Seth Rich was 27 when he was killed on a dark street in a sketchy neighborhood in the nation's capital last July. He has become world-famous in the past month because his corpse is being used as a proxy in the war over the reputation of Donald J. Trump.

Discussion: Showbiz411 and Hot Air

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Hannity on Seth Rich coverage: ‘I retracted nothing’ — Fox News's Sean Hannity ripped his critics and the mainstream media on his nationally syndicated radio program Tuesday, saying, “I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com, I retracted nothing.” — His reaction came hours after Fox News retracted …

Discussion: RedState

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Seth Rich's brother pleads with Hannity to stop spreading conspiracy theory

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Mashable, IJR, Business Insider, TheBlaze, RedState, Washington Post, KTLA, Right Wing Watch, No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

The Guardian:

US leak of Manchester attacker's name strikes new blow to intelligence sharing — Naming of Salman Abedi by ‘US officials’ hours before it was announced by UK authorities is latest in series of leaks that may damage credibility with allies … American officials have been criticised …

Discussion: Geller Report, Business Insider, TheBlaze and The Atlantic

Jerome Hudson / Breitbart:

Katy Perry on Manchester Bombing: ‘No Barriers, No Borders, We All Just Need to Co-Exist’ — Pop megastar Katy Perry made an impassioned plea for people to “co-exist” and said that “barriers” or “borders” could detract from that goal in an interview following the terrorist bombing …

Elake / The Sun:
FACE OF PURE EVIL Brit-born Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, 22, is pictured for the first time …

Discussion: USA Today, France 24, Geller Report, and that's the way it was, Infowars, RedState, The Daily Caller, creepingsharia.wordpress.com and Business Insider

Mark Steyn / Steyn Online:
“Dangerous Woman” Meets Dangerous Man

Discussion: Coffee House, Patterico's Pontifications, The Independent, The Guardian, CBS Pittsburgh and Friendly Atheist

Mitch Prothero / BuzzFeed:
US Officials Keep Talking About The Manchester Attack And It's Freaking Out European Allies

Discussion: Business Insider, IJR, ThinkProgress, AOL, Infowars, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, The Week, Daily Wire, Geller Report, BBC and Patterico's Pontifications

Washington Post:
Manchester bombing suspect identified; Islamic State claims responsibility

Discussion: BBC, CNN, Daily Wire, France 24, Lawfare, Hit & Run, Power Line, IJR, TheBlaze, National Review, The Week, Department of Homeland …, IndieWire, Common Dreams, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Telegraph and New York Times

Martin Evans / Telegraph:
Salman Abedi named as the Manchester suicide bomber - what we know about him

Discussion: The Guardian, BBC, USA Today, American Power, American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America, CNN, Mirror.co.uk, neo-neocon, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Daily Mail, creepingsharia.wordpress.com, Daily Wire and FOX40

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross / The Atlantic:
The Manchester Attack Shows How Terrorists Learn

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Resurgent, New York Times, TheBlaze, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Gothamist and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Los Angeles Times: Britain raises terror threat level to ‘critical,’ suggesting another attack could follow Manchester bombing

The Intercept:

TRUMP CALLED RODRIGO DUTERTE TO CONGRATULATE HIM ON HIS MURDEROUS DRUG WAR: “YOU ARE DOING AN AMAZING JOB” — Photo Illustration: The Intercept/Getty Images — In a phone call from the White House late last month, U.S. President Donald Trump heaped praise on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte …

Discussion: The Week, ThinkProgress and Political Wire

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Trump calls Kim Jong Un a ‘madman with nuclear weapons,’ according to transcript of Duterte call — President Trump labeled North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a “madman with nuclear weapons” during a private phone conversation with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte last month …

Discussion: New York Times, RT, Mediaite, Business Insider, Raw Story, Politico, The Daily Caller, Axios and Political Wire

The Intercept:

Read the Full Transcript of Trump's Call With Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte — Last month Donald Trump spoke by phone with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and was widely criticized by members of both parties for inviting the strongman to meet with him in the White House.

David M. Schwartz / Newsday:

In upset, Democrat Pellegrino wins 9th District Assembly seat — Democrat Christine Pellegrino, left, won the race against Conservative Tom Gargiulo in a special election Tuesday, May 23, 2017, in the 9th Assembly District. She will fill the seat that opened when Assemb.

Discussion: NY State of Politics

Michael Grunwald / Politico:

Trump's Budget Scam — I have a plan to dunk a basketball. First, I'll grow a foot taller. Next, I'll recapture the athleticism of my youth, so I can jump a lot higher. I didn't say I had a serious plan—just a plan. — Today, the Trump administration released a plan to balance …

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The trillions in shocking cuts in Donald Trump's budget, explained

Discussion: Center on Budget …, The Atlantic, Politico, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Rewire, Mashable, Common Dreams, ThinkProgress, Marginal REVOLUTION, Mother Jones, Business Insider, New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Post

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Who knew bringing down drug prices could be so complicated

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Common Dreams and Washington Post

patribotics:

EXCLUSIVE: Marshal of the Supreme Court Warned Trump over ‘Muslim Ban’ — Multiple sources confirm that Pamela Talkin, Marshal of the Supreme Court, was dispatched to the White House by Chief Justice Roberts last Friday. The decision to send her was taken, sources say, when White House Counsel …

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
No, Impeachment Doesn't Work That Way — Despite the fact …

Discussion: Daily Wire

Diane Ravitch / New Republic:

Don't Like Betsy DeVos? Blame the Democrats. — The Democratic Party paved the way for the education secretary's efforts to privatize our public schools. — Of all the corrupt, unqualified, and extremist characters Donald Trump has tapped to lead his administration …

Discussion: Eschaton

Ted Johnson / Variety:

FCC Will Not Take Action Over Stephen Colbert's Trump Remarks — The FCC will not take any action in response to complaints over a May 1 broadcast of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” in which the host quipped during his opening monologue that “the only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c— holster.”

Discussion: CNNMoney, Deadline, Mediaite, The Verge, Refinery29, The Week, The Guardian, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

Katie Jennings / Politico:

MacArthur resigns as co-chairman of ‘clearly divided’ Tuesday Group — Rep. Tom MacArthur resigned Tuesday as co-chairman of the caucus of GOP moderates known as the Tuesday Group in the wake of deep divisions among its members over the House Obamacare replacement bill he helped craft.

Discussion: Daily Wire, Business Insider, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, NY State of Politics, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Political Wire

Shibani Shah / Washington Post: Q&A: Rep. Tom MacArthur and the agony of GOP moderates in Trump's Washington

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:

Exclusive: Sources Say Chris Christie Says He Gave Jared Kushner Legal Advice About Trump — The two, whose spokespeople deny this claim, used to be adversaries. But the New Jersey governor knows something about being investigated, and the president's son-in-law knows how Christie investigates.

Discussion: AOL, Business Insider, Raw Story, CNN and Shakesville

Media Matters for America:

These are Sean Hannity's advertisers — Here are Hannity's primary advertisers: — Alfa Romeo — Allstate — Angie's List — AstraZeneca — Bayer — Blink Health — Boehringer Ingelheim — Booking.com — Capital One — Casper — Consumer Cellular — DirecTV

Discussion: Mediaite

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump retains outside lawyer Marc Kasowitz to help with Russia investigations — President Trump has retained the services of a trusted lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz, to help him navigate the investigations into his campaign and Russian interference in last year's election, according to people familiar with the decision.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Michael Del Moro / ABC News:
Trump expected to retain attorney for Russia inquiry

Discussion: The Week, Politico and The Last Tradition

Scott Adams' Blog:

Scott Adams' Blog — President Trump just gave ISIS its new name: Losers. (Short for Evil Losers). — If you think that's no big deal, you're wrong. It's a big deal. This is - literally - weapons-grade persuasion from the most powerful Master Persuader of our time.

Discussion: Shot in the Dark

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:

The single county to watch in Montana's special election — If you're only watching one county in Thursday's special election for Montana's lone U.S. House seat, it should be Lake County. — Wrapping around the base of Flathead Lake in rural northwest Montana, the county includes …

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Sharon Begley / STAT:

Trump wasn't always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change? — t was the kind of utterance that makes professional transcribers question their career choice: — “ ... there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but I can always speak for myself — and the Russians, zero.”

Discussion: The Week and Unfogged

John J. Pitney / USA Today:

I was a Republican until Donald Trump hijacked my party — It is painfully evident that Trump's sorry brand will stick to the GOP for years. — Until last year, I was as Republican as you could get. My family had belonged to the GOP since the 1850s, and both my grandfathers labored in local Republican politics.

Discussion: Liberal Values

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump to pope: 'I won't forget what you said' — The Latest on President Donald Trump's first trip abroad (all times local): — President Donald Trump has gifted Pope Francis a first-edition set of writings from Martin Luther King Jr. — Trump presented Francis with the books …

Discussion: ABC News

Olivia Solon / The Guardian:

Study finds mushrooms are the safest recreational drug — People taking mushrooms in 2016 needed medical treatment less than for MDMA, LSD and cocaine, while one of the riskiest drugs was synthetic cannabis — Mushrooms are the safest of all the drugs people take recreationally, according to this year's Global Drug Survey.

Discussion: Daily Mail

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:

Regime Change by Any Other Name? — Truth or consequences? Obama skated for far worse misdeeds. — Election machines in three states were not hacked to give Donald Trump the election. — There was never a serious post-election movement of electors to defy their constitutional duties and vote for Hillary Clinton.