memeorandum: Trump's Stupid and Reckless Climate Decision (Bill McKibben/New York Times)

5:05 PM ET, June 2, 2017

Top Items:

Bucking Trump, These Cities, States and Companies Commit to Paris Accord — Representatives of American cities, states and companies are preparing to submit a plan to the United Nations pledging to meet the United States' greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris climate accord …

Nick Juliano / Politico:

Trump campaign plans ‘Pittsburgh, not Paris’ rally to cheer climate deal exit — President Donald Trump's campaign announced a “Pittsburgh, not Paris” rally across from the White House on Saturday to celebrate the United States' withdrawal from a global climate agreement.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, CBS Pittsburgh, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, AOL, Mediaite, War in Context and The BRAD BLOG

Michael Grunwald / Politico:

Why Trump Actually Pulled Out Of Paris — Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement was not really about the climate. And despite his overheated rhetoric about the “tremendous” and “draconian” burdens the deal would impose on the U.S. economy, Trump's decision wasn't really about that, either.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, The Nation, Reuters, The Verge, Liberal Values, BillMoyers.com, Taylor Marsh, News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO, Axios, ABC News, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Curbed, Vox and Power Line

Bill McKibben / New York Times:
Trump's Stupid and Reckless Climate Decision

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, The Guardian, Common Dreams, Refinery29, Conservative News Today, KTOO, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones and Motherboard

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
White House Protesters Shame Donald Trump Over Paris Climate Deal

Discussion: Raw Story, TheBlaze and Politicus USA

Max Boot / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed Why did Trump withdraw from Paris? To appease his base

Discussion: Mother Jones and CNBC

Emily Flitter / Reuters:
Trump misunderstood MIT climate research, university officials say

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, Media Matters for America, The Guardian, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Gizmodo, Vox, USA TODAY College, Latest from the Office … and Reuters

Hannah Parry / Daily Mail:
Fox news host Kimberly Guilfoyle …

Discussion: Political Wire and Reuters

Lauretta Brown / Townhall.com:
Rand Paul Blasts Climate Alarmism in Debate with Jake Tapper: ‘Mass Extinction, Really?’

Discussion: The Resurgent

Timothy Cama / The Hill:
Tillerson's first post-Paris remarks: US will reduce emissions

Discussion: Axios

Amy Harder / Axios:
To Trump, Paris deal isn't about climate

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

Jon Schwarz / The Intercept:

Jared Kushner Still Has a Job Because Washington Only Fears Republicans — Photo: Olivier Douliery/Press Pool via Bloomberg News/Getty Images — We don't know the reality underlying recent reporting about Jared Kushner's meetings this past December with the Russian ambassador to the U.S …

Discussion: NBC News and Daily Kos

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Scarborough fingers Bannon as leaker: He's been ‘bragging’ he would sideline Kushner on Russia — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough on Friday revealed that some of his sources within the White House have hinted that White House chief political …

Discussion: The Root

Brian Ross / ABC News: Lawmakers: Did looming debt leave Jared Kushner vulnerable to Russian influence?

Daily Mail: President Steve Bannon? …

New York Times:

Trump Administration Starts Returning Copies of C.I.A. Torture Report to Congress — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has begun returning copies of a voluminous 2014 Senate report about the Central Intelligence Agency's detention and interrogation program to Congress …

Discussion: Reuters, Axios, Political Wire, Common Dreams, IJR, humanrightsfirst.org, Boing Boing and Politicus USA

New York Times:

C.I.A. Names New Iran Chief in a Sign of Trump's Hard Line — WASHINGTON — He is known as the Dark Prince or Ayatollah Mike, nicknames he earned as the Central Intelligence Agency officer who oversaw the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the American drone strike campaign that killed thousands …

Discussion: The Federalist, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, France 24, Power Line, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

White House orders agencies to ignore Democrats' oversight requests — The White House is telling federal agencies to blow off Democratic lawmakers' oversight requests, as Republicans fear the information could be weaponized against President Donald Trump. — At meetings with top officials …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, BillMoyers.com, Raw Story and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Lawmakers baffled that immigration getting short shrift in Washington

Discussion: Mother Jones, Recode and Balloon Juice

Reuters:

Will Trump block Comey testimony? White House does not know yet — White House officials said on Friday they did not know yet whether President Donald Trump will seek to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress next week, a move that could spark a political backlash.

Discussion: RedState

Bill O'Neil / WXII-TV:
Sen. Burr on Russia investigation: 'There's no truth to Vladimir Putin's words'

Discussion: CNBC and Talking Points Memo

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Conway won't rule out Trump trying to block Comey's testimony

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, The Hill, Hot Air and rubber hose

Alex Dobuzinskis / Reuters:

Comedian Kathy Griffin says her career is over after gory Trump photo — Comedian Kathy Griffin tearfully apologized in a Friday press conference for posing with a fake bloodied and severed head depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that she felt her career was now over and that Trump “broke” her.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Daily Mail:
Kathy Griffin claims Trump family ruined her life

Discussion: Daily Wire

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Franken backtracks, cancels event with comedian Griffin after Trump photo controversy

Discussion: twitchy.com, Variety, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications, Conservative News Today, Scared Monkeys, AOL, TheBlaze, MichelleMalkin.com, The Gateway Pundit, Instapundit, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

David Lat / Above the Law:

Wachtell Lipton Partner George Conway Withdraws From Justice Department Consideration — Conway cited family reasons as the basis for his decision, but other considerations might have played a role. — On Wednesday evening, George T. Conway III — leading litigator, longtime partner at Wachtell Lipton …

MJ Lee / CNN:

God and the Don — Presidents often turn to faith in times of crisis. That seems unlikely for Trump. — Two days before his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump greeted a pair of visitors at his office in Trump Tower. — As a swarm of reporters waited in the gilded lobby …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times:

Q&A What would California's proposed single-payer healthcare system mean for me? — The prospect of a universal single-payer healthcare system in California — in which the state covers all residents' healthcare costs — has enthralled liberal activists, exasperated business interests …

Discussion: Hot Air and Instapundit

Katy Murphy / Mercury News:
California Senate passes single-payer health care plan

Discussion: The Nation, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams and Jacobin Magazine

Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times:
Single-payer healthcare plan advances in California Senate — without a way to pay its $400-billion tab

Discussion: Forbes and National Review

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

Republican Senator Says Deal on Health Care Unlikely This Year — Talking Taxes: What's Your Fair Share? — Opinion Journal: Did Obama's Team Illegally Spy on Trump?

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios, Politicus USA, The Week, The Last Tradition and Political Wire

Jessie Hellmann / The Hill:
GOP senator: Healthcare deal unlikely this year

Discussion: Vox

Alexander Smith / NBC News:

Vladimir Putin to Megyn Kelly: Even Children Could Hack an Election — LONDON — Vladimir Putin again denied that Russia interfered in last year's U.S. election, joking to NBC News' Megyn Kelly on Friday that even her “underage daughter” could have been behind the hacking.

Discussion: Daily Wire, AOL, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, IJR, The Week and TheBlaze

Reuters:

Exclusive: Special counsel Mueller to probe ex-Trump aide Flynn's Turkey ties — Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, is expanding his probe to include a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, three sources told Reuters.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Political Wire, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Right Scoop, Daily Kos, The Week and IJR

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Former Diplomats: Trump Team Sought to Lift Sanctions on Russia — The Trump administration was gearing up to lift sanctions on Russia when the president took office, but career diplomats ginned up pressure in Congress to block the move, two senior former State Department officials told NBC News Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, Yahoo, RedState, The Week, Just Security and Politicus USA

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Vladimir Putin: Accusations that we hacked US election are ‘like anti-Semitism’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

Jeff Poor / Breitbart:

CNN Misspells ‘Chief’ on Chyron During Segment Ripping Trump for ‘Covfefe’ — Wednesday on “Anderson Cooper 360” on CNN during a discussion about President Donald Trump's apparent errant tweet that had “covfefe” instead of the word coverage. — However, during that segment …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

New York Times:

Trump Said to Pick Nominees for 2 Positions on Fed Board — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has selected candidates for at least two of the three open positions on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, according to people with direct knowledge of the decision.

Discussion: Business Insider