memeorandum: Pro-Trump media scrambles to react to bombshell emails (Oliver Darcy/CNNMoney)

1:20 AM ET, July 12, 2017

Top Items:

Rancor at White House as Russia Story Refuses to Let the Page Turn — WASHINGTON — If President Trump emerged from his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week hoping he had begun to “move forward” from the controversy over the Kremlin's election meddling, as advisers put it …

Discussion: Vox, Axios, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Shareblue, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, IJR, CNBC and AOL

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘Category 5 hurricane’: White House under siege by Trump Jr.'s Russia revelations — The White House has been thrust into chaos after days of ever-worsening revelations about a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a lawyer characterized as representing the Russian government …

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story and Politicus USA

New York Post:

Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot — We see one truly solid takeaway from the story of the day: Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot. — SEE ALSO — In the heat of your father's presidential campaign, a bozo British publicist e-mails you to set up a sitdown with a “Russian government attorney” …

Discussion: Reuters and Business Insider

New York Times:

Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said — The June 3, 2016, email sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father's former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide …

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Pro-Trump media scrambles to react to bombshell emails — Donald Trump Jr. released emails moments before N.Y. Times report — Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of Breitbart London, reacted to the story of Donald J. Trump's newly-released emails in a way that wouldn't typically be expected …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Washington Post, Raw Story and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:

Donald Trump Jr. tells Sean Hannity: ‘In retrospect I probably would have done things a little differently’ — Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged in an exclusive interview with Fox News' “Hannity” Tuesday night that he “probably would have done things a little differently” when he met …

Discussion: NPR.org, Raw Story, Real Clear Politics, Business Insider and CNBC

The Daily Beast:

Trump Aides Freaking Out Over Don Jr.'s Russia Email: The ‘Sum Of All Fears’ … President Donald Trump's son, his former campaign chairman, and his son-in-law were all told that the opposition research they were soliciting on campaign rival Hillary Clinton was coming from the Russian government …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politico, The Guardian, Shakesville, The Mahablog and ThinkProgress

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian Connection Has Ties to Former Kremlin Spies … The Russian lawyer who peddled dirt on Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump Jr. has ties to former Russian military and intelligence officials, a key congressional committee will hear in testimony next week.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story and Vox

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

White House aides feeling ‘helpless’ as Trump Jr. scandal blossoms — White House aides feel blindsided by the bombshell revelations around Donald Trump Jr.'s campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer, while the president is using his relatively light schedule to watch TV and fume about the latest scandal …

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo:

New details emerge on Moscow real estate deal that led to the Trump-Kremlin alliance … While in Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant in November 2013, Donald Trump entered into a formal business deal with Aras Agalarov, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, to construct a Trump Tower in the Russian capital.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Forbes, CNBC, AOL, ThinkProgress and The Gateway Pundit

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Gowdy fumes at Trump administration over latest Russia controversy — House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy lashed out at the Trump administration Tuesday over the “drip, drip” in the ongoing Russia controversy, sarcastically suggesting that officials get checked for amnesia about any contacts with Russia.

Discussion: Business Insider and Political Wire

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump Jr. delivers ‘smoking gun’ to Mueller — Donald Trump Jr. may have just given Robert Mueller “smoking gun” evidence signaling his father's presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 election, according to veteran prosecutors and white-collar defense attorneys experienced in Washington scandals.

Discussion: dailyrushbo.com, Fox News Insider, The Guardian, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, CANNONFIRE and Political Wire

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

A Conspiracy of Dunces — Here is a good rule of thumb for dealing with Donald Trump: Everyone who gives him the benefit of the doubt eventually regrets it. — This was true of clients and contractors and creditors throughout his business career. It was true of the sycophants and opportunists …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Conservative News Today

New York Times:

Natalia Veselnitskaya, Lawyer Who Met Trump Jr., Seen as Fearsome Moscow Insider — MOSCOW — When American prosecutors accused a senior Russian official's son of laundering $14 million by investing in Manhattan property and other assets, she was called to defend him.

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Post, Axios, Media Matters for America and Vox

Paul Owen / The Guardian:

Rob Goldstone to Trump Jr — Emin [Agalarov, a Russian pop star represented by Goldstone] just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting. — The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras [a Moscow-based developer who tried to partner with Trump in a hotel project] …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Washington Free Beacon

Fox News:
Dershowitz: Did Donald Trump Jr. commit a crime or merely political sin? It depends

Discussion: Althouse

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Inside the White House scramble on the Trump Jr. emails

Discussion: New York Magazine and ThinkProgress

CNN:
Source: Justice Dept. probe will look at Trump Jr.'s disclosed emails, meeting

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Week, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Kayleigh McEnany / The Hill:
OPINION | Forget Don Jr.'s email — it's Hillary Clinton who ‘colluded’ with Russia

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story:
President Trump personally signed off on false statement claiming Don Jr.'s meeting was about adoption: report

Discussion: Political Wire, Business Insider and New York Times

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
A revelation unlike any other in the Russia investigation

Discussion: Raw Story, The American Conservative, Vox and Politico

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen / Just Security:
The Media Is Not Asking the Right Questions on Trump Jr. Emails and Meeting with the “Russian Government Lawyer”

Discussion: Lawfare

David Weigel / Washington Post: Tested by the many chapters of the Russia story, Republicans stand by Trump

Rick Hasen / electionlawblog.org:
Donald Trump Jr. Emails Paint Serious Case of Campaign Finance Violations

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, ABC News, Just Security, HuffPost, The Hill, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Vox, WTVR-TV, Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Common Dreams, NPR, Mediaite, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Daily Wire, The Week, IJR and The Atlantic

New York Times:
‘Not Right Now’: Republicans and the Art of Not Talking About Trump

Discussion: Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, CNBC, Raw Story, The Guardian, Mediaite, Business Insider, Vox, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, IJR, New York Magazine and Talking Points Memo

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Trump Jr. Releases Emails; They Support His Account

Discussion: National Review and neo-neocon

Amy Zegart / The Atlantic:
Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails Vindicate the Intelligence Community

Discussion: New York Times, Weekly Standard and Politico

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Look At The Timeline

Discussion: The Smoking Gun

Ezra Klein / Vox:
We are past the point of innocent explanations on Trump and Russia

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, Mediaite, Politico, USA Today, Hullabaloo, ABC News, The Atlantic, Mashable, IJR, Business Insider, The Guardian, National Review, The Federalist and NBC News

ProPublica:

Trump's Russia Lawyer Isn't Seeking Security Clearance, And May Have Trouble Getting One — The ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia involve reams of classified material. Yet Marc Kasowitz, the New York lawyer whom President Donald Trump …

New York Post:

Cops protest de Blasio at slain officer's funeral — Hundreds of cops once again turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio at a police funeral. — SEE ALSO — Scores of officers who assembled outside the World Changers Church in The Bronx for assassinated police officer Miosotis Familia …

Discussion: CBS New York, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News Insider, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

New York Daily News:
Hundreds of NYPD cops turn backs to de Blasio in protest as he speaks at funeral for slain Officer Miosotis Familia

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Report: Hundreds of NYPD cops turn backs to de Blasio at funeral

Discussion: RedState

John Merline / Investor's Business Daily:

Best-Run States Are Low-Tax Republican, Worst-Run Are High-Tax Democratic, Study Finds — Several states, including Republican states, have decided to raise taxes this year to cover budget shortfalls. But a new study suggests that the states might find themselves in worse financial shape after the money starts rolling in.

Mercatus Center:
Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition 2017 Edition

Discussion: Instapundit

Eryn Dion / Northwest Florida Daily News:

Amazing human chain formed to rescue drowning family in PCB — “I honestly thought I was going to lose my family that day,” Roberta Ursrey said. “It was like, 'Oh God, this is how I'm going.' ” — PANAMA CITY BEACH — It was supposed to just be a quick trip to the beach …

Discussion: The Guardian

Katie Mettler / Washington Post:
A riptide swept away a Florida family. Then beachgoers formed a human chain.

Discussion: USA Today, Big Think, Alabama Today, CBS Miami, WCMH-TV, AOL, IJR and Shakesville

Bloomberg:

Kaspersky Lab Has Been Working With Russian Intelligence — Emails show the security-software maker developed products for the FSB and accompanied agents on raids. — Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab boasts 400 million users worldwide. As many as 200 million may not know it.

Discussion: Mashable and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »