memeorandum: The Coming Aluminum War (Wall Street Journal)

6:50 PM ET, December 4, 2017

Top Items:

McFarland Contradicted Herself on Russia Contacts, Congressional Testimony Shows — WASHINGTON — An email sent during the transition by President Trump's former deputy national security adviser, K.T. McFarland, appears to contradict testimony she gave to Congress over the summer …

Discussion: Axios

New York Times:
Why the Trump Team Should Fear the Logan Act

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Mahablog, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly and CANNONFIRE

Kara Scannell / CNN:

WH lawyer told Trump that Flynn misled FBI and Pence — Trump's lawyer says he wrote Flynn tweet — Washington (CNN)The White House's chief lawyer told President Donald Trump in January he believed then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had misled the FBI and lied to Vice President Mike Pence …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Vox, Weekly Standard, Salon, Raw Story, IJR, HuffPost, CANNONFIRE, Politicus USA, VICE, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Politico and Mediaite

Mike Allen / Axios:

Exclusive: Trump lawyer claims the “President cannot obstruct justice” — John Dowd, President Trump's outside lawyer, outlined to me a new and highly controversial defense/theory in the Russia probe: A president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice. — The “President cannot obstruct justice …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Sessions argued in Clinton impeachment that presidents can obstruct justice — Donald Trump's personal lawyer argued Monday that, as the nominal head of federal law enforcement, the president is legally unable to obstruct justice. But the exact opposite view was once argued by another senior Trump lawyer …

Discussion: MSNBC, Washington Post, Political Wire, Vox, IJR, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Dave Lawler / Axios:
Sessions deemed obstruction a “high crime” in Clinton's case

Discussion: RedState

Stephanie McCrummen / Washington Post:

Woman shares new evidence of relationship with Roy Moore when she was 17 — Delray Beach, Fla. — Debbie Wesson Gibson was in her attic hauling out boxes of Christmas decorations last week when she noticed a storage bin she said she had forgotten about. Inside was a scrapbook from her senior year …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, Business Insider, WHNT-TV, Refinery29, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Week, Political Wire, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Balloon Juice and KTLA

CNN:

FBI agent dismissed from Mueller probe changed Comey's description of Clinton to ‘extremely careless’ — Washington (CNN)A former top counterintelligence expert at the FBI, now at the center of a political uproar for exchanging private messages that appeared to mock President Donald Trump …

Discussion: National Review, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and Mediaite

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

It Is Now an Obstruction Investigation — Which means that it's an impeachment investigation — The smoke is clearing from an explosive Mueller investigation weekend of charges, chattering, and tweets. Before the next aftershock, it might be helpful to make three points about where things stand.

Discussion: RedState, Power Line, Breitbart, Chicago Boyz, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Sara Carter / The Sean Hannity Show:
EXCLUSIVE: FBI Supervisor BOOTED from Mueller Probe INTERVIEWED Mike Flynn

Discussion: RedState, USA Today, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, NewsBusters, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Instapundit and New York Post

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
White House paranoid: 'Everyone thinks they're being recorded'

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Towleroad, The Daily Caller and The Week

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Dismissed FBI agent changed Comey's language on Clinton emails to ‘extremely careless’: report

Discussion: RedState

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court allows full enforcement of Trump travel ban while legal challenges continue — The Supreme Court on Monday granted President Trump's request that his revised travel ban be enforced fully while legal challenges to it proceed in lower courts. — The justices approved a request …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Above the Law, The Root, Political Wire, Splinter and The Week

CNBC:
Supreme Court allows full enforcement of Trump travel ban

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Slot, The Daily Signal and Breaking

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Supreme Court lets Trump fully impose latest travel ban

Discussion: Washington Post and ABC News

Adam Liptak / New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Trump Travel Ban to Take Effect

Corey Lewandowski / Politico:

'I've Got a Crook Running My Campaign' — The following is an excerpt from Let Trump Be Trump by Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, to be published on December 3. — We were somewhere over New Jersey, on our way to an event in Delaware, on the Trump helicopter when all hell broke loose.

Discussion: Vox, Splinter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Mediaite and Washington Times

Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:
Mueller: Manafort Wrote Op-Ed With Russian Operative Last Week

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Katelyn Polantz / CNN: Manafort worked on op-ed with Russian while out on bail, prosecutors say

Sarah N. Lynch / Reuters:
Manafort tried to pen positive op-ed on Ukraine work: special counsel

Discussion: Axios

Julie Turkewitz / New York Times:

President Trump Expected to Shrink Bears Ears by as Much as 90 Percent — SALT LAKE CITY — President Trump is expected to announce a historic reduction to Bears Ears National Monument on Monday, a sprawling region of red rock canyons in Utah that has been at the center of a national fight …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Vox, Politico, CNN, The Atlantic, Associated Press, The Guardian, New York Magazine, Common Dreams, Americans for Tax Reform, Curbed, NPR, Business Insider, Grist, IJR, New Republic, CBS San Francisco, The Week and Axios

Timothy Cama / The Hill:
Navajo Nation promises lawsuit against Trump's national monument rollback

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Media Matters for America

Emily Steel / New York Times:

Bill O'Reilly Is Sued by Woman Who Settled Over Harassment Accusations — A woman who reached a settlement with Bill O'Reilly over harassment allegations sued Mr. O'Reilly and Fox News on Monday for defamation and breach of contract, saying that public statements he and the network made violated …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, The Hill, The Daily Beast, NBC News, The Daily Caller, AOL, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Maxwell Tani / Business Insider:
Tucker Carlson explains why he has avoided covering sexual-harassment stories about Fox News

Discussion: Mediaite

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

MSNBC to Cut Ties With Sam Seder After Roman Polanski Rape Joke (Exclusive) — “Internally there was disgust over the tweet,” an individual familiar with the matter tells TheWrap — MSNBC has decided not to renew its contract with contributor Sam Seder after an old tweet emerged …

Discussion: Splinter, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

TIME:

TIME Announces 2017 Person of the Year Shortlist on Today Show — The shortlist of candidates for TIME's 2017 Person of the Year was unveiled Monday morning on NBC's Today. Since 1927, TIME has identified the Person of the Year, recognizing the person or group of people who most influenced …

Discussion: USA Today, WAVY-TV, RedState, IJR, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Daily Caller, Axios, abc7news.com and Mashable

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

The Senate GOP Accidentally Killed Some of Its Donors' Favorite Tax Breaks — On Friday, Senate Republicans rewrote the American tax code over lunch — and passed their (partially handwritten) legislation around 2 a.m. the following morning. … Mitch McConnell never subjected his blueprint …

Discussion: Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Reuters and Mother Jones

Rick Spruill / KAJA-TV:

Farenthold: “I didn't do anything wrong.” — CORPUS CHRISTI - — U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold says he's going to pay back the money taxpayers spent settling a lawsuit filed against his office by a former employee. — The four-term Congressmen tells 6 Investigates he was not given a choice …

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Roll Call and twitchy.com

Kevin Johnson / USA Today:

Exclusive: Feds issue 4,000 orders to seize guns from people who failed background checks — A USA TODAY review finds thousands of guns were sold to people who should have failed their background checks. Now, federal agents have the dangerous jobs of trying to get those guns back. — CONNECT

Discussion: Axios and IJR

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

Republicans Sought to Undercut an Unfavorable Analysis of the Tax Plan — WASHINGTON — A Republican requirement that Congress consider the full cost of major legislation threatened to derail the party's $1.5 trillion tax rewrite last week. So lawmakers went on the offensive to discredit the agency performing the analysis.

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider and IJR

CNN:

Trump pick for top UN position praised Milo Yiannopoulos, shared inflammatory memes on Facebook — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)President Donald Trump's pick for a top post at the United Nations repeatedly praised far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and shared disparaging memes …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Roy Moore: ‘Immorality has sunken to a new low’ — Embattled Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore said in an interview released Monday that he's learned while running for Senate that “immorality has sunken to a new low,” citing political advertisements run by his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Lots Of Alabama Voters Care About Roy Moore's Scandals

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Politicus USA and National Review

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Economist Larry Summers predicts 10,000 will die per year due to tax reform — Some 10,000 Americans a year will die if the Republican tax reform bill is passed as written, economist Larry Summers said. — Summers, a top official in both the Clinton and Obama administrations …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Power Line, NewsBusters, IJR, The Federalist, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

CNNMoney:

ABC News president excoriates staff over Brian Ross' Michael Flynn error — ABC suspends reporter over faulty Trump report — ABC News president James Goldston excoriated staff Monday over Brian Ross' major error on a report about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Sarah Nassauer / Dow Jones Newswires:

While other retailers focus on cities, the thriving discount chain is building thousands of stores aimed at lower-income shoppers in small towns — EVENSVILLE, Tenn.—The local Dollar General store, built on a rural highway and surrounded by farmland, sells no fresh meat, greens or fruit.

Discussion: Vox

Steve Inskeep / National : NPR:

After Flynn Plea, What Comes Next In Russia Investigation? — Steve Inskeep talks to Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney fired by President Trump, on Michael Flynn's guilty plea and the special counsel investigation into Russia's election meddling. — STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo