memeorandum: Arkansas Resident: Cotton's Office Sent Cease And Desist When I Said ‘Bullsh*t’ (Caitlin MacNeal/Talking Points Memo)

4:55 PM ET, January 29, 2018

Top Items:

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe — President is said to be angered by Justice Department warning — Kelly reproached officials in meetings, calls last week — President Donald Trump's frustrations with the Russia investigation boiled over on Air Force …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story and Mediaite

Carol E. Lee / NBC News:

Trump's gripes against McCabe included wife's politics, Comey's ride home — WASHINGTON — The day after President Donald Trump fired James Comey, he became so furious watching television footage of the ousted FBI director boarding a government-funded plane from Los Angeles back to Washington …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, Business Insider, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

New York Times:

Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein — WASHINGTON — A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring …

NBC News:

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping down — WASHINGTON — FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down Monday, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. — McCabe will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March, the sources said.

Susan B. Glasser / Politico:

Mark Warner: 'We've Had New Information That Raises More Questions' — Congress late last year received “extraordinarily important new documents” in its investigation of President Donald Trump and his campaign's possible collusion with the 2016 Russian election hacking …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, IJR, Hullabaloo, Raw Story and Political Wire

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

New Book: McCabe Initiated White House Meeting That Led To Leak — The FBI's top brass initiated conversations with a White House official that were quickly leaked to CNN, according to a new book. — Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe asked to speak privately with White House chief …

Discussion: RedState, CNBC, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, Conservative Review and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

Andrew McCabe Steps Down as F.B.I. Deputy Director Under Pressure — WASHINGTON — Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.'s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.

Discussion: New Republic, RedState, CNBC and Political Wire

CBS News:

Andrew McCabe steps down as deputy FBI director amid pressure — FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is retiring from the FBI, CBS News' Pat Milton has confirmed. According to Milton, a source familiar with the matter confirms that McCabe was urged to step down. He is currently on leave and will official retire in March.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Shakesville

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

THE MORNING PLUM: — The Sunday shows confirmed an alarming development: Republicans in Congress do not feel any urgency to protect special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation, even though it has now been confirmed that Trump tried to fire Mueller — and that the possibility …

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Week and The Daily Caller

Fox News:

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe ‘removed’ from the bureau — Top FBI official Andrew McCabe has been “removed” from his post as deputy director, Fox News is told, leaving the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans including President Trump.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Business Insider and twitchy.com

CNN:
FBI Deputy Director McCabe stepping down

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Root, bizpacreview.com, KTLA, Washington Free Beacon, Political Wire and Florida Politics

Alayna Treene / Axios:
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down, effective today …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, IJR, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Little Green Footballs, Raw Story and THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT

Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
NYT: GOP Memo Reveals Rosenstein Approved Surveillance Of Carter Page

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Shakesville, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice and Politico

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
An Article of Impeachment Against Donald J. Trump

Discussion: The Week

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
House Intel committee could vote on Nunes memo as soon as Monday

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Just Security, The Hill and TheBlaze

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

CNN's Jeffrey Toobin: ‘I regret my role’ in Hillary Clinton false equivalence … So long as President Trump continues disgracing the Oval Office, thoughtful people will probe their own role in helping him get there. — Such appeared to be the motivation behind a mea culpa issued …

Discussion: Political Wire, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen:

Statement of Representative Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) — “Today as I announce my retirement at the end of this session of Congress, I want to use the opportunity to strongly encourage the many young people I meet to consider public service. Public service is an incredible way to turn …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Shareblue Media

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
House GOP chairman in competitive district announces retirement

Discussion: TheBlaze and Joe.My.God.

Herb Jackson / NorthJersey.com:
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen announces retirement from House

Discussion: RedState and IJR

Elena Schneider / Politico:
Frelinghuysen won't seek reelection

Discussion: New York Times, Axios and NPR

Paul Heintz / News + Opinion, Seven Days:

Sanders Backs Out of Interview After Failing to Dictate Conditions — Congressman Peter Welch and Sen. Bernie Sanders at a press conference Monday morning at Burlington International Airport — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) backed out of an interview with Seven Days Monday morning …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

David Waldstein / New York Times:

Indians Will Abandon Chief Wahoo Logo Next Year — The Cleveland Indians will stop using the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms beginning in 2019, according to Major League Baseball, which said the popular symbol was no longer appropriate for use on the field.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Hill, RedState, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, NPR, IJR, Vox, Washington Free Beacon, Washingtonian, ProFootballTalk, NESN.com, Mashable, AOL, Mediaite, myfox8.com and The Week

Facebook:

News Feed FYI: More Local News on Facebook — By Alex Hardiman, Head of News Product and Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships — People tell us they come to Facebook to connect with friends. They also say they want to see news about what's happening in the world and their local community.

Discussion: Business Insider and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Zuckerberg:
Our next update on our 2018 focus to make sure Facebook …

Discussion: Politicus USA

Wall Street Journal:

Melania Trump's Military Flights Before Her Move to Washington Cost More Than $675,000 — First lady flew 21 flights in three-month period while living in New York after President Donald Trump's inauguration — First lady Melania Trump took 21 flights in a three-month period on Air Force jets …

Discussion: AOL, Raw Story, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Politicus USA

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:

TV Ratings: 2018 Grammys Tumble From Recent Years — The CBS telecast is down a steep 21 percent from 2017 in early numbers, potentially spelling an all-time low. — Sunday's Bruno Mars-loving Grammy Awards took a steep ratings spill by the first-available metrics.

Discussion: Variety, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters and Mediaite

Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Grammy Ratings Hit All-Time Demo Low; Draws 19.8M Viewers - Update

Discussion: Conservative Review, bizpacreview.com, Breitbart and Hit & Run

Stefanie Tuder / Eater NY:

Jared Kushner Played a Role in Guy Fieri's Restaurant Closure — His company was the landlord for the Times Square grill — Turns out President Trump son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner was Guy Fieri's landlord at the now-shuttered Guy's American Kitchen & Bar …

Reuters:

Few U.S. adults report bonuses, raises from Republican tax law — WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two percent of U.S. adults said they had gotten a raise, bonus or other additional benefits due to the Republican tax law enacted a month ago by President Donald Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, AOL and Daily Kos

Rachel Aviv / New Yorker:

What Does It Mean to Die? — When Jahi McMath was declared brain-dead by the hospital, her family disagreed. Her case challenges the very nature of existence. — Before having her tonsils removed, Jahi McMath, a thirteen-year-old African-American girl from Oakland, California …

Discussion: National Review

Washington Post:

'He's not God': In the wake of porn-star allegations, most evangelicals stand by Trump … When news first broke this month about President Trump's alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, it seemed the kind of story that would devastate a group of voters once known as “The Moral Majority.”

Discussion: Raw Story

Katie Leslie / Dallas Morning News:

Beto O'Rourke outraises Cruz again, taking in $2.4M in latest quarter — Updated at 10:50 p.m. to include the latest fundraising figures from Sen. Ted Cruz. — WASHINGTON — The Texas Democrat hoping to oust Sen. Ted Cruz is posting his largest campaign fundraising haul yet: $2.4 million.

Discussion: IJR and Weekly Standard

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Oops: House issues tickets for State of the ‘Uniom’ — President Donald Trump may declare the state of the union to be strong in his address to Congress on Tuesday night. But Trump would instead tout the state of the “uniom,” according to a picture of official tickets set to be distributed to House guests.

Discussion: Mashable, Washington Times and Joe.My.God.

Tom DiChristopher / CNBC:

Exxon Mobil to invest $50 billion in US over 5 years, citing tax reform — Exxon Mobil on Monday said it plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, saying its decision is partly due to corporate tax cuts. — The investment will go towards increasing production …

Discussion: Energy Factor and The Week

Daniel Hoffman / Wall Street Journal:

The Steele Dossier Fits the Kremlin Playbook — The likely objective was to undermine Republicans, Democrats—and American democracy. — When the “Steele dossier” was first published a year ago, it looked like a bombshell. The document, drawn up by the British ex-spy Christopher Steele …

Discussion: Power Line