memeorandum: From Fallujah to FBI investigation: The undoing of Duncan Hunter (John Bresnahan/Politico)

12:25 PM ET, February 8, 2018

Top Items:

CNN:

White House officials knew about Porter's abuse allegations and scrambled to protect him — (CNN)Senior aides to President Donald Trump knew for months about allegations of domestic abuse levied against top White House staffer Rob Porter by his ex-wives, even as Porter's stock …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The ‘family values’ crowd is mute on Rob Porter … Appearing on CNN's “New Day,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) was blunt about the Rob Porter issue. “I have no use for anybody who beats their spouse,” he said. “I tell you, the guy should have been shipped out the door months ago, as soon as they found out about it.”

CBS News:
White House knew of abuse allegations against aide Rob Porter

Discussion: ThinkProgress and CNN

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
White House Reportedly Knew About Porter Abuse Allegations Before Reports

Discussion: Bloomberg, Politico, CNN, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, New York Times, Media Matters for America, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, Vox, Splinter, twitchy.com, Washington Post and CNBC

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
In new statement, Kelly says he was ‘shocked’ by Porter allegations and condemns abuse

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
White House faces huge questions on Rob Porter exit

Discussion: Washington Post and Mediaite

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Trump's Worst Watcher

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Improving poll numbers give Republicans hope that the midterms might not be so bad

Discussion: National Review, Politico, CNN, Front Page Magazine, The Week, Washington Times, Little Green Footballs, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly and Mediaite

Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: ‘He can go from being the sweetest person to a complete abusive monster.’ …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Roll Call and The Daily Caller

CBS News:

House Intel Republicans plan to wall off their aides from Democratic staffers — In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall - a physical partition - separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee's secure spaces …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Mother Jones, RedState, Axios, Raw Story and Political Wire

John Solomon / The Hill:

Uranium One informant makes Clinton allegations in testimony — An FBI informant connected to the Uranium One controversy told three congressional committees in written testimony that Moscow routed millions of dollars to America with the expectation it would be used to benefit Bill Clinton

Discussion: Breitbart, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Front Page Magazine

Sara Carter / Sara A. Carter:

FBI informant on Uranium One Breaks Silence — An informant who spent years gathering information on the Russian energy and uranium market industry for the FBI, met staff members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, House Oversight, and House Intelligence Committees on Wednesday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Informant says Moscow paid millions in bid to influence Clinton

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Democrats expand battleground, target 101 GOP seats — WASHINGTON — House Democrats are stepping on the gas, with plans to target over 100 Republican-held congressional districts in the November midterm elections. — At House Democrats' annual conference Thursday, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan …

Discussion: Axios, CNBC, Political Wire and Washington Post

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

Ratings Changes in 21 Districts — The first two months of 2018 have given both parties reasons for optimism. Republicans have cut Democrats' lead in the FiveThirtyEight average of generic congressional ballot polls in half, from roughly 12 points in December to about six points today.

Discussion: New York Magazine

YouTube:

Omarosa Opens Up About Her Time Inside The White House On Tonight's Celebrity Big Brother — Omarosa opens up to Ross Mathews about her time inside the White House, on BIG BROTHER: CELEBRITY EDITION airing tonight, Thursday, Feb. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/...

Discussion: Political Wire

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

How The Media Buried Two Huge FBI Stories Yesterday — Two explosive stories about the FBI's handling of the probe into Russia and the Trump campaign were downplayed by a suddenly incurious press corps. — For more than year and half, the media have gone all-in on reporting every possible angle …

Discussion: Power Line, Breitbart, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Sara A. Carter, Townhall.com, CNBC and NBC News

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Right-wing media obsesses over FBI text message story; hours later it's debunked

Discussion: HuffPost, Wall Street Journal, Salon, Front Page Magazine, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Washington Times, Media Matters for America and Washington Post

CNN:

‘Pillar of the community’ deported from US after 39 years to a land he barely knows — Palestinian deported after 39 years in the US — Amman, Jordan (CNN)With nothing but the clothes on his back and less than $300 in his pocket, Amer Adi was put on a plane and deported to Jordan …

Kim Hjelmgaard / USA Today:

George W. Bush: ‘Clear evidence Russians meddled’ in election — Former President George W. Bush appeared to take aim at President Trump on Thursday when he said at an economic summit in the Middle East that there was “pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled” in the 2016 U.S. president election.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
George W. Bush says Russia meddled in 2016 US election

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Shakesville and The Gateway Pundit

John Bresnahan / Politico:

From Fallujah to FBI investigation: The undoing of Duncan Hunter — The criminal investigation into Rep. Duncan Hunter is intensifying as a grand jury in San Diego questions multiple former aides about whether the California Republican improperly diverted political funds for personal use.

Discussion: thecut

Stan Collender / Forbes:

This Budget Deal May Be The End Of The House Freedom Caucus — The House Freedom Caucus, the ultra-conservative group of 30-40 Republicans that pushed former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to resign and has often been the bane of current Speaker Paul Ryan's existence because of its take-no-prisoners attitude …

Bryan Bender / Politico:

Trump's military parade draws bipartisan rebuke — Members of Congress from both parties joined retired military leaders and veterans in heaping scorn Wednesday on President Donald Trump's push to parade soldiers and weaponry down the streets of the nation's capital — calling it a waste …

Discussion: The Hill, TIME, Hullabaloo, Colorado Politics, ABC News, New York Times, NBC News and CNN

Matt Latimer / Politico: Trump's Parade Is Political Genius

Washington Post:

Republicans are completely reversing themselves on the deficit … Republican lawmakers in 2011 brought the U.S. government to the brink of default, refused to raise the debt ceiling, demanded huge spending cuts, and insisted on a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and New York Times

NBC News:

Russians penetrated U.S. voter systems, says top U.S. official — The U.S. official in charge of protecting American elections from hacking says the Russians successfully penetrated the voter registration rolls of several U.S. states prior to the 2016 presidential election.

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, The Hill, CNBC, VICE, Shakesville, bizpacreview.com, The Week, GQ, Daily Kos, Breitbart, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner, Splinter, Political Wire and New York Post

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Nunes: We've ‘grappled’ with approaching Chief Justice Roberts — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes — (R-Calif.) has weighed whether it would be possible to bring Chief Justice John Roberts to “testify” before Congress as part of his investigation into political malfeasance at the Department of Justice.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Shareblue Media, The Gateway Pundit and Talking Points Memo

Benjamin Wittes / Lawfare: Friends of the Court: A Suggestion for the FISA Court on the Nunes Memo

Eliana Dockterman / TIME:

'I'm Not Going to Let Him Intimidate Me Anymore.' Kate Upton Speaks Out on Alleged Harassment by Guess Co-Founder Paul Marciano — Anthony Harvey—FilmMagic/Getty Images — As with so many other #MeToo moments, it began with a tweet. On Jan. 31, supermodel Kate Upton wrote …

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Jezebel, The Blast, thecut, The Daily Beast, TMZ.com and AOL

Alexey Navalny / Meduza.io:

An escort girl may be the latest ‘Russia Gate’ link — Alexey Navalny has published new corruption allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Prikhodko and oligarch Oleg Deripaska, alleging that the two met aboard Deripaska's yacht in August 2016 off the coast of Norway …

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

CNN's Camerota Confronts Literal Nazi Running For GOP Congressional Seat in Insane Interview — CNN's Alisyn Camerota confronted a literal Nazi who is currently poised to nab the GOP nomination for Congress — and the interview predictably derailed, as the Nazi ranted about “the Jewish media.”

Discussion: New Republic and Joe.My.God.

Jessica Sidman / Washingtonian:

What You'll Be Eating and Drinking at Chef Spike Gjerde's Hotly Anticipated A Rake's Progress — The new restaurant at the Line hotel is so local you won't find lemons or limes — A Rake's Progress in Adams Morgan wasn't even officially open when it got the ultimate VIP visit …

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Flake floats Dreamers extension — Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is preparing a fallback measure that would extend Obama-era legal protections for young undocumented immigrants paired with some border security funding if Congress fails to come up with a broader agreement on so-called “Dreamers.”

Discussion: Axios

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. official who helped oversee Clinton, Russia probes steps down … A Justice Department official who helped oversee the controversial probes of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and Russian interference in the 2016 election stepped down this week.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller and The Last Refuge

Matthew Cooper / Politico:

From Expensing Yachts to Chasing The Onion: I Watched the Newsweekly Die From the Inside — It was 3 a.m. on Saturday, and I was seething. Staring at my phone, I saw that my company, Newsweek Media Group, had put out yet another story that would require a correction if not a retraction.

Discussion: NBC News

CNN:

Big Russian delegation anticipated for prayer breakfast in Washington — Russian state TV sides with President Trump — (CNN)President Donald Trump will attend the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, a prime networking opportunity for Beltway insiders. But this year's event is also an opportunity for dozens of Russians.

Discussion: twitchy.com and Joe.My.God.

Pam Louwagie / Star Tribune:

Duluth schools remove ‘Huckleberry Finn’ and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ from curriculum — The district made the decision to remove the two classics in an effort to be considerate of all its students. — Students in Duluth will no longer automatically get schooled in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” …

Discussion: RedState and The Daily Caller

USA Today:

Trump's military parade obsession: Appearances, not strength, matter to our president — Our president is a weak man posing as a strongman. — The day after President Trump accused Democrats who didn't clap for him at the State of the Union of treason, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon …

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice and The National Interest