memeorandum: George W. Bush: ‘Clear evidence Russians meddled’ in election (Kim Hjelmgaard/USA Today)

8:45 AM 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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Splinter, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politicus USA and Axios

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Beyond Disbelief”: John Kelly's Defense of Rob Porter Roils the West Wing — Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who has been accused of abusing his former wives, is Kelly's right hand—and dating Hope Hicks, one of Trump's closest confidantes. But Kelly's declaration that Porter is a man of …

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite, twitchy.com and Washington Monthly

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Trump's Worst Watcher — Do you remember back when everybody thought John Kelly was going to calm down the Trump White House? — Stop laughing. Although it has been another wow of a week, hasn't it? We had one top administration official, Rob Porter, resigning over claims of domestic abuse regarding two ex-wives.

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: ANOTHER ex-wife of Trump aide Rob Porter - who is dating Hope Hicks - tells DailyMail.com he choked, punched and belittled her about her weight her during their five-year marriage — Colbie Holderness, 37, a senior analyst for the U.S. government and the first wife of Rob Porter …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

White House faces huge questions on Rob Porter exit — Senior White House officials are in a state of shock, and facing huge questions about their handling of the crisis, over the resignation of Staff Secretary Rob Porter after his two former wives went on the record to allege physical abuse:

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

In new statement, Kelly says he was ‘shocked’ by Porter allegations and condemns abuse — More than 24 hours after issuing a statement defending staff secretary Rob Porter amid abuse allegations, White House chief of staff John Kelly said in a second statement that he was ‘shocked’ and condemned domestic abuse.

Discussion: The Week and Mediaite

Daily Mail:

Hope Hicks, 29, was spotted stepping out of her D.C. apartment with White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter ten days ago — ‘I want to be very clear when I say this,’ Willoughby said. 'I don't want to be married to him. I would not recommend anyone to date him or marry him.

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: DEADLINE IS TONIGHT ....

Discussion: The Guardian

CNN:
Former White House aide's ex-wives detail abuse allegations

Discussion: NPR, Business Insider and Mediaite

The Intercept:
Former Wives of Top White House Aide Rob Porter Both Told FBI He Abused Them

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Atlantic, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Week, Vox and Business Insider

Washington Post: Ex-wife of White House aide alleges emotional and physical abuse.

New York Times:
Rob Porter, White House Aide, Resigns After Accusations of Abuse

Discussion: The Week

Del Quentin Wilber / Wall Street Journal:

Texts From 2016 Show FBI Employees Preparing Obama Briefing on Russia — Exchange doesn't relate to Clinton email probe, as a Republican senator suggests — Text messages from 2016 show preparation to brief Barack Obama about Russia's interference in that year's election …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Front Page Magazine, The Federalist, Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Fox News Insider, ThinkProgress, Vox and Business Insider

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Right-wing media obsesses over FBI text message story; hours later it's debunked — Members of the pro-Trump media acted like they hit the goldmine on Wednesday morning. Led by Fox News, these outlets went into a frenzy over what they presented as an explosive story that not only cast former President Obama …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Front Page Magazine

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: The Gateway Pundit and Front Page Magazine

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Justice Dept. official who helped oversee Clinton, Russia probes steps down

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Obama Text from FBI Agent Hyped by Fox News Reportedly Was Not About Clinton Probe

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Townhall.com, The Daily Signal, The Gateway Pundit and AOL

Dan Merica / CNN:
GOP senator's accusation about Obama's involvement in Clinton email investigation called into question

Discussion: Geller Report, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, CNBC, bizpacreview.com, NBC News, The Daily Beast and Hullabaloo

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: CNBC, The Hill, New York Daily News, GQ, The Week, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Splinter and New York Post

NBC News:
Poll: Most Americans think Russia will interfere again in 2018 elections

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

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

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

Discussion: Mother Jones

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 and Raw Story

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.

TMZ.com:

Richard Pryor's Widow Confirms He Slept with Marlon Brando — Richard Pryor had a lot of sex in the '70s — and it was with both men and women — including Marlon Brando ... according to Pryor's widow, Jennifer. — Jennifer confirmed the Richard-Marlon hookup, which Quincy Jones first mentioned in a pretty wild Vulture interview.

Discussion: theGrio, The Guardian, The Root, Jezebel, AOL and Mediaite

David Marchese / Vulture:
In Conversation: Quincy Jones

Discussion: The Stranger …, Weekly Standard, TMZ.com, fox8.com, AOL, theGrio, Business Insider, Mediaite, GeekWire, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Gizmodo, Mashable, Breitbart, twitchy.com and Jezebel

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

ICE Wants to Be an Intelligence Agency Under Trump … Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement are actively exploring joining the U.S. Intelligence Community, The Daily Beast has learned. — The effort is helmed by a small cohort of career Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) …

Discussion: Raw Story, Splinter and Axios

Terri Peters / TODAY.com:

Meet the first Gerber baby with Down syndrome; his name is Lucas! — The 2018 Gerber baby is Lucas Warren, a 1-year-old from Dalton, Georgia who is the first child with Down syndrome to be named a Gerber baby since the contest's start in 2010. — “He's very outgoing and never meets a stranger …

Discussion: Breitbart, People.com, USA Today, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, The Stream, Washington Post, RedState, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, KXAN-TV, The Week, AOL, FOX2now.com and FOX31 Denver

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Pelosi's Dreamers protest leaves some Democrats wanting — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor Wednesday for a record-breaking eight hours, vowing to speak — and stand — until Republicans concede protections for so-called Dreamers.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CNN and Breitbart

CNN:
Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal

Discussion: ABC News, Los Angeles Times, Shareblue Media, The Daily Signal, ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, National Review, bizpacreview.com, CBS San Francisco, FOX2now.com, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

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: Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Secretly Offered Iran a Channel for Talks on Prisoners — Iranians so far have spurned Trump administration's overture — The White House secretly reached out to Iran in December to propose creating a direct channel to negotiate the release of prisoners held by each side …

Jamiles Lartey / The Guardian:

Evangelical Trump adviser tells people to skip flu shots in favor of prayer — Gloria Copeland's advice to ‘inoculate yourself with the word of God’ met with scorn amid worst flu epidemic in a decade … A Texas evangelist preacher and member of Donald Trump's faith advisory council told parishioners …

Discussion: FOX2now.com and Politico

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: USA Today, TIME, The Hill, Political Wire, Colorado Politics, ABC News, New York Times, NBC News, Hit & Run, CNN and The Mahablog

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.

Maggie Jones / New York Times:

What Teenagers Are Learning From Online Porn — American adolescents watch much more pornography than their parents know — and it's shaping their ideas about pleasure, power and intimacy. Can they be taught to see it more critically? — Drew was 8 years old when he was flipping through TV channels …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Cindy Cohn / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

John Perry Barlow, Internet Pioneer, 1947-2018 — With a broken heart I have to announce that EFF's founder, visionary, and our ongoing inspiration, John Perry Barlow, passed away quietly in his sleep this morning. We will miss Barlow and his wisdom for decades to come, and he will always be an integral part of EFF.