Top Items:
Nicolle Wallace / NBC News:
White House preparing for McMaster exit as early as next month — WASHINGTON — The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month in a move orchestrated by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to five people familiar with the discussions.
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Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed:
As Trump Spirals, Many Of His Staffers Are Looking To Exit — Even for this chaotic administration, the last few weeks have taken a toll on President Donald Trump and his staff. A tragic mass shooting, big-name staff departures, and a series of scandals — all in the growing shadow …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, The Hill, Vox, CNN, Raw Story, New York Magazine, The Real Deal New York, ABC News, CNBC, Fox News Insider and KTLA
CBS News:
Hope Hicks' “white lies” testimony becomes a flashpoint for House Intel Committee — In a rare, on-the-record accounting of some of the House Intelligence committee's secret, closed-door proceedings, two members of the House Intelligence Committee explained to CBS News what led White House …
Discussion:
Crooked Media, CANNONFIRE, AOL, Daily Kos, Raw Story, FiveThirtyEight, CBS San Francisco, Political Wire and New York Times
Axios:
The wild wars within the Trump White House — After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as hell about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling. — The big picture: Hope Hicks leaving is obviously a huge blow to him.
David Remnick / New Yorker:
Hope Against Hope — Hope Hicks is kidding herself if she thinks that her tenure in the Trump White House will be judged only for harmless, situational untruths. — Presidents are in the habit of lying—often with bloody consequences. The Bay of Pigs, the Gulf of Tonkin, Watergate …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, AOL, Weekly Standard and Raw Story
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump's tariff war nudges Cohn toward White House exit — Gary Cohn, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, has been rumored to be on the brink of leaving the White House for months but stayed for one main reason: to stop the president from imposing steep tariffs.
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
John Kelly jokes (?) that ‘God punished’ him when he left DHS to be Trump's chief of staff
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
The White House Didn't Break Hope Hicks Overnight
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, CBS News, CNN, thecut, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and Politico
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Senate Intelligence Leaders Say House G.O.P. Leaked a Senator's Texts — WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer …
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Press, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, AOL and Axios
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NBC News:
Mueller eyes charges against Russians who stole, spread Democrats' emails — WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assembling a case for criminal charges against Russians who carried out the hacking and leaking of private information designed to hurt Democrats in the 2016 election …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story
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Ryan Goodman / Just Security:
Russia “Previewed” Plan to Disseminate Emails with Trump Campaign
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Salon, Hullabaloo and Raw Story
CNN:
Exclusive: FBI counterintel investigating Ivanka Trump business deal — (CNN)US counterintelligence officials are scrutinizing one of Ivanka Trump's international business deals, according to two sources familiar with the matter. — The FBI has been looking into the negotiations …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Washington Post, Vox, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Media Matters for America and NBC News
Pew Research Center:
1. Generations' party identification, midterm voting preferences, views of Trump — Millennial voters continue to have the highest proportion of independents of any generation. But when their partisan leanings are taken into account, they also are the most Democratic generation.
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USA Today:
Voters vow to elect a Congress that stands up to Trump, poll shows — WASHINGTON — Americans are mad, and that is putting Republicans at risk. — A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds voters looking toward the midterm elections are overwhelmingly unhappy with the country's direction …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media and Political Wire
Michael Dimock / Pew Research Center:
Defining generations: Where Millennials end and post-Millennials begin — For decades, Pew Research Center has been committed to measuring public attitudes on key issues and documenting differences in those attitudes across demographic groups. One lens often employed by researchers …
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, Washington Post and The Outline
CNN:
See HUD's $31,000 mahogany dining set — Washington (CNN)A $31,000 dining set the Department of Housing and Urban Development purchased, which raised eyebrows when first reported Tuesday, includes a table, sideboard, breakfront — all in mahogany — and 10 mahogany chairs with a blue velvet finish …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, IJR, alicublog, ABC News, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.
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Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Ben Carson Tries to Cancel $31,000 Dining Furniture Purchase for HUD Office
Discussion:
The Root, NBC News, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and The Daily Beast
Rene Marsh / CNN:
Ben Carson says he wants to cancel $31,000 dining room furniture order
Discussion:
Washington Post, IJR, The Real Deal New York, thecut and Splinter
Azam Ahmed / New York Times:
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump — MEXICO CITY — The United States ambassador to Mexico plans to resign from her post in May, according to a memo circulated on Thursday to embassy staff, the latest in a string of senior diplomatic departures from the region …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Axios, Washington Press, VICE News, AOL, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller and Daily Kos
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Wall Street Journal:
Trump Ally Was in Talks to Earn Millions in Effort to End 1MDB Probe in U.S. — Emails indicate Republican donor and wife were negotiating fee if the Justice Department closed its investigation — A top Republican fundraiser close to President Donald Trump was in negotiations to earn tens …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and The Real Deal New York
Patrick Gillespie / CNNMoney:
Beer and cars could get more expensive because of Trump tariffs — U.S. trade moves could spark Chinese retaliation — Beer, baseball bats and cars could get more expensive after President Trump imposes tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. — And that's only the beginning.
Discussion:
CNN, FOX6Now.com, FOX40, Axios and Washington Post
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Mary Jordan / Washington Post:
Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’ — In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”
Discussion:
IJR, The White House, Washington Press, AOL, Axios and Political Wire
Andrew Roth / The Guardian:
Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration — President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences … Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia has developed and is testing a new line of strategic, nuclear-capable weapons that would be able …
Discussion:
BBC, Defense One, TASS, Washington Post, The Diplomat, Motherboard, CBS Pittsburgh and Shakesville
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Ray Sanchez / CNN:
Putin boasts military might with animation of Florida nuke strike
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Big Think, RedState and New York Magazine
Christina Wilkie / CNBC:
Dark money group America First Policies is running a pro-Trump polling operation. Here is an inside look at its secretive work — America First Policies, a nonprofit group with close ties to President Donald Trump, has hired Trump's pollsters to conduct a wide range of political polling and research.
Associated Press:
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged over IS photos — PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors filed preliminary charges Thursday against far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence, in a new blow to a woman long seen as the face of Europe's anti-immigrant populism.
Discussion:
The Local, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Outside the Beltway
Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
Meet The ‘Experts’ Kobach Is Using To Defend His Voter Fraud Claims In Court — Next week, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will go to federal court to defend a voting restriction that he has for years tried to implement in his state. — To help Kobach make his case …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Emily Smith / Page Six:
Robert Kraft's much younger girlfriend secretly had a baby — There was speculation about Patriots owner Bob Kraft after his much younger girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander secretly had a baby — but he's confirmed that the child is not his. — Billionaire Kraft, who has four adult sons …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Deadspin, The Daily Caller, TMZ.com and The Big Lead
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Fights Worth Having — For my money, the best op-ed published in The Times this week was Mona Charen's Feb. 25 barn-burner, “I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC.” Charen is a movement conservative who worked for Nancy and Ronald Reagan and is a longtime contributor to National Review.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and Vox
Fred Imbert / CNBC:
Dow sheds 550 points after Trump says steel and aluminum tariffs coming next week — The Dow Jones industrial average traded more than 500 points lower after rising more than 150 points earlier in the day. — The U.S. will set tariffs of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum, the president said.
Discussion:
The Hill, USA Today, Washington Press and Joe.My.God.
Washington Post:
Jared Kushner's troubles include an impending $1.2 billion company debt … In December 2016, Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Donald Trump's presidential transition, was busy helping shape the new administration. But Trump's son-in-law also had another pressing concern …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today, Just Security, Raw Story, The Mahablog and Daily Kos
Tennessean.com:
Mike Huckabee resigns from CMA Foundation board following controversy — Mike Huckabee and TBN president Matthew Crouch talk about the new show in Nashville — Less than one day after his appointment was announced, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has resigned from the CMA Foundation board of directors …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Rick Gates tells judge he's canceling trip due to threat invoking Russian mafia — Ex-Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleads guilty — Washington (CNN)Former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday afternoon that he and his wife believe it's “not prudent” …
Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans say Trump is racist — WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Americans, including large majorities of blacks and Hispanics, think President Donald Trump is a racist. More than half think his policies have made things worse for Hispanics and Muslims …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Splinter, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Politicus USA, Jezebel and Axios
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