memeorandum: Jeff Sessions Quietly Appointed a Prosecutor to Probe Trump's Foes. That Could Be an Unprecedented Disaster. (Michael Tomasky/The Daily Beast)

10:40 AM ET, April 3, 2018

Top Items:

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Trump Is Like, ‘How Can I F—k with Him?’”: Trump's War with Amazon (and The Washington Post) Is Personal — With the West Wing finally calm, Trump is contemplating a multi-front campaign against Jeff Bezos. — For the first time in Donald Trump's presidency, the West Wing soap opera appears …

Discussion: New Republic, National Review, CNBC, Balloon Juice, Shakesville, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Times, Raw Story, The Week, Mediaite, Breitbart, CNNMoney, RT, FOX 61, The Daily Caller, Deadline and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Sinclair Chairman Claims Entire Print Media Has ‘No Credibility’ — David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” In emails to New York, Smith said that print …

Discussion: Washington Post, CANNONFIRE, Political Wire, Washington Press, Mother Jones, Politico, NewsBusters, Outside the Beltway and Amy McGrath, more at Mediagazer »

Axios:

Why Trump thinks he's winning his war on media — Nothing helps President Trump more — or tightens his hold on his base more securely — than his cozy, mutually beneficial relationship with conservative TV. Trump's feedback loop, including cable-news coverage, and mainstream media squawking …

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast, AOL, The Big Lead, The Week, Balloon Juice, Vox, Washington Press, Media Matters for America, Daily Kos and RedState

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:
Fox News: Look, We're Not Sinclair

Discussion: CNNMoney, New Republic, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, AOL, NBC News and Mediaite

Sydney Ember / New York Times:
To Trump, It's the ‘Amazon Washington Post.’ To Its Editor, That's Baloney.

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Politico, NBC News, Political Wire and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Shafer / Politico:
Trump Wants to Promote Sinclair? Let Him.

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, NewsBusters, USA Today, Mediaite, CBS Los Angeles, The Root, IJR, CBS San Francisco, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Splinter, CNN, The Week, Vox, Jezebel, Media Matters for America and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Pruitt Had a $50-a-Day Condo Linked to Lobbyists. Their Client's Project Got Approved. — WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency signed off last March on a Canadian energy company's pipeline-expansion plan at the same time that the E.P.A. chief, Scott Pruitt …

Discussion: Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Axios

Washington Post:

EPA explored private jet lease for Pruitt's travels last year — Aides to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt last year considered leasing a private jet on a month-to-month basis to accommodate his travel needs, according to current and former agency officials.

Discussion: The Hill, Political Wire and Washington Press

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

Scott Pruitt Bypassed the White House to Give Big Raises to Favorite Aides — In early March, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt approached the White House with a request: He wanted substantial pay raises for two of his closest aides.

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Splinter, The Week and Raw Story

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

White House considered firing Pruitt — White House chief of staff John Kelly has considered the firing of embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt in the coming months as part of a wave of ousters of top officials causing headaches for the president, a senior administration official told POLITICO.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New Republic, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Daily Torch, New York Magazine, ABC News, Political Wire and Oklahoma Watch

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's Lobbyist-Owned Pad Was GOP Fundraising Hub

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and Political Wire

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government — (CNN)Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told special counsel Robert Mueller in a classified August 2, 2017, memo that he should investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's former …

Discussion: Power Line, Raw Story and Political Wire

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

Jeff Sessions Quietly Appointed a Prosecutor to Probe Trump's Foes. That Could Be an Unprecedented Disaster. … The headlines called it a non-event when Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided not to appoint a special counsel to look into the special counsel after all.

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Mueller Was Authorized to Investigate Paul Manafort's Work for Ukraine — Special Counsel Robert Mueller was authorized in a secret memo to investigate former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's work for the Ukrainian government, in addition to alleged collusion with Russian officials to interfere in the 2016 elections.

Discussion: Axios

Trish Turner / ABC News:
Court poised to hand down 1st sentence in Mueller probe

Discussion: Political Wire

Rich McKay / Reuters:
Mueller has broad authority to investigate Trump's former campaign boss

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jill McCabe / Washington Post:

The president attacked my reputation. It's time to set the record straight. — Jill McCabe, an emergency room pediatrician, is married to former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. — I am an emergency room pediatrician and an accidental politician — someone who never thought …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, ABC News, Mediaite, Washington Press, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, FOX 61, The Week, Scripting News, Vox, Politico, Raw Story and Axios

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

Beto O'Rourke says he raised staggering $6.7M in first quarter of 2018 — U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, says he raked in over $6.7 million for his U.S. Senate bid in the first quarter of 2018. It's an eye-popping number that poses a new category of threat to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Beast, The Week, Political Wire and Mediaite

Washington Post:

That caravan of migrants Trump was tweeting about? Mexico stopped it. … VERACRUZ, Mexico — The Mexican government on Monday evening moved to break up the caravan of migrants moving through southern Mexico, with immigration officials registering the travelers and suggesting …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Roll Call, BuzzFeed, Townhall, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, The Week, Breitbart and Los Angeles Times

Kirk Semple / New York Times:
Trump Transforms Immigrant Caravans in Mexico Into Cause Célèbre

Discussion: Mother Jones, Breitbart, KTLA, Sputnik International, Washington Post, 105.9 FM and AM 630, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Mediaite, New York Magazine, NewsBusters and CNN

Reuters:
Migrant caravan heading to U.S. border puts Mexico in tough spot with Trump

Discussion: Power Line and 105.9 FM and AM 630

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Trump heats up rhetoric on border, immigration as some supporters grow impatient

Discussion: The Federalist, Quartz, Fox News Insider, IJR, Fox News, CNN, Raw Story, Washington Press, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, Splinter, NBC News, The Atlantic, Townhall, NewsBusters, Little Green Footballs, NPR, The Daily Signal, CNBC and Mediaite

Matt Phillips / New York Times:

Markets That Climbed the Trump Bump Are Tumbling Down From It — Percentage change from Jan. 26 peak … Feb. — March — April — S. & P. 500 — Percentage change from Jan. 26 peak … Feb. — March — April — The Trump Bump is becoming the Trump Slump.

Discussion: Reuters, Salon, Washington Post, Axios, CBS Los Angeles, CNNMoney, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Matt Egan / CNNMoney:
Wall Street to Trump: No trade wars. And lay off Amazon

Discussion: FOX 61 and RedState

Rich Lowry / New York Post:
Trump is wrong about Amazon on all counts

Discussion: Reuters and AOL

Dennis Ross / Washington Post:

If Trump walks away from the Iran deal, Tehran will win — Dennis Ross, a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute, served in senior national security positions in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations. — I was not a fan of the Iran nuclear deal.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill:
Clouds form over Iran deal as Trump deadline nears

Discussion: Instapundit

National Review:

Conservative Criticism of Trump Is Not Deluded — A response to Rich Lowry — One of the more significant frustrations of the Trump era is the lack of precise terminology for the debates required of it. One such term is “Never Trump.” It is vague enough to include a broad spectrum …

Wall Street Journal:

Mueller Probe Into U.A.E. Influence Broadens — Special counsel's latest inquiry into the activities of a U.S. ally suggests he is looking more closely at foreign influence in Washington — WASHINGTON—Special counsel Robert Mueller has asked questions about the work of a private consulting firm …

Discussion: Al Jazeera English and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Roger Stone's Claim of a 2016 Julian Assange Meeting Draws Scrutiny — Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has asked about an email during grand jury testimony — The special counsel investigating alleged links between Trump campaign associates and Russians is looking …

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard, Raw Story, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Law & Crime, The Week, Vox, Washington Monthly, RedState and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Eric X. Li / Washington Post:

Why Xi's lifting of term limits is a good thing — Eric X. Li is a Shanghai venture capitalist and a trustee and chairman of the advisory committee of Fudan University's China Institute. — SHANGHAI — Western media and the Chinese chattering classes have been in an uproar since China's …

Umair Irfan / Vox:

The EPA is rolling back fuel efficiency standards — Weakening greenhouse gas targets for cars and trucks will help the dirtiest manufacturers while hurting the cleanest. — The Environmental Protection Agency is rolling back one of the biggest, most impactful environmental regulations of the Obama era …

Discussion: US EPA, Pacific Standard, New York Times, The Verge, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress and KTLA

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Trump's Governing Just Like Obama With Congress Gridlocked — President has signed more executive orders than predecessor — He's griped to confidants about congressional inaction — President Donald Trump has entered what his predecessor called the “pen-and-phone” phase of his presidency …

CNN:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg sounds alarm on New Deal rollback — Washington (CNN)Deep in a seemingly obscure Supreme Court case on Monday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sounded an alarm for liberals: The New Deal may be under attack. — The conservative majority is undermining worker protections from the 1930s …

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

'I can't breathe': Asheville police video shows white officer beating, choking black jaywalking suspect … Johnnie Rush was trying to get home from a long shift at the Cracker Barrel. — Then he got stopped for jaywalking — an encounter with the police department in Asheville, N.C. …

Discussion: The Week, WGN-TV, KTLA and FOX 61

Michael Jones / The College Fix:

University event aims to combat ‘Christian Privilege’ — George Washington University diversity workshop to be held four days after Easter — Just four days after Easter, George Washington University will host a training session for students and faculty that teaches that Christians …

Discussion: Breitbart

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:

Record Numbers of Female Candidates Competing in 2018 Elections — Unlike the past, these women hopefuls unabashedly push their gender; two appear in campaign videos breast-feeding their babies — WASHINGTON—The field of Democrats vying to run against GOP Rep. John Faso in upstate New York …

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

‘Stormy Effect’: Trump's support falls with women, rises with men in new poll — 's support among women plunged this month as he battled controversies surrounding alleged affairs with the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, according to a new poll.

Discussion: TheBlaze and Political Wire

Human Rights Watch:

Israel: Gaza Killings Unlawful, Calculated — Officials Green-Light Shooting of Unarmed Demonstrators — (Jerusalem) - Senior Israeli officials who unlawfully called for use of live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrations who posed no imminent threat to life bear responsibility …

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Townhall, Algemeiner.com and New York Times