memeorandum: Fired EPA staffer tells Democrats Pruitt directed more spending on travel (Stephanie Ebbs/ABC News)

12:15 PM ET, April 12, 2018

Top Items:

Jeff Zeleny / CNN:

Exclusive: Inside the GOP plan to discredit Comey — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's allies are preparing an extensive campaign to fight back against James Comey's publicity tour, trying to undermine the credibility of the former FBI director by reviving the blistering Democratic criticism …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, New Republic, RedState, National Review, Vox, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Daily Wire, Hot Air, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:

James Comey: John Kelly Called Trump ‘Dishonorable’ For Firing Me … Within minutes of his firing in May, former FBI director James Comey received a call from John Kelly, then the head of the Department of Homeland Security and now the White House chief of staff.

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, IJR, Mediaite, Washington Press, CNN, Axios, The Guardian and AOL

Axios:

Ryan may be forced to leave speakership by summer — Paul Ryan said he plans to remain as speaker and not call an early leadership election, but well-wired Republicans tell Jonathan Swan and me that Ryan may be forced out sooner. — What we're hearing: One source close to leadership told us …

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, TheBlaze, Political Wire, Politico, Splinter and ABC News

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Takes Out Paul Ryan, and 'It's Going to Be a Civil War' … The news that Paul Ryan is retiring from Congress was received by grim-faced members of the GOP caucus finally realizing what they've done, and what's coming. Ryan pulled the ripcord today after a 19-year career in Congress …

Kaitlyn Burton / Politico:

Trump's push to redo $1.3T spending bill he signed sparks GOP revolt — A regretful President Donald Trump wants to roll back spending in a massive omnibus bill he signed into law, but Republicans who helped craft the legislation are in open revolt. — “My attitude is, your word is your bond …

Discussion: Washington Post

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Playbook: Eight brutal months are coming up — THE PRESIDENT at 6:03 a.m.: “If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him. Just more Fake News from a biased newspaper!” ... at 6:14 a.m.: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place.

Discussion: CBS News, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and CNN

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Pompeo failed to disclose Chinese business connection

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Defense One, Washington Post, The Week, The Intercept, AOL, New York Times, VICE News, Common Dreams, Washington Press and The American Conservative

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Priebus says he's not running for Ryan's Wisconsin seat

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Key moments: Pompeo touts diplomacy, tells senators war is ‘last resort’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Daily Beast and The Week

The Daily Beast:
Trump Allies and House Republicans to Paul Ryan: Get Out Now

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Politico, Washington Examiner and HuffPost

John Bresnahan / Politico:
GOP faction wants Ryan gone now

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan is abandoning the ship before it sinks

Discussion: The Cook Political Report and Salon

Ishaan Tharoor / Washington Post:
Trump's would-be secretary of state has an Islamophobia problem

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Politico, Bustle, Common Dreams and Balloon Juice

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
House Speaker Paul Ryan was the biggest fraud in American politics

Discussion: Honest Graft, Slate, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Crooked Media, New Republic, The Week, Washington Post, Splinter and Washington Examiner

TMZ.com:
Tristan Thompson Only Lightly Booed at Cavs Game in Wake of Cheating …

Discussion: Bustle

Tim Alberta / Politico:
The Tragedy of Paul Ryan

Discussion: The Daily Beast

New York Times:
Ryan Found Himself on the Margins as the G.O.P. Moved Right

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, America's Voice, National Review, Daily Kos, Breitbart, The Week, The Root, Rewire.News, Washington Post, Vox, Politico, Bustle, NY State of Politics, Grist, The American Conservative, The Atlantic, The Ringer and CNBC

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Fanatic, Fraud, Factotum: The Rise and Fall of Paul Ryan

Discussion: Washington Post, BloombergQuint, The Federalist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and CNN

Associated Press:

$30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip — NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate who claimed she'd had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid's parent made a $30,000 payment …

Discussion: RedState, Vox, New Republic, Washington Post, MSNBC, CBS Miami, The Daily Beast, Splinter, The Week and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

The National Enquirer, a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence — Late in 2015, a former Trump Tower doorman named Dino Sajudin met with a reporter from American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, Raw Story, Shakesville, Mediaite and AOL

RADAR:

Prez Love Child Shocker! Ex-Trump Worker Peddling Rumor Donald Has Illegitimate Child — Fake news or an Oval Office bombshell? You be the judge. — PRESIDENT Donald Trump fathered a secret love child with a Trump Organization employee — a gorgeous 29-year-old medical graduate who is currently living in California!

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, PerezHilton, Bustle and CANNONFIRE

New York Times:

Investigators Focus on Another Trump Ally: The National Enquirer — President Trump has long had ties to the nation's major media players. But his connections with the country's largest tabloid publisher, American Media Inc., run deeper than most. — A former top executive …

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Bustle, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Ricky Waddell is leaving the White House — Trump's deputy National Security Adviser Ricky Waddell will leave the White House, according to two sources briefed on the decision. New National Security Adviser John Bolton wants to bring his own person in, and Waddell was H.R. McMaster's hand-picked deputy.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Shareblue Media, Associated Press and The Week

Washington Post:
Trump chooses impulse over strategy as crises mount

Discussion: The Atlantic, New Republic, MSNBC, The Week and Weekly Standard

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
White House Watch: The Bolton Purge Continues

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, The Week, IJR and TheBlaze

Washington Post: Another official to leave White House National Security Council as Bolton builds his team

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Lawmakers' Letter Claims Further Spending Abuses by the E.P.A. Head, Scott Pruitt — WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, insisted on staying in luxury hotels that were costlier than allowed by government standards, while also pushing to fly on an airline …

Discussion: BuzzFeed

New York Times:
Scott Pruitt's Idea to Update an E.P.A. Keepsake: Less E.P.A., More Pruitt

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, CNN, Mashable, BloombergQuint, Axios, Earther, Splinter, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:
Fired EPA staffer tells Democrats Pruitt directed more spending on travel

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Bannon pitches White House on plan to cripple Mueller probe and protect Trump … Stephen K. Bannon, who was ousted as White House chief strategist last summer but has remained in touch with some members of President Trump's circle, is pitching a plan to West Wing aides and congressional allies …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, The Week, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, Raw Story, Political Wire, CNBC, Washington Press, Mediaite, emptywheel and CNN

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Justice Dept. turns over document that launched Russia probe

Discussion: The Hill, Townhall and Daily Kos

Maggie Astor / New York Times:

Holocaust Is Fading From Memory, Survey Finds — For seven decades, “never forget” has been a rallying cry of the Holocaust remembrance movement. — But a survey released Thursday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, found that many adults lack basic knowledge of what happened …

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Marginal REVOLUTION

Tamara Zieve / Jerusalem Post:
Survey exposes American ignorance about Holocaust

Discussion: Daily Wire

Madeleine Marr / miamiherald:

This Parkland teacher left his gun in a public bathroom. It was loaded, BSO says. — Not the most normal sight: a gun left in the bathroom stall. — But that's exactly what went down on Sunday in a men's room at the Deerfield Beach Pier. — The circumstances of how the Glock 9mm got there are unusual.

Discussion: National Review, New York Times, Splinter, Bearing Arms, Bustle, ABC News, The Week, Raw Story, twitchy.com and CBS Miami

Bob Norman / WPLG-TV:
Parkland teacher faces charge after his gun is fired in public bathroom

Discussion: miamiherald and Law & Crime

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Trump Court Pick Thinks Planned Parenthood ‘Kills Over 150,000 Females A Year’ — Wendy Vitter refused to tell senators if she still agrees with a speech she gave at a 2013 anti-abortion rally. — WASHINGTON One of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees, Wendy Vitter …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Rewire.News, New York Daily News, Raw Story, NPR, Splinter, Mother Jones, Jezebel and Refinery29

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
Trump judicial nominee refuses to say if landmark civil rights opinion was correctly decided

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, IJR, Bustle and Washington Press

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

America's Most and Least Popular Senators — There's good news and bad news for Senate Democrats up for re-election — Sanders (I-Vt.) and McConnell (R-Ky.) remains the most popular and unpopular senators, respectively. — 2018's first quarter was a volatile one for several senators …

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:
America's Most and Least Popular Governors

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Cindy Adams / Page Six:

Women are lining up to date Rudy Giuliani — The about-to-be-consciously uncoupled Rudy Giuliani is coming off to Upper East Side sex kittens like catnip. They're purring at him. Sidling — if not actually front-ling — in his direction. — It seems power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Discussion: Splinter

Brian X. Chen / New York Times:

I Downloaded the Information That Facebook Has on Me. Yikes. — Ask our reporter, Cecilia Kang, questions about the Facebook hearings now on The New York Times Politics Facebook page. — When I downloaded a copy of my Facebook data last week, I didn't expect to see much.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Kansas City Star:

Woman: Sexual encounter with Greitens was not consensual. Lawmakers find her credible — When she tried to leave, sobbing after a non-consensual sexual encounter, she says the man who would be governor physically stopped her. — What happened next, she testified under oath …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Shareblue Media, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Mahablog, MSNBC, CNBC, RRH Elections, Hot Air and ThinkProgress

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Gingrich compares FBI raid of Trump lawyer to Nazi secret police — Former Speaker Newt Gingrich tore into the FBI after its raid of President Trump — ‘s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, likening agents’ actions to those of the secret police during the Nazi regime.

Discussion: Political Wire

Secure Freedom Minute:

Jim Jordan for Speaker — This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute. — House Speaker Paul Ryan's announcement yesterday that he will not seek reelection offers congressional Republicans an opportunity to pull out of the political death-spiral that imperils their majority and invites the impeachment of President Trump.

Brian Bennett / TIME:

Donald Trump Relied on Michael Cohen to Weather the Storm. Now The President Is On His Own — As the sun was setting on the evening of April 9, President Donald Trump gathered the Vice President, senior military leaders and his newly minted National Security Adviser around the long wooden table …

Discussion: Mashable and Mediaite