memeorandum: Haley ‘taking names’: Report reveals which nations have America's back at UN - and which ones don't (Ben Evansky/Fox News)

6:10 AM ET, May 2, 2018

Top Items:

CNN:

Exclusive: Bornstein claims Trump dictated the glowing health letter — (CNN)When Dr. Harold Bornstein described in hyperbolic prose then-candidate Donald Trump's health in 2015, the language he used was eerily similar to the style preferred by his patient. — It turns out the patient himself wrote it, according to Bornstein.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, The Atlantic, The Week, New York Magazine, Law & Crime, Washington Press, The Resurgent, NPR, The Guardian, Boing Boing, Axios, VICE News, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, twitchy.com and CANNONFIRE

Anna R. Schecter / NBC News:

Trump doc says Trump bodyguard, lawyer ‘raided’ his office, took medical files — In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump's longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump's New York doctor without notice …

Associated Press: White House defends seizure of Trump's medical records

Washington Post:

Mueller raised possibility of presidential subpoena in meeting with Trump's legal team — In a tense meeting in early March with the special counsel, President Trump's lawyers insisted he had no obligation to talk with federal investigators probing Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

Robert Mueller Likely Knows How This All Ends — THE BEGINNING OF May marks the longest period of public silence from special counsel Robert Mueller's team since his first charges last October—more than two months without any new plea deals, fresh indictments, or publicly “flipped” witnesses.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The Duran, IJR and CNBC

William Saletan / Slate:

Believe James Comey — I watched all of James Comey's interviews. He's telling the truth. — According to the New York Times, special counsel Robert Mueller has four dozen questions he wants to ask President Donald Trump about the Russia investigation.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Western Journal and Weekly Standard

Annie Karni / Politico:

The real reason Mueller hasn't called Ivanka Trump — She was in Bedminster, New Jersey, with President Donald Trump the rainy May 2017 weekend when he decided to fire FBI Director James Comey. — She was a passenger on the plane flying home from the G-20 conference in Germany the next month …

Discussion: Fox News Insider, emptywheel and American Greatness

Washington Post:

Under oath or not, Trump owes the country answers — IT IS unclear who leaked a list of questions that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wants to ask President Trump. One possibility is that someone is seeking to ensure that, whatever happens to Mr. Mueller's investigation, the president is forced to confront them.

Discussion: New York Times, VICE News and Breitbart

CNN:

Trump's legal team prepares for showdown with Mueller — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's lawyers are preparing for a legal showdown with special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources familiar with their thinking. — Trump's legal team is bracing for the dramatic possibility …

Discussion: Raw Story

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Robert Mueller asks for 2 more months before Michael Flynn sentencing

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
DEBUNKING TRUMP'S BIGGEST RUSSIA LIE

Discussion: New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Politico, Just Security, Common Dreams, Washington Examiner and Washington Monthly

Associated Press: Attorney: Mueller team floated possible subpoena for Trump

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Mueller requests Flynn's sentencing be delayed at least two more months

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

Lobbyist helped broker Scott Pruitt's $100,000 trip to Morocco — MARRAKESH, Morocco — A controversial trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who accompanied Pruitt and his entourage …

Discussion: Washington Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, TheBlaze, Politico, Axios, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Political Wire

New York Times:

Friend Helped Steer E.P.A. Leader's Agenda Abroad — WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, allowed a lobbyist friend to play an unusually influential role in setting his agenda during a visit in December to Morocco, according to internal communications related …

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
Two Top Aides to Scott Pruitt Quit the E.P.A. Unexpectedly

Discussion: USA Today, Splinter, NY State of Politics, BloombergQuint, Bloomberg and Vox

Liz Goodwin / BostonGlobe.com:

Nancy Pelosi says she intends to remain in leadership role — Nancy Pelosi wants you to know she's not going anywhere. — Despite grumblings from some Democrats and dismal approval ratings, the House minority leader aims to keep an iron grip on her leadership role, saying in an interview Tuesday …

Discussion: Breitbart, TheBlaze, CNN, Washington Post, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Axios, Political Wire, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com and Common Dreams

Marc Caputo / Politico:

‘Let the blue wave continue’: Democrats notch 4th Florida bellwether win — MIAMI — Strike ... four. — In the fourth and final Florida bellwether election since 2016, the Democratic candidate beat the Republican in a contested race, providing the best evidence yet that the GOP …

Cheri Jacobus / USA Today: Never Trump Republican's midterm plea to Democrats: Reach out to people like me

Harry Enten / CNN:
Trump might be right — the GOP's House majority is not all but doomed

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Outside the Beltway

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Trump ‘well-positioned’ for 2020, keeps GOP alive for 2018, pollsters say

Discussion: Power Line

Nathaniel Rakich / FiveThirtyEight:
Democrats' Horrible 2018 Senate Map Couldn't Have Come At A Better Time

Discussion: New York Magazine and Sabato's Crystal Ball

USA Today: In midterm elections, Republicans are running against ... Hillary Clinton. Still.

CNN:

White House poised for more chaos over Veterans Affairs pick — (CNN)The White House is in an increasingly familiar place: Facing down a chaotic nomination process. — As the Trump administration seeks to move past the failed nomination of Ronny Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs …

CNN:
White House claims ‘clerical error’ led to drastic change in Iran statement

Discussion: New York Daily News, Mediaite, Louder With Crowder, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo and Contemptor

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
White House ignores executive order requiring count of civilian casualties in counterterrorism strikes

Discussion: Axios

Kate Irby / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Feinstein drops opposition to legal pot, giving legal marijuana a new ally — WASHINGTON — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a longtime opponent of legalizing recreational marijuana, now says the federal government should not interfere in California's legal marijuana market.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post and Marijuana Moment

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

The Iran Deal Is a Lie — “The sanctions lifting will only occur as Iran takes the steps agreed, including addressing possible military dimensions.” — That was State Department spokesman John Kirby in June 2015, speaking just as negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal were wrapping up.

Discussion: The American Conservative

TMZ.com:

Kanye West — I Got Hooked on Opioids After Liposuction — Kanye West had liposuction, started popping painkillers ... all leading up to the 2016 breakdown that landed him in a hospital for more than a week. — Kanye revealed his battle with opioids during his appearance Tuesday on …

Discussion: CNBC, USA Today, Page Six, Breitbart, Mother Jones, The FADER and The Daily Caller

TMZ.com:
Kanye West — Stirs Up TMZ Newsroom Over Trump, Slavery, Free Thought

Discussion: The Root, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, In Touch Weekly, AOL, Mashable, CNN, Raw Story, FOX6Now.com, Daily Wire, WTVR-TV and The Daily Caller

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Carl Higbie, who works at pro-Trump group, says racist comments were ‘statistical observation,’ ‘out of context’ — (CNN)Carl Higbie, a top staffer at an advocacy group closely aligned with President Donald Trump, said on a radio show that past racist comments he made had been taken …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, RedState, The Week and Splinter

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Facebook Has Begun To Rank News Organizations By Trust, Zuckerberg Says — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the company has already begun to implement a system that ranks news organizations based on trustworthiness, and promotes or suppresses its content based on that metric.

Discussion: Breitbart, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Front Page Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Seth Hettena / Rolling Stone:

Better Call Cohen: The Shady Cases of a Trump Lawyer's Personal Injury Practice — The president's personal attorney represented multiple clients in New York who allegedly staged car crashes to cheat insurance companies — A few years before he started working for Donald Trump …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and New York Magazine

David French / National Review:

How a Pretty Prom Dress Helped Reveal Rot in the American Soul — Keziah Daum and the insidiousness of the online cultural-appropriation police — I'm going to tell you perhaps the dumbest story you've ever heard — a story that is stupid with a heaping helping of malice on the side.

Discussion: Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, WGN-TV, smokeroom.com, Why Evolution Is True and Instapundit

The Times of Israel:

Abbas says Jews' behavior, not anti-Semitism, caused the Holocaust — In rambling speech, PA president gives a ‘history lesson’ in which he tries to negate Jewish connection to Israel, accuses Zionists of cooperating with Hitler — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday …

Discussion: Informed Comment

BBC: Holocaust row: Abbas accused of anti-Semitism

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:

Rosenstein: Justice Department won't be extorted by Congress — WASHINGTON (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Tuesday lashed out at Republican allies of President Donald Trump who have drafted articles of impeachment against him, saying the Justice Department won't be extorted or give in to threats.

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Splinter

Mike Levine / ABC News:
Deputy attorney general depicts latest GOP critics as cowards, vows DOJ won't be ‘extorted’

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine, HuffPost, Breitbart, Washington Press and Politico

Julia Halperin / artnet News:

‘It Is an Unusual and Radical Act’: Why the Baltimore Museum Is Selling Blue-Chip Art to Buy Work by Underrepresented Artists — The museum is selling seven works to build a “war chest” that will fund acquisitions designed to make its holdings less white and less male.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and The Daily Caller

Ian Shapira / Washington Post:

White supremacist is guilty in Charlottesville parking garage beating of black man … CHARLOTTESVILLE — One of the white supremacists who viciously beat a black man inside a parking garage during last year's “Unite the Right” rally here was found guilty Tuesday night of malicious wounding.

Discussion: Raw Story and Jezebel

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Trump's former health secretary: Americans will pay more because GOP weakened Obamacare … President Trump's former top health official on Tuesday said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act.