memeorandum: U.S. returns smuggled Hobby Lobby artifacts to Iraq (Quint Forgey/Politico)

10:25 PM ET, May 2, 2018

Top Items:

Juliet Macur / New York Times:

Redskins Cheerleaders Describe Topless Photo Shoots and an Uneasy Night Out — When the Washington Redskins took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica in 2013 for a calendar photo shoot, the first cause for concern among the cheerleaders came when Redskins officials collected …

Discussion: Hot Air, smokeroom.com, The Guardian, Raw Story, Deadspin, The Big Lead, ProFootballTalk, ThinkProgress, AOL, twitchy.com, The Week and Daily Wire

Erica Pandey / Axios:

Trump threatens to use presidential powers on DOJ — President Trump in a Wednesday tweet called out the Justice Department for refusing to hand over un-redacted documents related to the Hillary Clinton email probe to Congress. — The big picture: The Justice Department has become …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Politico, CNN and Washington Post

New York Times:

Trump Assails Justice Dept., Siding With House Conservatives in Dispute — WASHINGTON — President Trump plunged on Wednesday into the simmering dispute between conservative House Republicans and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, siding with the lawmakers and attacking his own Justice Department.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, The Atlantic, Washington Press, Shakesville and Washington Post

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
Reminder: GOP Target Rod Rosenstein Is A Lifelong Republican Trump Appointed

Discussion: Mediaite

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Mueller's Questions for Trump Show the Folly of Special-Counsel Appointments

Discussion: New Yorker, Washington Post, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Talking Points Memo and Hit & Run

Alex Ward / Vox:
Trump just ominously threatened the Justice Department

Discussion: Power Line, Politico, Washington Press, twitchy.com, IJR, The Mahablog, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Breitbart and Raw Story

New York Times:

Trump to Add Clinton Impeachment Lawyer Emmet Flood to Replace Ty Cobb — WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to hire Emmet T. Flood, the veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, to replace Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer who has taken the lead in dealing …

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Trump's New Lawyer Likely to Cut Him Off From Mueller Interview: Source … President Donald Trump's legal team became significantly more cohesive on Wednesday with the addition of Emmet Flood, a veteran white collar defense attorney. It also became more aggressive, which could prove tricky for Special Counsel Bob Mueller.

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Daily Wire, JustOneMinute, Roll Call and NPR

Washington Post:
White House lawyer Ty Cobb is exiting and will be replaced by Clinton impeachment attorney Emmet Flood

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Atlantic, CNN, emptywheel, MSNBC, Vox, Splinter, NBC News, Law & Crime, HuffPost, Axios, The Week, Hullabaloo, RedState, Joe.My.God., Fox News, Townhall, Mediaite and Above the Law

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Exclusive: Giuliani says decision on Trump-Mueller interview ‘several weeks away’

Discussion: Washington Press and NY State of Politics

Wall Street Journal:

Cambridge Analytica Closing Operations Following Facebook Data Controversy — Company had lost multiple clients in recent months — Cambridge Analytica , a data firm that worked for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, is shutting down following the disclosure of its misuse of Facebook data.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, BuzzFeed, Vox, CNBC, IJR, The Next Web, Axios, Law & Crime, The Week, The Verge, AOL and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »

CA Commercial:

Cambridge Analytica and Scl Elections Commence Insolvency Proceedings and Release Results of Independent Investigation into Recent Allegations — Earlier today, SCL Elections Ltd., as well as certain of its and Cambridge Analytica LLC's U.K. affiliates (collectively, the “Company” or …

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Recode, Bloomberg, Politico, Mother Jones, CNN, VICE News, The Daily Caller, Vox, Talking Points Memo, KTLA, Engadget, Balloon Juice, The Resurgent, BloombergQuint, HuffPost and NPR

Melanie Ehrenkranz / Gizmodo:
Cambridge Analytica Is Shutting Down

Discussion: Washington Press, ThinkProgress, KDFW, VentureBeat, Motherboard, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, New York Magazine, Mediaite and thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

NBC News:
Cambridge Analytica to close down after Facebook data scandal

Discussion: The Guardian

The Guardian: Cambridge Analytica closing after Facebook data harvesting scandal

New York Times:
Cambridge Analytica to File for Bankruptcy After Misuse of Facebook Data

Discussion: TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Manu Raju / CNN:

Michael Caputo says 'it's clear' Mueller investigators focused on Russia collusion — (CNN)After being interviewed by special counsel investigators on Wednesday, former aide to Donald Trump's presidential campaign Michael Caputo told CNN that Robert Mueller's team is “focused on Russia collusion.”

Discussion: Power Line and IJR

Daily Mail:

‘God damn you to hell!’: Former Trump campaign consultant explodes at Democratic Senate aides after he loses his house to legal fees in ‘witch hunt’ congressional Russia probe — Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo says he has spent $125,000 on lawyers to comply with the demands of the Senate Intelligence Committee

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show

Daily Mail:

TRUMP AIDE MICHAEL CAPUTO'S SHOCKING STATEMENT TO THE SENATE INTEL COMMITTEE — Caputo, a former Trump campaign adviser, delivered this statement to the committee on Tuesday, May 1, 2018:

Ali Dukakis / ABC News: Former Trump campaign aide meets with Mueller's special counsel in Russia probe

Song Jung-a / Financial Times:

North Korea set to release US prisoners at summit — North Korea has released the three Americans detained in the country's labour camps in a display of goodwill ahead of the looming summit between its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, campaigners say.

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Straits Times, Power Line, The Western Journal, CBS News, Townhall, TheBlaze, RedState, IJR, The Daily Caller, NTK Network, Axios, The Resurgent, Mediaite and Daily Wire

Jeff Greenfield / Politico:

Thinking the Unthinkable: What If Trump Succeeds? — Let us assume for the moment that Donald Trump is an “idiot” and a “f— ing moron” who hasn't got a clue about the substance of legislation. (These judgments, if multiple news reports are accurate, come from the president's current chief of staff …

Discussion: One America News Network

Tom Nichols / USA Today: Hold the irrational exuberance on North Korea. Kim is already winning.

Washington Post: Trump becomes more dovish toward North Korea, but surrounds himself with hawks

Niraj Chokshi / New York Times:

Summer Zervos, Trump Accuser, Subpoenas ‘The Apprentice’ Recordings — Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice” who accused President Trump of sexual assault, is seeking records to prove that he defamed her by calling her a liar. — A lawyer for Ms. Zervos …

Discussion: The Week, VICE News, CNN, Law & Crime, Washington Press, Raw Story, Mediaite and Political Wire

Annie Karni / Politico:

Trump's fixers revolt — Longtime associates whose job was to clean up messes are suddenly in the spotlight making things worse for the president. — Looking the part has always mattered to President Donald Trump. — The president's preference for people who look like they came from …

Discussion: The Root and Mediaite

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Trump's medical deceptions should be a scandal

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress and ABC News

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:

Ukraine, Seeking U.S. Missiles, Halted Cooperation With Mueller Investigation — KIEV, Ukraine — In the United States, Paul J. Manafort is facing prosecution on charges of money laundering and financial fraud stemming from his decade of work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Washington Press, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams, MSNBC, The Week, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly and American Prospect

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Did Trump Bribe Ukraine to Stop Cooperating With Mueller?

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Contemptor, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, The Western Journal, Sputnik International, Washington Monthly, Salon, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Breitbart

Quint Forgey / Politico:

U.S. returns smuggled Hobby Lobby artifacts to Iraq — The repatriation comes 10 months after the company settled a $3 million suit with the U.S. for illegally importing antiquities. — The Republic of Iraq has finally taken possession of thousands of ancient artifacts illegally shipped …

Discussion: One America News Network

Stef W. Kight / Axios: Ancient artifacts smuggled by Hobby Lobby are returning to Iraq

U.S. Department of Justice:
United States Returns Thousands of Ancient Artifacts To Iraq

Discussion: New York Times

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The Redistribution of Sex — One lesson to be drawn from recent Western history might be this: Sometimes the extremists and radicals and weirdos see the world more clearly than the respectable and moderate and sane. All kinds of phenomena, starting as far back as the Iraq War and the crisis …

Discussion: The American Conservative, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Splinter

Jon Ward / Yahoo:

West Virginia Senate candidate distorts reality in campaign ad — WASHINGTON — A Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia is running an ad showing his primary opponent shaking hands with Hillary Clinton — something that never happened. The ad uses a manipulated version …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and Political Wire

Louise Moon / South China Morning Post:

Chinese dress at US prom wins support in China after internet backlash — After criticism of student Keziah Daum's Twitter post showing her wearing the traditional qipao, Chinese commenters call it cultural appreciation, not appropriation — An American teenager has received support …

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall, Fox News, Daily Wire, The Star Online, Front Page Magazine, JONATHAN TURLEY, Law & Crime, RedState, Hot Air, twitchy.com, Fox News Insider, The Federalist, IJR and Instapundit

Robby Soave / Hit & Run:

Black Gun Owner Will Give Birth in Prison After Trying to Protect 2-Year-Old Daughter from Assailant — Siwatu-Salama Ra is a 26-year-old black mother who watched in horror as an angry assailant—a neighbor with whom Ra had a dispute—deliberately crashed her vehicle into Ra's car while Ra's two-year-old daughter was playing inside.

Discussion: Louder With Crowder

Joshua Holland / The Nation:

YES, DONALD TRUMP IS MAKING WHITE PEOPLE MORE HATEFUL — A new study finds empirical evidence of the “Trump Effect.” — Has Donald Trump's relentless demagoguery of Mexicans, Muslims and African Americans made Americans more hateful? Or did Trump capitalize on a white backlash …

Discussion: Althouse

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

House: Democrats Risk Disaster in California's Top Two Primaries — Republicans badly need a few lucky breaks to hold their House majority in November. So far in 2018, it's been the opposite story — from an unfriendly new Pennsylvania map to Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement and bleak special election results.

Washington Post:

America is more diverse than ever — but still segregated — The United States is on track to be a majority-minority nation by 2044. But census data show most of our neighbors are the same race. — Black — White — Hispanic — Asian/Pacific Islander — Native American Multi-race and other

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Rudy Giuliani Says Trump Repaid Michael Cohen For The Stormy Daniels Hush Money — “[T]he president repaid it.” — Reporting From Washington, DC — President Donald Trump repaid Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment Cohen facilitated to Stormy Daniels in 2016, Trump's new lawyer …

Discussion: Associated Press and Bloomberg

YouTube:

Tough

Fox News:

Police release body cam footage from Las Vegas Massacre — Las Vegas police have finally released partial footage from police body cameras that showed officers nearing the hotel room where gunman Stephen Paddock unleashed a hail of gunfire on concert-goers last October.

Discussion: CBS New York, The Daily Caller and AOL

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

HHS official who shared conspiracy theories and said ‘forefathers would have hung’ Obama is back at work — (CNN)A political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services has apologized and is now back at work at the department after it came to light that she spread conspiracy theories …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Alex Burness / Daily Camera:

Boulder City Council calls for ‘full editorial independence’ at Daily Camera — Late Tuesday night, the Boulder City Council unanimously approved a declaration in “support of the journalistic and editorial independence of our local newspaper,” the Daily Camera.

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Vanity Fair's Hilariously Bad Account of the ‘Red-Pilling’ of Kanye West — Reporting on the Right with no understanding of the Right. — I believe it was in 2003 when I coined the term “conservatives in the mist” for a certain style of reporting. A play on “Gorillas in the Mist,” …

Discussion: Vanity Fair and New York Daily News

YouTube:

Hillary Clinton: Being A Capitalist Probably Hurt Me Because So Many Democrats Are Socialists … At the Shared Value Leadership Summit, Hillary Clinton says that being a capitalist hurt her during the 2016 Democratic primaries because so many Democrats now identify themselves as socialists.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Republican lawmakers must decide: Can Trump snub a subpoena? … For months now, Republican lawmakers have been asked what happens if President Trump fires special counsel Robert S. Mueller III or Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, and whether they will support legislation to protect either or both.