memeorandum: Trump Lawyers Aim to Decide by May 17 Whether President Testifies in Mueller Probe (Peter Nicholas/Wall Street Journal)

7:50 AM ET, May 8, 2018

Top Items:

Four Women Accuse New York's Attorney General of Physical Abuse — Eric Schneiderman has raised his profile as a voice against sexual misconduct. Now, after suing Harvey Weinstein, he faces a #MeToo reckoning of his own. — Update: Three hours after the publication of this story, Schneiderman resigned from his position.

New York Times:

Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General, Quits After Assault Claims — Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general who rose to prominence as an antagonist of the Trump administration, abruptly resigned on Monday night hours after The New Yorker reported that four women had accused him of physically assaulting them.

Washington Post:

New York's attorney general resigns after four women accuse him of physical abuse … New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned Monday night, stepping down from office hours after he was accused of physically abusing four women in an article published by the New Yorker.

Discussion: NY State of Politics, New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Politico and twitchy.com

Kate Sheehy / New York Post:

Ex: Schneiderman called me his ‘brown slave,’ would slap me until I called him ‘Master’ — State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called his Sri Lankan girlfriend his “brown slave” and wanted her to refer to him as “Master,” the woman says. — Harvard-educated activist writer Tanya Selvaratnam told …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Front Page Magazine, The Week, The Daily Caller and National Review

New York Post:
Manhattan DA opens probe into Schneiderman

Discussion: Political Wire

Alex Johnson / NBC News:
N.Y. Attorney General Schneiderman resigns amid allegations of violence toward women

Discussion: ag.ny.gov, New York Times, Fox News Insider, National Review and Daily Wire

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

As headlines swirl, Trump grows frustrated with Giuliani — NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is growing increasingly irritated with lawyer Rudy Giuliani's frequently off-message media blitz, in which he has muddied the waters on hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels and made claims …

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump grows frustrated with Giuliani as Stormy Daniels drama rages on — President Donald Trump has shaken up his legal team in the last three weeks — and he's still not happy. — The president has been griping to associates that Rudy Giuliani, his new personal attorney, has failed to shut down the Stormy Daniels hush money saga.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and Mediaite

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Lawyers Aim to Decide by May 17 Whether President Testifies in Mueller Probe — Legal team has long been divided on sit-down interview with special counsel — WASHINGTON—Lawyers advising President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation hope to decide whether he should testify by May 17 …

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Wire, Yeshiva World News, Washington Post, Fox News, courthousenews.com, Conservative News Today, CBS 4, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, The Guardian, Mediaite and Breitbart

CBS News:

Mueller rejects Trump request to answer questions in writing — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now on President Trump's legal team, told CBS News correspondent Paula Reid Monday afternoon that special counsel Robert Mueller's office has rejected proposals to allow Mr. Trump …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:
State Dept.: Giuliani doesn't speak for US on foreign policy

Discussion: HuffPost and Shareblue Media

Politico: Nunes sticks to contempt threat against Sessions

New York Times:

White House Aides Are Urging President Trump to Fire Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. Chief — WASHINGTON — Senior White House staff members are encouraging President Trump to fire Scott Pruitt, his embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief, according to two top administration officials.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week and New Republic

Politico:

Pruitt fast-tracked California cleanup after Hugh Hewitt brokered meeting — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt placed a polluted California area on his personal priority list of Superfund sites targeted for “immediate and intense” action after conservative radio and television host Hugh Hewitt brokered …

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:

New Files Detail the Threats Made Against Scott Pruitt at the E.P.A. — Want the latest climate news in your inbox? You can sign up here to receive Climate Fwd:, our new email newsletter. — WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency had a total of 33 threat investigations underway …

Discussion: Washington Post and Conservative News Today

BuzzFeed: New Documents Show That EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Did Not Face Serious Security Threats

New York Times:

Unswayed by Allies, Trump Is Expected to Leave Iran Deal, Diplomats Say — WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday that he is withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, European diplomats said after concluding that they had failed to convince …

Discussion: Political Wire, KTLA, Washington Post, New York Magazine, CNN, The Guardian and ITV

New York Times:
Opponents of Iran Deal Hired Investigators to Dig Up Dirt on Obama Aide

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, BostonGlobe.com, The Week, NewsBusters and Mother Jones

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Why Did a Creepy Israeli Intel Firm Spy on Obama Alums?

Discussion: The Guardian, NPR and Jerusalem Post

Dave Lawler / Axios:
Closing arguments on the Iran deal

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Washington Post, One America News Network, ABC News and Vox

Max de Haldevang / Quartz:
Leaving the Iran deal would play right into Putin's hands, says a former US ambassador to Russia

Discussion: CNN, NBC News and Mediaite

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

The West Virginia primary shows Trump's election was no aberration … Sooner or later, Donald Trump will be gone. Trumpism, however, is here to stay. — Look at West Virginia, which holds its Republican Senate primary Tuesday. Candidate Don Blankenship, a disgraced coal baron who spent …

Discussion: Vox, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast and Real Clear Politics

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
7 things to watch in Tuesday's primaries

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and ABC News

Michael Scherer / Washington Post: GOP primaries gauge the anti-establishment fervor Trump helped unleash

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Trump Weighs In on West Virginia Senate Race in Sign of Republican Anxiety

Discussion: The Federalist, New Republic, Washington Press, Breitbart, Power Line, WND, ProPublica, Hot Air, CNN, ABC News, Fox News, Washington Post, Daily Wire, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, The Hill, Townhall, Roll Call, Real Clear Politics, The Atlantic and Politico

Axios:
Pro-Trump group targets Joe Manchin in push to confirm Gina Haspel

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Jamie Dupree - AJC and Politico

Alan Dershowitz / The Hill:

Federal judge rightly rebukes Mueller for questionable tactics — An experienced federal judge has confirmed what I have been arguing for months, namely, that the modus operandi of special counsel Robert Mueller — is to charge associates of Donald Trump with any crime he can find in order …

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal: The Two Rod Rosensteins — Limiting Congress but letting …

Grabien News:
Dems Trash Federal Judge for Questioning Scope of Mueller Power

Discussion: RT, CNN, Joe.My.God. and Axios

Raphael Satter / Associated Press:

US military wives threatened by Russian hackers posing as IS — PARIS (AP) — Army wife Angela Ricketts was soaking in a bubble bath in her Colorado home, leafing through a memoir, when a message appeared on her iPhone from hackers threatening to slaughter her family. — “Dear Angela!” the Facebook message read.

Aric Jenkins / TIME:

Jeff Sessions: Parents and Children Illegally Crossing the Border Will Be Separated — Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the U.S. will take a stricter stance on illegal crossings at the Mexico border by separating parents from children, rather than keeping them together in detention centers.

Pete Williams / NBC News:
Sessions: Parents, children entering U.S. illegally will be separated

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Press, The Week, IJR, Raw Story and Political Wire

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Hatch to McCain: Invite Trump to your funeral — Sen. John McCain should reconsider his wish that President Donald Trump not attend McCain's funeral, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, the most senior GOP senator. — McCain prefers instead that Vice President Mike Pence attend his funeral rather than Trump …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Althouse, The Week, The Right Scoop, AOL, Joe.My.God., Daily Wire, Mediaite and Political Wire

Ted Barrett / CNN:
Hatch says it's ‘ridiculous’ for McCain to block Trump from funeral

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web — An alliance of heretics is making an end run around the mainstream conversation. Should we be listening? — Here are some things that you will hear when you sit down to dinner with the vanguard of the Intellectual Dark Web …

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:

“I'd Die for My Wife and My Kids. And This Is All Ruining Their Lives”: After Rudy's Meltdown, Michael Cohen Grapples with His New Reality — Besieged by the media and legal bills, and feeling abandoned by Washington, friends say Cohen is in a “dangerous place.”

Discussion: The Week, Los Angeles Times, The Root and Washington Post

Aaron E. Carroll / New York Times:

It's Time for a New Discussion of Marijuana's Risks — You may reasonably decide the benefits outweigh the harms, but you should know about those potential harms. — The benefits and harms of medical marijuana can be debated, but more states are legalizing pot, even for recreational use.

David Fontana / Washington Post:

Washington is now a cool city. That's terrible news for American democracy. — Sparky's Espresso Cafe was a few blocks from my apartment off 14th Street NW, but in the years after I moved to Washington in 2006, it felt to me like home. To get there from my apartment …

Washington Post:

Trump calls on Congress to pull back $15 billion in spending, including on Children's Health Insurance Program. — President Trump is sending a plan to Congress that calls for stripping back more than $15 billion in previously approved spending, with the hope that it will temper conservative angst over ballooning budget deficits.