memeorandum: Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76 (Jon Pareles/New York Times)

3:55 PM ET, August 16, 2018

Top Items:

John O. Brennan / New York Times:

John Brennan: President Trump's Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash — That's why the president revoked my security clearance: to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him. — Mr. Brennan was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Trump blurts out another Lester Holt moment — It really was the Russia investigation all along. — In an interview with the Wall Street Journal posted late Wednesday, President Trump once again gave away the ballgame when it comes to his efforts to impact the probe and tear down its leaders (both current and former).

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Breitbart, Shakesville, Hot Air and New York Times

Fox News Insider:

Gen. Tata: ‘Communist John Brennan’ Never Should Have Had a Security Clearance — A ‘clear and present danger’ to the nation. — U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Anthony Tata (Ret.) said President Trump was justified in revoking the security clearance of John Brennan, who Tata described as a “clear and present danger” to the nation.

Discussion: Sara A. Carter, Telegraph, CNN, Yahoo, Townhall, Front Page Magazine and IJR

U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today …

Discussion: CNN, Spectator USA, Conservative News Today, Shareblue Media, Just Security, Towleroad Gay News, Politico, The Guardian, The Hill, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and New York Times

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Death Spiral”: Why Omarosa Totally Triggered Trump — The perceived betrayal of a longtime female ally, and her perfectly executed Trumpian tactics, made the feud too personal to ignore. — In the days before Omarosa Manigault Newman rolled out her White House tell-all, Unhinged …

Adam Edelman / NBC News:

Omarosa releases secret tape of Lara Trump offering her $15K/month campaign job — The tape, which was broadcast on MSNBC, was made just days after the former “Apprentice” contestant left her White House job. — Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who became a top White House aide …

Discussion: New Republic, Axios, Common Dreams, Taylor Marsh and MSNBC

Nicholas Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles Times is not participating in today's nationwide editorial page protest against Trump's attacks on the press. Here's why — More than 300 newspapers around the country will participate today in a group protest of President Trump's frequent attacks on the news media.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KTLA, BloombergQuint, Washington Post, CNN and theGrio, more at Mediagazer »

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Omarosa Manigault Newman releases secret recording of $15,000-a-month job offer from Lara Trump

Discussion: Politico and MSNBC

Amanda Macias / CNBC:

Trump's military parade is now estimated to cost $92 million - $80 million more than earlier estimate — President Donald Trump's military parade is estimated to cost $92 million, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, AOL, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, Task & Purpose, Daily Kos, VICE and Splinter

Jason Schwartz / Politico: Pentagon punishes reporters over tough coverage

William H. McRaven / Washington Post:

Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President — William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. — Dear Mr. President:

Discussion: Daily Kos and Axios

Jon Pareles / New York Times:

Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76 — Aretha Franklin, universally acclaimed as the “Queen of Soul” and one of America's greatest singers in any style, died on Thursday at her home in Detroit. She was 76. — The cause was advanced pancreatic cancer, her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, said.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Power Line, Shakesville, Gothamist, France 24, AOL and LifeZette

David Remnick / New Yorker:
Aretha Franklin: A Legacy in Music

Discussion: The Atlantic, IJR, Vox, Consequence of Sound and The Ringer

Amanda Petrusich / New Yorker:
Aretha Franklin Is As Immortal As Can Be

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Times and Vox

Melissa Stephenson / WTKR-TV:
Argument over Aretha Franklin leads to Suffolk shooting, witnesses say

Discussion: FOX31 Denver, Raw Story, KFOR-TV and WPIX 11 New York

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump: ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin ‘will be missed’

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Vox and Talking Points Memo

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

‘If they take the House, he wins big’: Trump loyalists see upside in impeachment — Why some Trump allies think his path to reelection runs through an effort to kick him out of the Oval Office. — There's a new way of demonstrating loyalty to Donald Trump and his Republican Party …

Discussion: New Republic, Raw Story and The Week

Pew Research Center: As Midterms Near, Democrats Are More Politically Active Than Republicans

New York Times:
Pelosi, Under Threat in Her Own Party, Says She Is Building Bridge to New Leaders

Discussion: Townhall, Axios, The Week, The Editorial Board, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Politico and CNN

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Forecasting the race for the House — Our forecast for every district — The chance of each candidate winning, with all 435 House districts shown at the same size — CartogramMap — Dem. — Solid — Likely — Lean — Rep. — ≥95% — ≥75% — ≥60% — Toss-up

Discussion: ABC News, CNBC, Political Wire and DC Tribune

Nathan McDermott / CNN:

Corey Stewart used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players in 2017 campaign event — (CNN)Corey Stewart, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Virginia, used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players who protest during the National Anthem in an online exchange with his supporters last year.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Vox

Michael Sinkewicz / pluralist:

Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed — “Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans.” — An idealistic young American couple was killed in an Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, 100PercentFedUp.com, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and Clarion Project

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Manafort trial Day 13: Jury deliberations begin, verdict timing unknown — Jurors began deliberating Thursday in Paul Manafort's trial on bank- and tax-fraud charges, but the possible timing of a verdict remains unknown. — U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III sent the 12-person jury off …

Discussion: ABC News

Reuters:
Jury begins deliberations in trial of ex-Trump aide Manafort

Discussion: TalkLeft

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

‘Queer Eye’ Star Jonathan Van Ness Under Fire After Saying ‘Not All Republicans Are Racist’ — “Ah, yes... ‘mutual understanding’ with racists,” says one commenter after Bravo reality star advocates for “center left candidates” — “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness had to defend himself …

Discussion: The Federalist, Front Page Magazine, twitchy.com, Daily Wire and Gay Star News

Zach Dorfman / Foreign Policy:

Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents — The number of informants executed in the debacle is higher than initially thought. — It was considered one of the CIA's worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities …

more at Techmeme »

Violet Ikonomova / Detroit Metro Times:

Detroit Rep. Bettie Cook Scott on Asian opponent: 'Don't vote for the ching-chong!' — More than a dozen community groups have called on Rep. Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) to apologize for a series of racial slurs sources say she used to describe her primary election opponent, Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit).

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP leader criticizes Republican senators for not showing up to work — (R-Ky.) scolded Senate Republican colleagues on Thursday for skipping a Wednesday night vote, warning them that attendance needs to improve if anything is to get done in August, according to sources.

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN:

CNN Poll: Brett Kavanaugh nomination has lowest public support since Robert Bork — Trump's SCOTUS pick could change America — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, receives a cooler public reception than nearly every nominee for the last four administrations …

Reuters:

Children poisoned by lead on U.S. Army bases as hazards go ignored — Privatizing U.S. military housing was supposed to protect service members' families. Instead, some of their children are being poisoned by lead. A Reuters investigation unearths dangers in base homes, lapses in military oversight …

Discussion: Axios

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Trump's Speeches Feature Mystery Men the White House Won't Name — The president leans on unidentified allies to back policies — White House won't identify people Trump describes in remarks — One of the biggest supporters of President Donald Trump's trade policies …

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Trump labels media ‘the opposition party’ as newspapers push back en masse — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at the media Thursday morning, identifying the “fake news” as “the opposition party” on the same day that hundreds of newspapers nationwide printed editorials critical …

Discussion: Fox News Insider, CNBC, ABC News and The Moderate Voice

Roll Call:

Espy Poll of Mississippi Senate Race Shows Path to Victory for Democrats — A Democratic poll of the Mississippi Senate special election shows former Rep. Mike Espy having a path to finishing first in a runoff this fall. — Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed earlier …

Discussion: Political Wire

Arizona Republic:

Back in Arizona, Meghan McCain rips Rep. Martha McSally's snub of dad Sen. John McCain — President Trump signed a $716 billion defense policy bill named for Sen. John McCain after delivering remarks that failed to mention the senator. The measure boosts military pay by the largest amount in nine years and replaces aging equipment.

Discussion: Roll Call

YouTube:

GOP Rep. Dave Joyce's campaign ad pushing back on Republicans and Donald Trump … U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a Republican from Bainbridge Township, is currently running this ad on cable television. The ad is notable for highlighting his vote against Obamacare and pushing back on Republican President Donald Trump …

Timothy Gardner / Reuters:

In setback for TransCanada, judge orders Keystone XL pipeline review — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly delaying the project's construction …

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation

Erin B. Logan / Washington Post:

Ryan Zinke blames ‘environmental terrorist groups’ for severity of California wildfires — Wildfires strike California every year. But they're getting worse, causing deaths and uprooting communities. But who is to blame for these increasingly destructive wildfires?

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

'We have more that we're planning to do' if Turkey doesn't release American pastor, treasury secretary says — The United States will take further action against Turkey if it continues to detain American pastor Andrew Brunson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday in a sign …

Amber Athey / The Daily Caller:

CNN Commentator Agrees With Gov. Cuomo That America Was Never Great — CNN commentator Angela Rye said on Wednesday night that she agrees with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's assertion that America was never that great. — WATCH: — In a debate with Trump campaign adviser Gina Loudon …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com

Hannah Sparks / New York Post:

My trust fund made me miserable — Over the past six years, Lane Fury has collected more than $185,000 in family money. Eventually, Fury stands to inherit roughly $6 million, but the 27-year-old doesn't see this good fortune as a positive thing. — “I don't actually want it,” says Fury.

Discussion: smokeroom.com

Betsy Woodruff / amp.thedailybeast.com:

Trump Staffer Says He Recruited Lobbyists for Russian Mogul — In the time since the election, a little-known Trump campaign staffer named Daniel Gelbinovich reached out to a number of Washington lobbyists with an eyebrow-raising ask: to shield a Putin ally from U.S. sanctions.

Discussion: Politico