memeorandum: “It Got Back to Trump That Kelly Was Bad-Mouthing Him”: After Firing John Kelly on Impulse … (Gabriel Sherman/Vanity Fair)

9:05 PM ET, December 10, 2018

Top Items:

Pete Madden / ABC News:

Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation — Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, NPR, Splinter, Joe.My.God., Law & Crime, Political Wire, Boing Boing and National Newswatch

CNN:

Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to reach plea deal — Washington (CNN)Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to have reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. — Butina is accused of trying to infiltrate Republican political circles and party leaders during the 2016 campaign …

Discussion: Vox

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Maria Butina Agrees to Cooperate With U.S. — Butina has inked an agreement with prosecutors and becomes the first Russian since the 2016 election to confess to a crime connected to efforts to influence American politics. — Betsy Woodruff — Maria Butina, a Russian national …

Discussion: ABC News and Talking Points Memo

Anna Massoglia / OpenSecrets.org:

NRA leader, Jack Abramoff and GOP operative tied to alleged Russian spy Maria Butina have long history as foreign agents lobbying together — Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina has changed her plea to guilty, according to a new joint motion filed by her attorneys this morning.

Discussion: Shakesville

Washington Post:

Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina poised to plead guilty in case involving suspected Kremlin attempts to influence NRA — Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist, is poised to plead guilty in a case involving accusations that she was working as an agent for the Kremlin in the United States, according to a new court filing.

Discussion: ABC News, Moms Demand Action …, New York Times, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Above the Law, Politico, Axios and Balloon Juice

Politico:
Meadows: Being W.H. chief of staff would be an ‘honor’

Discussion: Vox, The Resurgent, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Mediaite and electionlawblog.org

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“It Got Back to Trump That Kelly Was Bad-Mouthing Him”: After Firing John Kelly on Impulse, Trump Learned He Had No Plan B — Hyper-ambitious wunderkind Nick Ayers led Trump on, then left him in the lurch. So who now? Meadows? Mnuchin? Bossie? Berman? Reince Priebus!?!

Discussion: Baltimore Sun, Shareblue Media, New York Times and The Daily Beast

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

‘The bottom is going to fall out’: White House reporter says Republicans are privately discussing abandoning Trump — Donald Trump is facing “looming problem” as Republicans contemplate abandoning the president as more evidence of wrongdoing comes to light, Los Angeles Times White House …

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed News:

Who Will Be Trump's Next Chief Of Staff? It Doesn't Really Matter. — President Donald Trump is in the market for a new chief of staff, but his management style, reluctance to change, and relationship with his past two top aides suggest it might not ultimately matter much whom he selects.

Discussion: National Review, Bloomberg and New York Times

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Amid chief of staff search, Trump increasingly anxious over political future — Washington (CNN)While President Donald Trump and Nick Ayers were still in the middle of negotiations about him replacing John Kelly as chief of staff, Trump had already given Ayers a task, according to a source familiar with the discussion.

Discussion: Political Wire and Outside the Beltway

Rahm Emanuel / The Atlantic: Trump Doesn't Want a Chief of Staff

New York Times:
After Ayers Turns Down Chief of Staff Job, Trump Is Left Without a Plan B

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Brookings and Shareblue Media

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Meadows would give Trump a skilled brawler in the White House

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, Raw Story and Mediaite

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Everybody Says Mueller Is Almost Done. What If He Isn't? — In late 2015, the British spy agency GCHQ, and then other Western intelligence agencies, learned of suspicious interactions between Russian agents and Donald Trump's inner circle. By the summer of 2016, James Comey testified Friday …

Discussion: Washington Post and Washington Monthly

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness: Defeat and the Dossier Explain Everything

David French / National Review:
Republicans Must Reject ‘Russia Hoax’ Conspiracies and Examine the Evidence

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and Raw Story

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Meet the Bottomless Pinocchio, a new rating for a false claim repeated over and over again — It was President Trump's signature campaign promise: He would build a wall along the nation's southern border, and Mexico would pay for it. — Shortly after becoming president, Trump dropped the Mexico part …

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Monthly, IJR, The Root, Splinter, Joe.My.God. and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Jared Kushner did what? — The New York Times reports: … As a preliminary matter, we should recognize this as yet another example of why a president should not put a relative in a position of power — especially if the relative possesses questionable judgment and is utterly unqualified for the job.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CNN and Mediaite

Sarah Aziza / Washington Post: Saudi Arabia's brutal treatment of female reformers should have woken us up long ago

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump's latest rage-tweets expose the depth of his own corruption — The news contained in the fusillade of new legal filings relating to President Trump can be summed up this way: Federal prosecutors are now alleging that Trump personally directed a criminal conspiracy that helped get him elected …

Discussion: Mediaite, Big League Politics and Bloomberg

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Sudden shift in get-Trump talk; now it's campaign finance, not Russia

Discussion: Hit & Run and Shareblue Media

Streiff / RedState:
President Trump Is Going To Be Impeached the Question Is How Much Damage It Does

Discussion: Feeds and Crooked Media

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Sources: Dan Bongino Out at NRATV — Trump loves the guy. But the gun rights group is downsizing its media operation and his show appears to be a casualty of those plans. — The National Rifle Association's media arm has dropped pro-Trump firebrand Dan Bongino from its lineup …

Discussion: Big League Politics and twitchy.com

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Dan Bongino Out at NRATV

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Washington Post:

We are former senators. The Senate has long stood in defense of democracy — and must again. — By 44 Former U.S. Senators — As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak …

Discussion: Political Wire

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Trump Prepares to Unveil a Vast Reworking of Clean Water Protections — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected on Tuesday to unveil a plan that would weaken federal clean water rules designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams nationwide from pesticide runoff and other pollutants.

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times: Trump administration poised to strip protections from up to 80% of California waters, millions of acres nationwide

Tablet Magazine:

In an email to Tablet the Women's March wrote: … But whatever concerns were popping up were ultimately no match for the steamroller of the event's progress. And when the day came, the reality far exceeded expectations. Estimates for the March on Washington range between half a million …

Adam Cancryn / Politico:

Establishment looks to crush liberals on Medicare for All — The united front that helped Democrats save Obamacare just a year ago is falling apart over single-payer health care. — Deep-pocketed hospital, insurance and other lobbies are plotting to crush progressives' hopes of expanding …

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Post

Alex Thompson / Politico: LinkedIn co-founder backs $35 million voter data project in ‘existential threat’ to Democratic Party

Harry Enten / CNN:

An insane amount of people turned out to vote in the midterm elections — (CNN)President Donald Trump solved a problem that no other president before him could: Getting people to vote in a midterm election. — Whether they were voting for or against his agenda, it is now clear that voters turned out in record numbers in 2018.

Matt Donnelly / Variety:

Academy Looks Warily at Oscar Host Options As Board Meeting Looms — Kevin Hart's abrupt departure as Oscars host has left the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences scrambling to find someone to take the gig. As of now, the situation remains fluid as the group's leadership explores options …

Discussion: Mediaite

Andy Kroll / Rolling Stone:

Talk About Pizzagate — The former Clinton campaign chairman is among the victims still recovering from a vile conspiracy theory that ended in gunfire — WASHINGTON — John Podesta has given it a lot of thought and believes the best way to deal with the trolls is to ignore them.

Discussion: The Mahablog and Washington Monthly

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:

A Former Trump Campaign Staffer Was Ordered To Pay $25,000 For Violating Her Nondisclosure Agreement — WASHINGTON — Jessica Denson, a former staffer for President Donald Trump's campaign, is fighting an order to pay nearly $25,000 for violating a nondisclosure agreement, according to court papers.

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

F.H. Buckley / New York Post:

Why ‘No Hate Here’ signs are actually pretty hateful — My walks with my dog take me to a quiet off-street, with middle-class houses made expensive because they're inside the Beltway. Their owners are mostly youngish attorneys who work as assistant-deputy-director-somethings in some government department or other.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and No More Mister Nice Blog

NBC News:

Beto O'Rourke sounding out prominent black Democrats as he ponders presidential bid — Barack Obama and Andrew Gillum are among those the 2018 senate candidate has talked with in recent days. — WASHINGTON — Beto O'Rourke hasn't made up his mind about a possible presidential run in 2020 …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Political Wire, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and New York Times

New York Times:

With Power Grabs in the Midwest, G.O.P. Risks a 2020 Backlash — LANSING, Mich. — When Michigan Republicans began moving legislation last week to limit the power of newly elected Democratic officials, some liberal activists shouted “shame!” through the Capitol rotunda while others trailed legislators …

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

YouTube Bans Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes — YouTube banned Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes on Monday, marking the latest social-media blow for the man who started the far-right men's group. McInnes had amassed more than 220,000 subscribers on YouTube before the ban …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »

miamiherald:

Epstein sex abuse victims press judge for decision on tossing his lenient plea deal — Victims of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who have waged a decade-long fight for justice, on Monday pressed a federal judge to finally take action on their motion to throw out a controversial plea agreement …

Suyin Haynes / TIME:

TIME Announces 2018 Person of the Year Shortlist on Today Show — The shortlist of candidates for TIME's 2018 Person of the Year was unveiled Monday on NBC's Today show. Since 1927, TIME has identified the Person of the Year, recognizing the person or group of people who most influenced …

Discussion: Big League Politics, IJR, Splinter, abc7ny.com, AOL, CBS Boston, Daily Wire, Conservative Review, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

Gary Fineout / Associated Press:

Thousands of mailed ballots in Florida were not counted — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials say thousands of mailed ballots were not counted because they were delivered too late to state election offices. — The Department of State late last week informed a federal judge …

Discussion: Splinter and Seymour Tribune

Russell Gold / Wall Street Journal:

Harvard Quietly Amasses California Vineyards—and the Water Underneath — Making a bet on climate change, the university's $39 billion endowment has been snapping up farmland and the related water rights — SHANDON, Calif.—Steve Sinton, a rancher, was baffled when a company he'd never heard …