memeorandum: James Comey breaks with Barr: 'I don't consider that spying' (Daniel Chaitin/Washington Examiner)

8:45 AM ET, April 12, 2019

Top Items:

White House proposed releasing immigrant detainees in sanctuary cities, targeting political foes — White House officials have tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against President Trump's political adversaries …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Recode, CNBC, The Week, 6abc, Raw Story, ABC News, New York Times, Fox News, Axios, FOX31 Denver, Mother Jones, KTLA, Slate, TheBlaze, ImmigrationProf Blog, Mediaite and Splinter

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

An ICE Official Who Said Detention Was “More Like Summer Camp” Will Now Lead The Agency — The Trump administration has tapped Matthew Albence to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the sudden resignation of its former leader, sources close to the administration said Thursday.

Discussion: HuffPost, Splinter and Axios

Evan Perez / CNN:
Trump pressured Nielsen to release detained immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story and The Week

Patreon:

History of Assange — (Put this together in a hurry so I will edit and add more details/links later, but felt I needed to post this since a lot of people are developing amnesia and forgetting the history of what Assange has done and the evidence as to who is doing it on behalf of... )

Discussion: Decider, Slate, Washington Monthly and NPR

Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
Julian Assange, arrested for damaging leaks, claims to be a journalist

Discussion: Washington Post, One America News Network, Townhall, RedState and PJ Media Home

Michael Weiss / The Atlantic:
Julian Assange Got What He Deserved

Discussion: Bloomberg, Quartz and Financial Times, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Julian Assange is not a free-press hero. And he is long overdue for personal accountability.

Discussion: Just Security, Al Jazeera, Axios and Right Wing Watch, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Assange: A Self-Proclaimed Foe of Secrecy Who Inspires Both Admiration and Fury

Discussion: LewRockwell, Scroll.in and New York Magazine

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
If Assange Burgled Some Computers, He Stopped Being a Journalist

Discussion: mailchi.mp, Freedom of the Press …, Mediaite, NBC News, Media Matters for America, Slate and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Allie Malloy / CNN:
Trump in 2016: ‘I love WikiLeaks,’ Trump now: ‘I know nothing about WikiLeaks’

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Shareblue Media and Wall Street Journal

Camille Fassett / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Civil liberties groups condemn the Trump admin's indictment of Julian Assange

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Intercept, Pacific Standard, Associated Press, The Guardian, Raw Story and New Republic

ABC News:

Herman Cain expected to withdraw from Fed Reserve Board of Governors consideration — He is expected to announce his withdrawal from consideration in the coming days. — Herman Cain is expected to withdraw his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors …

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, CNBC and New York Times

Sylvan Lane / The Hill:
Fourth GOP senator comes out against Trump Fed pick Cain

Discussion: Axios, Bipartisan Report, CNBC, The Week, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg and Splinter

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump bulldozes across the presidency's red lines

Discussion: Raw Story

Christina Wilkie / CNBC:
Fourth GOP senator opposes Trump Fed pick Herman Cain, effectively ending his path to confirmation

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Media Matters for America

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Four Senate Republicans signal opposition to Trump's plan to put Herman Cain on Federal Reserve Board …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Vanity Fair, CNN, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Daily Kos, National Review and Kansas City Star

Noah Smith / Bloomberg: Republicans Turn Away From Experts and Economics

Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:

Rod Rosenstein Defends Justice Department Handling of Mueller Report — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended the Justice Department's handling of the special counsel's still-secret report, saying Attorney General William Barr is “being as forthcoming as he can” about redacting and releasing the document.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Law & Crime and Axios

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Rod Rosenstein stuck his neck out for Trump. Now he's doing it again for William Barr.

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Kos

Fox News:
Nunes sends criminal-referral notification to Barr, alleges several ‘potential violations’ in Russia probe

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
James Comey breaks with Barr: 'I don't consider that spying'

Discussion: Instapundit and Conservative News Today

Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Daily News:

FDNY firefighter who survived 9/11 says Republican criticizing Ilhan Omar told him he was ‘too busy’ to talk victim benefits — A retired FDNY firefighter who survived 9/11 said Thursday he was recently snubbed by Dan Crenshaw, the Texas congressman who's drawing heat for accusing a Democratic lawmaker of downplaying the terror attack.

Katherine Krueger / Splinter:

This Is Getting Really Dangerous — On Wednesday morning, Fox News used its biggest megaphone to amplify an attention-starved congressman's bad faith charge against Rep. Ilhan Omar: that, in remarks before the Council on American-Islamic Relations, she characterized the Sept. 11 attacks as what happened “some people did something.”

Discussion: Associated Press, Liberty Unyielding, Mediaite, Common Dreams, NB Blog, Politico and Contemptor

Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:
Instagram Stands By Laura Loomer Calling Ilhan Omar's Islamic Faith ‘Cancer’

Discussion: TheBlaze

Dave McKinney / WBEZ:

Illinois Senate Tells Trump, Show Your Tax Returns Or Be Barred From The 2020 Ballot — The Democratic-led Illinois Senate voted Thursday to compel President Trump to release five years' worth of his personal income tax returns or be barred from appearing on the state's presidential ballot next year.

David Cay Johnston / The Daily Beast:
Here's the Law That Requires Mnuchin to Turn Over Trump's Taxes, or Lose His Office and Go to Prison

Discussion: Raw Story

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

Inside Ivanka's Dreamworld — You could tell by his eyes, the way they popped and gleamed and fixed on someone behind me. Only one person gets that kind of look from Donald Trump. “Oh!” the president said. “Ivanka!” — Ivanka Trump lifted her hands, astonished.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, The Week and Political Wire

Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg:

You Say Democracy, I Say Republic — The terms are interchangeable descriptions of the American political system, yet a fight over their meaning could have outsize consequences. — One of this age's great crank ideas, that the U.S. is a “republic” and not a “democracy,” …

New York Post:

DA knew Jeffrey Epstein was a dangerous pedophile when arguing for leniency — The Manhattan DA's office had graphic and detailed evidence of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's depravity when a prosecutor inexplicably argued for leniency during his 2011 sex offender registry hearing, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Raw Story

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Joe Manchin endorses Susan Collins for reelection — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin endorsed GOP Sen. Susan Collins for reelection on Thursday, in a rare rebuff of partisan politics in an increasingly polarized Senate. — The moderate West Virginia senator also offered to campaign for the vulnerable Maine incumbent.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, IJR and Axios

Star Tribune:
Susan Rice says she won't challenge GOP Sen. Collins in 2020

Discussion: Slate

CNN:

Letters from Joe Biden reveal how he sought support of segregationists in fight against busing — (CNN)Joe Biden's road to a third presidential bid has been lined with a series of explanations and apologies, illustrating the challenges of preparing a long record of public service …

Discussion: Breitbart

New York Times:

Gregory Craig, Ex-Obama Aide, Is Indicted on Charges of Lying to Justice Dept. — WASHINGTON — In an indictment that seized the attention of the capital's K Street lobbying corridor, Gregory B. Craig, a White House counsel in the Obama administration, was charged on Thursday with lying …

Discussion: Law & Crime and Politico

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Former Obama White House counsel indicted in charges stemming from Mueller probe

Discussion: Raw Story

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Barr Brings Accountability — Trump's foes call it ‘stunning and scary.’ Here's what they have to be scared about.

Discussion: Power Line and Instapundit

Chris McGonigal / HuffPost:

Viral Photo Of Crying Girl At The Border Wins 2019 World Press Photo Awards — John Moore's haunting photo was among the dozens of winning images that show the power of photojournalism. — A viral image of a crying Honduran child at the U.S.-Mexico border has won the 2019 World Press Photo contest's Photo of the Year prize.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Trump White House to screen anti-abortion movie Friday — Weeks after Democrats won control of the House of Representatives last November, a group of anti-abortion activists huddled at the White House to explore new ways for President Donald Trump to advance their cause.

Discussion: twitchy.com and New York Post

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

2020 independent Howard Schultz steps up attack on ‘far-left, out-of-touch’ Bernie Sanders — Independent presidential candidate Howard Schultz expanded his assault on Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as a “far-left” Democratic White House front-runner whose “Medicare for all” …

Nicky Woolf / The Atlantic:

The Implosion of Jeremy Corbyn — It may have been at the Sternberg Centre, where a large overflow marquee housed my London congregation on High Holidays. There was an abandoned trailer in the woods behind it, and us kids would sneak out to play in it. I don't remember even specifically when it happened.