memeorandum: Democrats Should Revise Their Hopes for 2018 (Brandon J. Weichert/American Greatness)

8:10 AM ET, February 1, 2018

Top Items:

Mueller Zooms In on Trump Tower Cover Story — WASHINGTON — Aboard Air Force One on a flight home from Europe last July, President Trump and his advisers raced to cobble together a news release about a mysterious meeting at Trump Tower the previous summer between Russians and top Trump campaign officials.

Discussion: New York Magazine, CNN, Politicus USA, Q13 FOX News, Raw Story, AOL, The Week, KTLA, Axios, Mediaite and Business Insider

CNN:

Exclusive: Trump asked Rosenstein if he was ‘on my team’ — Washington (CNN)Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein visited the White House in December seeking President Donald Trump's help. The top Justice Department official in the Russia investigation wanted Trump's support …

Adam B. Schiff / Washington Post:

Rep. Nunes's memo crosses a dangerous line — Adam B. Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, represents California's 28th District. — Even during the most difficult of times, when Congress had seemingly lost the capacity to govern and partisan storms raged across Capitol Hill …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, Just Security, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Daily Caller, CNBC, CNN, Townhall.com, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Lawfare, Washington Free Beacon and The Week

Alex Pappas / Fox News:

John Kelly says anti-military teacher should ‘go to hell,’ vows swift memo release in interview — White House chief of staff John Kelly, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News Radio, said the California teacher who has made headlines for bashing the military in a profane classroom rant should …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Truth Uncensored, twitchy.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Axios, Politico and Whittier Daily News

Noah Bookbinder / Politico:

Trump's Saturday Night Massacre Is Happening Right Before Our Eyes — The FBI issued an extraordinary statement on Wednesday, pushing back on the release of a partisan congressional memo alleging the bureau used improper evidence to obtain legal permission to surveil a Trump campaign adviser.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Business Insider and AOL

Federal Bureau of Investigation:

FBI Statement on HPSCI Memo — The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI. We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Front Page Magazine, UPI, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Business Insider, HuffPost and Media Matters for America

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The FBI Has “Grave Concerns”? So Do I — Most of us are eagerly awaiting the release of the House Intelligence Committee's memo on abuse of the FBI by the Obama administration. It should happen in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, the Bureau is worried, as always, about its public image.

Discussion: Associated Press

Emma Loop / BuzzFeed:
Democrat Accuses Republicans Of Secretly Changing Memo, Demands They Withdraw It

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Axios and twitchy.com

U.S. House of Representatives Permanent …:
Nunes Statement on FBI, DOJ Objections to Release of HPSCI Memo

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Truth Uncensored, Business Insider, RedState, IJR, TheBlaze and The Last Refuge

Washington Post:
Trump-FBI feud over classified memo erupts into open conflict

Discussion: Axios, ABC News, bizpacreview.com, The Week, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, Washington Times, Mother Jones, Vox, ThinkProgress, Fox News Insider, IJR, The Hill, New York Post, The Guardian, NBC News, Business Insider and Daily Kos

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
FBI Publicly Savages Nunes Memo For ‘Material Omissions Of Fact’

Discussion: The Week, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, Vox, Joe.My.God., IJR, Washington Post and Politico

CNN:

Exclusive: Controversial FBI agent co-wrote initial draft of explosive Comey letter reopening Clinton email probe — GOP Rep.: FBI texts most biased I've ever seen — Washington (CNN)Emails obtained by CNN show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, TheBlaze, Business Insider, Vox, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, bizpacreview.com, AOL, RedState, The Week, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God. and Axios

Wall Street Journal:

FBI Officials Knew of New Clinton Emails Weeks Before Alerting Congress — Andrew McCabe learned of thousands of emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop at least a month before alerting lawmakers — Top FBI officials were aware for at least a month before alerting Congress …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Axios, The Daily Caller, Reason, Washington Post and LewRockwell

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:
What the FBI Fight Is About — A reckoning is inevitable …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Nielsen Newswire:

Nearly 46 Million Viewers Watch President Trump's State of the Union Address — An estimated 45.6 million people tuned in to watch President Donald Trump deliver his State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. — While coverage varied by network …

Discussion: RedState and Business Insider

Gary Levin / USA Today:

Trump nabs 45.6 million viewers for his first State of the Union address — During his State of the Union address, President Trump made a call for unity, and a new poll reveals the American people were receptive. Nathan Rousseau Smith (@FantasticMrNate) reports. Buzz60

Discussion: The Week and CNBC

Joe Otterson / Variety:
TV Ratings: Trump's First State of the Union Down From 2017 Address in Early Numbers

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Axios, Joe.My.God. and Vox

Tennessean.com:

'I know that God's going to forgive me' — During the interview, Barry hesitated when asked whether she plans to resign, but said she will not, despite rumors swirling Wednesday that she might step down. She also said she won't be taking a leave of absence and would be in the mayor's office Thursday.

Tampa Bay Times:

The campaign is over. The candidate might be dead. But the spending never stops. — ★★★ — WASHINGTON, D.C. — I T'S BEEN MORE THAN A DECADE since South Florida Rep. Mark Foley was forced out of Congress for sending sexual text messages to teenage boys.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:

Josh Hawley blames sex trafficking on ‘sexual revolution’ of 1960s in leaked audio — During a speech to pastors in Kansas City in December, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley linked the problem of sex trafficking to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. — Hawley, the top Republican prospect …

Discussion: Washington Post, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, thecut and The Week

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Gowdy finally had it with Washington — Trey Gowdy is done with politics. — The House Oversight Committee Chairman for years has joked privately about quitting Congress and returning home to South Carolina. On Wednesday, he finally pulled the plug — likely for good.

Discussion: Political Wire, Roll Call, RedState, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Axios and Josh Kimbrell

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Kellyanne Conway rants wildly in attack on fact checkers: ‘Americans are their own fact checkers’ — Counselor to the president and former Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway blasted journalist fact-checking of the administration during an appearance on New York's 710 WOR Radio with Mark Simone.

Robbie Gramer / Foreign Policy:
Kellyanne Conway Botched Trump Damage Control Meeting With African Ambassadors

Discussion: Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Signature line from Trump's speech is already a white nationalist rallying cry — Donald Trump's first State of the Union was a largely banal speech with few policy details and none of his signature asides and bravado. Overall, the reception to the speech has been cool.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Times, Hullabaloo, Right Wing Watch, Business Insider, Raw Story, Mother Jones, bizpacreview.com, CNN, Politico and Joe.My.God.

Elise Foley / HuffPost:
Donald Trump Pits Dreamers Against American Citizens In State Of The Union

Discussion: The Atlantic, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Vox, ThinkProgress and The Federalist

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Behind Pence's plan to rescue the Republican majority in 2018 — WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. — Vice President Mike Pence is launching one of the most aggressive campaign strategies in recent White House history: he will hopscotch the country over the next three months …

Washington Post:

Republican National Committee has huge financial edge heading into 2018 midterms … President Trump's robust small-donor base helped the Republican National Committee vastly outraise its Democratic counterpart in 2017 as the two parties geared up for a crucial midterm campaign season, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

Elizabeth Zwirz / Fox News:

Texas girl, 9, that Trump said he'd pray for, is out of ICU after brain surgery, family says — On behalf of President Trump, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders asked the nation on Jan. 23 to pray for a little girl in Texas who was prepping for an upcoming surgery for a rare brain condition, KFOR reported.

Evan Sernoffsky / San Francisco Chronicle:

SF will wipe thousands of marijuana convictions off the books — San Francisco will retroactively apply California's marijuana-legalization laws to past criminal cases, District Attorney George Gascón said Wednesday — expunging or reducing misdemeanor and felony convictions going back decades.

Discussion: CNBC, The Daily Caller, Splinter, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Axios and The Week

Matt Dixon / Politico:

Scott takes big step toward Florida Senate challenge — In the clearest sign he's ready to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has raised more than $1.1 million for a super PAC he recently revived and stocked it with top consultants from his previous campaigns.

Lena H. / Washington Post:

CDC director resigns because of conflicts over financial interests … This post has been updated. — The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resigned her position on Wednesday after only half a year because of “complex financial interests” that repeatedly forced …

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, The Root, Vox, Shareblue Media, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Splinter, TheBlaze, Mother Jones, Weekly Standard, NBC News, New York Magazine, CNBC, Gizmodo, The Hill and CNN

Washington Post:

White House seeks 72 percent cut to clean energy research, underscoring administration's preference for fossil fuels … The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department's renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall …

Discussion: Politicus USA, CNBC, ThinkProgress, Union of Concerned Scientists and Engadget

Yuka Hayashi / Wall Street Journal:

High-Interest Lenders Benefit From Trump's Deregulatory Stance — CFPB, run by Trump pick Mick Mulvaney, eases up on enforcement against short-term consumer lenders — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration's revamp of a powerful consumer-finance regulator is reaping dividends for high-interest lenders …

Discussion: Dealbreaker

The Daily Beast:

Florida (Congress)Man Invited Infamous Troll Chuck Johnson to Trump's State of The Union … Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a conservative Republican firebrand, was the lawmaker responsible for inviting the controversial internet troll Chuck Johnson to Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, Politico, AOL, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., ThinkProgress and Little Green Footballs

Monmouth University:

Trump Rating Ticks Up; Support for Tax Plan Increases — GOP gains on Dems in generic House ballot — West Long Branch, NJ - Donald Trump's job approval rating has bounced back from the record low registered in last month's Monmouth University Poll , as more Americans now see the president …

Discussion: bizpacreview.com, New York Magazine, Politico, Breitbart, AOL, the daily howler, Business Insider, Fox News Insider and Washington Times

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

Here's What Happens If ‘Magnificent Bastard’ Mueller Gets Fired — BOB MUELLER IS famously nonchalant amid life's toughest moments. Much of that public calm stems from the fact that he's a Magnificent Bastard and, specifically, the lessons of December 11, 1968.

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, Business Insider, IJR, Mother Jones and American Prospect

Carter Sherman / VICE News:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump officials discussed “reversing” abortion for undocumented teen — The Trump administration official in charge of the Office of Refugee Resettlement discussed trying to use a controversial, scientifically unproven method to reverse an undocumented teen's abortion, according to documents reviewed by VICE News.