Trump tweets out a defense in the face of revelations by the Washington Post, and now confirmed by the NY Times and others, that he shared highly classified intelligence during a visit by the Russian FM to the Oval Office. National Security Adviser General HR McMaster issued an unequivocal denial that improper disclosures occurred, but was almost immediately called out for parsing words and stopping short of rebutting the precise allegations contained in the WaPo story. NJ Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen sends a letter to the employer of a constituent active in political protests, putting her under pressure that leads to her resignation. -Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director

 

DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression

PEN America’s take on today’s most pressing threats to free expression

U.S.

Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government. The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State.
THE WASHINGTON POST

White House defends Trump on classified intel report
Speaking to the press outside the White House Monday evening, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said: “The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false.” In statements, McMaster two other senior Trump officials sought to characterize the disclosures as benign and pertaining only to “common threats.”
THE HILL

GOP Congressman Frelinghuysen Targets Activist in Letter to Her Employer
The most powerful congressman in New Jersey, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, wrote a fundraising letter in March to a board member of a local bank, warning him that a member of an activist group opposing the Republican worked at his bank.
WNYC

After Comey: How To Be A Patriotic Insider
In recent months, my colleagues and I have heard from numerous career federal government employees who allege growing misconduct, and radical abandonment of long-standing policies, inside their agencies since Trump’s inauguration. They feel a responsibility to speak out.
HUFFINGTON POST

‘We Have to Repudiate It’: A City Confronts White Nationalist Protests
The demonstrators assembled on Saturday night, torches in hand, under the statue of Robert E. Lee that Charlottesville, Va., has decided to sell. The protest, led by the white nationalist Richard B. Spencer, put Charlottesville, a largely progressive college town, squarely in the center of the national debate over the future of monuments to the Confederacy and supporters of slavery.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

Separate attacks kill renowned Mexican reporter, wound local magazine executive
A Mexican reporter renowned for coverage of organized crime was killed in the lawless state of Sinaloa and gunmen attacked an executive of a small weekly magazine on Monday, as authorities struggle to contain renewed bloodshed between drug cartels. He was the fifth reporter killed since March, making Mexico one of the deadliest countries for journalism.
REUTERS

Ukraine Bans Russian Social Media Networks
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has signed a National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decree from April 28, 2017, which will block access to Russian social media sites “VKontakte” and “Odnoklassniki”. All “Yandex” services have also been banned, as well as the business management software, 1C.
HROMADSKE

Uganda bans Dutch film for ‘glorifying homosexuality’
Uganda’s censorship board has banned a Dutch film, The Dinner Club, after accusing it of “glorifying homosexuality” the Embassy of The Netherlands in Kampala has said. Gay sex is illegal in Uganda. The embassy said in a Facebook post that it “deplored” the decision to ban the film. It then published the full list of objections from the media council which also include using “lurid language”, and “smoking especially by women”.
BBC

Venezuela: Protests, propaganda, and self-censorship
With Venezuela’s economy poised on the brink of collapse, the government’s few remaining allies in the news media are replaying the familiar blame game, pointing the finger at foreign enemies. But Nicolas Maduro’s hold on the narrative is slipping as journalists turn to Telegram to get the story out.
AL JAZEERA

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