memeorandum: 2016 poll: N.H. GOP voters pick Mitt Romney (Jonathan Topaz/Politico)

2:00 PM ET, June 20, 2014

Top Items:

Exclusive: ‘Hillary Clinton Took Me Through Hell,’ Rape Victim Says — The woman at the center of the scandal over Hillary Clinton's defense of an alleged child rapist speaks out in depth for the first time. — Hillary Clinton is known as a champion of women and girls …

David S. Joachim / New York Times:

I.R.S. Head and Lawmakers Clash Over Missing Email — WASHINGTON — A Congressional hearing examining how the Internal Revenue Service lost thousands of emails sought by investigators turned into a shouting match on Friday, with Republicans on the panel accusing the I.R.S. commissioner of lying.

Economist:

A dog ate my e-mails — IF YOUR taxes are being audited and you tell the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that you just so happen to have lost the records relating to the period in question, you cannot expect much sympathy. The taxman has heard it all before, and “the dog ate my accounts” gets you nowhere.

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com

Fox News:
IRS boss refuses to apologize over ‘cover-up’ claims ahead of Hill hearing on missing emails

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Business Insider and The Gateway Pundit

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
IRS commissioner: You know, e-mail isn't necessarily an “official record”; Update: IRS Manual says it is

Discussion: Power Line, Weekly Standard, The PJ Tatler and Politico

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:

President Obama took credit in 2012 for withdrawing all troops from Iraq. Today he said something different. — President Obama surprised a few people during a news conference Thursday by claiming that the 2011 decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, a politically popular move …

Discussion: Hot Air, Fox News, Questions and Observations, The PJ Tatler, Patterico's Pontifications and Ed Driscoll

James Oliphant / NationalJournal.com:

Welcome to the White House's Nightmare — Already swamped by domestic and foreign crises, Obama finds that even his self-proclaimed successes are at risk. That's just about the last thing he needs now. — President Obama speaks about U.S. military personnel returning to Iraq.

Discussion: Washington Post and National Review

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
An enclave strategy for Iraq

Discussion: Lawfare

Parade:

The President and Michelle Obama on Work, Family, and Juggling It All — This week, America's foreign policy is dominating the headlines, but it's the White House's second-term domestic agenda that's the focus of our Parade cover story. On Monday, June 23, the President and Mrs. Obama …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, ABC News, National Review, PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, The Week and The Huffington Post

Washington Post:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suspected of coordinating with outside groups — Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) responds to prosecutors allegations that he is connected to a criminal scheme over campaign fundraising. In a statement, he called the allegations “categorically false.” ( AP)

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather and Power Line

New York Times:
Wisconsin Governor at Center of a Vast Fund-Raising Case

Discussion: The Federalist, NewsBusters, Hot Air, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, Commentary Magazine, Angry Bear, Althouse and JSOnline

James Hohmann / Politico:
Prosecutors: Scott Walker part of ‘criminal scheme’

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and ThinkProgress

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

5 Exonerated in Central Park Jogger Case Will Settle Suit for $40 Million — The five men whose convictions in the brutal 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned have agreed to a settlement of about $40 million from New York City to resolve …

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Week, Guardian, Shakesville, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Althouse

New York Times:

Cochran Asking Blacks to Rescue Him in Republican Primary — JACKSON, Miss. — Bishop Ronnie C. Crudup stood before roughly a dozen of his colleagues at a weekly Baptist fellowship meeting last week and asked for their help in a fight that, until now, would have been unthinkable for a black pastor …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BREITBART.COM and Washington Post

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Hype Behind the Health Care Scandal — You've surely heard about the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A number of veterans found themselves waiting a long time for care, some of them died before they were seen, and some of the agency's employees falsified records to cover up the extent of the problem.

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

Presbyterians Vote to Allow Same-Sex Marriages — DETROIT — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted at its General Assembly on Thursday to change its constitution's definition of marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two people,” and to allow its ministers to perform same-sex marriages where it is legal.

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Public Religion Research …, Political Insider blog and The Week

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Social Security, Veterans Affairs To Expand Some, But Not All, Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Sarah Smith / Politico:
Huckabee slams ‘judicial supremacy’

Discussion: Shakesville, CNN and BarbWire.com

Kurtis Lee / Denver Post:

HICKENLOOPER SILENT ON GUN LAW COMMENTS; SUPPORTERS AND FOES BAFFLED — After several days of fallout over his comments on gun control laws to a recent gathering of county sheriffs, Gov. John Hickenlooper has managed to baffle both victims-rights advocates and Second Amendment supporters.

Discussion: The Spot, Clayton Cramer and RedState

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Shadowy Obama Megadonor Indicted On Fraud And Manslaughter Charges — A California grand jury has indicted Kareem Ahmed, a major donor to President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, and 15 of Ahmed's associates in an alleged multimillion-dollar insurance kickback scheme.

Discussion: Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Why Obamacare ‘good news’ applies only to the poor — BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE HHS — To hear administration officials and their supporters in the press tell it, this is a great time for Obamacare. People who signed up for coverage are actually paying for it …

Discussion: The Dish

New York Times:
Good Progress on Affordable Health Care

Discussion: Daily Kos, Democracy in America, ACASignups.net, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Firedoglake

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:

Approval of Obama's Handling of Immigration Falls to 31% — Americans' approval falls eight percentage points since August — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' approval of President Barack Obama's handling of immigration has dropped to 31%, one of the lowest readings since 2010, when Gallup began polling on his handling of the issue.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Real Clear Politics, Politico, The Other McCain, Business Insider and Washington Post

Ryan Poppe / Texas Public Radio:

Texas GOP Chairman Munisteri Speaks Out Against Reparative Therapy — Listen — This week the Republican Party of Texas released it's finalized 2014 platform, which includes a line item addressing support for voluntary “reparative therapy” for gays and lesbians.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, Texas Politics and Right Wing Watch

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

2016 poll: N.H. GOP voters pick Mitt Romney — Republican voters in New Hampshire are apparently still ready for Mitt. — According to a Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll released Thursday, 24 percent of the likely New Hampshire Republican electorate would vote for Mitt Romney in the state's 2016 GOP presidential primary.

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway

Dave Boyer / Washington Times:

Obama talks tough to Mexico: Illegal-immigrant children won't get to stay — Tells Peña Nieto their countries must work to halt child surge — President Obama told his Mexican counterpart in a phone call Thursday that immigrants crossing into the U.S. illegally won't qualify …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, American Thinker and The Gateway Pundit