memeorandum: Schock shells out $900K on legal fees (Anna Palmer/Politico)

4:45 PM ET, October 15, 2015

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump threatens to pull out of next GOP debate — A Republican National Committee conference call to discuss plans for the Oct. 28 GOP debate with top advisers to the presidential campaigns spiraled into chaos on Thursday afternoon, as Donald Trump threatened to pull out of the debate …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg.com news, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Business Insider and The Week

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Donald Trump Campaign Raises Specter of Boycotting Next Debate — An aide to Donald J. Trump has raised the possibility of the candidate not attending the next Republican presidential debate unless the criteria set by CNBC are changed, according to two people briefed on a conference call where the matter was discussed on Thursday.

Discussion: NBC News, OnPolitics, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Mediaite, Politico, Independent Journal, Daily Kos and Hot Air

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Rand Paul, It Is Time to Take Your Campaign Out Back and Shoot It — “Go home to Kentucky, Senator, and save your Senate seat before Kentucky's voters take the incompetence of your Presidential campaign as a reflection on you and your Senate campaign.” — What is the most endearing moment …

Discussion: Progress Pond, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Washington Post

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Why Talk of “Tyranny” Is Dangerous — So here was Ted Cruz' calm and reflective observations about the first Democratic presidential debate, as conveyed to an Iowa audience (per the Dallas Morning News' Todd Gillman): … I'm guessing a lot of observers hear this sort of thing and just shrug …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Independent Journal and Trail Blazers Blog

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Keeping His Distance from the RINOizer — In recent days, I've had a very hard time figuring out whether we're in a ‘Paul Ryan considering phase’ in the House leadership drama or in a ‘GOP caucus in epic denial’ phase of the same. Frankly, I'm not sure anyone quite knows. Ryan has said he's not running for Speaker.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Republican: Benghazi probe ‘designed to go after’ Hillary

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Hot Air, Daily Mail, ThinkProgress, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAblog News, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

Dan Merica / CNN:
Another GOP congressman says Benghazi panel meant to hurt Clinton

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, Daily Kos, NBC News, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Slantpoint and MSNBC

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Morning Plum: Republicans are destroying the House Benghazi probe's credibility. But will it matter?

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, BostonGlobe.com and Guardian

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:

Wayne Simmons, recurring Fox News guest, charged with lying about CIA ties — Wayne Simmons, a recurring guest on Fox News who claimed to have 27 years of experience with the CIA, was arrested Thursday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied about his service.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, Mediaite and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Heba Amin:

“Arabian Street Artists” Bomb Homeland: Why We Hacked an Award-Winning Series — What's wrong with Homeland's political message? The very first season of “Homeland” explained to the American public that Al Qaida is actually an Iranian venture. According to the storyline …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, VICE, BizPac Review, Guardian, Cinema Blend Television, The Verge, Common Dreams, The Local, Refinery29, Washington Times and The Week

Nancy Tartaglione / Deadline:
“'Homeland' Is Racist” Graffiti Airs On Showtime Series; Showrunner Alex Gansa Admires Act Of “Artistic Sabotage”

Discussion: New York Times and NBC News

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Obama Announces Halt of U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — The United States will halt its military withdrawal from Afghanistan and instead keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of President Obama's term in 2017, Mr. Obama announced on Thursday …

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Refinery29, Wall Street Journal, Defense One, The Diplomat, Slantpoint, Algemeiner.com, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Independent Journal, The Week, NPR, Politico and JustOneMinute

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Obama to make Afghanistan forces announcement

Discussion: Rare, The Daily Signal, AMERICAblog News, Common Dreams, Hit & Run, Scared Monkeys and New York Times

Ken Dilanian / Associated Press:
APNewsBreak: US analysts knew Afghan site was hospital

Discussion: VICE, Mediaite and Guardian

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:

Ben Carson Puts Public Campaign Events on Hold for 2 Weeks — Republican presidential contender Dr. Ben Carson has put his public campaign events on hold for two more weeks to go on book tour for his new tome “A More Perfect Union” and catch up on fundraising events.

Discussion: Townhall.com, CNN, National Review, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Mother Jones, Independent Journal, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly, BizPac Review, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Washington Post and The PJ Tatler

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Carson puts public campaign events on hold

Discussion: Eschaton

NBC News:
First Read: Explaining the Ben Carson Phenomenon

Discussion: Post On Politics, ABC News, American Spectator, NBC News and alicublog

The Intercept:

THE DRONE PAPERS … DRONES ARE A TOOL, not a policy. The policy is assassination. While every president since Gerald Ford has upheld an executive order banning assassinations by U.S. personnel, Congress has avoided legislating the issue or even defining the word “assassination.”

Discussion: Fox News, Daily Mail, Guardian, Hullabaloo, VICE, Business Insider, The Week, Sputnik International, Common Dreams and Hit & Run

The Intercept:
THE DRONE PAPERS … INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DOCUMENTS obtained …

Discussion: The Verge, Washington Times, Shadowproof and Common Dreams

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Lindsey Graham: Democratic Debate “Made Me Sick” — “Everybody had an isolationist, disengagement policy regarding radical islam.” — Andrew Burton / Getty Images — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says Tuesday's first Democratic debate disgusted him.

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:
The Grown-Ups Take the Stage at the Democratic Debate

Discussion: Washington Post, naked capitalism, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Huckabee Suggests Poor People Should Be Sold Into Slavery For Stealing — The United States criminal justice system could be improved if we sell poor people convicted of crimes into slavery, according to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. — The former Arkansas governor weighed …

Discussion: Liberal Values and Raw Story

Science:

The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons — 1Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. — 2Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. — 3National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Washington Post, Guardian, The Verge and Mashable

Dan Steinberg / Washington Post:

Jeb Bush has added the Redskins to his stump speech — Forty-plus years of debates over the Redskins name have finally taken us to October 2015, when a major presidential candidate began using the team name as part of his stump speech. — During a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mashable

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Moon Colony Idea No Lunacy, Says a Starry-Eyed Jeb Bush

Discussion: The Verge, Daily Kos and The Week

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

Ivanka Trump on Donald: ‘Look, my father is very blunt’ — Washington (CNN)Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, dismissed the criticism that her father has faced over controversial comments he's made about women and their looks on Wednesday.

Discussion: Yahoo, Independent Journal, Refinery29, Business Insider, Daily Mail and Politico

Michael D'Antonio / Politico:
The Quiet Power Behind the Trump Throne

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Althouse

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Jeb cuts back — On the first day of a two-day Iowa swing back in August, Jeb Bush flew from Davenport to Ankeny in a private plane. The next day, after he spent more than four hours bounding around the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, a top adviser attributed Bush's high energy level …

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Daily Mail, Daily Kos, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, YouGov US Opinion Center News and National Review

Jim Webb / Washington Post:

People are criticizing my dad, Jim Webb, for killing a man. Here's what they're missing. — If you watched the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night, you probably heard the closing comment by my father, Jim Webb. Without hesitation he answered that the enemy he was 'most proud …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Progress Pond and Independent Journal

Daniel Watson / U.S. Department of the Treasury:

Treasury Sends Debt Limit Letter to Congress — Dear Mr. Speaker: — I am writing to follow up on my previous letters regarding the debt limit and to provide additional information regarding the Department of the Treasury's ability to continue to finance the government.

Discussion: Mother Jones, US News, TaxVox, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Schock shells out $900K on legal fees — Former Rep. Aaron Schock shelled out an additional $900,000 in legal fees during the third quarter of this year and still owes one firm nearly $747,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings made public Thursday. Schock (R-Ill.) …

Jason MeisnerContact / Chicago Tribune:

Lawyers for Dennis Hastert could reveal Thursday if plea deal reached … Lawyers for former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert could tell a federal judge Thursday if they have reached a plea deal with prosecutors that would keep bombshell allegations of hush-money payments from ever being aired in a public trial.

Discussion: USA Today, Talking Points Memo, KFOR-TV, Towleroad and The Week

Nirvi Shah / Politico:

American Federation of Teachers endorses Hillary Clinton for president — The American Federation of Teachers is endorsing Hillary Clinton. — The endorsement was expected from the 1.6 million-member union, which represents workers including teachers, nurses and college and university employees.

Discussion: American Prospect and Intercepts

Doug Stewart / FOX CT:

‘She loves us’: Nephew speaks out on aunt's lawsuit brought against him … BRIDGEPORT -The aunt and the nephew she who sued for damages said they loved each other and the firestorm around the case was very upsetting during an appearance on the Today Show Thursday morning.

Discussion: WHNT-TV, FOX5 San Diego and Mashable