memeorandum: Jeff Sessions Displays Unsteady Recall on Trump-Russia Matters (New York Times)

1:50 PM ET, November 14, 2017

Top Items:

Locals Were Troubled by Roy Moore's Interactions with Teen Girls at the Gadsden Mall — Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate and former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, was born in Gadsden, a small city flanked by Interstate 59 and the Coosa River, an hour northeast of Birmingham.

al.com:

Our view: Roy Moore grossly unfit for office — New sexual misconduct allegations against Roy Moore — Roy Moore simply cannot be a U.S. Senator. Even if his party and many of its adherents still think it possible, it is unthinkable — for his state, and his country.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Raw Story and The Hill

Howard Koplowitz / al.com:

Mo Brooks sticking by Moore: GOP agenda ‘vastly more important than contested sexual allegations’ — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, is sticking with Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, arguing Monday that the conservative agenda is …

Discussion: Salon, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Big League Politics, TheBlaze, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Anna Claire Vollers / al.com:

Gadsden locals say Moore's predatory behavior at mall, restaurants not a secret — Roy Moore's penchant for flirting with teen girls was “common knowledge” and “not a big secret” around Gadsden, according to some area residents. — The Senate candidate has denied any wrongdoing in the wake …

Discussion: RedState, MDJOnline.com, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Insider, Boing Boing, The Hill, The Daily Caller, CBS News and Washington Post

Maegan Vazquez / CNN:

Leading Alabama news site: Moore ‘grossly unfit for office’ — Roy Moore: Allegations are completely false — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)A leading news website in Alabama is calling on the GOP to pull its support of Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican Senate candidate accused of sexual misconduct.

Discussion: The Federalist, Politico, The Daily Caller and Bloomberg

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

Alabama Senate: One Hot Mess Moves to Toss Up — It's been five days since a Washington Post report detailed the stories of four women who allege that Republican nominee Roy Moore engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with them when they were between the ages of 14 and 18 years old and Moore was in his 30s.

Discussion: Philly.com, HuffPost, TVNewser, Bangor Daily News, Washington Times, Washington Post and New York Magazine

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:

Volvo pulls its ads from Hannity after Moore coverage — Volvo has pulled its advertisements from Sean Hannity's show on Fox News after his coverage of sexual misconduct allegations made against Roy Moore. … Volvo is the latest advertiser to pull its ads from “Hannity” …

Discussion: ABC News, Media Matters for America, IJR, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Axios, RedState, Business Insider and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

Cameron Joseph / Talking Points Memo:
Alabama GOP Moves Toward Deciding Roy Moore's Fate Later This Week

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., al.com, Washington Monthly and IJR

Washington Post:
House Speaker Paul Ryan calls for Roy Moore to drop out of Senate race in Alabama after accusations of sexual misconduct

Discussion: Morning Consult, The Hill, Shareblue Media and CBS13

Tal Kopan / CNN: Sessions on Moore: ‘I have no reason to doubt these young women’

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
GOP MULLS MOORE PROBLEM — TRUMP …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Business Insider and CNN

Joshua Caplan / The Gateway Pundit:
IT'S A FAKE! Analyst Says Judge Roy Moore Signature Inside Gloria Allred Accuser's Yearbook Was FORGED

Discussion: CBS News, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Sessions: ‘No reason to doubt’ Roy Moore accusers

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Free Beacon and Denver Post

CNN:
Paul Ryan says Moore should ‘step aside,’ allegations ‘are credible’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, New York Times, The Root and Joe.My.God.

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Gingrich on Roy Moore: Amazing how fast ‘lynch mob’ can form

Discussion: IJR

John Daniel Davidson / The Federalist:
Long Before Assault Allegations, Roy Moore Betrayed Conservatism

Discussion: Power Line, Chicago Business, Washington Post and alicublog

David Weigel / Washington Post:
In new TV ad, Alabama Democrat hits Roy Moore over ‘awful’ allegations

Discussion: Political Wire, Politico, The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Justice Dept. to Weigh Inquiry Into Clinton Foundation — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that prosecutors were looking into whether a special counsel should be appointed to investigate political rivals President Trump has singled out for scrutiny, including Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, bizpacreview.com, Washington Free Beacon, Just Security, Politico and The Daily Caller

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Sessions considering second special counsel to investigate Republican concerns, letter shows — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is entertaining the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate a host of Republican concerns — including alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Monthly, CNN, IJR, Fox News, NPR, Towleroad, The Root, The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Political Wire, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, New York Magazine, New York Times, Power Line, AOL, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Weekly Standard

Politico:

Sessions casts doubt on need for Hillary Clinton special counsel — Trump allies have been clamoring for a new investigation of a 2010 deal that transferred some U.S. uranium production capacity to a company with Kremlin links. — Attorney General Jeff Sessions threw cold water Tuesday …

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:
Sessions says he ‘always told the truth’ in describing Russia contacts

Discussion: Mother Jones, House Judiciary Committee, Political Wire and The Daily Signal

New York Times:
Jeff Sessions Displays Unsteady Recall on Trump-Russia Matters

Discussion: Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Sessions: ‘No clear recollection’ of proposed Trump-Putin meeting

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

U.S. Department of Justice:
Opening Statement Of Attorney General Sessions Before the House Judiciary Committee

Discussion: Washington Post and IJR

Bloomberg:

Thune: Senate Considering Individual Repeal (12:28 p.m.) — Senate tax writers are considering including the repeal of the individual mandate imposed by the Obamacare law into the revised tax proposal set to be released later Tuesday, according to Senator John Thune of South Dakota and Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Daily Kos and Associated Press

Naomi Jagoda / The Hill:
Rand Paul to offer ObamaCare mandate repeal in Senate tax bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState and Axios

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
If the tax bill is so great, why does the GOP keep lying about it?

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, Tax Foundation and xpostfactoid

The Daily Beast:

Before He Was Tapped By Donald Trump, Controversial Judicial Nominee Brett J. Talley Investigated Paranormal Activity … Brett J. Talley, nominated by President Donald Trump to the Federal District Court in Montgomery, Alabama, has never tried a case, is married to a White House lawyer …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, New Republic, Jezebel, Vox, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Latest from Crooks and Liars

The Daily Beast:
Donald Trump Has Nominated 480 People So Far in His Presidency. 80% of Them Are Men.

Discussion: Daily Kos

CNN:

‘Nothing about it felt right’: More than 50 people describe sexual harassment on Capitol Hill — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Be extra careful of the male lawmakers who sleep in their offices — they can be trouble. Avoid finding yourself alone with a congressman or senator in elevators …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, AOL, CBS San Francisco and New York Times

Max Jaeger / New York Post:

De Blasio staffer says pizza from Chicago is better than New York — This was clearly a half-baked idea. — The press secretary for the mayor of New York City — America's pizza epicenter — took to Twitter to claim that a Chicago pizzeria makes better pies than all of New York.

James T. Areddy / Wall Street Journal:

Three UCLA Basketball Players Set to Leave China — President Trump says he spoke to China's Xi about the players — SHANGHAI—Three UCLA basketball players detained for a week in China were set to fly back home late Tuesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had requested assistance …

Discussion: CBS Los Angeles, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Politico, Deadspin, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, Washington Free Beacon and TMZ.com

Union of Concerned Scientists:

1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity — World Scientists' Warning to Humanity (1992) — Some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, issued this appeal in November 1992. The World Scientists' Warning to Humanity was written …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, RT, CBS Miami, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Watts Up With That?, Big Think and AOL

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:

‘The Simpsons’ compares Kellyanne Conway to Joseph Goebbels — “The Simpsons” compared White House adviser Kellyanne Conway to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels during its most recent episode. — During Sunday's show, Marge Simpson is elected the first female mayor of Springfield …

Discussion: IJR

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

Trump's Asia trip was mostly free of incidents — until it wasn't — MANILA — President Trump departed for a five-country, 12-day swing through Asia facing one overarching question: Could he avoid what The Onion satirical website jokingly predicted would be a “bizarre, easily avoidable international incident”?

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

I Believe Juanita — On Friday evening the MSNBC host Chris Hayes sent out a tweet that electrified online conservatives: “As gross and cynical and hypocritical as the right's ‘what about Bill Clinton’ stuff is, it's also true that Democrats and the center left are overdue for a real reckoning with the allegations against him.”