memeorandum: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson Opposes GOP Senate Tax Package (Siobhan Hughes/Wall Street Journal)

4:50 PM ET, November 15, 2017

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

NRSC poll: Moore trails Jones by 12 — Republican Roy Moore is trailing Democrat Doug Jones by 12 points in the Alabama special Senate election, according to a poll conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee after five women accused Moore of pursuing them as teenagers.

Discussion: Axios, Fox News Insider, Political Wire, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Politicus USA

CNN:

Trump takes cautious approach on Roy Moore — Steve Bannon comments on Roy Moore accusations — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)It's been five days since the White House said President Donald Trump believes Alabama Senate Republican candidate Roy Moore should drop out if the allegations …

Discussion: Raw Story

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Bannon sticking by Moore ‘through thick and thin’ — Steve Bannon is not backing away from Roy Moore, the controversial Alabama Senate candidate facing a slew of accusations that he had inappropriate sexual contact with teenagers. — Two sources close to the former White House chief strategist …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and RedState

Toi Thornton / WALA-TV:

Local pastor calls GOP “sissies” for asking Moore to “step aside” — A local pastor who supports Roy Moore is lashing out at the Republican Party tonight. The pastor is upset because some of Moore's fellow Republicans are calling for him to drop out of the Senate race.

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Mediaite

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Limbaugh: Moore was a Democrat at time of sexual misconduct allegations

Discussion: RedState, Politico, dailyrushbo.com, al.com and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Lauren Walsh / WBMA-TV: Former Gadsden Mall employees share stories, concerns about Roy Moore

Douglas Schoen / The Hill:
Jeff Sessions can save Republicans from Roy Moore mess in Alabama

Discussion: IJR, CNN and The Daily Caller

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Moore lawyer: Canadian MSNBC host's ‘background’ could help him understand dating minors

Discussion: RedState, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, Business Insider and Joe.My.God.

Steven Nelson / Washington Examiner:
Luther Strange's campaign tried and failed to confirm Roy Moore allegations

Discussion: Politico, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, JONATHAN TURLEY and Alabama Political Reporter

HuffPost:
GOP Senators Believe Roy Moore's Accusers But Not Donald Trump's

Discussion: Daily Kos and Politicus USA

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson Opposes GOP Senate Tax Package — Wisconsin Republican says plan unfairly benefits corporations over other businesses, says he finds bill's process ‘offensive’ — WASHINGTON—Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) said he opposes the Senate Republican tax package …

Discussion: CNN, Axios, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Watch CEOs admit they won't actually invest more if tax reform passes

Discussion: CNBC

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:

Fox News's Shepard Smith debunks his network's favorite Hillary Clinton ‘scandal,’ infuriates viewers — Fox News anchor Shepard Smith debunked what his own network has called the Hillary Clinton uranium “scandal,” infuriating Fox viewers, some of whom suggested that he ought to work for CNN or MSNBC.

Discussion: The Guardian, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Mediaite, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, bizpacreview.com, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Good for Shep Smith — I was going to do this as a column for tomorrow, but since Shep beat me to the punch I'll do it as a Corner post. Shep is right. The Uranium One story is crap. — Now let me say that I have no problem believing that Hillary Clinton sold influence or the appearance of influence.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Politico

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
Even Sean Hannity has had it with Roy Moore, gives candidate 24 hours to explain ‘inconsistencies’

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Slate, HuffPost and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Alvin Chang / Vox:
Sean Hannity has become the media's top conspiracy theorist

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, IJR and Media Matters for America

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

Christopher Steele believes his dossier on Trump-Russia is 70-90% accurate — The respected ex-MI6 officer told Guardian journalist and author Luke Harding that his FBI contacts greeted his intelligence report with ‘shock and horror’ … Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Politicus USA

Luke Harding / The Guardian:

How Trump walked into Putin's web — oscow, summer 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev is in power. Official relations with the west have softened, but the KGB still assumes all western embassy workers are spooks. The KGB agents assigned to them are easy to spot. They have a method.

Discussion: Raw Story

Brandy Zadrozny / The Daily Beast:

‘Unsafe and Just Plain Dirty’: Women Accuse Vice of ‘Toxic’ Sexual-Harassment Culture … In the summer of 2015, Phoebe Barghouty was 23 years old and had a new master's degree in journalism from Stanford—but little other experience—when she landed what most of her peers would consider a dream job …

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Caller and Page Six, more at Mediagazer »

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Inside the Breitbart Embassy, Where Steve Bannon Entertains Elites and Plots His Populist Takeover — When Steve Bannon was the chief strategist and senior counselor to President Donald Trump, he spent his days and often long into his nights in an office on the first floor of the West Wing …

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, Mediaite and Hullabaloo

Paige St. John / Los Angeles Times:

Rancho Tehama gunman killed his wife and hid her body under their home, authorities say — A rampaging gunman killed five people in Rancho Tehama, including his wife, whose body was found hidden beneath the floor of their home, authorities said Wednesday. — A rampaging gunman killed five people …

Discussion: AOL, Business Insider and The Root

Associated Press:
California gunman's wife found dead; death toll climbs to 5

Discussion: CNN and Axios

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Bill Clinton should have resigned — What he did to Monica Lewinsky was wrong, and he should have paid the price. — Many years ago, when I was a high school student making my first visit to Washington for a two-week summer camp for weird politics dorks, the dominant news story …

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air, Business Insider, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT and Washington Free Beacon

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:

Liberals' Sudden Concern About Bill Clinton's Behavior Is Cynical And Self-Serving — In the past few days a number of notable liberals have decided to take allegations of sexual assault against former president Bill Clinton seriously. Let's just say that discarding the Clintons when they're …

Discussion: Fox News, Power Line, New York Post, Weekly Standard, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Jeff Greenfield / Politico:
How Roy Moore's Misdeeds Are Forcing an Awakening on the Left

Discussion: Althouse, Washington Free Beacon, dailyrushbo.com, twitchy.com and Axios

Bethany Mandel / New York Times:

Roy Moore Reminds Me of My Rabbi — In 2014, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Rabbi Barry Freundel led the congregation of his Washington synagogue in pursuit of humble repentance before God. Ten days later, he was arrested and charged with dozens of counts of voyeurism.

Discussion: Snopes.com

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Poll: Biden leads Trump in prospective 2020 matchup — Former Vice President Joe Biden would lead President Donald Trump in a 2020 general election, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. — Only 35 percent of voters would choose to reelect Trump in 2020, the poll shows …

Discussion: Politicus USA, Big League Politics, AOL, IJR, TheBlaze and The Gateway Pundit

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:

Leahy Berates Federal Judicial Nominee Over Joke Tweet About Marrying Bacon — Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) on Wednesday grilled Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett over a tweet he sent in 2015 saying he would support a constitutional right to “marry bacon.”

Discussion: Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, Business Insider, RedState and twitchy.com

Kyle Swenson / Washington Post:

His brother died mysteriously when they were toddlers. Years later, a Facebook photo changed everything. — It was an old photo, the original sharp black and white tones worn down into the same muddy gray as television static. — The young man, David Dearlove, sits against a brick wall …

Discussion: Telegraph

Nick Penzenstadler / USA Today:

Taxpayers pay legal bill to protect Trump business profits — Taxpayers are footing the legal bill for at least 10 Justice Department lawyers and paralegals to work on lawsuits related to President Trump's private businesses. — Neither the White House nor the Justice Department …

Agence France-Presse:

North Korea ‘sentences Trump to death’ for insulting Kim Jong-un — Regime-run newspaper says US president is ‘hideous criminal’ after he said North was a ‘cruel dictatorship’ and Kim ‘short and fat’ — North Korea's state media has criticised Donald Trump for insulting leader Kim Jong-Un …

Discussion: IJR, Just Security, AOL, The Guardian and Al Jazeera English

Bloomberg:

Amazon's Cashierless Store Is Almost Ready for Prime Time — The Amazon Go team is said to have worked out many of the technical bugs and is starting to hire store-related personnel. — For the past year, Amazon employees have been test driving Amazon Go, an experimental convenience store in downtown Seattle.

Discussion: AOL, The Verge and Gizmodo

Neil Strauss / Rolling Stone:

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow — Inside the inventor's world-changing plans to inhabit outer space, revolutionize high-speed transportation, reinvent cars - and hopefully find love along the way — It's mid-afternoon on a Friday at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California …

Discussion: Press Enterprise, The Verge, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine and AOL

Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:

Collins Warns GOP That Mandate Repeal Will Hike Premiums, Slam Middle Class — Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has crunched the numbers on repealing Obamacare's individual mandate, and she does not like what she sees. — The morning after Senate Republican leaders gave their blessing for the tax bill …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

Porn star, Coolio launching 2020 White House bid — A porn star and a rapper say they have what it takes to win the White House in 2020. — Cherie DeVille, who's starred in such videos as “Ass Planet” and “Hot Tub Hottie,” says she was inspired to run for office out of her “personal frustration for the current political climate.”

Discussion: IJR and RedState

Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press:

New money: Mnuchin and Carranza now on the dollar bill — WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza are now on the money, literally. — The two officials took a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on Wednesday to see firsthand …

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

The Hill:

House Dems introduce articles of impeachment against Trump — Six House Democrats on Wednesday launched the latest official effort to oust President Trump, introducing five new articles of impeachment revolving around the central theme that the president is a danger to the country.

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and IJR

Economist:

Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last? — A weaker dollar and an energy boom are pushing up pay — IF THERE was a defining economic problem for America as it recovered from the financial crisis, it was stagnant wages. In the five years following the end of the recession in June 2009 …