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2:30 PM ET, July 20, 2018

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss making payments for story of model who alleged affair with Trump  —  Federal investigators have an audio recording in which then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen discussed in the fall …
ABC News:
Cohen taped Trump discussing making hush payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal: Sources  —  Investigators discovered recordings made by Michael Cohen that include then-candidate Donald Trump talking about making a payment to a former Playboy model, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
Will Hurd / New York Times:
Trump Is Being Manipulated by Putin.  What Should We Do?  —  Lawmakers must keep the American people informed of the current danger, writes a Republican congressman from Texas.  —  Mr. Hurd, a former C.I.A. officer, is a congressman from the 23rd District of Texas.
RELATED:
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Are Republicans Covering for Trump, or for Themselves?  —  If the N.R.A. was compromised by Russia, the whole party's in trouble.  —  Of all the interlocking mysteries of the Trump-Russia scandal, one that I've found particularly perplexing is the utter servility of congressional Republicans …
Adam Davidson / New Yorker:
A Theory of Trump Kompromat  —  Why the President is so nice to Putin, even when Putin might not want him to be.  —  The former C.I.A. operative Jack Devine watched Donald Trump's performance standing next to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, and his first thought was, “There is no way Trump is a Russian agent.”
Discussion: Washington Monthly and CANNONFIRE
Blake Hounshell / Politico:
Why I'm No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic  —  Facts are piling up, and it's getting harder to deny what's staring us in the face.  —  When I wrote, back in February, that I was skeptical that President Donald Trump would ever be proved to have secretly colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election in his favor, I mistyped.
Discussion: Raw Story
RELATED:
Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:
Republicans should be repulsed
Discussion: CNN and Mediaite
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Henry Kissinger: ‘We are in a very, very grave period’  —  It was not hard to entice Henry Kissinger to meet for lunch.  Though he is 95, and moves very slowly, the grand consigliere of American diplomacy is keen to talk.  He hops on and off planes to see the likes of Russia's Vladimir Putin …
Politico:
McConnell issues Supreme Court ultimatum  —  The Senate GOP leader is vowing to squeeze Democrats with a vote on Brett Kavanaugh right before the midterms if they don't back down on their demand for documents.  —  Mitch McConnell has a warning for Democrats demanding copious documents …
RELATED:
Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:   Good Trump, Bad Trump  —  On July 9, President Trump held …
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Russian firm indicted in special counsel probe cites Kavanaugh decision to argue that charge should be dismissed
Discussion: Talking Points Memo
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Trump says he's ‘ready’ to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods imported to the US  — President Donald Trump has indicated he is willing to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods the U.S. imports.  — The rhetoric marks ramps up the U.S-China trade war another step …
RELATED:
Caitlin Owens / Axios:
Trade war shakes up Senate races in Trump states
Discussion: CNBC
Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Kimberly Guilfoyle Did Not Leave Fox News Voluntarily, Sources Say: Scoop  —  Sources have told HuffPost about the host's departure from the network.  —  Three sources tell HuffPost that longtime Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle did not leave the cable news network voluntarily.
Discussion: Contemptor and twitchy.com
RELATED:
New York Times:
Bill Shine, Trump's Top Communicator, Was Questioned by Federal Prosecutors  —  WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former co-president of Fox News hired this month as President Trump's communications chief, brought conservative credentials and heavy baggage with him into the White House.
NBC 6 South Florida:
Father of Parkland School Shooting Survivors Killed in North Lauderdale Armed Robbery  —  North Lauderdale Robbery Surveillance Video  —  The father of two Parkland school shooting survivors was fatally shot at his own North Lauderdale convenience store during a robbery, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
Brennan and the 2016 Spy Scandal  —  Obama's CIA director acknowledges egging on the FBI's probe of Trump and Russia.  —  The Trump-Russia sleuthers have been back in the news, again giving Americans cause to doubt their claims of nonpartisanship.  Last week it was Federal Bureau …
RELATED:
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Why I Needed to Pull Back From Twitter  —  The viciousness, toxic partisan anger and intellectual dishonesty are at all-time highs.  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — I woke up last Sunday morning feeling anxiety in my chest as I checked the Twitter app on my phone, scrolling down to refresh, refresh, refresh.
NBC News:
Iran has laid groundwork for extensive cyberattacks on U.S., say officials  —  Iran has positioned cyber weapons to hit private firms and infrastructure, but there is no suggestion an attack is imminent, say U.S. officials.  —  ASPEN, Colo. — Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry …
Discussion: Axios and AOL
Molly Hensley-Clancy / BuzzFeed News:
Centrist Democrats Want A Presidential Candidate To Take On Bernie.  They Just Don't Know Who It Is.  —  At a centrist Democrats' conference in Columbus, Ohio, the burning question was how to create an economic message that could beat two people in 2020 who have crystal clear economic messages: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
RELATED:
Gabriel Debenedetti / New York Magazine:   The Progressive Hawaii Senator Reshaping the 2020 Race, Without Even Running
Jim Morrill / The Charlotte Observer:
GOP picks Charlotte for 2020 convention.  Now, the fundraising and organizing begin.  —  Charlotte won its second national convention in a decade Friday, kicking off two years of planning, fundraising and anticipation.  —  The city joined a small group of cities that will have held …
RELATED:
Washington Post:   Republicans will hold 2020 convention in Charlotte, putting city back in spotlight after hosting the Democrats in 2012
Media Matters for America:
Study: NY Times, Wash. Post quote more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats in political coverage  —  Throughout May and June, two of the nation's leading newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, quoted Republicans at more than twice the rate of Democrats in their political news coverage.
Discussion: Observer
Erica Werner / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans drop bid to block Trump from helping Chinese telecom giant ZTE  —  Bowing to White House demands, Senate Republicans have backed off their attempt to reimpose U.S. sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE, a congressional source said Friday.
Abigail Tracy / Vanity Fair:
“There Is a Reason We Tried to Kill This”: After Helsinki, the Deep State Fears Trump Cannot Be Saved  —  As John Bolton grapples with the fallout from the president's harrowing performance in Finland, the analysts and experts who comprise the national-security apparatus brace themselves for what might come next.
Jessica Sager / Page Six:
Roseanne Barr on Valerie Jarrett tweet: ‘I thought the b—h was white’  —  Roseanne Barr spoke out relatively unapologetically about the vile Valerie Jarrett tweet that got her “Roseanne” reboot canceled: “I thought the b—h was white!”  —  In a video posted to Barr's YouTube page …
Discussion: The Root and Althouse
Scott Waldman / E&E News:
GOP candidate calls woman ‘naive’ for asking about climate  —  Body heat is making Earth warmer, and climate change is caused by the planet's movement toward the sun.  —  Those are the claims of Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial candidate, former state Sen. Scott Wagner.
Ricochet:
The Left Gives Up on Comedy  —  Jon Gabriel, Ed.  —  Four years ago, progressives were riding high.  Obama was president, healthcare was fixed forever, and the reset-button Ruskies were our best pals.  But even in that golden age, there was a growing sense that comedy was ... well ... problematic.
Discussion: Front Page Magazine
Yaniv Kubovich / Haaretz:
Major Escalation in Gaza: Israel Launches Massive Attack After Hamas Snipers Fire at Troops  —  Four Hamas members killed in Israeli attack after snipers target Israeli soldiers Netanyahu holding emergency discussion at army headquarters Rocket sirens heard in Gaza-border communities after strike starts
Discussion: CNN
Bloomberg:
Where the Super-Rich Go to Buy Their Second Passport  —  Cheaper than a Gulfstream, nimbler than a superyacht, a second passport—or a third or fourth—has become another trophy for the ultra-wealthy.  —  Even self-styled citizens of the world, it seems, need a Plan B. Plus, that gold Maltese coat of arms looks classy.
Discussion: AOL
Daily Mail:
Seventeen dead and seven injured after duck-boat carrying 31 - including at least three children - CAPSIZES on stormy Missouri lake, as final video shows its battle to stay afloat  — The boat was carrying 31 people when aggressive storms rolled over the area and thrashed the waves
Joyce Cohen / New York Times:
Graduating to Their First Big City Rental  —  For two young newcomers, having “the full New York City experience” meant finding a happy medium between uptown gloss and downtown grit.  —  Two years ago, Alexi Stathakis and Lauren Witonsky met as summer interns at a public relations firm.
Robin Pogrebin / New York Times:
She Gave Millions to Artists Without Credit.  Until Now.  —  The artist Carrie Mae Weems recalls sitting at her desk in Syracuse in 2014 “feeling very anonymous and misunderstood and trying to figure out how to make some new work” when she got the call.  —  “I was offered this extraordinary gift,” she said.
Jerry Gretzinger / WNYT-TV:
Home Depot employee says he was fired after responding to customer's racist rant  —  ALBANY - Is the customer always right?  The Times Union reported Thursday morning that a Home Depot employee at the Central Avenue store in Albany was fired after what he considers pretty nasty verbal abuse from a customer.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Root
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
Senate candidate Corey Stewart says New York Times reporter broke into aide's apartment
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Libby Watson / Splinter:
Government Healthcare Is Saving My Mum's Life
Myrna Pérez / New York Times:
How the Midterm Elections May Be Compromised
Tim Ryan / CNN:
Rep. Tim Ryan: Marijuana should be legal in all 50 states
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Dems plan longshot gambit to force action on Mueller protection bill
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Ryan P. Williams / RealClearPolicy:
Do We Really Need a New Conservatism?
Discussion: Real Clear Politics
 Earlier Items: 
Rosie Perper / Business Insider:
Trump flags and hats made in China are reportedly being held up at customs as trade war heats up
Discussion: Raw Story
Feeds:
Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote
Discussion: ThinkProgress
Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Why NATO Matters  —  Column: The Atlantic alliance is crucial to American deterrence
Terry Gross / NPR:
Reporter Shows The Links Between The Men Behind Brexit And The Trump Campaign
Associated Press:
US, allies set to evacuate Syrian aid workers from southwest
 

 
From Techmeme:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is testing custom feeds for certain profiles or topics; the Threads' version seems easier to use than Bluesky's custom feeds

Jibin Joseph / PCMag:
UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 creates Daisy, an AI-generated “scambaiter” tool that mimics the voice of an elderly woman to waste scammers' time

Financial Times:
Sources: xAI raised $5B at a $45B valuation, almost double its valuation a few months ago; SpaceX prepares a tender offer that would value the company at $250B+
 
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