memeorandum: Accountants testify Manafort falsified loan documents, hid foreign income on taxes (CNN)

12:50 AM ET, August 4, 2018

Top Items:

CNN:

Judge upholds ruling that DACA must be restored — Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for MoveOn.org) — (CNN)A federal judge on Friday upheld his order …

Discussion: WIS-TV, Mother Jones, Axios and Political Wire

Ted Hesson / Politico:

Judge orders full restart of DACA program — A D.C.-based federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to restart in full the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. — The decision is the latest legal blow against President Donald Trump's decision to phase out the Obama-era program …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Townhall and TheBlaze

NBC News:

Judge calls Trump administration family reunification efforts ‘unacceptable’ — The judge blasted the Trump administration Friday for its lack of a plan to reunify the remaining 572 children in its custody with their parents. — LOS ANGELES — The federal judge overseeing …

Discussion: AOL and Mother Jones

Aris Folley / The Hill: Federal judge says Trump must fully restore DACA

Alan Gomez / USA Today:
Judge says Trump team ‘100 percent’ responsible for finding deported immigrant parents

Discussion: The Week

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

The NRA Says It's in Deep Financial Trouble, May Be ‘Unable to Exist’ — A legal filing against the state of New York paints a grim picture of the powerful gun group — The National Rifle Association warns that it is in grave financial jeopardy, according to a recent court filing obtained …

The Daily Beast:
NRA Says Money Problems May Render It ‘Unable to Exist’

Discussion: Mother Jones

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

When Racism Is Fit to Print — Is the newest member of the New York Times editorial board, Sarah Jeong, a racist? — From one perspective — that commonly held by people outside the confines of the political left — she obviously is. A series of tweets from 2013 to 2015 reveal …

Aja Romano / Vox:

The New York Times just shut down a major bullying tactic of the alt-right — In standing by its decision to hire the well-known tech journalist, the Times shut down a major bullying tactic of the alt-right. — The New York Times announced this week that tech journalist Sarah Jeong will join …

Discussion: Washington Times, VICE, The American Spectator, Lawyers, Guns & Money, RedState and Media Matters for America

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
Why Racism Begets More Racism — People are contorting themselves …

Discussion: Washington Post, twitchy.com and East Bay Times

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
In defense of Sarah Jeong

Discussion: BBC, Breitbart, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Amber Athey / The Daily Caller:
NYT's Sarah Jeong Also Sent Anti-Cop, Anti-Men Tweets

Discussion: Mediaite, Power Line, Conservative News Today, ThinkProgress and Coffee House

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Trump associate socialized with alleged Russian agent Maria Butina in final weeks of 2016 campaign — Maria Butina, the Russian gun-rights activist who was charged last month with working as an unregistered agent of the Kremlin, socialized in the weeks before the 2016 election …

Discussion: Washington Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, emptywheel, rbc.ru and Mediaite

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

The Newseum is selling MAGA hats and ‘fake news’ T-shirts — If you're looking to stock up on the famous red hats that bear Donald Trump's favorite slogan, look no further than the Newseum's gift shop. — On its website, the interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., sells $14.99 …

Discussion: RedState, Balloon Juice, DCist, Washingtonian, Hot Air, AOL, twitchy.com, Mediaite and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »

Sopan Deb / New York Times:
The Exhibits Honor Journalism; the Gift Shop Sells ‘Fake News’

Discussion: NTK Network

New York Times:

Paul Manafort Was Deep in Debt. He Saw an Opportunity in Trump. — WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort's services did not come cheap. His consulting work helped prop up foreign strongmen, who in turn kept him in $12,000 bespoke suits from Beverly Hills. — But by 2016, Mr. Manafort was broke.

Discussion: Daily Kos and BuzzFeed News

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The Manafort trial has President Trump very worried

Discussion: Jezebel and Politico

Sherman Smith / Topeka Capital-Journal:

GOP consultants say Kobach campaign has white nationalists on payroll — Sherman Smith sherman_news — Kris Kobach's gubernatorial campaign employs three men identified as members of a white nationalist group by two political consultants who have worked with Republicans in Kansas.

Discussion: Political Wire

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:
Emails related to Kobach-led voting commission show ‘pre-ordained outcome,’ Dem says

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, The Guardian, CNN and Raw Story

Stef W. Kight / Axios:
Voter commission member says White House voter fraud statements were false

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Foreign Policy:

Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians — In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.'s relief agency for Palestinians. — Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor …

JTA / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
Sen. Cory Booker says he had no idea sign he held is linked to pro-Palestinian movement

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Althouse, Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

Federal agency grants Trump D.C. hotel rental credit of $534,000 for maintaining clock tower — Leasing experts say credit illustrates unique arrangement between the Trump-owned business and the government. — The General Services Administration granted a $534,000 rental credit …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
At President Trump's hotel in New York, revenue went up this spring — thanks to a visit from big-spending Saudis

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Shareblue Media, CNBC, New Republic and Observer

Chuck Grassley / Washington Post:

I'm ready to work to confirm Kavanaugh. I invite Democrats to join me. — Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. — A good judge is more than someone who simply understands the law. The job requires a keen intellect and an ability to appreciate multiple sides of complex issues.

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Senate Democrats to end boycott, plan to meet with Kavanaugh later this month

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Week, Daily Kos, National Review, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:
O'Rourke Puts Race into Lean Republican Column

Discussion: Axios, The Texas Tribune, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, America's Voice and New Republic

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Obstruction of justice bombshell will explode before midterms — escalating his attacks against special counsel counsel Robert Mueller — , the Department of Justice, the FBI and the free press to a fever pitch in recent days? — The reason is that the odds are very high that Mueller …

Discussion: MSNBC and NBC News

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Trump Will Have Blood on His Hands — His demonization of the news media won't fall on deaf ears. — The voice, if I had to guess, belongs to that of a white American male in late middle age. The accent is faintly Southern, the manner taunting but relaxed.

Discussion: Mediaite

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:

The tender, terrifying truth about what happened inside the Trader Joe's hostage siege — About halfway through the three-hour siege at Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, the wounded gunman, Gene Atkins, looked at one of his hostages, MaryLinda Moss, and told her it was all over for him.

Discussion: Mashable

Mark Landler / New York Times:

There's Trump's Foreign Policy and Then There's His Administration's — WASHINGTON — In the last five days, President Trump has thanked Kim Jong-un of North Korea for his “nice letter,” reminisced about his “great meeting” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and offered to meet Iran's president …

Discussion: CNN, Fox News Insider and Axios

CNN:

‘Manhattan Madam’ met with Mueller's team — (CNN)Kristin Davis, the woman famously known as the “Manhattan Madam,” met with special counsel Robert Mueller's team for a voluntary interview on Wednesday, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

Discussion: KTLA, Law & Crime, New York Daily News, Raw Story, NY State of Politics, AOL, Political Wire, Hill Reporter and The Hill

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

Melania's policy director leaves the White House — After just six months on the job, first lady Melania Trump's top policy aide has left the White House, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. — Reagan Hedlund, a 28-year-old former executive assistant at the National Security Council …

Discussion: HuffPost, WHNT-TV, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

12 times Christopher Steele fed Trump-Russia allegations to FBI after the election — Congressional investigators know that Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the Trump dossier on behalf of the Clinton campaign, kept supplying allegations to the FBI after the 2016 election …

Discussion: Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

CNN:

Accountants testify Manafort falsified loan documents, hid foreign income on taxes — Testimony from the financial professionals who worked for Manafort are making up the meat of special counsel Robert Mueller's case against Manafort, who is charged with 18 counts of tax and banking crimes.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Root, Breitbart and ThinkProgress

Politico:
Manafort trial day 4: Accountant concedes possible wrongdoing, Manafort's double life

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Daily Caller and Axios

Fox News:

Air Force remains silent after huge meteor hits near US military base — A meteor hit the earth and exploded with 2.1 kilotons of force last month, but the US Air Force has made no mention of the event. — NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed an object of unspecified size travelling …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Test Feed Using Fields and Sputnik International

Heather Long / Washington Post:

Under Trump's watch, the U.S. is on track for the highest trade deficit in 10 years — The United States trade deficit widened in June and is on track to be the biggest in a decade despite President Trump's efforts to slash it. — For the first half of 2018, the trade deficit in goods …

Discussion: MarketWatch, Mother Jones, Political Wire and TheBlaze

James Gordon Meek / ABC News:

Assange in ‘solitary confinement’ at embassy, fears possible extradition to US, lawyer says — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's health is suffering, one of his lawyers says, in conditions she compared to “solitary confinement” in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Discussion: Raw Story

Mindy Finn / USA Today:

Trump has built a pyramid scheme of public fraud. It's a taxpayer-backed cash grab. — Donald Trump is pulling off a taxpayer-backed cash grab. It's an orchestrated, unprecedented scheme to enrich a president, his family and his friends. — Even after warnings that tariffs would wreak havoc …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

DNC warns candidates: Don't use ZTE or Huawei phones — Democrats running in November's midterms were warned Friday not to use devices produced by Chinese manufacturers ZTE and Huawei. The warning, which came from the Democratic National Committee, was sent out after the DNC learned …

Discussion: The Verge and Axios

Martine Powers / Washington Post:

Metro considering separate trains for white nationalists attending ‘Unite the Right’ rally — Metro is considering providing separate trains for participants of the “Unite the Right” white-nationalist rally Aug. 12, board chairman Jack Evans said Friday. — Evans said the move would be an effort …

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:

The tribulations of ‘oligarch’ No. 27 — OXFORD, Mass. — Valentin P. Gapontsev is a 79-year-old laser physicist. He has been a U.S. citizen for 10 years. And he is chief executive and founder of IPG Photonics, a fast-growing company that makes specialized lasers and employs nearly 2,000 people …

The Hill:

Trump blindsided staff with promise to halt elephant trophy imports — sent in November promising to halt imports of elephant trophies blindsided staffers in his own administration and cut off months of planning to ease the import process, newly released emails show.