memeorandum: 'Truth isn't truth': Giuliani weighs risks of possible Trump interview in Russia probe (Elise Viebeck/Washington Post)

5:40 PM ET, August 19, 2018

Top Items:

Giuliani: 'Truth isn't truth' — President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday claimed “truth isn't truth” when trying to explain why the president should not testify for special counsel Robert Mueller for fear of being trapped into a lie that could lead to a perjury charge.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Vox, Joe.My.God., No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Wire, Balloon Juice, Breitbart, The Mahablog and emptywheel

New York Times:

Trump Lawyers' Sudden Realization: They Don't Know What Don McGahn Told Mueller's Team — President Trump's lawyers do not know just how much the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, told the special counsel's investigators during months of interviews, a lapse that has contributed …

Discussion: The Daily Banter, AOL, Talking Points Memo, Daily Wire, The Week, KTLA and ThinkProgress

Axios:

Trump's epic Mueller gamble — Several top White House officials thought then and think now that President Trump made an epic error in rolling over to cooperate with Robert Mueller in the early stages of the special counsel investigation. — Why it matters: Trump himself thought then and thinks …

Discussion: Raw Story, Vox and New York Times

Julian E. Zelizer / The Atlantic: The New Enemies List — Reacting to The New York Times' story …

Politico:
Cabinet secretaries: They're just like us!

Discussion: Political Wire, New York Times and Deadline

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:
'Truth isn't truth': Giuliani weighs risks of possible Trump interview in Russia probe

Discussion: BuzzFeed News and Outside the Beltway

NBC News:
Meet the Press - August 19, 2018

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The Week

Isaac Chotiner / Slate:
What John Dean Has to Say About the NYT's Blockbuster Don McGahn Story

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, The Guardian, NPR, Hullabaloo, NY State of Politics, Raw Story, AOL, Joe.My.God., New York Times, HuffPost and Mother Jones

Megan Keller / The Hill:

Clapper: Brennan's rhetoric is becoming an issue — Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper — said Sunday that he thinks former CIA Director John Brennan — 's rhetoric is becoming an issue “in and of itself.” — “John and his rhetoric have become an issue in and of itself …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

Max Boot / Washington Post:
What will finally turn Trump's supporters against him?

Discussion: HuffPost

Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
The Untouchables vs. The Deplorables

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Speechwriter who attended conference with white nationalists in 2016 leaves White House — (CNN)A speechwriter for President Donald Trump who attended a conference frequented by white nationalists has left the White House. — CNN's KFile reached out to the White House last week about Darren Beattie …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Robert Costa / Washington Post: Trump speechwriter fired amid scrutiny of appearance with white nationalists

Axios:

Scoop: Trump said one-state solution would lead to Israeli PM named Mohammed — President Trump told King Abdullah of Jordan that a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might lead in a few years to someone named Mohammed becoming prime minister of Israel, according to several sources briefed on the meeting.

Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:

Trump adviser John Bolton floats formal review of security clearances for former officials — President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton floated the possibility of reviewing longstanding policy allowing former government officials to keep their security clearances.

Discussion: HuffPost, AOL, Politico and Breitbart

Maegan Vazquez / CNN:
Michael Hayden says he, too, would be honored if Trump revoked his security clearance

Discussion: Washington Times

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Johnson: Brennan didn't misuse security clearance, but abused privilege

Discussion: Breitbart

Anne Helen Petersen / BuzzFeed:

Beto O'Rourke Could Be The Democrat Texas Has Been Waiting For — Beto O'Rourke's grassroots campaign to unseat Senator Ted Cruz is blazing across Texas. But can it convert energy into actual votes? — Beto O'Rourke is a prolific, prodigious sweater. We're talking shirt-soaking …

Susan Ferriss / Washington Post:

In horrifying detail, women accuse U.S. customs officers of invasive body searches — Tameika Lovell was retrieving luggage at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when Customs and Border Protection officers detained her for a random search. It was Nov. 27, 2016 …

Virginia Heffernan / Los Angeles Times:

How Donald Trump made me love privileged men — A black-and-white photograph from 1962 shows special counsel Robert S. Mueller III when he was a student at the St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. — It's a hockey-team photo. Mueller, dark-haired number 12, sits front row, close to the center.

CBS News:

Democrats in stronger position to take the House: CBS News Battleground Tracker — Democrats have improved their standing in the fight for control of the House of Representatives. Our House model now shows the party poised to win 222 seats if the election were today, up from our estimate of 219 earlier this summer.

Discussion: Bloomberg and twitchy.com

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

As Trump Dismantles Clean Air Rules, an Industry Lawyer Delivers for Ex-Clients — WASHINGTON — As a corporate lawyer, William L. Wehrum worked for the better part of a decade to weaken air pollution rules by fighting the Environmental Protection Agency in court on behalf of chemical manufacturers …

Discussion: TheBlaze and Common Dreams

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Blake Farenthold Blames ‘F-Tards,’ Me Too Campaign For His Downfall — Months after quitting Congress in disgrace, the Texas Republican insists his sexual harassment scandal was everyone's fault but his own. — WASHINGTON Four months after abruptly quitting Congress amid a sexual harassment scandal …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Scarce / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Kevin McCarthy Mocked For Tweet Complaining Of Conservative Censorship On Twitter — The GOP Leader, and would-be Speaker-in-waiting, joined the other Trump cultists in accusing Twitter of censoring them. — It was later pointed out pretty much immediately that he [was being a dumbass] …

Discussion: Splinter, Hullabaloo, Mashable and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Bill Estep / Lexington Herald-Leader:

Coal jobs have dropped in Eastern Kentucky. Income has followed, new report shows — Personal income has gone down in several Eastern Kentucky counties where coal employment has been decimated in recent years, according to a report from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press:

U.S. says conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative — FILE- In this April 23, 2018, file photo a car is filled with gasoline at a station in Windham, N.H. Conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative for the U.S., the Trump administration declares in a major new policy statement …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Daily Caller

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

The media's hatred of Trump is only hurting itself — This month marks the two-year anniversary of one of the most important articles ever written on journalism. On Aug. 7, 2016, after Donald Trump formally secured the Republican nomination and the general election was underway …

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Mulvaney on canceled military parade: It wasn't just the money — Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney said he believes President Donald Trump's plans for a military parade were canceled for other reasons besides the cost of the event, but would not specify other “contributing factors.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, @thebudgetguy, Political Wire and Breitbart

Roey Hadar / ABC News:

Trump adviser: Besides Russia, ‘national security concern’ on, China, North Korea and Iran election meddling — National Security Adviser John Bolton said Russia is only one of four countries that could potentially try to interfere in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.