memeorandum: Hayden: Relationship between Trump, national security community ‘dangerously close to being permanently broken’ (Megan Keller/The Hill)

8:10 PM ET, August 19, 2018

Top Items:

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: Wall Street Journal, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Daily Banter, Hullabaloo, AOL, HuffPost, Mediaite, Mother Jones, The Week, Daily Wire, KTLA, ThinkProgress, NewsWars, Spectator USA and Fox News

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Michael Cohen's attorney says he's talking to lawyer who brought down Nixon — Lanny Davis, an attorney for former longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, said he has been reaching out regularly over the last few months to John Dean, the former White House counsel who helped bring down the presidency of Richard Nixon.

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, AOL, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Politico:

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: New York Times, Daily Wire, The Guardian, HuffPost, CNN, Politico, Joe.My.God., Vox, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Wire, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Breitbart and The Mahablog

Axios:
Trump's epic Mueller gamble

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: New York Times, Washington Times and Political Wire

NBC News:
Meet the Press - August 19, 2018

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The Week

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

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and BuzzFeed News

New York Times:

Cohen, Trump's Ex-Lawyer, Investigated for Bank Fraud in Excess of $20 Million — Federal authorities investigating whether President Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, committed bank and tax fraud have zeroed in on well over $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses …

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

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 Guardian, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

Megan Keller / The Hill:

Hayden: Relationship between Trump, national security community ‘dangerously close to being permanently broken’ — Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said Sunday that he thinks the relationship between the national security community and President Trump — is on the edge of shattering.

Discussion: Political Wire

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:
Trump adviser John Bolton floats formal review of security clearances for former officials

Discussion: Breitbart, HuffPost, AOL and Politico

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

Discussion: Washington Times

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: Talking Points Memo, Axios and Political Wire

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Trump speechwriter fired amid scrutiny of appearance with white nationalists — A White House speechwriter for President Trump was terminated last week after revelations that he had spoken at a conference attended by well-known white nationalists, according to three people familiar …

Discussion: Raw Story

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.

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 …

JONATHAN TURLEY:

Brennan: I Did Not Mean Trump Was Treasonous When I Said His Actions Are “Nothing Short Of Treason” — I have been critical of the decision of President Donald Trump to rescind the clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan and to release a list of other officials to be reviewed …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill and twitchy.com

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

Discussion: Breitbart

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.

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

CNN:

Iranian foreign minister says the US has a disease of an ‘addiction to sanctions’ — Iran FM: US has ‘addiction to sanctions’ — Tehran, Iran (CNN)The United States is addicted to applying sanctions on Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday in an exclusive interview from Tehran.

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: Mother Jones, twitchy.com and BloombergQuint

New York Times:

Zephyr Teachout Is the Right Choice as Attorney General for Democrats — The office is a potential firewall against an out-of-control president and a historically corrupt New York State government. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.

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.

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 …

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

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

Miami Herald:

Our recommendations in the District 27 congressional race to replace Ros-Lehtinen — DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY — A wealth of candidates, bringing new names, unexpected faces and diverse talents, signed up to be the Democrat who would replace Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Congress.

Discussion: Florida Politics and twitchy.com

David Gelles / New York Times:

Interviewing Elon Musk — For our Corner Office columnist, an hour with a deeply emotional Mr. Musk was not just another C.E.O. interview. — Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how news, features and opinion come together at The New York Times.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Vox and The Guardian