memeorandum: Harlem's Trash Bins Were Overflowing. So the City Took 223 Away. (Winnie Hu/New York Times)

12:45 PM ET, August 20, 2018

Top Items:

Team Trump still isn't telling the truth about that 2016 Trump Tower meeting — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — For all the attention to Rudy Giuliani's …

Discussion: American Prospect, ABC News, CNN, Fox News Insider, New York Times and NewsWars

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 …

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Giuliani tries to explain what he meant by 'truth isn't truth'

Discussion: The Root, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times and Media Matters for America

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
“Truth isn't truth.” — Rudy Giuliani's instant meme is even worse …

Discussion: MSNBC and Popular Information

Stephanie Murray / Politico:
Giuliani walks back 'truth isn't truth' comment

Discussion: NBC News, JONATHAN TURLEY and The Daily Caller

Melissa Gomez / New York Times:
Giuliani Says 'Truth Isn't Truth' in Defense of Trump's Legal Strategy

Discussion: CNN, IJR and Joe.My.God.

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 …

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

The most intense and dangerous period of the Trump presidency is about to begin — Over the past year and a half, life in politics has often felt like an ongoing circus in which the madness never ceases. But for all that, the next 11 weeks could be the most intense and consequential of Donald Trump's presidency.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico and USA Today

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Michael Cohen's attorney says he's talking to lawyer who brought down Nixon

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Banter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, New York Post, WAMU, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, KTLA, Wall Street Journal and Mediaite

Adam Entous / New Yorker:

John Brennan's Choice to Confront Trump — Just before noon on January 20, 2017, John Brennan, the outgoing C.I.A. director, drove to the home of a former colleague to watch Donald Trump take the oath of office. President Obama's most trusted intelligence advisers had come together …

Discussion: Sara A. Carter, IJR and Washington Post

Jack Goldsmith / Lawfare:

The Dangers in the Trump-Brennan Confrontation — President Trump's revocation of former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance brings together in an unfortunate way two pathological trends in the Trump era, and highlights the conundrum of the former intelligence official who wishes …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The American Conservative and Don Surber

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
‘Revoking’ a security clearance is not as simple as Trump made it sound. …

Discussion: Just Security, CNN and Conservative News Today

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Trump goads ‘political hack’ Brennan to sue over stripped clearance

Discussion: Breitbart and The Week

Kim Severson / New York Times:

Asia Argento, Who Accused Weinstein, Made Deal With Her Own Accuser — The Italian actress and director Asia Argento was among the first women in the movie business to publicly accuse the producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. She became a leading figure in the #MeToo movement.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Vox, NPR, The Daily Caller, Gothamist, France 24, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and AOL

Abid Rahman / Hollywood Reporter:
Asia Argento Paid Off Sexual Assault Accuser (Report)

Discussion: 100PercentFedUp.com, The Western Journal, Deadline, East Bay Times, WPIX 11 New York and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Washington Post:

Brett Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court nominee, proposed graphic questions for Bill Clinton about the Lewinsky affair in 1998 memo — A memo just released by the National Archives reveals that Brett Kavanaugh laid out in explicit language the questions President Clinton should have been asked …

Michael Kranish / Washington Post: Brett Kavanaugh memo detailed explicit questions for Clinton

Politico:
Liberals crushed in SCOTUS spending war

Discussion: The Daily Caller and CNN

Charles M. Blow / New York Times: Nixon, Clinton and Trump

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Here are the Lobbying Emails Cuomo Fought Hard to Keep Secret — ALBANY — In January 2016, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was preparing his annual State of the State address, some high-placed state officials knew they had a problem. — A pair of business executives — partners in multimillion-dollar …

Discussion: National Review, IJR and The Week

Shuja / Popula:

NYT Fact Check: Bret Stephens — Re: Column on whether or not America is “great” — After a number of reader complaints about inaccuracies in your previous columns, I've been asked by the Department of Corrections to get in touch with you regarding your latest piece.

Discussion: Fox News

Chris Smith / New York Magazine:
Cuomo, Again? Heavy is the head that wears this crown.

Discussion: NY State of Politics, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

“A blue wave is obscuring a red exodus” — Dave Wasserman, the Cook Political Report's House analyst, says the most under-covered aspect of 2018 is that “a blue wave is obscuring a red exodus.” Republican House members are retiring at a startling clip — a trend that senior White House …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and Raw Story

David Wasserman / New York Times:

Why Even a Blue Wave Could Have Limited Gains — The divergent geography of 2018 means we will really have two midterm elections, and one favors Republicans. — Mr. Wasserman is the House editor at The Cook Political Report. — The proper way to view the 2018 midterms might not be as one event …

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Media Keeps Giving Trump the Benefit of the Doubt on Collusion — Throughout the Russia scandal, President Trump has acted flamboyantly guilty, most recently by comparing himself implicitly with Richard Nixon during Watergate, and dismissing informants as “rats.”

John Harwood / CNBC:

A leading Republican urges reform for Medicare and Social Security as deficits balloon after the GOP's tax cut — Rep. Steve Stivers , R-Ohio, has the toughest job in politics right now: trying to stop a Democratic “blue wave” at the polls this fall. Stivers, chairman of the National …

S.V. Date / HuffPost:

Trump Says He Has ‘Obliterated’ ISIS. The Terror Group Seems Not To Have Noticed. — New reports estimate as many as 30,000 ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria about the same as a few years ago. — WASHINGTON While President Donald Trump claims he has “eradicated,” “wiped out” and even …

Vatican News:

Pope Francis: Letter to the People of God (full text) — Pope Francis has responded to new reports of clerical sexual abuse and the ecclesial cover-up of abuse. In an impassioned letter addressed to the whole People of God, he calls on the Church to be close to victims in solidarity …

Discussion: Townhall, Vox, Philly.com, CBS Pittsburgh, The American Conservative, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Boing Boing, NPR and Joe.My.God.

Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:

Korean Families, Separated for 6 Decades, Are Briefly Reunited — SEOUL, South Korea — For two hours on Monday, a 92-year-old woman held her son's hand and looked him in the eyes for the first time in more than 65 years, as family members from North and South Korea were permitted a rare chance …

Jesse Johnson / Japan Times: North Korea alludes to confrontation with U.S. over secret nuclear sites during negotiations

John Wagner / Washington Post:

First lady Melania Trump warns of ‘destructive and harmful’ side of social media — As her husband continued to rip into his adversaries on Twitter, first lady Melania Trump on Monday warned that social media can be used in a “destructive and harmful” manner during remarks at a conference on preventing cyberbullying.

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

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.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Tennessean.com:

Republicans slam Jason Isbell, Ben Folds as ‘the unhinged left’ ahead of Phil Bredesen rally — Phil Bredesen and Marsha Blackburn are the leading candidates to replace Bob Corker in the U.S. Senate Michael Schwab/USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee — The political arm of U.S. Senate Republicans …

Washington Post:

Northam calls Aug. 30 special session for legislature to redraw districts — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is calling the General Assembly into special session on Aug. 30 to redraw legislative districts in the House of Delegates. — A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court …

Holly Yan / CNN:

Chicago records 58 shootings in less than 3 days — Dozens shot in weekend of violence in Chicago — (CNN)In this city, someone gets shot an average of about once per hour. — That was the sobering reality in Chicago this weekend, when at least 58 people were shot between Friday afternoon …

Discussion: CBS Chicago and Daily Wire

Anthony Man / Sun-Sentinel:

Congressman Alcee Hastings says ‘something is tragically wrong’ with Donald Trump's mind — U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings on stage at the Sunrise Civic Center Theater on Aug. 19, 2018, before he took over as emcee of a “Stronger Together” rally sponsored by 16 Broward County Democratic Clubs.

Discussion: RedState, Political Wire, Washington Times, Roll Call, Townhall and Daily Wire