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

1:30 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, Raw Story, CNN, ABC News, Fox News Insider and New York Times

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

“Truth isn't truth.” — Rudy Giuliani's instant meme is even worse than it looked at first. — “Truth isn't truth.” — So said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on August 19, defending President Donald Trump on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. — With those words …

Discussion: MSNBC and Popular Information

New York Times:
Trump Lawyers' Sudden Realization: They Don't Know What Don McGahn Told Mueller's Team

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

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, The Daily Caller, NBC News and ABC News

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

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, The Root and Talking Points Memo

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: Politico, The Guardian, IJR, Sara A. Carter 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, Don Surber and New York Post

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

Discussion: Just Security, One America News Network and CNN

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

Discussion: Breitbart and The Week

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

Brett Kavanaugh memo detailed explicit questions for Clinton — Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a strikingly explicit 1998 memo that he was “strongly opposed” to giving then-President Bill Clinton any “break” in the independent counsel's questioning about his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky …

Discussion: Politico, New Republic, Joe.My.God., Law & Crime and Balloon Juice

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 …

Politico:
Liberals crushed in SCOTUS spending war

Discussion: The Daily Caller and CNN

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, FOX59, Deadline, Vox, TheBlaze, NPR, The Daily Caller, Gothamist, France 24, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and AOL

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

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Beast, 100PercentFedUp.com, Washington Free Beacon, Althouse and The Western Journal

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: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Politico

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 …

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 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

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

CNN:
Melania Trump tackles ‘destructive and harmful’ effects of social media

Discussion: Townhall, ThinkProgress, New York Daily News, HuffPost, IJR, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

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.”

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

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

Bloomberg:

Trump Complains to Donors in the Hamptons About Powell's Rate Hikes — President laments interest rate increases at GOP fundraiser — Federal Reserve has raised rates five times in Trump's term — President Donald Trump said he expected Jerome Powell to be a cheap-money Fed chairman …

Discussion: Political Wire, CNBC and BloombergQuint

Yeganeh Torbati / Reuters:

Exclusive: Pentagon raises alarm about sharp drop in Iraqi refugees coming to U.S. — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Military officials are sounding the alarm inside the Trump administration about the sharp drop in admission to the United States of Iraqi refugees who have helped American troops in battle …

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 …

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

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 …

Eylon Aslan-Levy / i24NEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn's secret trip to Israel to meet Hamas — UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (right) pictured in Jerusalem alongside Labour MP Andrew Slaughter (left), and Hamas officials Ahmad Attoun, Khaled Abu-Arafah, and Muhammad Totah. — Jeremy Corbyn visited Israel and the West Bank …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, Front Page Magazine, Telegraph and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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, Washington Post, Fox News, Daily Wire, Political Wire, Washington Times, Roll Call, Townhall and The Daily Caller

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 …

Winnie Hu / New York Times:

Harlem's Trash Bins Were Overflowing. So the City Took 223 Away. — The green litter basket had stood on a street corner in Harlem for as long as anyone could remember, collecting unwanted plastic bottles, candy wrappers and crumpled bags and papers. — Then one day it was gone.

Discussion: National Review

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: Common Dreams, The Gateway Pundit and NY State of Politics

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

Lawrence Chung / Politico:

United States ‘plays Taiwan card’ with Tsai Ing-wen's trip to NASA's mission control center — This story is being published by POLITICO as part of a content partnership with the South China Morning Post. It originally appeared on scmp.com on Aug. 20, 2018.

Discussion: One America News Network

Eric Felten / Weekly Standard:

The NYT's Strange Insistence That Bruce Ohr Is a Big Nobody — He was actually associate deputy attorney general until recently. — Since late 2017, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr has emerged as a central character in the Trump dossier saga, including the contested way the dossier's allegations …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Power Line