memeorandum: Jemele Hill is out at ESPN (Andrew Marchand/New York Post)

2:05 PM ET, August 26, 2018

Top Items:

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / KARE-TV:

Arizona Senate candidate Kelli Ward suggests John McCain statement on ending treatment timed to hurt her campaign — Kelli Ward: McCain health statement timed to hurt her … Sen. John McCain poses at the Republic Media building in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, August 3, 2017. — Sen. John McCain.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Splinter, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Politico and Political Wire

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

GOP Arizona Senate candidate suggested McCain family statement on cancer treatment was meant to hurt her campaign — Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward suggested Saturday that the Friday statement issued by Sen. John McCain — 's (R-Ariz.) family about ending medical treatment for brain cancer was intended to hurt her campaign.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Washington Times and The Daily Caller

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:

John McCain Funeral Plans: Lying in State at Capitol Rotunda — WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday at age 81, will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda and receive a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. — Mr. McCain, who served for two decades …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS News, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Root, IJR, People.com, Daily Wire, Chicago Sun-Times, Mother Jones, Althouse and Breitbart

Martin Cizmar / Raw Story:

Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward accuses John McCain of dying to push ‘negative narrative’ about her — Arizona Republican Kelli Ward and one of her staffers accused John McCain of announcing that he was about to die at a time that would harm their campaign.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, Hill Reporter, TheBlaze, Mediaite and The Western Journal

Russell Feingold / New York Times:

Russ Feingold: John McCain Was a Committed Leader. He Was Also Really Fun. — Being with John McCain, who died Saturday afternoon, could be a lot of work but was almost always fun. There were many often heroic chapters in this exciting man's life to which others can better speak.

Discussion: Clinton Foundation, The Week, TheBlaze and CBS Pittsburgh

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:
Who could be appointed to John McCain's Senate seat?

Discussion: The Western Journal, Politico, TheBlaze, FiveThirtyEight, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Washington Times, Mediaite and Vox

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Keeping up with John McCain

Discussion: Voice of America and The Atlantic

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
John McCain, War Hero, Senator, Presidential Contender, Dies at 81

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Remembering John McCain

Discussion: Arizona Republic, New York Times, Breitbart and Washington Post

Jeff Flake / Washington Post:
I am grateful for John McCain

Discussion: Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, Wall Street Journal and The Week

Mark Salter / Washington Post:
John McCain spent his life serving the dignity of his fellow man

Discussion: Politico and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
John McCain, the irreplaceable American

Discussion: Q & A, Hosted, IJR and Vox

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
John McCain, ‘maverick’ of the Senate and former POW, dies at 81

Discussion: Raw Story, Louder With Crowder, The Guardian, Mediaite, The Week and Arizona Republic

Elizabeth Chuck / NBC News:
Sen. John McCain, independent voice of the GOP establishment, dies at 81

Discussion: CNBC, HuffPost, LifeZette, TVNewser, CNN, IJR, The Week, Mashable, The Last Tradition, Small Dead Animals and The Gateway Pundit

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
John McCain, a Last Lion of the Senate

Discussion: Refinery29

Steve Turnham / ABC News:
John McCain, Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero, dies at 81

Discussion: The Atlantic, HuffPost, Politico and The Daily Caller

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
John McCain, senator and former presidential candidate, dies at 81

Discussion: Splinter, Vox, myfox8.com, alicublog, FOX59 and Japan Times

NBC News:

NBC/WSJ poll: Trump approval ‘remarkably stable’ after a stormy week of bad news — But 56 percent of voters say Trump has not been honest and truthful about the Mueller probe. — WASHINGTON — After a week that saw President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman convicted on eight counts …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mother Jones and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Washington Post:

Former Vatican ambassador says Pope Francis, Benedict knew of sexual misconduct allegations against McCarrick for years — DUBLIN — A former Vatican ambassador to the United States has alleged in an 11-page letter that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis — among other top Catholic Church officials …

Edward Pentin / National Catholic Register …:

Ex-Nuncio Accuses Pope Francis of Failing to Act on McCarrick's Abuse — In a written testimony, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò claims Pope Francis withdrew sanctions against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. — In an extraordinary 11-page written testament, a former apostolic nuncio …

Discussion: Settimo Cielo, Catholic World Report, Small Dead Animals, Vox, The American Conservative, The Right Scoop, Spectator USA, The Gateway Pundit and The Week

Charles Isherwood / New York Times:

Neil Simon, a Master of Comedy on Broadway and Beyond, Is Dead at 91 — Neil Simon, the playwright whose name was synonymous with Broadway comedy and commercial success in the theater for decades, and who helped redefine popular American humor with an emphasis on the frictions of urban living …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Blast

Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:
Neil Simon, Broadway's long-reigning king of comedy, dies at 91

Discussion: Mediaite

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

The Prosecutors Who Have Declared War on the President — The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York isn't done digging into the Trump Organization. — In the span of one week, we learned that the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York …

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
'He can't get rid of any of this': Trump's wall of secrecy erodes amid growing legal challenges

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

David French / The Atlantic:

America Soured on My Multiracial Family — There are three fundamental, complicating truths about adoption. First, every single adoption begins with profound loss. Through death, abandonment, or even loving surrender, a child suffers the loss of his or her mother and father.

Andrew Marchand / New York Post:

Jemele Hill is out at ESPN — Jemele Hill needed to be out at ESPN. Hill knew it. ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro knew it. And, now, Jemele Hill is out at ESPN. — The marriage between ESPN and Hill — the controversial sports commentator who waded into politics and sparred …

Discussion: Daily Wire and The Big Lead, more at Mediagazer »

Bob Bauer / The Atlantic:

Trump's Contempt for the Law Will Be His Downfall — Michael Cohen's guilty plea this week, on charges including campaign-finance violations, brought the investigations directly to the president. It has also, however, supplied Trump and his allies with new material with which to cry “witch hunt.”

Peter Wehner / New York Times:

The Full-Spectrum Corruption of Donald Trump — Everyone and everything he touches rots. — Mr. Wehner served in the previous three Republican administrations and is a contributing opinion writer. — There's never been any confusion about the character defects of Donald Trump.

BostonGlobe.com:

Endorsement: Democrats should choose Ayanna Pressley for the Seventh District — Change happens in the trenches. Five years ago, City Councilor Ayanna Pressley set out to overhaul the way Boston hands out liquor licenses, the golden tickets that allow restaurants to serve booze.

Adam Shaw / Fox News:

DNC votes to limit influence of superdelegates in presidential nominating process — Poll shows enthusiasm among Democrats ahead of 2018 midterm elections; Democratic strategist Robin Biro weighs in. — The Democratic National Committee voted Saturday to limit the influence of superdelegates …

Discussion: Daily Wire, TheBlaze, Vox, The Daily Caller and Politico