memeorandum: Andrew Gillum Upends Expectations in Florida Primary Victory (Patricia Mazzei/New York Times)

9:50 AM ET, August 29, 2018

Top Items:

U.S. Probing Whether Malaysian Fugitive Laundered Funds to Pay Chris Christie and Trump Lawyer — Jho Low under investigation for alleged embezzlement of $4.5 billion from 1MDB fund — The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether a fugitive Malaysian financier laundered tens …

Discussion: Washington Post

Paul Starr / American Prospect:

No, Trump Is Far from Finished — President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Drum, New York. — In a 1920 study that is now regarded as a pioneering example of press criticism, Walter Lippmann and Charles Marz found that in its coverage of the Russian Revolution, The New York Times had repeatedly told …

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Trump privately revived the idea of firing Sessions this month, according to people familiar with the discussions

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Raw Story, Mediaite, NY State of Politics and Political Wire

Philip Elliott / TIME:

Why the Senate May Not Rename a Building for John McCain After All — Congress might want to hold off ordering new signage for one of its office buildings. — A proposal to rename the Russell Senate Office Building in honor of Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday, seems to have found its first sticking point.

Discussion: Washington Post, Splinter, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP eyes another shot at ObamaCare repeal after McCain's death — Senate Republicans say they would like Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to appoint a successor to late Sen. John McCain — (R-Ariz.) who, unlike McCain, would support GOP legislation to repeal ObamaCare.

Discussion: Vox and Political Wire

Politico:
Cindy McCain wields quiet influence over Senate replacement

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Washington Post and The Political Insider

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Renaming Senate office building after McCain sparks GOP backlash

Discussion: RedState and Political Wire

Axios:

Scoop: Don McGahn's coming White House exit — Top White House officials and sources close to White House counsel Don McGahn tell Axios that McGahn will step down this fall — after Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, or after the midterms. — The big picture …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washingtonian, Raw Story, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

The Daily Beast:
Trump Aide Kelly Sadler Joked About McCain Dying—and Was Offered a New Job

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

New York Times:

A Black Progressive and a Trump Acolyte Win Florida Governor Primaries — ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Democrats nominated Andrew Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, and Republicans tapped Representative Ron DeSantis for governor Tuesday, setting the stage for a ferocious general election …

Discussion: miamiherald, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Politico, Common Dreams, Media Matters for America, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, The Intercept, Information Liberation and Townhall

Dylan Scott / Vox:

Andrew Gillum wins Florida governor primary in upset victory for the left — The Tallahassee mayor will be the Democratic nominee in one of 2018's most important governor's races. — Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum prevailed in the hotly contested Democratic primary election for Florida governor …

Discussion: Politico, Tampa Bay Times, NBC News, New York Times, The Capitolist, Balloon Juice, Axios, Joe.My.God., The Nation and Fox News

Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:
Andrew Gillum Upends Expectations in Florida Primary Victory

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Politico and VICE News

NBC News:

Trump told Christian leaders he got rid of a law. He didn't. — According to recorded excerpts of private remarks, he said evangelicals were “one election away from losing everything.” — In a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Monday night, President Trump repeated …

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

If G.O.P. Loses Hold on Congress, Trump Warns, Democrats Will Enact Change ‘Quickly and Violently’ — WASHINGTON — President Trump warned evangelical leaders Monday night that Democrats “will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently” if Republicans lose control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media, TheJournal.ie, The Guardian, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, NTK Network, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Second Nexus and Mediaite

Jeff Zeleny / CNN:

Inside McCain's surprise eulogy invitation to Obama — (CNN)A parting lesson in American civility from Sen. John McCain lies in the roster of leaders he personally selected to pay tribute at his memorial service Saturday at the National Cathedral. — It was a day in early April …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Politico

Josh Meyer / Politico:
McCain's choice of Russian dissident as pallbearer is final dig at Putin, Trump

Discussion: National Review, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, Raw Story and Political Wire

Michael Tackett / New York Times:

C.I.A. Officer-Turned-Candidate Says PAC Obtained Her Security Application — WASHINGTON — A former C.I.A. officer running for Congress accused a super PAC aligned with Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday of improperly obtaining her entire federal security clearance application …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Courtney Alexander / Congressional Leadership Fund: CLF Issues Statement: What Is Abigail Spanberger Hiding

New York Post:

We should all be worried about Google's power — SEE ALSO — Tuesday brought endless commentary and reporting on how President Trump was being utterly ridiculous and conspiratorial to accuse Google of bias in its search algorithms. Funny: Just over a year ago, in June 2017 …

Discussion: Breitbart, CNN, Raw Story and Jihad Watch, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Nash / Breitbart:
Top Google News Story: CNN Claiming Google News Isn't ‘Rigged’

Discussion: Washington Post, Sputnik International and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

Hadas Gold / CNNMoney:
Trump slams Google search as ‘rigged’ — but it's not

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Raw Story and Breitbart

Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Many indifferent to Kavanaugh nomination — WASHINGTON (AP) — Does Brett Kavanaugh belong on the Supreme Court? It's a question that may be consuming Washington, but one that elicits a shrug from many Americans. And there's also no nationwide consensus on whether the Senate …

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Poll: Majority can't name a single Supreme Court justice

Discussion: Observer

New York Times:

Dozens at Facebook Unite to Challenge Its ‘Intolerant’ Liberal Culture — SAN FRANCISCO — The post went up quietly on Facebook's internal message board last week. Titled “We Have a Problem With Political Diversity,” it quickly took off inside the social network.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, Mashable and Instapundit, more at Techmeme »

Politico:

Trump lawyer Giuliani got paid to lobby Romanian president — Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was being paid by a global consulting firm when he sent a letter to the president of Romania last week that contradicted the U.S. government's official position.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Balkan Insight, EURACTIV.com, The Guardian and Bloomberg

Colum Lynch / Foreign Policy:

U.S. to End All Funding to U.N. Agency That Aids Palestinian Refugees — The Trump administration hopes to pressure Palestinians to return to bargaining table. — Months after scaling back financial support for the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid to more than 5 million …

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency and middleeastmonitor.com

Washington Post: Administration decides not to roll back foreign aid funds

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump, without citing evidence, says China hacked Hillary Clinton's emails — President Trump asserted early Wednesday, without citing evidence, that Hillary Clinton's emails were hacked by China, and he said the Justice Department and FBI risked losing their credibility if they did not look into the matter.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, NPR, Fox News, Second Nexus, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Joe.My.God., Washington Times and Mediaite

CNN:

Attorney for Michael Cohen keeps changing his story on Trump Tower meeting — (CNN)In recent days, one of Michael Cohen's lawyers has repeatedly changed his account of what Cohen knew about President Donald Trump's involvement in a controversial meeting during the 2016 campaign.

Discussion: The Federalist, Axios, Washington Monthly, Rolling Stone, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, RedState, Fox News Insider, TVNewser, IJR and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Thomas L. Friedman / Associated Press:

What if Trump Did Actually Shoot Someone on Fifth Avenue? — Your vote in the midterms matters, because Republicans in Congress won't restrain the president's excesses. … My biggest challenge in writing all of the above? Worrying that readers wouldn't realize it was made up.

Elizabeth Llorente / Fox News:

Pope Francis facing calls to resign; sexual abuse scandal exposes rifts in the Vatican — The Catholic Church is reeling after a grand jury report in Pennsylvania found that possibly more than 1,000 children in six dioceses had been sexually abused by about 300 priests or higher ranking officials.

Discussion: Daily Wire

Philip Pullella / Reuters:
Defenders rally around pope, fear conservatives escalating war

Discussion: twitchy.com and New York Times

Jonathan Dienst / NBC New York:

Key Paul Manafort Banker Robbed of iPad, Briefcase in Mysterious Overnight Break-in at His NYC Penthouse: Sources — David Fallarino was one of three so-called key figures not called by Robert Mueller's office to testify at the trial of Paul Manafort — Paul Manafort Found Guilty on Counts of Financial Fraud

Discussion: CNBC, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Gothamist

Ashley Southall / New York Times: Burglar Steals iPad From Home of Banker Tied to Paul Manafort, Police Say

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

HBO is out of the adult entertainment business — HBO's popular drama series “The Deuce” is set in Times Square in the 1970s before the New York neighborhood was purged of its X-rated movie houses and adult book stores. — But the cleanup of the cable network's own red light district is already complete.

Discussion: WTVR-TV, more at Mediagazer »

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:

Emails Link Former Homeland Security Official to White Nationalists — In the past two years, leaders of an emboldened white nationalism have burst into the forefront of national politics and coalesced around a so-called alt-right subculture as they have endeavored to make their ideology part of the mainstream.

Discussion: Splinter and Raw Story

Benoit Faucon / Wall Street Journal:

Iran's Oil Exports Dropping Faster Than Expected Before U.S. Sanctions — Shipments are set to decline by a third as shippers pull back from the Islamic Republic months ahead of a Nov. 4 U.S. deadline — Iran oil shipments are declining at a faster-than-expected pace ahead of U.S. sanctions set to begin in November.

Willis L. Krumholz / The Federalist:

With A Terrible Record To Run On, Keith Ellison Slings Slime At AG Opponent Doug Wardlow — Democrats have a narrative to maintain, a powerful elected office to retain, and a deeply-flawed but nationally known candidate in Keith Ellison. Bring on the baseless smears against his opponent Doug Wardlow.

New York Times:

Why Are U.S. Bombs Killing Civilians in Yemen? — The United States, by providing weapons and support to the Saudi-led coalition waging indiscriminate war in Yemen, shares in the blame. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.

Discussion: The American Conservative, Pacific Standard, IJR, OHCHR, Lawfare and VICE News

A.J. Katz / TVNewser:

August 2018 Ratings: CNN Has Its Second-Best August Ever — CNN Tops MSNBC for Record-Setting 50th Straight Month in Total Day — The Lead and State of the Union with Jake Tapper Rank #1 — New Day, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett Outfront, Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon

Discussion: RedState and The Hill

Christopher Flavelle / Bloomberg:

Miami Will Be Underwater Soon. Its Drinking Water Could Go First — One morning in June, Douglas Yoder climbed into a white government SUV on the edge of Miami and headed northwest, away from the glittering coastline and into the maze of water infrastructure that makes this city possible.