memeorandum: Omarosa's ‘Unhinged’ is fading fast: Hardcover sales dropped 40 percent (Ron Charles/Washington Post)

9:40 AM ET, August 31, 2018

Top Items:

Poll: 60 percent disapprove of Trump, while clear majorities back Mueller and Sessions — President Trump's disapproval rating has hit a high point of 60 percent, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that also finds that clear majorities of Americans support the special counsel's …

Discussion: Political Wire, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog and Axios

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Trouble for Trump: Disapproval at a high, 63% back Mueller, half favor impeachment — Disapproval of Donald Trump is at a new high, support for the Mueller investigation is broad and half of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll favor Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against the president.

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Times, Women in the World, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Most Americans oppose Trump firing Sessions — Poll Questions — Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat? — Hide Results — Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy?

Discussion: Political Wire, Roll Call, The Guardian, The Week, Politico and Axios

Bloomberg:
Trump Says He'll Keep Sessions Until November Despite ‘Illegal’ Probe

Discussion: FOX News Radio, POLITICUSUSA, Boing Boing, ABC News, The Last Refuge, The Guardian, The Right Scoop, The Gateway Pundit, WGNO, National Review, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Splinter, Political Wire and Politico

Matthew Mosk / ABC News: The fight for Donald Trump's tax returns is heating up — again

Maxwell Tani Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:

Sources: NBC Threatened Ronan Farrow if He Kept Reporting on Harvey Weinstein — Ronan Farrow had already left NBC News. But a top lawyer at the network threatened to smear him if he continued to pursue the Hollywood mogul, multiple knowledgeable sources say. — Lachlan Cartwright

Discussion: NewsBusters, Washington Post, Above the Law, VICE News, Mediaite, Raw Story, New Republic, Big League Politics and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

John Koblin / New York Times:

Ronan Farrow's Ex-Producer Says NBC Impeded Weinstein Reporting — In October, when Ronan Farrow published his first article in The New Yorker on the alleged transgressions of Harvey Weinstein, people in the media and entertainment industries wondered how NBC had missed the story.

Discussion: Conservative News Today, TVNewser, RedState, Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon, Deadline and Mediaite

Associated Press:

Concern in White House over shortage of lawyers, press aides — WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly convinced that the West Wing is wholly unprepared to handle the expected assault from Democrats if they win the House in November, President Donald Trump's aides and allies are privately raising alarm …

Bloomberg:

Trump Says Democrats Can't Impeach Him Because He's Doing a ‘Great Job’ — President cites good economy, precedent for future presidents — Any impeachment effort would face high hurdles in Congress — President Donald Trump said that Democrats shouldn't try to impeach him …

Discussion: New York Post and Mediaite

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Former Nixon counsel John Dean to be witness opposed to Kavanaugh nomination to Supreme Court

Discussion: Axios and Breitbart

Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Donald Trump Is Setting Up A Lame-Duck Crisis

Discussion: Vox and CNN

Politico:
Inside Kavanaugh's hearing prep: Mock hearings and faux protesters

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Trump cancels pay raises for federal employees

Discussion: Politico, Axios, CNBC, The Western Journal, Hot Air, The Hill, The White House, LifeZette, Second Nexus, TheBlaze, Joe.My.God., The Atlantic and Balloon Juice

The Daily Beast:

Rudy Giuliani Is Putting Together a ‘Counter-Report’ to Question Robert Mueller's ‘Legitimacy’ — It's being done with the explicit blessing of Trump who is ‘happy’ that this is part of his legal team's ‘strategy,’ the president's lawyer says. — President Donald Trump's legal team is crafting a …

Discussion: Hot Air, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, NY State of Politics, Raw Story, Political Wire and ABC News

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Chuck Todd Warns of Possible Mueller Bombshell: 'I Wouldn't Miss Work Tomorrow' — MSNBC's Chuck Todd issued a warning to the press on Thursday evening regarding the Russia investigation: Don't miss work tomorrow. — Todd's MTP Daily panel was discussing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe …

Discussion: Law & Crime

Josh Meyer / Politico:
Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears

Discussion: Breitbart, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit and HuffPost, more at Techmeme »

Travis Clark / Business Insider:

Neil Armstrong movie ‘First Man’ omits the American flag being planted on the moon, and star Ryan Gosling defended the decision — The upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man” omits the American flag being planted on the moon. — Star Ryan Gosling defended the decision …

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, NTK Network, Daily Wire and Mediaite

Anita Singh / Telegraph:
‘First Man’: Neil Armstrong film fails to fly flag for US patriotism

Discussion: National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, twitchy.com, Breitbart, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

Catherine Herridge / Fox News:

DOJ's Bruce Ohr kept Mueller deputy ‘in the loop’ about anti-Trump dossier, sources say — Embattled Justice Department official Bruce Ohr had contact in 2016 with then-colleague Andrew Weissmann, who is now a top Robert Mueller deputy, as well as other senior FBI officials …

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop

Craig Unger / Just Security:
Understanding Trump vs. Bruce Ohr: Think Russia's top crime boss, Semion Mogilevich

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Trump's Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime

Discussion: Daily Kos, RedState, HuffPost and LifeZette

Bloomberg:

Trump Defends His Handling of McCain's Death — Opinion — Iran's Fake News Is a Fake Threat — If the Iranians were any good at social media trolling, it might be something to worry about. — August 31, 2018 — Mark Gongloff — Nafta's Dying. What Comes Next?

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, CNN, TMZ.com, AOL, Mediaite and HuffPost

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

‘Tough decisions have to be made’: House Republicans prepare for pain — Party officials begin deciding which GOP lawmakers to save and which ones to cut loose. — With a massive field of vulnerable House incumbents to defend and limited resources to go around, Republicans are readying …

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Justin Doom / ABC News:

Washington says goodbye to McCain, who will lie in state at the Capitol — Sen. John McCain will lie in state today in Washington, a day after former Vice President Joe Biden gave an emotional tribute to the six-term Republican from Arizona. — “I'm a Democrat.

Discussion: Politico

Lorraine Woellert / Politico:
While Washington mourns McCain, Trump leaves town

Discussion: ABC News and News and Tribune

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Top 2008 campaign aides shut out of McCain funeral

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, NPR and Hot Air

Andrea Long Chu / Chronicle of Higher Education:

I Worked With Avital Ronell. I Believe Her Accuser. — The humanities are ablaze. This month The New York Times reported that the Title IX office had found Avital Ronell, a professor of German and comparative literature at New York University and a superstar in literary studies …

Discussion: Althouse

Annie Karni / Politico:

Why Mark Penn Is Sounding Trumpy — The longtime Clinton strategist insists his objection to the Mueller investigation is about principle, not opportunism. His critics beg to differ. — Mark Penn recently moved into a brand new office on Washington, D.C.'s I Street …

Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal:

Poll Shows NFL Fan Interest Remains Lower, Stark Divisions Over Anthem Protests — Fewer people, in particular Republicans, are following the NFL closely than they did four years ago, according to new WSJ/NBC News poll — With less than a week until the 2018 NFL season kicks off …

New York Times:

How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born? — As the world warms because of human-induced climate change, most of us can expect to see more days when temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or higher. See how your hometown has changed so far and how much hotter it may get.

Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:

Judge Rules Against Alex Jones and Infowars in Sandy Hook Lawsuit — A Texas judge denied the motion by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him and his Infowars operation by the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, in a ruling released on Thursday.

Discussion: Daily Wire, CNNMoney, Joe.My.God., Splinter, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

John Bowden / The Hill:

Trump: ‘When you get good ratings, you can say anything’ — leaned into his attacks against the news media Thursday night at a rally in Indiana, blasting news outlets for what he said was unfair coverage driven by ratings. — After mocking a protester who was escorted out at the beginning of his rally …

Discussion: Associated Press, Joe.My.God., HuffPost, AOL and Political Wire

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:

Ron DeSantis's ‘monkey’ comment was just the start of his racist dog-whistling — Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum's victory in the Democratic primary for Florida governor wasn't even 12 hours old when his Republican challenger, Rep. Ron DeSantis, hurled a few race cards into the general-election campaign.

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Florida does it again

Discussion: HuffPost and Florida Politics

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed News:

I Helped Create Insider Political Journalism. Now It's Time For It To Go Away. — Traditional political journalists were the last people to notice in 2016 that the world had changed. Candidate Donald Trump took advantage of a stubborn refusal to recognize the power of right-wing ideology …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Shakesville, more at Mediagazer »

Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:

Fact-checking Republican attack ads in tight House races — Attack ads are our bread and butter at The Fact Checker — and, boy, are we swimming in butter this week. — The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), has been running a series …

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Democrats, Beware of Falling in Love With Fundamentally Flawed Candidates — From Andrew Gillum to Keith Ellison, the party's heart is pulling harder than political reality. — BEAST INSIDE — The thing about political waves is that they sweep in sturdy and rickety boats alike.

Discussion: Big League Politics

Louisa Loveluck / Washington Post:

A final Syrian showdown looms. Millions of lives are at risk. Here are the stakes. — With Syria's rebels nearing defeat after seven years at war, President Bashar al-Assad's army says it is turning its firepower against their final stronghold. The target, Idlib province …

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Homeland Security staffer with white nationalist ties attended White House policy meetings — Ian M. Smith, a Department of Homeland Security analyst who resigned this week after he was confronted about his ties to white nationalist groups, attended multiple immigration policy meetings at the White House …

Discussion: Splinter, HuffPost, Vox, Mother Jones, Fortune and Washington Monthly

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

‘Totally dishonest’: Trump asserts only he can be trusted over opponents and ‘fake news’ — Over roughly the past day, President Trump has decried the “totally dishonest” media, with its “fake news” and “fake books.” He has argued that Google is biased against conservatives.

Discussion: The Week, Breitbart, Spectator USA and Vox, more at Mediagazer »

Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:

Sept. 11 is still killing FBI agents: 'It's like Bin Laden reaching out from the grave' … FBI Agent Dave LeValley was driving to work in Manhattan when he saw the first jetliner strike the World Trade Center on a bright September morning 17 years ago. He quickly parked his car and sprinted …

Ashe Schow / Daily Wire:

SJWs Lose It After Peter Dinklage Cast As ‘Filipino.’ There's Just One Problem. — Backlash over Peter Dinklage's casting as Hervé Villechaize — star of “Fantasy Island” — has highlighted one of the great problems with identity politics and social justice: they actually reduce people to perceived identities.

Discussion: RedState, East Bay Times and Canberra Times