memeorandum: Why so many former intelligence officers are speaking out (John McLaughlin/Washington Post)

5:00 PM ET, September 8, 2018

Top Items:

Top Trump Adviser Says Ted Cruz Could Lose Texas Senate Race — President Trump's budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, expressed confidence to Republican donors on Saturday that the party would overcome a Democratic “movement of hate” in November, but he acknowledged Republicans could lose races …

Discussion: Political Wire, Raw Story and Mediaite

Mike Allen / Axios:

The 60 days of rage leading into the midterms — Today is exactly 60 days till midterms. Yesterday's personal, venomous face-off between President Obama (who went after his successor by name in Illinois) and President Trump (who attacked Bob Woodward and threatened the New York Times aboard Air Force One) …

Discussion: The White House, Taylor Marsh, Breitbart and Raw Story

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post: White House aide tells donors GOP can win midterms despite Trump's unpopularity

Politico:
Obama vs. Trump: The clash everyone's waited for arrives

Discussion: Raw Story, Splinter and ABC News

Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
The Banality of Barack — Capping off a week where Senate …

Discussion: Fox News, Quartz and The Gateway Pundit

Argus Leader: Last Slide — Sutton's campaign office defended the candidate's record …

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Lisa Murkowski's Biggest Reason To Oppose Brett Kavanaugh May Not Be Abortion Rights — Alaska Natives are urging the senator to vote no. She owes her re-election to them. — WASHINGTON For all the speculation about Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and whether she'll vote …

Discussion: Associated Press and Tlingit & Haida

Joe Lawlor / Press Herald:

As Kavanaugh's hearing concludes, Collins says she's still undecided on Supreme Court nominee — The moderate Republican wields a key vote and says she won't make a decision until she has a chance to review Brett Kavanaugh's paperwork and testimony. — SCARBOROUGH — Sen. Susan Collins …

Discussion: Bustle

CNN:

Kavanaugh ‘abortion-inducing drug’ comment draws scrutiny — Kavanaugh asked about 2003 Roe v Wade email — Washington (CNN)Brett Kavanaugh's views on birth control drew scrutiny in Washington on Thursday as abortion rights advocates charged that the Supreme Court nominee had referred to contraceptives as “abortion-inducing drugs.”

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:
Kamala Harris Tweets Out Deceptively Edited Video to Smear Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: Vox

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Leahy says Kavanaugh was ‘not truthful’ about Democratic documents

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, Political Wire, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart and Washington Times

New York Times:

Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers — The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, according to American officials …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Guardian, Hullabaloo, TheBlaze, Sputnik International, The American Conservative, Outside the Beltway, KABE-LP, CNN, The Daily Caller and Axios

Mike Kordenbrock / Billings Gazette:

plaidshirtguy at Trump rally is ... a Billings high schooler — Billings West High School senior Tyler Linfesty learned Thursday morning during first period that he had been selected for VIP treatment at President Donald J. Trump's rally at MetraPark. — Linfesty had applied for tickets to the rally earlier in the week.

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:

Bannon Said He ‘Sucked Reince Priebus’ D*ck' to Get RNC Help, Woodward Book Claims — It's the latest revelation from Bob Woodward's bombshell book, “Fear,” about Donald Trump's campaign and administration. — Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon had so much disdain for former Republican …

Discussion: Raw Story, NPR, The Intercept and Bustle, more at Mediagazer »

Sara Sidner / CNN:

Accusations by ex-mistress of GOP mega donor Elliott Broidy go public — Los Angeles (CNN)The onetime mistress of former deputy Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Elliott Broidy alleged in newly revealed court documents that she was physically abused by Broidy …

Discussion: Axios

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Ex-Mistress Accuses Longtime RNC Leader Elliott Broidy Of Physical, Sexual Abuse, Complaint Shows

Discussion: IJR, Splinter and BloombergQuint

Justin Miller / The Daily Beast:
Elliott Broidy's Mistress Shera Bechard Says He Demanded She Get Abortion

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

Aaron Patrick / Financial Review:

NYT columnist Maureen Dowd explains why Donald Trump isn't as bad as Dick Cheney — Share via Email — Post on facebook wall — Post to Linkedin — Maureen Dowd, I have a confession. I know the “scheduling conflict” you used at the last minute to push our lunch back one hour was a hair appointment at your hotel.

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Forget the House. It's the battle for the Senate that could provide the most drama on election night. — For months now, the focus of Campaign 2018, rightly, has been on control of the House. All the metrics continue to point to a midterm election in which Democrats could seize control of that chamber.

Associated Press:

Echoes of Watergate in Trump tumult — WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House seethes with intrigue and backstabbing as aides hunt for the anonymous Deep (state) Throat among them. A president feels besieged by tormentors — Bob Woodward is driving him crazy — so he tends his version of an enemies list …

David Shortell / CNN:

Government erred in claiming accused Russian spy Maria Butina offered to trade sex for political access — (CNN)Prosecutors said Friday that they misunderstood text messages used as the basis of a claim that Maria Butina offered to trade sex for access — an extraordinary admission that threatens …

Discussion: Axios

Daniel Dale / Toronto Star:

According to Donald Trump, a lot of people are crying around Donald Trump — WASHINGTON - Something remarkable happened, according to Donald Trump, when Donald Trump arrived at his campaign rally in Evansville, Indiana last week. — Nine “miners” greeted him backstage.

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Patterico's Pontifications:

I Am an Idiot: Zina Bash's OK Sign Was Completely Innocent After All — There's no sugar-coating this. I was wrong about this. Badly, badly wrong. Laughably wrong. Zina Bash, the former clerk of Kavanaugh's who made the OK sign did it for an innocent reason.

Discussion: twitchy.com and Hot Air

Los Angeles Times:

Pentagon sends reinforcements to remote Syria base after Russia threatens attack … More than 100 U.S. Marines were sent as reinforcements to a remote coalition outpost in southern Syria on Friday after Russia threatened to attack militants in the area, the Pentagon said.

John Bowden / The Hill:

DNC: Papadopoulos's UK contact may be dead — The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday raised the prospect that the London-based professor who told former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos — that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton — may be dead.

Discussion: illegal immigration …, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Robert Kagan / Wall Street Journal:

The Cost of American Retreat — The world order that the U.S. built after World War II required sacrifice and commitment, but it brought unprecedented benefits. What happens if it disappears? — The liberal world order established by the United States a little over seven decades ago is collapsing.

John McLaughlin / Washington Post:

Why so many former intelligence officers are speaking out — John McLaughlin teaches at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He was deputy director of the CIA from 2000 to 2004, serving as acting director in 2004. — People frequently ask …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Ring of Fire Network, Washington Monthly and Al Jazeera English

Erica Steiner / The Blast:

George Zimmerman Allegedly Made Threats Against Beyoncé During Filming of Trayvon Martin Docuseries — George Zimmerman allegedly made menacing threats aimed at both Beyoncé and Jay-Z during the filming of “Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story,” the docuseries the rapper co-executive produced.

Discussion: Dazed, Raw Story, The Root, Hollywood Life and News One

Paulina Dedaj / Fox News:

Tropical Storm Florence prompts North and South Carolina to declare states of emergency as it approaches East Coast — The governor of South Carolina has followed North Carolina in declaring a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Florence becomes a “better organized” weather system that's expected …

Discussion: NPR, Bustle, The Daily Caller and NHC Atlantic Wallet 1

lohud.com:

Cuomo Bridge: ‘Dangerous situation’ on Tappan Zee halts opening of Westchester-bound span — The second span of the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge was supposed to open, but fears that the old Tappan Zee would collapse onto the new bridge kept the span closed to drivers. Video by Jordan Fenster.

Matthew Haag / New York Times:

Dallas Police Officer Kills Her Neighbor in His Apartment, Saying She Mistook It for Her Own — A Dallas police officer fatally shot a neighbor inside the man's apartment late Thursday night, claiming that she mistook his apartment for her own and believed he was an intruder, the police said.

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Law & Crime, The Root, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and NPR

Mohamed Ezz / New York Times:

Egypt Court Sentences 75 to Death Over Deadly 2013 Protests — CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 75 people to death, including leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in protest in Cairo that spiraled into violence and resulted in the death …

Angelique Chrisafis / The Guardian:

‘Act of espionage’: France accuses Russia of trying to spy on satellite data — Defence minister says Russia's Luch-Olymp craft got ‘so close’ to French military satellite last year — The French defence minister has accused Russia of attempting to intercept France's satellite communications, calling it an act of espionage.