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3:00 PM ET, October 11, 2018

Top Items:

Crown prince sought to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him, U.S. intercepts show — The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered an operation to lure Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia from his home in Virginia and then detain him …

Josh Lederman / NBC News:

Screenshots show Khashoggi did not see text messages after entering Saudi consulate — Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi checked his phone before entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but didn't see messages sent minutes later. — WASHINGTON — Missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi checked …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, Just Security, Politico and New York Times

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

What Trump Can Do About Saudi Arabia — What happened to Jamal Khashoggi? The Saudis need to provide the U.S. with answers. — When it comes to Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who has been missing since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week, we remain in the allegation-and-denial phase.

Discussion: The Atlantic, RedState, New York Times, Mother Jones and Reporters Without Borders

Middle East Eye: Turkey, Saudi Arabia agree to joint probe into Khashoggi disappearance

Wall Street Journal:
Saudi Journalist's Disappearance Sends Chill Through Foreign Investors, Firms

Discussion: Washington Post

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Cancel your Christmas plans ...

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press and The Week

Bruce Riedel / Lawfare:
After Khashoggi, U.S. Arms Sales to the Saudis Are Essential Leverage

Discussion: The Atlantic, The American Conservative and CNBC

Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News:

Melania Trump says she is one of the most bullied people in the world; distrusts some in the West Wing — First lady Melania Trump told ABC News in an exclusive interview that she has told her husband there have been people in his administration she didn't trust who worked for him.

Associated Press: Melania Trump says she might be ‘the most bullied person’

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Trump pledges to ‘weed out’ administration officials he does not trust

Discussion: Associated Press, ABC News and The Week

Sheera Frenkel / New York Times:

Made and Distributed in the U.S.A.: Online Disinformation — SAN FRANCISCO — When Christine Blasey Ford testified before Congress last month about Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault, an online news site called Right Wing News sprang into action on Facebook.

Discussion: twitchy.com and The Verge

Washington Post:

Facebook purged over 800 accounts and pages pushing political messages for profit — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook said on Thursday it has purged more than 800 U.S publishers and accounts for flooding users with politically-oriented content that violated the company's spam policies …

more at Mediagazer »

Jacey Fortin / New York Times:

Matthew Shepard Will Be Interred at the Washington National Cathedral, 20 Years After His Death — For 20 years, the ashes of Matthew Shepard have not been laid to rest. — Mr. Shepard's killing in 1998, when he was a 21-year-old college student, led to national outrage and, almost overnight …

Discussion: Human Rights Campaign and Joe.My.God.

Michelle Boorstein / Washington Post:

Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder became a symbol for the gay rights movement, will be interred at Washington National Cathedral — His family didn't bury his remains after Shepard was beaten and left to die near Laramie, Wyo., out of concern that the site would be desecrated.

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation and Washingtonian

NBC News:

Trump accuses Hillary Clinton of colluding with Russia as crowd chants ‘lock her up’ — Trump's evidence-free allegation at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, was an unusually direct claim against his 2016 rival. — ERIE, Pa. — President Donald Trump directly accused Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Shakesville, Jezebel and Splinter

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Memo to the media: Stop spreading Trump's fake news

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Secret deal with Turkey paves way for American pastor's release — North Carolina pastor Andrew Brunson is expected to be released in coming days after two years of detention in Turkey. — WASHINGTON — The White House expects North Carolina pastor Andrew Brunson to be released …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, RedState and CNBC

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Trump, no longer ratings gold, loses his prime-time spot on Fox News — President Donald Trump loves to brag about ratings, but he's not getting them anymore. — As he's ramped up his rally schedule ahead of the midterms, viewership numbers for the raucous prime-time events have been roughly similar to …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Vox, HuffPost, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, IJR, Joe.My.God., No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, Splinter, The Week, Mediaite and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:
White House Will ‘Look Into’ Fox News' Decision to Stop Broadcasting Trump Rallies

Discussion: Raw Story and Shareblue Media

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

White Americans Gain the Most From Trump's Tax Cuts, Report Finds — The differing benefits by race reflect longstanding patterns of economic inequality and the structure of the law President Trump signed last year. — The tax cuts that President Trump signed into law last year …

Discussion: Splinter and theGrio

Laura Beckerman / CREW: Trump Will Likely Benefit from a Massive New Loophole in the Tax Bill

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Republicans Abandon Vulnerable Lawmakers, Striving to Keep House — DALLAS — Vice President Mike Pence laid out a hopeful vision for the midterm elections this week as he campaigned for Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, telling Republican donors that candidates like Mr. Sessions …

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Adelson drops tens of millions more to save the GOP Congress — Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is pumping tens of millions of dollars more into Republican Party coffers in an 11th-hour push to save their congressional majorities, according to two senior Republicans familiar with the donation.

ABC News:

Kanye West on Trump: 'If he don't look good, we don't look good' — Coming up in the next {{countdown}} {{countdownlbl}} — Coming up next: — {{nextVideo.title}} — {{nextVideo.description}} — Skip to this video now — Related Extras Related Videos Video Transcript

Discussion: Politico

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall:
CNN Segment Calls Kanye ‘Token Negro’, ‘Attention Whore’, and 'What Happens When Negroes Don't Read'

Discussion: Chicks On The Right, The New Civil Rights Movement and The Intercept

Ady Barkan / The Nation:

I'm Dying. Here Is What I Refuse to Accept With Serenity. — Voting is not nearly enough. We need to become organizers. — On September 30, 2016, Rachael and I celebrated one year of marriage and 11 years together by booking a hotel room in Los Angeles and going out for fancy Asian fusion.

John Wildermuth / San Francisco Chronicle:

Pelosi: Trump's tax returns are fair game if Democrats win House — Expect Democrats to immediately try to force President Trump to release his tax returns if they take back the House in November, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. — Demanding the president's tax returns …

Discussion: CNN, The New Civil Rights Movement, Daily Kos, Washington Times and Political Wire

Politico:

Judge questions ‘highly unusual’ Manafort plea deal with Mueller — The federal judge in Virginia who oversaw Paul Manafort's criminal trial this summer threw a new obstacle into the former Trump campaign chairman's plea deal Thursday by calling out as “highly unusual” a plan to seek …

Discussion: Law & Crime

Ken Klippenstein / TYT Network:

Cruz Aide Worked for Dictator Now on Trial for Crimes Against Humanity — Child soldiers. Torture. Rape. Mass executions. — These are some of the atrocities attributed to the regime of Laurent Gbagbo, former president of West Africa's Ivory Coast.

Washington Post:

Rosenstein-McCabe feud dates back to angry standoff in front of Mueller — Shortly after Robert S. Mueller III was appointed to investigate possible coordination between President Trump's campaign and the Kremlin, he was drawn into a tense standoff in which Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein …

Discussion: Power Line, New York Times, KTVQ-TV, Conservative News Today, HuffPost, The Last Refuge and Raw Story

Mike Levine / ABC News: Fired official Andrew McCabe accuses FBI of stalling his upcoming book

León Krauze / Slate:

The Democrats Have a Latino Problem — Hispanic voters were supposed to be the party's future. It's not working out that way. — If the Democratic Party is to regain control of Congress or win back the White House, it will need the support of women and minorities.

Reid Wilson / The Hill:

Democrats aim for big gains in state legislatures — SUNFISH LAKE, Minn. — Bolstered by an unpopular Republican president and favorable winds in suburban districts, Democrats see a golden opportunity to win back hundreds of state legislative seats across the country, rebuilding a bench decimated …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos and Political Wire

Josh Nathan-Kazis / Forward:

Israeli Spy Firm That Approached Trump First Proposed Dirty Tricks Against BDS — The Israeli private intelligence company that offered to manipulate social media for the Trump campaign offered similar services a year earlier to a group of U.S. Jewish donors who sought to target Israel's critics …

Robby Soave / Hit & Run:

Study: 80% of Americans Believe Political Correctness Is a Problem — Except among a tiny minority of far-left Americans, political correctness (P.C.) is deeply unpopular. Some 80 percent of people said they viewed P.C. excess as a problem. — That's according to a fascinating survey conducted …

Discussion: Daily Wire, IJR, Chicago Boyz and The American Conservative

Bloomberg:

Nixon's Grandson May Become a Trump Aide on China, Sources Say — Christopher Nixon Cox is a co-founder of OC Global Partners — If vetting is successful, he would work under Larry Kudlow — Christopher Nixon Cox, the grandson of the late U.S. President Richard Nixon …

USA Today:

Real Democratic agenda: Lower health costs, less corruption, more jobs and fairness — If we win the House, we'll work to create jobs, reduce corruption, rein in prescription costs and protect health coverage for pre-existing conditions. — CONNECT — In less than four weeks …

David Dayen / The Intercept:

Dianne Feinstein Finally Agrees to “Debate” Senate Challenger, While Ensuring Almost No One Watches It — Photos: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Alex Brandon/AP — Dianne Feinstein, the longtime California senator, has finally agreed to a share a stage with her Democratic opponent …

Discussion: Sacramento Bee and Splinter

Emma Green / The Atlantic:

Politics as the New Religion for Progressive Democrats — The voters who are most amped for the 2018 elections look elite in nearly every way. They are Democrats, college-educated, and largely secular. They are likely to be women, but they're not necessarily white or particularly young.