memeorandum: Meadows calls on Rosenstein to resign ‘immediately’ (Michael Burke/The Hill)

4:15 PM ET, October 18, 2018

Top Items:

Saudi Arabia Weighs Blaming Intelligence Official for Khashoggi Killing — ISTANBUL — The rulers of Saudi Arabia are considering blaming a top intelligence official close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans said Thursday.

Discussion: The American Conservative, Raw Story, TIME, The Week, Friendly Atheist, Outside the Beltway, Just Security, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, VICE News, TechCrunch, New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNBC, BuzzFeed News, Political Wire and Daily Kos, more at Techmeme »

Rick Gladstone / New York Times:

Aide to Saudi Crown Prince, Suspect in Khashoggi Case, Is Shown Walking into Consulate — A frequent companion of Saudi Arabia's crown prince entered its Istanbul consulate just hours before the dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi disappeared inside, according to a time-stamped photograph published …

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Just Security and Common Dreams

Mark Moore / New York Post:

Saudi who arrived in Turkey day of Khashoggi disappearance dies in ‘traffic accident’ … One of the 15 Saudis who arrived in Turkey the same day Jamal Khashoggi disappeared has died in a “suspicious traffic accident” and the Saudi consul in Istanbul could be the “next execution,” according to Turkish media reports.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hürriyet Daily News, Breitbart and Business Insider

Jamal Khashoggi / Washington Post:

What the Arab world needs most is free expression — I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi's translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul. The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together.

Ahval:
Saudi suspect in Khashoggi disappearance reportedly dies in car accident - pro-gov't Yeni afak

Discussion: TheBlaze, Hot Air and CNN

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
If Trump helps cover up Khashoggi's alleged murder, that will also come out

Discussion: New York Times, Political Wire, The Mahablog, Axios and VICE News, more at Mediagazer »

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
A President Kowtowing to a Mad Prince

Discussion: The American Conservative, The Daily Caller and Jacobin

Kurt Bardella / USA Today:
Trump's Jamal Khashoggi reaction sure makes him seem bought and paid for by Saudi Arabia

Discussion: The Guardian, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and CNBC

Washington Post:
Secret recordings give insight into Saudi attempt to silence critics

Discussion: Axios and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
A private prod to the Saudis

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, The Wrap, CNN, The Hill, Politico, Fox News Insider, One America News Network, VICE News and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

Katy O'Donnell / Politico:
Mnuchin says he won't go to Saudi conference amid tension over Khashoggi disappearance

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Vox, Politico, One America News Network and Axios

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Kushner and Saudi crown prince communicated informally on WhatsApp: report

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost and Talking Points Memo

HuffPost:

Trump Closely Involved In Killing FBI's Move Out Of Washington, Emails Show — Opening up the FBI's Pennsylvania Avenue location for redevelopment would have created competition for Trump International Hotel. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump personally intervened to stop the FBI …

Discussion: Political Wire, NPR and USA Today

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:

Trump's Focus on a Washington Building Project Draws Scrutiny — WASHINGTON — Nearly two years before he would begin his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump arrived in Washington to show off his plans for a luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue under a deal he had reached to lease the site from the General Services Administration.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and New Republic

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Trump more involved in stopping FBI HQ move than previously known, emails show

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Raw Story and Roll Call

Liz Mair / The Daily Beast:

Dear God, Hillary Clinton. Please, Just Go. — No one benefits from her latest venture back onto the political scene. — We're three weeks out from the 2018 midterm election, and Hillary Clinton is popping up again like a Halloween ghoul who keeps rising from the grave to terrorize the American public …

Steven Hayward / Power Line: The Democrats' Leftward March

Michelle Cottle / New York Times:
Hillary Clinton's Master Class in Distraction

Discussion: Mother Jones, Althouse and CNN

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times: The Democrats' Left Turn Is Not an Illusion

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

A Conservative Group's Closed-Door ‘Training’ of Judicial Clerks Draws Concern — The conservative legal movement has long cultivated law students and young lawyers, partly to ensure a deep bench of potential judicial nominees — A bipartisan Senate truce has fallen apart as Republicans renew …

Discussion: New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Splinter, Above the Law and Law & Crime

Madeline Shi / Business Insider:

A day in the life of an HSBC exec who wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to work out, always eats green, and studies at Stanford in her free time — Melania Edwards is always on the move. — The HSBC exec, who's part of the bank's Global Venture Capital Coverage Group, works from two Northern California offices an hour apart.

The Daily Beast:

Trump Believed His Stormy Daniels ‘Horseface’ Tweet Was Politically Brilliant — The president workshopped it before tweeting it out. And he doesn't care about the angry reactions. — Donald Trump caught various West Wing officials off-guard on Tuesday when he decided to describe …

Discussion: The Week, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

The Guardian:

Revealed: Russian billionaire set up US company before Trump Tower meeting — Aras Agalarov, who attended the meeting with Donald Trump Jr in June 2016, formed a shell company with an accountant who has had clients accused of money laundering and embezzlement

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

Kelly, Bolton Get in Profane Shouting Match Outside the Oval Office — President Donald Trump's chief of staff and his national security adviser engaged in a profanity-laced argument outside the Oval Office on Thursday, according to three people familiar with the episode.

Discussion: CNN and Raw Story

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

Heidi Cruz Didn't Plan for This — A whole new world—that is what Ted Cruz wanted to give her. — It was the spring of 2001, and Heidi Nelson was planning her nuptials to the man she'd met just over a year earlier. On Christmas break from Harvard Business School, she'd encountered …

Discussion: Splinter, The Daily Beast, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week, Portland Mercury and Politico

Joel Ebert / The Tennessean:

New Vanderbilt poll finds Bredesen with narrow edge over Blackburn in Senate race — A look at the several polls detailing the race of Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen for U.S. Senate Michael Schwab, The Tennessean — Democratic nominee Phil Bredesen has a slight edge over Republican Marsha Blackburn …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Michael Burke / The Hill:

Meadows calls on Rosenstein to resign ‘immediately’ — House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) on Thursday called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to resign “immediately.” — “I think at this particular point, Rod Rosenstien's priorities are misplaced.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Daily Caller News Foundation and MAGAVoter

David Uberti / Columbia Journalism Review:

Forecasting the midterms: Uncertainty with a chance of finger-pointing — Ahead of the November 6 elections, CJR invited writers to spotlight stories that deserve closer scrutiny, in their states and beyond, before voters cast their ballots. Read dispatches from “States of the Union” here.

Bill Roggio / FDD's Long War Journal:

Taliban attack meeting attended by General Miller, kills Kandahar police chief — The Taliban claimed credit for an attack at a high level meeting in Kandahar that killed General Raziq, the province's chief of police and arguably the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan.

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard: The Afghanistan War Is Over. We Lost.

Paul Hammel / Omaha World-Herald:

Nebraska's new tourism pitch: 'Honestly, it's not for everyone' — “Like Stonehenge, but a newer model,” says this example of a new Nebraska tourism ad that shows Carhenge near Alliance. The first ads of the new campaign will roll out in January. — NEBRASKA CITY — Nebraska's …

Discussion: Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Matthew DeFour / madison.com:

Fourth former Scott Walker secretary comes forward to criticize governor — A fourth former secretary for Gov. Scott Walker has come forward to criticize the Republican governor after resigning from his job leading Madison's economic development agency in order to speak more freely.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Raw Story

Hunter Woodall / Kansas City Star:

Another former GOP governor of Kansas just endorsed Dem Laura Kelly over Kris Kobach — A second former Republican governor of Kansas is spurning Kris Kobach's run for the office in favor of Democrat Laura Kelly's candidacy. — Former Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden, who served from 1987 to 1991 …

Discussion: Political Wire

Karen Weise / New York Times:

Among Amazon HQ2 Watchers, Northern Virginia Checks the Most Boxes — SEATTLE — Amazon won't say a word about where it plans to put its much-hyped second headquarters. Officials in the 20 cities and regions named as finalists say that they don't know anything — and that even if they did, they wouldn't share it publicly.

Kristen Taketa / sandiegouniontribune.com:

La Jolla Elementary School principal apologizes for email warning parents about a black man at Starbucks — La Jolla Elementary School (U-T files) … The La Jolla Elementary School principal apologized this week for an email to parents that she says unintentionally perpetuated stereotypes about black people.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Root

WDJT-TV:

Greendale High School student suspended after she says she was called the N-word — To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video — GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) — The suspension of a black student at Greendale High School …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Root

Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer / New York Times:

Eight Stories of Men's Regret — Late on the Friday afternoon of Sept. 21, the same week that Christine Blasey Ford went public with accusations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, The New York Times invited male readers to tell us about their high school experiences.

Tracy Maher / KSTP-TV:

Former Minnesota FBI Agent Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Leaking Documents — Terry James Albury, a former FBI agent in Minnesota, was sentenced to four years in prison with an additional three years of supervised release on Thursday in U.S. District Court..

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Forest Guardians / The FOIA Project:

FOIA Suits Filed by Nonprofit/Advocacy Groups Have Doubled Under Trump — Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suits filed by nonprofit and advocacy organizations seeking access to federal government records have more than doubled since President Trump assumed office. This rapid explosion in FOIA litigation is shown in Figure 1.

The Harvard Crimson:

In Admissions, Harvard Favors Those Who Fund It, Internal Emails Show — In one 2013 email headlined “My Hero,” former Kennedy School Dean Ellwood thanked Harvard's admissions dean for his help accepting a set of students with very particular qualifications. “[Redacted] and [redacted] are all big wins.

Discussion: Breitbart, BostonGlobe.com, Daily Caller News Foundation, Boston Magazine and New York Times

The Advocate:

Our Views: Back three changes in constitution — When voters go to the polls in November, six constitutional amendments will be on ballots in Louisiana. — That's not as many as in some years, and several involve relatively small matters, but there is a long-standing trend …

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Just about everything you've read on the Warren DNA test is wrong — “Warren might even be less Native American than the average European American.” — “Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed. She took a bogus DNA test and it showed …

Discussion: Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Senate Truce Collapses as G.O.P. Rush to Confirm More Judges Begins Anew — WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats struck a deal last week with Republicans that saw the quick confirmation of 15 more conservative judges in exchange for a rapid flight to the campaign trail.

Discussion: The Week, Splinter, CNN, Vox, Washington Times and Associated Press

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

Menendez Leads Hugin for Senate — Trump more important factor to voters than incumbent — West Long Branch, NJ - Bob Menendez holds a lead of between 9 and 12 points over Bob Hugin in the former's bid for a third full term in the U.S. Senate, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll.

Julia Craven / HuffPost:

Here's A Running List Of Racist Attacks On Candidates Of Color — Some attacks are coded. Others are clear. — People of color are running for state and national office, and the country has responded with the most American of traditions: by attacking them in very racist ways. — Some attacks are coded.

YouTube:

MN-01: “Owns” — Paid for by the NRCC and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. www.nrcc.org

Discussion: Daily Kos

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Shalala walks into anti-Castro buzz saw — How a campaign event with Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Lee went terribly wrong. — There's a simple rule in running for Congress in Miami: Don't campaign with someone who praised Fidel Castro and fought sanctions against Venezuela's dictatorial regime.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon