memeorandum: The $100 Million Man: How Cuomo's campaign war chest became one of the nation's largest (Frank Esposito/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

11:25 AM ET, October 18, 2018

Top Items:

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.

Shane Harris / Washington Post:

Crown prince under scrutiny in journalist's disappearance even as Saudis search for exculpatory explanation — The Trump administration and the Saudi royal family are searching for a mutually agreeable explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — one that will avoid implicating …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Week, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

New York Times:

U.S. Spy Agencies Are Increasingly Convinced of Saudi Prince's Ties to Journalist's Disappearance — WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia is culpable in the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi …

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:

A President Kowtowing to a Mad Prince — Trump is providing cover for Saudi barbarism. — American presidents have periodically engaged in cover-ups of their own corruption or licentiousness, but President Trump is breaking new ground. He is using the United States government to cover up a foreign despot's barbarism.

Discussion: Washington Post and Jacobin

John Hudson / Washington Post:

Saudi Arabia transfers $100 million to U.S. amid crisis over Khashoggi — The United States received a payment of $100 million from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the same day Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh to discuss the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi …

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, HuffPost, Just Security, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, CNN, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, Boing Boing and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Pompeo warns Saudi prince his future as king is in peril over Khashoggi, source says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Mediaite and IJR

Tara Isabella Burton / Vox:
Prominent evangelical leader on Khashoggi crisis: let's not risk “$100 billion worth of arms sales”

Discussion: Washington Post, Friendly Atheist, Just Security, New York Times, The Hill, Hot Air, CNBC, Japan Times, Daily Kos, The Atlantic, Splinter, Politico and TalkLeft

Washington Post:
Amid global outrage over Khashoggi, Trump tries to protect Saudis

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, One America News Network, Daily Kos, Politico, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, BuzzFeed News, Breitbart, The Week, HuffPost and Above the Law

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

Washington Post:
Jamal Khashoggi's final appeal

Discussion: The Guardian

Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:

Rod Rosenstein Defends Mueller Probe as ‘Appropriate and Independent’ — In interview, deputy attorney general says investigation has revealed widespread Russian effort to meddle in 2016 election — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended the special counsel's investigation …

Discussion: The Guardian, HuffPost, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, CNBC, The Week, CNN, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Mediaite

CNN:

Mueller's quiet period has not been very quiet — Is Mueller feeling pressure to wrap up probe? — Washington (CNN)Ever since reaching a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, Paul Manafort has kept the Russia prosecutors busy. — The former Trump campaign chairman and his lawyers …

Discussion: ABC News

New York Times:
McGahn, a Soldier for Trump and a Witness Against Him, Departs White House

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, TheBlaze, 89.3 KPCC, HuffPost, Axios, Splinter, NPR, Vox, CNN, Shareblue Media and Breitbart

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Rosenstein talks to press, but not to Congress; Republicans irate

Discussion: HuffPost

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, Political Wire and Washington Post

Greg Norman / Fox News:

Trump threatens to call US military to close southern border as 4,000-strong migrant caravan pushes north — President Trump warned Thursday he will “call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER” with Mexico if officials there don't stop the northward flow of a growing migrant …

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Fox News Insider and The Guardian

Edgard Garrido / Reuters:
More Honduran migrants seek to join U.S.-bound group in Guatemala

Discussion: Breitbart

Sonia Perez D. / Associated Press: Food, water, ride: Guatemalans aid Honduran caravan migrants

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: The Daily Caller and Political Wire

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.

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: Raw Story

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

GOP congressman tells incarcerated woman he has it worse because of attack ads — Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), who is locked in a toss-up re-election race against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, met with members of an addiction support group during a recent visit to the Chesterfield County Jail.

Discussion: Political Wire

Ben Paviour / Community Idea Stations:
Brat Hears From Addicts at Chesterfield County Jail

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Splinter

YouTube:

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

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 and Raw Story

Adam Rubenstein / Weekly Standard:

Steve King: America's Most Deplorable Congressman — He's an embarrassment to the GOP and to America. — Representative Steve King is an embarrassment to the Republican party. He has been for some time. On October 16, he endorsed white-nationalist Faith Goldy for mayor of Toronto.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Tablet Magazine, twitchy.com, Balloon Juice and Joe.My.God.

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:
Rep. Steve King Endorses Neo-Nazi Sympathizer Faith Goldy. GOP Says Nothing.

Discussion: Vox, Des Moines Register, Vancouver Sun, ThinkProgress and Right Wing Watch

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

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Dem operative for Soros-funded group arrested for ‘battery’ against Nevada GOP candidate's campaign manager — A Democratic operative for American Bridge 21st Century, a group founded by David Brock and funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, was arrested Tuesday after the female campaign manager …

Discussion: Hot Air, Townhall, LifeNews.com, Washington Free Beacon, The Other McCain, Breitbart, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, MAGAVoter, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Fox News:
Soros-backed group fires operative after arrest over alleged battery against GOP campaign manager

Discussion: Instapundit and Patterico's Pontifications

Gregg Re / Fox News:

State Department provided ‘clearly false’ statements to derail requests for Clinton docs, ‘shocked’ federal judge says — In a combative exchange at a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C., a federal judge unabashedly accused career State Department officials of lying and signing “clearly false” …

Discussion: Townhall, Front Page Magazine and Judicial Watch

Sarah D / Los Angeles Times:

De León has run against Feinstein from the left, but much of his support comes from Republicans, new poll finds … Senate candidate Kevin de León has campaigned as the progressive alternative to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but with the election just weeks away …

Jason Hancock / Kansas City Star:

McCaskill demands Hawley's office investigate hidden-camera videos of her campaign — JEFFERSON CITY — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign is demanding Attorney General Josh Hawley open a fraud investigation into hidden-camera videos released this week by a nonprofit run by conservative activist James O'Keefe.

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

The 2018 Midterms Are All About Trump — In its final stages, the tumultuous 2018 midterm election appears to be moving in contradictory directions, with Democrats and Republicans alike finding legitimate reasons for optimism amid the daily flurry of new polls.

Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:

The Proud Boys, The GOP And ‘The Fascist Creep’ — Gavin McInnes spoke at a GOP club, then his followers violently attacked leftist protesters. Modern American fascism finds its foot soldiers. — NEW YORK — Gavin McInnes, the founder of the violent neo-fascist gang the Proud Boys …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Raw Story, Right Wing Watch and WORLD, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Davidson / New Yorker:

Is Fraud Part of the Trump Organization's Business Model? — A new investigation shows a pattern in different projects around the country and the world. — What, exactly, is Donald Trump's business? The Trump Organization is unusual in that it doesn't appear to do the same thing for very long.

Discussion: Shakesville, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Refinery29, Common Dreams and ProPublica

Charlotte Alter / TIME:

How the Anti-Trump Resistance Is Organizing Its Outrage — Carolyn Eberly is an unlikely warrior. A former chemist from Waxhaw, N.C., she works at the local library, plays volleyball and wears her blond hair pulled back in a big clip. Her husband has always followed politics …

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.

Steven Shepard / Politico:

POLITICO race ratings: Democrats blaze Midwestern path — Seven states — all currently led by GOP governors — are considered toss-ups. — Democrats are poised to chip away at Republican statehouse dominance in next month's midterm elections, with wins appearing likely in some of the biggest states in the industrial Midwest.

Discussion: The Week

Frank Esposito / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

The $100 Million Man: How Cuomo's campaign war chest became one of the nation's largest — AS CUOMO SEEKS A THIRD TERM, RECORDS FOUND CUOMO'S CAMPAIGN COFFERS ARE FILLED WITH DONATIONS FROM COMPANIES WITH BUSINESS BEFORE THE STATE. — ALBANY - Halmar International did not have a state construction contract since 1988.

Discussion: Splinter

Washington Post:

U.S. commander in Afghanistan survives deadly attack at governor's compound that kills top Afghan police general — KABUL — A gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire Thursday on participants in a meeting with the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, killing three top southern provincial officials …

Discussion: Townhall and twitchy.com

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

‘Strong, focused, and on message’: Romney goes national — A sleepy Utah Senate race was always a small playing field for a former presidential nominee. Now, Mitt Romney is going national again. — After spending most of the past year quietly tending to his own race …

Grace Segers / CBS News:

Biden on Democrats impeaching Trump: “I hope they don't” — Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Norah O'Donnell that if Democrats retake the House of Representatives, he hopes “they don't” impeach President Trump. — “I hope they don't.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KTLA, HuffPost, CNN, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Politico:

McGahn exits as White House counsel — White House counsel Don McGahn departed the Trump administration on Wednesday, leaving the counsel's office without a head as the midterms approach and the prospect of a deluge of subpoenas from a new House Democratic majority looms.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Vox