memeorandum: Putin touts downfall of US as a global leader: 'It's almost done' (Caroline Orr/Shareblue Media)

1:20 PM ET, October 19, 2018

Top Items:

Conservatives mount a whisper campaign smearing Khashoggi in defense of Trump — Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a dark whisper campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident …

Washington Post:

Mnuchin still plans to attend Saudi anti-terror financing meeting after Khashoggi disappearance — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to take part in an anti-terror finance meeting with Saudi security officials and their Middle Eastern counterparts in Riyadh later this month …

Discussion: Axios and Joe.My.God.

Reuters:

As Khashoggi crisis grows, Saudi king asserts authority, checks son's power: sources — DUBAI (Reuters) - So grave is the fallout from the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi that King Salman has felt compelled to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family said.

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro Accuses Kushner of Orchestrating Khashoggi Killing — Without evidence, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), a member of the House intelligence committee, said Jared Kushner might have passed a “hit list” to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulting …

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

A President Who Believes He Is Entitled to His Own Facts — WASHINGTON — He accepts less-than-credible denials from autocratic heads of state about nefarious acts. He disputes the existence of man-made climate change and insists that photographic evidence of the crowd at his inauguration is fake, part of a media plot to harm him.

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:

Khashoggi's alleged murder says as much about America as Saudi Arabia — The apparent barbaric killing of Jamal Khashoggi tells us something important about Saudi Arabia. But it also tells us something important about the United States. — First, Saudi Arabia.

Discussion: LifeZette, The Nation, Breitbart, Middle East Eye and Vox

NBC News:

Trump's closing argument is full of conspiracy theories and brute force. And it just might work. — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — In the final days …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Politico and Political Wire

Ian Pannell / ABC News:

Pompeo listened to an alleged recording of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Turkish Source — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard an alleged audio recording of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a senior Turkish official.

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Republicans smear murdered journalist to cover for Trump — Trump's allies are orchestrating a smear campaign against Jamal Khashoggi to take the heat off Trump for his failure to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. — In a sick new form of victim-blaming, Republicans and right-wing pundits …

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Mashable and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Schanzer / The Atlantic:
The Experts Were Wrong About the Middle East

Discussion: The American Conservative, Breitbart, The Federalist and New York Times

New York Post: Why the Saudis despised Jamal Khashoggi

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:
Trump praises Gianforte for assault on Guardian reporter: 'He's my guy'

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
As we mourn a colleague, Trump celebrates violence against a journalist

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN and The Federalist

Haley Britzky / Axios:
Top Democrats want fundamental changes in U.S.-Saudi relationship

Discussion: Breitbart and One America News Network

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Praises Republican Criminal for Attacking Journalist

Discussion: Mother Jones, Media Matters for America and The Globe Post

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
'That's My Kind of Guy,' Trump Says of Republican Lawmaker Who Body-Slammed a Reporter

Discussion: The Guardian, Media Matters for America, Politico, The Week and Joe.My.God.

CNN:

GOP Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who felt traumatized by unwanted touching — GOP rep. defends prior comments on ‘slut’ women — (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who were traumatized by unwanted sexual advances, including those inappropriately kissed …

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Observer, Boing Boing, Raw Story and Political Wire

Annie Karni / Politico:

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hillary? — She's not going away—and Democrats aren't sure what to do about it. — In recent months, some reporters who cover the Trump White House have received phone calls from the last person they would expect: Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Political Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, NTK Network, Townhall, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite

New York Times: In 2020, Democrats Expect a Female Front-Runner. Or Three.

Katie Benner / New York Times:

Justice Dept. Rank-and-File Tell of Discontent Over Sessions's Approach — WASHINGTON — During his 20 months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has swept in perhaps the most dramatic political shift in memory at the Justice Department, from the civil rights-centered agenda of the Obama era …

Discussion: The Week, Law & Crime and Raw Story

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Uh Oh: Woman Claims “Unwanted” Sexual Advance By Senate Dem In “Late 1980s” — Shall we go by the old rules or the new rules? Rep. Jim Renacci's (R-OH) Senate campaign has highlighted a claim by an anonymous woman that incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) might have sexually harassed or assaulted her in the late 1980s.

Discussion: Roll Call and Cincinnati.com

Andrew J. Tobias / Plain Dealer:
Jim Renacci issues statement from lawyer alleging Sherrod Brown made ‘unwanted, sudden’ …

Discussion: Cincinnati.com, RedState, Washington Times, Daily Wire, Roll Call, Political Wire, twitchy.com and TheBlaze

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Haley breaks with Trump: ‘In America, our political opponents are not evil’ — Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley insisted Thursday night that “in America, our political opponents are not evil,” a shark rhetorical break from her boss, President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Washington Post, Althouse, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABC News

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump considering Richard Grenell for U.N. ambassador

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Joe.My.God.

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Georgia Is Using Amateur Handwriting Analysis to Disenfranchise Minority Voters — The scourge of “signature mismatch” laws strikes again. — Say you live in Georgia. You're eager to vote in this year's election—a tight race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Trump acolyte Brian Kemp …

Discussion: WhoWhatWhy, New York Times and Raw Story

APM Reports:
Georgia purged an estimated 107,000 people largely for not voting, an APM Reports investigation shows

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA and Joe.My.God.

The Guardian:

I pulled a 1,500-year-old sword out of a lake — People are saying I am the queen of Sweden because of the legend of King Arthur — Every summer, my parents, my six-year-old brother and I go to stay in a cabin by a lake called Vidöstern in Tånnö in southern Sweden, not far from where we live.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas / Brookings:

Record-setting White House staff turnover continues with news of Counsel's departure — With the recent departure of White House Counsel, Don McGahn (and premature announcement of his successor, Pat Cipollone), turnover within the most senior level of White House staff members bumped up to 83 percent.

Discussion: Axios and Washington Post

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast: Obama's First National Security Adviser Now Works for the Saudis

Naomi Jagoda / The Hill:

Harris rolls out bill to create new middle class tax credit — Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Thursday rolled out a proposal to create a new refundable tax credit for low- and middle-income individuals and families — the latest economic policy proposal from the potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Ylan Mui / CNBC: Kamala Harris and other prominent Democrats want to repeal Trump's tax cuts and replace …

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment — And be forewarned that the special counsel's findings may never be made public. — President Donald Trump's critics have spent the past 17 months anticipating what some expect will be among the most thrilling events of their lives …

Discussion: emptywheel and USA Today

Joe Concha / The Hill:

CNN's Acosta sends private message to former Melania Trump aide: ‘F— you’ — CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta sent a direct message to a Twitter follower that read “F— you” after being mocked on the social media platform on Thursday night.

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire and The Root

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:
CNN's Jim Acosta Sends Vulgar Twitter DM To Former Trump Staffer

Discussion: WayneDupree.com, twitchy.com and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

How a Garden for the Poor Became a Playground for the Rich

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:

Fake intern who recorded McCaskill campaign had access to voter info, campaign says — A conservative activist with Project Veritas posed as an intern with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign and had access to voter information, according to a stack of documents McCaskill's lawyer delivered …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Putin touts downfall of US as a global leader: 'It's almost done' — Putin used his annual public address to celebrate America's fading global influence under the Trump administration. — In his annual public address before the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Financial Times and HuffPost

Alan Fram / Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Just 1 in 4 thinks Kavanaugh told entire truth — WASHINGTON (AP) — Just 1 in 4 people thinks Brett Kavanaugh was completely honest when as a Supreme Court nominee he gave sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, with Republicans and Democrats holding …

Discussion: Law & Crime

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

For a Change, Democrats Seem Set to Equal or Exceed Republicans in Turnout — Polls show enthusiasm surging in many mostly white suburban districts, but less so among young and nonwhite voters. — A wide range of evidence indicates that Democratic voters are poised to vote in numbers unseen …

Akela Lacy / The Intercept:

South Carolina Is Lobbying to Allow Discrimination Against Jewish Parents — The Trump administration is considering whether to grant a South Carolina request that would effectively allow faith-based foster care agencies in the state the ability to deny Jewish parents from fostering children in its network.

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

What does Trump's ascendance mean about America? — It is a sign of the times — the kind involving the seven-horned beast, and the rain of fire, and the end of days — that recent news has been dominated by Kanye, Stormy and the misogynist boor who is president of the United States.

Discussion: Raw Story

Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:

Fentanyl smuggled from China is killing thousands of Americans — The Zheng drug trafficking organization was hardly clandestine. The Shanghai-based network sold synthetic narcotics, including deadly fentanyl, on websites posted in 35 languages, from Arabic and English to Icelandic and Uzbek.