memeorandum: Kellyanne Conway removes White House title from Twitter bio (Diana Stancy Correll/Washington Examiner)

10:05 AM ET, October 31, 2018

Top Items:

Trump's proposal to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional — George T. Conway III is of counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Neal Katyal is a partner at Hogan Lovells and former acting U.S. solicitor general in the Obama administration. — Sometimes the Constitution's text …

Wall Street Journal:

Rewriting the Fourteenth Amendment — Trump's order on birthright citizenship violates the Constitution. — By The Editorial Board — President Trump really, really wants to make the midterm election about immigration, and for a while it looked like he had an edge due to Democratic excess.

Discussion: Raw Story

Peter Baker / New York Times:

In Campaign's Homestretch, Trump Tosses Out Ideas to See What Sticks — WASHINGTON — First there was the middle-class tax cut that even his allies and many of his aides had not heard about. Then troops were dispatched to the border to counter an “invasion of our country” by impoverished migrants about 900 miles away.

Discussion: ABC News, KRTV-TV, Raw Story, New Republic, Breitbart, Front Page Magazine and Daily Kos

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Trump's birthright citizenship comments just made life harder for Republicans in tight races

Discussion: Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Wire, Raw Story, Associated Press, Townhall, Louder With Crowder and Right Wing Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Daugherty / Tampa Bay Times:
Rick Scott walks away when asked if he supports Trump ending birthright citizenship

Discussion: National Journal

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
How Trump's ‘birthright’ idea went from the fringe to the Oval Office

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, Vox, New York Times and Politico

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Pelosi: Democrats are going to win the House

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post and Hollywood Reporter

Hot Air:
Harry Reid: It's Insane To Reward Illegal Immigrants By Giving Their Children Birthright Citizenship

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller and Law & Crime

NBC News:

Mueller refers sex assault scheme targeting him to FBI for investigation — “We immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation,” said Peter Carr, spokesperson for the special counsel. — Special counsel Robert Mueller last week asked the FBI to investigate a possible scam …

The Daily Beast:
Inside the Crazy Cabal Trying to Smear Robert Mueller

Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Plot to Smear Mueller Unravels as F.B.I. Is Asked to Investigate

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Jay Willis / GQ:
MAGA Trolls' Efforts to Take Down Robert Mueller Flame Out in Hilarious and Spectacular Fashion

Discussion: Informed Comment, twitchy.com and Hill Reporter

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:

Our descent into vitriol began long before Trump — and Democrats are culpable too — After a deranged Democrat living in his van nearly assassinated Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) firing more than 70 rounds at House Republicans practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game …

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
Pelosi declares victory before Election Day

Discussion: Breitbart

Mike Allen / Axios: The midterms' split decision

Reuters: U.S. House within Democrats' grasp, Senate a long shot

Dominique Jackson / Raw Story:

WATCH: Trump's motorcade forced to turn around after thousands of protesters flood Pittsburgh streets — On Tuesday, despite many people's wishes, President Donald Trump traveled to Pittsburgh to pay his respects to the lives lost in the synagogue massacre.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

New York Times:

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Shape Trump's Pittsburgh Response — WASHINGTON — Amid the storm of criticism over his response to the synagogue killings in Pittsburgh and the accusations that his messaging created the atmosphere that caused them, President Trump has turned to the people he trusts most for advice — his family.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
Pittsburgh mayor: Our priority is funerals, not Trump's visit

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Associated Press, ABC News, Axios and The Root

David Hudnall / Kansas City Pitch:

Steve Bannon draws crowd of tens to rally for Steve Watkins in Topeka — “Any honeybuns left over from the continental this morning?” — Sherman Smith Twitter — I highly recommend that you take a look at Topeka Capital-Journal managing editor Sherman Smith's Twitter thread about attending …

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

A Supreme Marriage Proposal — Some personal secrets are so well-kept that even family and friends are oblivious. So it is with the story of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist's marriage proposal to a Stanford Law School classmate in the early 1950s.

Bim Adewunmi / BuzzFeed News:

Oprah Is Going To Georgia To Campaign With Stacey Abrams — Oprah Winfrey, the Oscar-nominated, self-made billionaire and media icon, is heading to Georgia to campaign for Stacey Abrams. — The star will join Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor, on Thursday.

Discussion: Political Wire, Jezebel, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Associated Press, The Hill and The Guardian

Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:

Jews assail ‘Christian rabbi’ who appeared with Pence, and so does his own movement — Loren Jacobs, who spoke at a rally with the vice-president, was stripped of his ordination by the Messianic movement in 2003. — The “Messianic rabbi” who outraged many Jews by invoking the name of Jesus …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Kevin Cullen / BostonGlobe.com:

Freddy Geas, suspected killer of Whitey Bulger, didn't like informants — When private investigator Ted McDonough heard that Freddy Geas was suspected by authorities of taking part in the murder of James “Whitey” Bulger, he knew immediately why Geas might have done it.

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller, CBS Boston, Daily Mail, Boston Magazine, AOL, The Daily Beast and The Week

New York Times:

Senior Saudi Prince Returns to Kingdom as Royals Confront Khashoggi Crisis — LONDON — A senior member of the Saudi royal family, who had feared returning to the kingdom, flew back to Riyadh from London on Tuesday in the most significant move in the royal family since the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

Washington Post:
Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered four weeks ago. We're still waiting for answers.

Discussion: Just Security and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Ian Pannell / ABC News:
Though Khashoggi never suspected he might be in mortal danger, he was apprehensive about visiting the consulate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Nelson W. Cunningham / Politico:

Has Mueller Subpoenaed the President? — These months before the midterm elections are tough ones for all of us Mueller-watchers. As we expected, he has gone quiet in deference to long-standing Justice Department policy that prosecutors should not take actions that might impact pending elections.

Discussion: Hill Reporter and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball:

New polls: Democrats lead marquee Florida races; Arizona Senate, Kansas governor effectively tied — The final pre-election Reuters/Ipsos/University of Virginia Center for Politics state-level polls of this election cycle shows Democratic candidates leading for the Sunshine State's high-profile gubernatorial …

Discussion: Florida Politics, NTK Network and The Week

KMBC: Orman campaign treasurer resigns, endorses Kelly

Diana Stancy Correll / Washington Examiner:

Kellyanne Conway removes White House title from Twitter bio — Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway has removed her White House title from her Twitter bio, leaving her profile blank. — It's uncertain why the title was removed from Conway's account, and the White House declined …

Stephanie Perry / NBC News:

Record turnout? Not for millennials — just a third say they'll vote. — That number has remained steady since August, according the results of a new NBC News/GenForward survey. — About a third of millennials say they will definitely vote in November, according to results …

Discussion: Political Wire

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:

Standing ‘Against White Supremacy,’ G.O.P. Campaign Chief Rebukes Steve King — WASHINGTON — As Pittsburgh began burying the victims of Saturday's synagogue massacre, the head of the House Republican campaign arm all but jettisoned Representative Steve King of Iowa from the House Republican Conference …

Discussion: Vox, Vanity Fair, HuffPost and The Intercept

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

How an internet meme became a Trump campaign slogan — It used to take a fancy degree and political connections to become a presidential speechwriter. In the era of President Donald Trump, all you need is a tweet. — On a Thursday morning earlier this month, a Twitter user in Georgia …

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

Americans Are Easy Marks for Russian Trolls, According to New Data — A Daily Beast analysis of Twitter data shows the Kremlin troll farm's English-language propaganda is nine times more effective than its disinformation in Russian. — You don't need to read the federal indictments to spot …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael R. Sisak / Associated Press:

Authorities probing immigrant Saudi sisters' mystery deaths — NEW YORK (AP) — Police are investigating the mysterious deaths of two sisters from Saudi Arabia whose bodies, bound together with tape, washed up on New York City's waterfront last week. — The sisters, Tala Farea, 16 …

David Edwards / Raw Story:

GOP Senate candidate Martha McSally: 'I'm getting my ass kicked' because of vote to repeal Obamacare — Republican Senate candidate Martha McSally (R-AZ) complained in a recent interview that she is getting her “ass kicked” because she voted to repeal President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

Discussion: Washington Post and Arizona Republic

TMZ.com:

Kanye West Breaks From Politics and Says 'I've Been Used' — Breaks From Politics — 4:15 PM PT — Kanye contacted us to make it clear he did not mention Donald Trump in his tweets, and he's getting out of politics altogether. — As for being “used” ... he says he was specifically referencing Blexit, and that's it.

Discussion: Townhall and Raw Story

CNN:

The radicalization of an alleged domestic terrorist — Woman warned Twitter about bomb suspect — New York (CNN)Cesar Sayoc's social media accounts read like a blueprint for the radicalization of an alleged domestic terrorist. — A CNN KFile analysis of thousands of tweets sent …

Discussion: New York Times and The Week

John Cassidy / New Yorker:

Donald Trump Launches Operation Midterms Diversion — By early afternoon on Tuesday, Donald Trump's latest piece of political chicanery, Operation Midterms Diversion, could be considered a partial success. After a week in which the media narrative was focussed on pipe bombs …

Discussion: New York Post, New York Times and Sputnik International

Raghu Rau / RealClearMarkets:

We Too Easily Ignore Intellectual Property Theft In the U.S. — America is unique in its tradition of protecting individual ingenuity to spur new technologies and new industries that allow this country to be the cradle of innovation. It is no accident that America was the birthplace …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Stephanie K. Baer / BuzzFeed News:

Three Men Convicted Of Plotting To Bomb Somali Refugees Say They Were Encouraged By Trump's Rhetoric — Three men who were convicted of plotting to bomb an apartment building that housed a mosque and dozens of Muslim Somali refugees in Kansas were encouraged by President Donald Trump's rhetoric …

Discussion: Hill Reporter

Defense One:

Mattis Sets 30-Day Deadline for Yemen Ceasefire — “We've admired this problem for long enough down there,” the defense secretary said. — Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis called for a ceasefire in Yemen within 30 days, seeking to end the U.S.-backed and Saudi-led bombing campaign …

Discussion: The American Conservative