memeorandum: On a Tiny Finnish Island, a Helipad, 9 Piers — and the Russian Military? (Andrew Higgins/New York Times)

5:30 PM ET, November 1, 2018

Top Items:

Roger Stone Sold Himself to Trump's Campaign as a WikiLeaks Pipeline. Was He? — WASHINGTON — When the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, appeared on a video link from Europe a month before the 2016 presidential election and vaguely promised to release a flood of purloined documents related to the race …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Daily Caller News Foundation and Raw Story

New York Times:

Read the Emails: The Trump Campaign and Roger Stone — Newly revealed messages show how the political operative Roger J. Stone Jr. sold himself to Trump campaign advisers as a potential conduit to WikiLeaks, which published thousands of emails in 2016 damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign.

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

Roger Stone / The Daily Caller:

The Treachery Of Steve Bannon — The Washington Post reported that former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon testified for the Grand Jury yesterday regarding his communications with me regarding the Wikileaks disclosures in October 2016. — The Special Counsel is reportedly probing whether …

Discussion: Axios and Hill Reporter

Michael Daly / The Daily Beast:

Luis Bracamontes, Cop-Killer in Trump's Twitter Video, Actually Came Back to U.S. Under Bush — Trump also failed to mention that Bracamontes used an AR-15, a weapon that Republicans, including the president, don't want to outlaw. — Michael Daly — President Trump tweeted out a video …

Discussion: RedState, Sacramento Bee, Washington Post, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, RealClearPolitics, CBS San Francisco and Althouse

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Trump shocks with racist new ad days before midterms — (CNN)In the most racially charged national political ad in 30 years, President Donald Trump and the Republican Party accuse Democrats of plotting to help Central American invaders overrun the nation with cop killers.

Sam Stanton / Sacramento Bee:

Fact check: Trump's claim that Democrats let cop killer stay in U.S. is false — President Trump's closing argument for the midterm elections includes a tweet featuring convicted cop killer Luis Bracamontes, who killed two Sacramento-area deputies in a 2014 rampage.

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Wire

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Willie Horton is alive, and shame is dead

Discussion: NBC News, Chicago Tribune, Breitbart, Deadline and twitchy.com

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Press Conference on Mueller Allegations and Why Americans Hate the Mainstream Media — Attorney-Journalist Jack Burkman and Journalist-Private Investigator Jacob Wohl held a press conference today in Washington DC on the Mueller rape allegations. — Gateway Pundit reporter Cassandra Fairbanks attended …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Hill Reporter:

Jack Burkman & Jacob Wohl's Story Exposed Through Exclusive Conversations — Individual claiming to be employed by Surefire Intelligence knew of Lorraine Parsons prior to the story going public. — Jack Burkman claimed that Surefire Intelligence's ‘partners have actually worked for Trump’.

Discussion: YouTube

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Mueller Smear Pushed by Pro-Trump Activists Falls Apart At Press Conference — Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman struggled to explain even basic details of their allegations - like the spelling of the accuser's name. — A press conference intended to publicize sexual assault claims …

Discussion: Raw Story, Splinter and Sputnik International

Alicia Powe / The Gateway Pundit:
EXCLUSIVE... Jacob Wohl, Jack Burkman: Woman Accusing Mueller of Rape is ‘Credible,’ …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and twitchy.com

Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:
Jacob Wohl, 20, far-right conspiracy theorist, gets a moment in spotlight with Mueller plot

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime and DC Tribune

Washington Post:

Saudi crown prince described slain journalist as a dangerous Islamist in call with White House — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a dangerous Islamist days after his disappearance in a phone call with President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner …

Discussion: New Republic, Test Feed Using Fields, Political Wire and The Week

Tom DiChristopher / CNBC: Gates Foundation halts cooperation with Saudi crown prince's nonprofit after Khashoggi killing

Wall Street Journal:

State Department Spokeswoman Expected to Be Nominated U.N. Ambassador — Heather Nauert joined Trump administration last year — WASHINGTON—President Trump is expected to nominate Heather Nauert as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a senior administration official said.

Discussion: Axios, Splinter and The American Conservative

CNN:

Heather Nauert is Trump's top choice for UN ambassador — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has told advisers that Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, is his leading choice to become US ambassador to the United Nations and he could offer the post as soon as this week, two sources familiar with his pick told CNN.

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, Mediaite and twitchy.com

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Poll: Majority blames both Trump and media for dividing country — A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted over the past fractious, violent week shows a majority of voters think that President Donald Trump has done more to divide the country than unite it since he took office last year …

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Daily Caller, Political Wire and Axios

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:
More Voters Say the Press Has Divided the Country Than Trump

Discussion: Townhall, The Federalist, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Vox, Louder With Crowder, NTK Network and Front Page Magazine

Axios:
Exclusive: Trump says supporters demand his red-hot rhetoric

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Raw Story, National Review, The Week, CNBC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Times and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Election Update: Democrats Need A Systematic Polling Error To Win The Senate — The divide between the House outlook and the Senate outlook continues to widen. Democrats' chances of winning a majority remain at or near their all-time highs in our House forecast — ranging between 78 percent …

Discussion: abc13.com, Hullabaloo and Hot Air

Grace Sparks / CNN:
CNN poll: Close Senate races in Florida and Tennessee before Election Day

Discussion: Washington Monthly, POLITICUSUSA, Political Wire and The Guardian

Emerson College:
Emerson Poll: West Virginia Senate Race Tightens as Texas Senate Race Remains Close …

Discussion: WV MetroNews, Breitbart, IJR and Hot Air

HuffPost:

Someone Paid Thousands Of Foreigners 20 Cents Each To Hide HuffPost's Negative Coverage Of A Democratic PAC — HuffPost's story about End Citizens United dropped to the second page of Google search results from right near the top. — A HuffPost article that critically covered …

Rob Port / Say Anything:

North Dakota Democrats Promote Message Telling Hunters They May Lose Their Licenses if They Vote — A reader alerted me to this curious message on Facebook which tells voters they may lose their hunting licenses in other states if they vote: — Facebook keeps a searchable database of the political ads which run on their platform.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Jesse Hyde / Deseret News:

The last statesman: Can Jon Huntsman Jr. keep the art of diplomacy alive in the time of President Trump? — In a Deseret News exclusive, reporter Jesse Hyde and photojournalist Ravell Call went to Moscow to meet with U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. In a series of conversations …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Axios and Washington Times

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

The New York Times is on pace to earn more than $600 million in digital this year, halfway to its ambitious goal — The Failing New York Times released its third-quarter numbers this morning and, well, if the rest of the news industry was doing this well, we could shut down Nieman Lab and grab …

Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
New York Times Tops 4 Million Mark in Total Subscribers

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Trump's Nationalism Is Breaking Point for Some Suburban Voters, Risking G.O.P. Coalition — HOUSTON — J. Mark Metts, a 60-year-old partner at one of this city's prestigious law firms, had never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate until 2016. Now he and some of his neighbors …

The Cut:

We're the Organizers of the Google Walkout. Here Are Our Demands — Last week, the New York Times published an article about Google's history of harassment, discrimination, support for abusers, and the people whose lives and careers become collateral damage in the process.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, New York Times, The Verge, Gizmodo, CBS Chicago, BBC, CBS Denver, KTVQ-TV, Motherboard, Gothamist and Mashable, more at Techmeme »

Conor Friedersdorf / Los Angeles Times:

I'm an independent. But I'm casting a party-line vote in the midterm election — Voters who declare themselves independent of partisan affiliation are ascendant in the American electorate. — In 2016, the Pew Research Center found that 34% described themselves as politically independent …

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Pro-Trump Activists Blame Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens for Losing Kanye West — ‘They really over-grifted that situation.’ — Pro-Trump activists are fuming after Kanye West's announcement that he's “distancing” himself from politics, with the blame falling on two right-wing personalities …

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, The Source, Conservative News Today, The Guardian, The Blast and The FADER

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Black Caucus wants one of their own as speaker or majority leader — In a move that could set off a nasty internal fight, the Congressional Black Caucus — a key voting bloc among House Democrats — is demanding that an African-American lawmaker hold one of the top two leadership posts if Democrats win the House on Election Day.

Discussion: Axios

Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:

A Cryptocurrency Millionaire Wants to Build a Utopia in Nevada — A man spent millions on an enormous plot of land near Reno. Now he wants to build a community based on the blockchain technology introduced by Bitcoin. — STOREY COUNTY, Nev. — An enormous plot of land in the Nevada desert …

Andrew Higgins / New York Times:

On a Tiny Finnish Island, a Helipad, 9 Piers — and the Russian Military? — SAKKILUOTO, Finland — Retired to a tiny island in an archipelago between Finland and Sweden, Leo Gastgivar awoke early one morning to visit the outhouse in his bathrobe, only to notice two black speedboats packed …

Discussion: Task & Purpose and Balloon Juice

Chris Dunker / Lincoln Journal Star:

Fortenberry complains about Facebook reaction to vandalized sign; UNL professor says he's bullying — Thumbing through his Facebook feed, Ari Kohen came across the now widely shared photo of a defaced campaign sign for Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. — Shared on the social media platform by Seeing Red Nebraska …

Discussion: Observer, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Meridith McGraw / ABC News:

President Trump to address immigration ‘crisis’ in White House remarks — President Donald Trump on Thursday will highlight immigration as a “crisis” facing the nation, making remarks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House before he travels to Columbia, Missouri, for another campaign rally …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Elizabeth Dias / New York Times:

‘God Is Going to Have to Forgive Me’: Young Evangelicals Speak Out — The role of evangelical Christianity in American politics has been a hotly discussed topic this year, intersecting with front-burner issues like immigration, the Supreme Court and social justice.

Discussion: National Review and Friendly Atheist

Mehdi Hasan / New Statesman:

Eight simple steps to fix American democracy — Democrats may soon be handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix America's ailing democratic institutions. Here's what they should do with it. — How democratic is the United States? According to a poll released by the bipartisan Democracy Project …

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary:

CIA Gathered Congressional Communications on Whistleblowing; After 4 Years of Pressing, Grassley Gets Notifications Declassified — WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley pressed for more than four years to declassify two Congressional Notifications indicating that …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Final Week Fundamentals — The last week of a campaign is the longest week. Most of the polls have been completed. The final ads have been placed. The last lawn signs have been put into the ground (or pulled out by mischievous opponents). Cable TV is filled with inane chatter.

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

Plot to Spy on Obama Officials Was Espionage for Dimwits — An effort by a private Israeli firm to reveal Iranian assets for seizure was poorly conceived and executed. — Are you a billionaire looking to dig up dirt on a rival? You could go with one of the private intelligence firms staffed by retired retreads from the CIA or Mi6.

Newsweek:

Migrant Caravan: Border Troops Preparing for Threat of Armed, Unregulated Militias, Leaked Documents Show — As President Donald Trump directs thousands of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in a show of military force against an approaching caravan of migrants from Central America …

Discussion: Raw Story

Courtney Pomeroy / WJLA-TV:

Little girl who was entranced by Michelle Obama's portrait dresses like her for Halloween — Parker Curry dresses as Michelle Obama for Halloween, months after a photo of her admiring a painting of Obama in the National Portrait Gallery went viral. — AA — WASHINGTON (WJLA) —

CNBC:

Young Americans signal record turnout for midterm elections, reject Trump and the GOP: Poll — A survey from Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics shows a more politically mobilized crop of young Americans leaning away from Trump and the GOP in the midterms in near-equal proportions.

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show and TalkLeft

Wall Street Journal:

Venezuela's Health Crisis Is Crossing the Border — Desperate refugees spread malaria, yellow fever, diphtheria, dengue and tuberculosis to neighboring countries as health-care system implodes — MANAUS, Brazil—Contagion from Venezuela's economic meltdown is starting to spread to neighboring countries …

Discussion: Breitbart, Judicial Watch, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

Kansas City Star:

The Star endorses the one clear choice for Kansas governor — BY THE KANSAS CITY STAR EDITORIAL BOARD — Kansas voters face a dramatic contrast in their choices for governor this year. But in an election that's as consequential as any in decades, Democrat Laura Kelly offers the most promising path forward.