memeorandum: Philippines Says It Will Charge Veteran Journalist Critical of Duterte (Alexandra Stevenson/New York Times)

8:50 AM ET, November 10, 2018

Top Items:

FBI Is Investigating Florida Company Where Whitaker Was Advisory-Board Member — Active case is being handled by FBI Miami office; acting attorney general oversees FBI — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Balloon Juice, Bloomberg, Law & Crime, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite and New York Times

CNN:

Sessions realized too late that Whitaker was auditioning for his job — Washington (CNN)When things were particularly bad between President Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general's chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, would attend White House meetings in his place.

Discussion: emptywheel, Law & Crime and The Atlantic

New York Times:

Matthew Whitaker: An Attack Dog With Ambition Beyond Protecting Trump — WASHINGTON — President Trump first noticed Matthew G. Whitaker on CNN in the summer of 2017 and liked what he saw — a partisan defender who insisted there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Discussion: Hill Reporter, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Law & Crime, Lawfare, Vox and IJR

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Whitaker said he supports state's rights to nullify federal law — (CNN)Matthew Whitaker, the new acting attorney general, has said that states have the right to nullify federal law, but that they need the political courage to do so. — Whitaker, whom President Donald Trump announced …

Discussion: Raw Story

Murray Waas / Vox:

Exclusive: Trump loyalist Matthew Whitaker was counseling the White House on investigating Clinton — Whitaker advised the president on launching a new special counsel while working as chief of staff for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. — Matthew Whitaker, whom President Donald Trump named …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, BloombergQuint, The Week, Hudson County View, Hullabaloo, Salon, Mashable, Bloomberg, New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Trump's acting attorney general involved in firm that scammed veterans out of life savings — Donald Trump's new acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, was involved in a company that scammed US military veterans out of their life savings, according to court filings and interviews.

CNN:

McConnell, top Republicans dismiss concerns over Whitaker appointment — Trump downplays ties to acting AG handpicked by White House — (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans believe that Matthew Whitaker will only stay as acting attorney general for a short time …

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

'He's a F*cking Fool': Justice Department Officials Trash Matt Whitaker, Their New Boss — The new, acting attorney general will have profound powers on things not just related to the Russia probe. — The appointment this week of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, Daily Kos and Law & Crime

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
A Trump Hack Hacks Justice

Discussion: Washington Post, MSNBC and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
Trump distances himself from Whitaker amid scrutiny over past comments and business ties

Discussion: Courier-Journal

Michael Kranish / Washington Post: Whitaker's term as U.S. attorney in Iowa draws scrutiny

John R. Schindler / Observer:
Team Mueller is Holding ‘Dozens of Sealed Indictments,’ According to Intel Source

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Lawfare, Axios and NPR

Washington Post:
Federal investigators scrutinized Whitaker's role in patent company accused of fraud …

Discussion: Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Hullabaloo and The Week

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Flake floats GOP primary run against Trump: ‘Somebody needs to run’

Discussion: New York Times, RedState and TheBlaze

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Sinema expands lead in Arizona Senate race — Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema expanded her lead to 20,203 votes over GOP Rep. Martha McSally Friday evening as Arizona election authorities continued to count ballots in the state's uncalled Senate race. — Sinema's lead amounts …

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Joe.My.God. and CNN

Washington Post:

For Democrats, a midterm election that keeps on giving — In the early hours of election night on Tuesday, a consensus began to take hold that the vaunted Democratic blue wave that had been talked about all year was failing to materialize. Now, with a handful of races still to be called …

Pew Research Center:

Key takeaways about Latino voters in the 2018 midterm elections — Latinos make up an increasing share of the U.S. electorate. A record 29 million Latinos were eligible to vote in this year's midterm elections, accounting for 12.8% of all eligible voters, a new high.

Discussion: Washington Post and Brookings

Chris Mills Rodrigo / The Hill:
Sinema widens lead over McSally in Arizona Senate race

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:

Photos Show Scores of Uncounted Ballots in Opa-locka Mail Center … Miami-Dade County announced today that it has finished counting votes for the 2018 election. — But photos obtained by New Times show scores of mail-in ballots sitting inside an Opa-locka mail distribution center …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Raw Story and Conservative News Today

Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump Played Central Role in Hush Payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal — Federal prosecutors have gathered evidence of the president's participation in deals to buy the silence of a former adult-film actress and an ex-Playboy model. The deals have led Trump's former lawyer …

Lulu Ramadan / Palm Beach Post:

Palm Beach elections supervisor bans cameras from public ballot-counting — An NBC attorney objected to the elections supervisor's camera ban, calling the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board meeting “illegal.” — RIVIERA BEACH — Breaking from normal practice, the Palm Beach County elections …

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit and Townhall

Greg P. / twitchy.com:
Weird. The Palm Beach elections supervisor threatened to arrest reporters and it's not a bigger story

Discussion: Instapundit, Townhall, Washington Free Beacon and Law & Crime

Associated Press:

Judge rules in Gov. Scott's favor, orders Snipes to allow ballot inspections immediately — Scott also asks FDLE to investigate elections offices in Broward, Palm Beach — BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - A judge ordered Broward County Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes to allow immediate inspection …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Tampa Bay Times:
Scott's request for FDLE probe of Broward vote draws criticism — and goes nowhere

Discussion: Florida Politics and Raw Story

Nathaniel Rakich / FiveThirtyEight:
Something Looks Weird In Broward County. Here's What We Know About A Possible Florida Recount.

Discussion: USA Today, WhoWhatWhy, Townhall, Raw Story, Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Federalist, Politico, CNN, ABC News, Washington Examiner, NBC News and Right Wing Watch

Tampa Bay Times:
Broward County officials need police protection to tally Florida election results

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and Common Dreams

Washington Post:

Trump administration to end refueling for Saudi coalition aircraft in Yemen — The Trump administration is ending the practice of refueling Saudi coalition aircraft, halting the most tangible and controversial aspect of U.S. support for the kingdom's three-year war in Yemen, people familiar with the situation said.

Discussion: The Intercept, CNN and KAJ-TV

Lucy Middleton / Metro.co.uk:
Twitter ‘gave Saudi Arabia information about journalist who ended up dead’

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi / Washington Post: Houthi leader: We want peace for Yemen, but Saudi airstrikes must stop

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

‘What a stupid question’: Trump demeans three black female reporters in three days — President Trump has made no secret of his contempt for reporters, whom he calls “fake news” and “enemy of the American people.” He's also had unkind things to say about women and people who are African American.

Discussion: Daily Wire, AOL and Common Dreams

David Nakamura / Washington Post: Trump's insults toward black reporters, candidates echo ‘historic playbooks’ used against African Americans, critics say

Alexandra Stevenson / New York Times:

Philippines Says It Will Charge Veteran Journalist Critical of Duterte — SHANGHAI — The Philippine government said on Friday that it would charge a veteran journalist and her online news start-up with tax evasion, a move the publication described as an attack against media in the country …

more at Mediagazer »

James Pindell / BostonGlobe.com:

After years of LePage, Maine went very blue Tuesday — What a difference one election can make. — Over the last four years, Republicans ruled Maine through control of its state Senate and governor, Paul LePage, who has described his style as “Trump before there was Trump.”

Discussion: Vox and Balloon Juice

Marisa Fernandez / Axios:

Trump says Macron's “EU army” plan is “insulting” — On his way to Paris, President Trump tweeted his dissatisfaction with French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that Europe should build its own military defense against the U.S., China and Russia, calling the idea “very insulting” …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, The Guardian and One America News Network

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Wilson Went to Paris to Bind America's Ties to the World. Trump Is There to Loosen Them.

Discussion: Voice of Europe, Bloomberg, KAJ-TV, Vox and Washington Post

HuffPost:

How Democrats — And Republicans — Made 2018 A Blue Wave (When It Almost Wasn't) — Yes. It was a wave. — WASHINGTON As more votes are counted and more seats flip from red to blue, it's becoming undeniable that Democrats not only benefited from a wave election, they converted a modest advantage into impressive House gains.