memeorandum: Trump celebrated the midterm results, but without millennials and women he could be headed for disaster in 2020 (Evan Siegfried/NBC News)

9:40 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: The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Balloon Juice, Bloomberg, Law & Crime, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite and Politico

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

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 and Law & Crime

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: Political Wire and 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: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, NPR, BloombergQuint, The Week, Hudson County View, Hullabaloo, Salon, Mashable, Bloomberg and New York Times

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Even for This President, It Was a Remarkable Week of Attacks on American Institutions — WASHINGTON — In the three days after the Democrats captured the House, President Trump fired his attorney general and replaced him with a loyalist critical of both the courts and the Russia investigation.

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 …

Jon Swaine / The Guardian: Trump's acting attorney general involved in firm that scammed veterans out of life savings

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
'He's a F*cking Fool': Justice Department Officials Trash Matt Whitaker, Their New Boss

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos and MSNBC

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawfare, Washington Monthly, Axios and National Review

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: Political Wire, twitchy.com, Raw Story and Conservative News Today

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

Arizona Republic:
Kyrsten Sinema's lead over Martha McSally widens in roller-coaster U.S. Senate race to replace Jeff Flake

Discussion: Raw Story

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

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Tape of Khashoggi's killing has been given to U.S., Saudi, Europeans, Erdogan says — ANKARA — An audio recording tracking the dying moments of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has been shared with Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany in addition to the United States …

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

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Washington Post:
Trump administration to end refueling for Saudi coalition aircraft in Yemen

Discussion: FOX 61, The Intercept, CNN and KAJ-TV

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

Discussion: Washington Post

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, twitchy.com, Townhall and NBC News

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, TheBlaze, Tampa Bay Times and Talking Points Memo

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 …

Christopher Hooks / The Atlantic:

What Beto Won — The Senate hopeful lost his race to Ted Cruz, but reanimated the Texas Democratic Party. — Journalist based in Austin — They said it couldn't be done and, in the end, they were right. Texas had been a one-party state for years. It's true that the state's motley …

The Texas Tribune:
How the race between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke became the closest in Texas in 40 years

Discussion: Political Wire

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

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

Los Angeles Times:

GOP Rep. Denham falls behind Democrat as 3 other Republicans lose ground in Friday's ballot tally — Republican Rep. Jeff Denham lost his lead over Democrat Josh Harder on Friday in one of California's four unresolved congressional races as updated ballot counts showed the GOP in growing danger …

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 »

Politico:

Trump blames California forest policies for deadly wildfires — President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed “mismanagement” of California's forests for ongoing deadly wildfires, threatening to withhold federal payments after multiple blazes killed 9 people and prompted evacuation orders for some 250,000 state residents.

Discussion: Political Wire

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

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Wilson Went to Paris to Bind America's Ties to the World. Trump Is There to Loosen Them. — PARIS — Fresh off a midterm election that cost his party control of Congress, the president headed to France to take the international stage. He brought a boatful of idealism and was greeted …

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