memeorandum: The time Nancy Pelosi saved Social Security (Matthew Yglesias/Vox)

11:05 AM ET, November 21, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Wanted to Order Justice Dept. to Prosecute Comey and Clinton — WASHINGTON — President Trump told the White House counsel in the spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political adversaries: his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton …

Washington Post:

Conservative nonprofit with obscure roots and undisclosed funders paid Matthew Whitaker $1.2 million — In the three years after he arrived in Washington in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker received more than $1.2 million as the leader of a charity that reported having no other employees, some of the best pay of his career.

Discussion: CNBC, Mediaite, Washington Press, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HuffPost, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Trump's Yearning to Prosecute His Political Enemies

Discussion: CNN, CNBC, Mediaite, The Week and Raw Story

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales rebukes Trump for reportedly seeking to prosecute Clinton, Comey

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Matt Naham / Law & Crime:
Here's Why the New York Times Bombshell Report Could Be the Finishing Touch for Mueller's Obstruction Case

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Tess Bonn / The Hill:
House GOP to hold hearing into DOJ's probe of Clinton Foundation

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
Matthew Whitaker Earned $1.2 Million From Group Backed by Undisclosed Donors

Discussion: American Oversight, Law & Crime and Gizmodo

CREW: CREW Requests All Versions of Whitaker's Financial Disclosures

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Top Trump officials saved the President from himself

Discussion: KTLA

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Matt Whitaker Suggested Trump Administration Should Prosecute Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian and Mediaite

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed News: The White House Won't Say When Trump Formally Named Matthew Whitaker As Acting Attorney General

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Senators demand Trump say whether Saudi prince ordered Khashoggi killing — The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is demanding a definitive determination from President Donald Trump about whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Discussion: Vox, Axios, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, CNBC and One America News Network

Wall Street Journal:

Trump's Crude Realpolitik — His statement about the Saudis had no mention of America's values. — By The Editorial Board — President Trump did himself and the country no favor with his crude statement Tuesday on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi's murder by Saudi agents.

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
The DC Establishment Gets Almost Everything Wrong About Trump's Saudi Posture

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post and The American Conservative, more at Mediagazer »

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Almost everything Trump just said about Saudi Arabia and Jamal Khashoggi is wrong or overly simplistic

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, RedState and The Mahablog

New York Times:
Trump Stands Up for Saudi Arabian Values

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, New Yorker, The Intercept, Foreign Policy, Vox and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

Julian E. Barnes / New York Times:
Trump's Statement on Saudi Arabia, Explained!

Discussion: Washington Post and Althouse

Associated Press:
“I am astounded:” Sen. Corker compares White House statement to PR for Saudi Arabia

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, HuffPost and IndieWire

Washington Post:
Trump calls Saudi Arabia a ‘great ally,’ discounts crown prince's responsibility for Khashoggi's death

India Today:

American killed on Andaman island home to uncontacted people, body yet to be recovered — The murder took place on an island inhabited by the Sentinelese people, who are protected under Indian law — A rare photo of two members of the Sentinelese tribe, which is protected under Indian law …

Discussion: NPR and Althouse

France 24:
US tourist killed by arrow-shooting Indian tribe

Discussion: Daily Wire

Tara Copp / Military Times:

White House approves use of force, some law enforcement roles for border troops — The White House late Tuesday signed a memo allowing troops stationed at the border to engage in some law enforcement roles and use lethal force, if necessary — a move that legal experts have cautioned may run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Discussion: Axios

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Ex-Facebook President Sean Parker Funded Race-Baiting Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith's Super PAC — A spokesman for the Napster founder said he denounces Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments but isn't calling for a refund of the money he's given. — As embattled incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Snopes.com, Splinter, IJR, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Political Wire

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

Mississippi Senate Special: It's All About Turnout — Lost amid recounts in Florida, uncertainty in Georgia and a handful of uncalled House races is the special election run-off in Mississippi to fill the remainder of former Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's term.

Discussion: Roll Call, Weekly Standard, The Guardian and Reuters

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Behind the scenes: Trump vs. Mueller — President Trump delivered to Robert Mueller handwritten answers about pre-election dimensions of the Russia probe but did not answer questions about his behavior as president, including allegations of obstruction of justice — and will resist doing so in the future …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Political Wire, ABC News, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Mueller got some answers, but he's not done with Trump

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Vox

Tresa Baldas / Detroit Free Press:

Judge dismisses female genital mutilation charges in historic case — In a major blow to the federal government, a judge in Detroit has declared America's female genital mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing the key charges against two Michigan doctors and six others accused …

Discussion: Reuters, Detroit News, Simple Justice, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart and TheBlaze

Laura Ly / CNN:
Charges dropped in first federal genital mutilation case in US

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

BBC:

Russia loses Interpol presidency vote — Interpol has elected South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its president, rejecting the Russian frontrunner who had been accused of abusing the international police body's arrest warrant system. — Mr Kim was chosen by Interpol's 194 member states at a meeting of its annual congress in Dubai.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, TheBlaze, Daily Wire and The Guardian

Associated Press:
South Korean named Interpol president in blow to Russia

Discussion: Colorado Politics and TheBlaze

Josie Ensor / Telegraph:

British academic Matthew Hedges sentenced to life in prison by UAE court for ‘spying for UK government’ — A British academic has been sentenced by an Abu Dhabi court to life in prison for spying for the UK government, in a shock decision which Jeremy Hunt warned could damage relations between the two allies.

Nazia Parveen / The Guardian: Matthew Hedges: British academic accused of spying jailed for life in UAE

Max Read / New York Magazine:

The Decline and Fall of the Zuckerberg Empire — Mark Zuckerberg isn't the first person in human history to draw inspiration from Augustus Caesar, the founder of the Roman Empire, but he's one of a very few for whom the lessons of Augustus's reign have a concrete urgency.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gizmodo, Engadget and Investor's Business Daily, more at Techmeme »

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
As Facebook faces fire, heat turns up on No. 2 Sandberg

Discussion: CNN, AOL and KTLA

Los Angeles Times:

Election fraud scheme on L.A.'s skid row got homeless to sign fake names for cigarettes and cash, D.A. says — A forged signature swapped for $1 — or sometimes a cigarette. — The crude exchange played out hundreds of times on L.A.'s skid row during the 2016 election cycle and again this year …

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze, Townhall, Front Page Magazine and KTLA

Dennis Romero / NBC News: Skid Row vote fraudsters preyed on L.A. homeless, authorities charge

The Daily Beast:

Trump Helped Roger Ailes Create Fox Business Network, the Most Pro-Trump Cable Outlet — A decade ago, The Donald advised Fox News on launching its business network. Now the Fox Business Network advises President Trump. — The most pro-Trump cable-news outlet was helped in its founding by none other than Donald Trump himself.

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter: Will Fox Business Network Take Action After Lou Dobbs Tells Judge to “Go to Hell”?

The Guardian:

Steve Bannon's far-right Europe operation undermined by election laws — Exclusive: ambitious plan to campaign in EU elections would fall foul of laws in nine of 13 targeted states — Play Video — Steve Bannon's political operation to help rightwing populists triumph …

Brady McCombs / Associated Press:

Democrats flip Utah House seat as McAdams tops Rep. Mia Love — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Democrat Ben McAdams has flipped a U.S. House seat in deep-red Utah, defeating incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love by fewer than 700 votes in a race that took two weeks to settle.

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Week and The Hill

Lee Davidson / Salt Lake Tribune:
It's over. Democrat Ben McAdams ousts Republican Rep Mia Love by 694 votes

Discussion: RedState, CNBC, The Daily Caller and Washington Press

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

The time Nancy Pelosi saved Social Security — “Never. Is never good enough for you?” — To people whose main reference point for politics is the late Obama years, the 2016 presidential campaign, and the post-Bernie Sanders blossoming of left-wing politics in the United States …

Mark Osborne / ABC News:

Comedian Michelle Wolf delivers one-liner in response to Trump attack — Michelle Wolf won't be making any jokes from the podium at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but last year's host was ready with a one-liner after the president attacked her on Twitter.

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post and Politico

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Stalemate on Trump's wall amid threat of shutdown — Congress just can't help itself: With a partial government shutdown potentially two weeks away, Democrats and Republicans are dug in, each side upping its demands and vowing not to buckle to the other. — President Donald Trump …

Discussion: SARAH PALIN

Reuters:

Harvesting in a trade war: U.S. crops rot as storage costs soar — (Reuters) - U.S. farmers finishing their harvests are facing a big problem - where to put the mountain of grain they cannot sell to Chinese buyers. — For Louisiana farmer Richard Fontenot and his neighbors, the solution was a costly one: Let the crops rot.