memeorandum: Mic has laid off the majority of its staff (Peter Kafka/Recode)

11:55 AM ET, November 29, 2018

Top Items:

Michael Cohen to Plead Guilty to Charge in Mueller Investigation — Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, who pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance laws, made a surprise appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday morning to plead guilty to a new criminal charge …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Law & Crime, POLITICUSUSA, Splinter, twitchy.com and Instapundit

George Stephanopoulos / ABC News:

Michael Cohen expected to plead guilty to lying to Congress in collusion probe; gave 70 hours of interviews to special counsel: Sources — Special counsel Robert Mueller has reached a tentative deal with Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and long-time fixer for President Donald Trump, sources told ABC News.

Matthew Kahn / Lawfare:

Document: Michael Cohen Criminal Information in Mueller Probe — The Associate Press reports that on Thursday morning, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to making false statements to Congress related to his involvement in real estate deals in Russia on behalf of Donald Trump.

Discussion: Townhall, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:

Manafort Lied About Business Dealings, Mueller's Team Believes — Statements, which the former Trump aide describes as truthful, led the special counsel to end his plea agreement — Paul Manafort's alleged misstatements to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators include comments …

NBC News: Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying about Trump Tower project in Moscow

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic: Is Manafort Angling for a Pardon?

MSNBC:

Key Mueller witness: I lied and I'm ready to die in jail — In a blockbuster interview, key Mueller witness and Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi admits to MSNBC's Ari Melber that he lied to Congress, that he tried to get stolen Clinton emails back to the Trump campaign in 2016, that he …

Discussion: New Republic

Washington Post:

Trump's night-owl calls to Roger Stone in 2016 draw scrutiny in Mueller probe — The calls almost always came deep into the night. — Caller ID labeled them “unknown,” but Roger Stone said he knew to pick up quickly during those harried months of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Law & Crime, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, Booman Tribune, HuffPost, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Politico, National Review, Mother Jones and CNBC

Donald J. Trump / Popular Information:

The great unraveling — Welcome to a bonus edition of Popular Information, a newsletter with original research and fresh insight into the political news that matters most — written by me, Judd Legum. This is a bonus edition normally available only to paid subscribers.

Discussion: Just Security, Washington Post and The Atlantic

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi Pushed Seth Rich Lie After Privately Admitting Hackers Stole DNC Emails

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite, Boing Boing, Raw Story and Washington Times

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Mic has laid off the majority of its staff — The publisher is trying to sell the remainder of the company to Bustle Digital Group. — Mic is laying off the majority off its staff while the digital publisher works on a deal to sell the remainder of its assets to Bustle Digital Group.

Discussion: Gothamist and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Deutsche Bank Offices Are Searched in Money Laundering Investigation — One hundred seventy officers searched the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and five other sites in the area early Thursday as part of a money-laundering investigation involving hundreds of millions of euros, prosecutors in Frankfurt said.

Discussion: Common Dreams and NPR

Bloomberg:

Deutsche Bank Raided by Police in Money-Laundering Probe — 170 German officials involved in searches of bank offices — Probe stems from Panama Papers, not role in Danske laundering — German authorities descended on Deutsche Bank AG, including its downtown Frankfurt headquarters …

Discussion: Washington Post and The Guardian

Washington Post:
Deutsche Bank headquarters raided in case connected to Panama Papers

Discussion: ThinkProgress

BBC: Deutsche Bank headquarters raided over money laundering

New York Post:

Trump slams special counsel after retweeting image of Rosenstein behind bars … WASHINGTON - It was no accident that President Trump Wednesday retweeted an image of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein locked up. — When asked during an interview with The Post: “Why do you think he belongs behind bars?”

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Politico, IJR, Shakesville, Patterico's Pontifications, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Breitbart, CNN, ABC News, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

New York Post:
Trump threatens to declassify ‘devastating’ docs about Democrats

Discussion: CNN, Defense One, Shareblue Media, Washington Times, TheBlaze, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Mediaite

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Trump Administration Is Set to Ban Bump Stock Devices on Guns

Discussion: Vox, Hit & Run, Breitbart, CNN and IJR

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Trump on Rod Rosenstein: ‘He should have never picked a special counsel’

Discussion: Politico and New York Post

The Daily Beast:

Stormy Daniels: Michael Avenatti Sued Trump For Defamation Against My Wishes — The porn star also says her lawyer refused to give her information about how her crowdfunding money was being spent, and launched a second crowdfund without her knowledge. — Michael Avenatti sued Donald Trump …

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Had Many Ties to Israeli Intel Firm in Mueller's Crosshairs

Discussion: Raw Story

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Jeffrey Epstein's Horrific History of Sex Crimes

Discussion: Washington Press, The American Conservative and Common Dreams

Lenny Bernstein / Washington Post:

U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I — Life expectancy in the United States declined again in 2017, the government said Thursday in a bleak series of reports that showed a nation still in the grip of escalating drug and suicide crises.

New York Times:
‘The Numbers Are So Staggering.’ Overdose Deaths Set a Record Last Year.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Pelosi shuts down critics in tense meeting — Nancy Pelosi was having none of it. — A trio of her fiercest Democratic critics — lawmakers trying to bar her from reclaiming the speaker's gavel — were trying to pin her down on exactly when she planned to relinquish power.

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Vox, The Hill, The Root and Daily Wire

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Hakeem Jeffries Emerges as New Face of House Democrats

Discussion: The Root and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

How Donald Trump appeals to men secretly insecure about their manhood — From boasting about the size of his penis on national television to releasing records of his high testosterone levels, President Trump's rhetoric and behavior exude machismo. His behavior also seems to have struck a chord with some male voters.

Discussion: Raw Story

Phil McCausland / NBC News:

Veterans Affairs Dept. tells Capitol Hill it won't repay underpaid GI Bill benefits recipients — The news conflicts with a promise VA officials made to a House committee earlier this month that it would reimburse those veterans who received less than the full amount they were due.

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor Just Came Out Swinging Against Policing for Profit — Tyson Timbs just wants his car back. In 2015, Timbs was charged with selling heroin to undercover officers in Indiana to fund his opioid addiction. After he pleaded guilty, a private law firm filed …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Hot Air, NPR, Washington Free Beacon and Reason

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Mormons support GOP, but Trump approval lags — WASHINGTON (AP) — About two-thirds of Mormon voters nationwide favored Republicans in the midterm elections, but President Donald Trump's approval rating among members of the faith lagged behind, according to a nationwide survey of midterm voters.

Wes Parnell / New York Daily News:

Holocaust scholar at Teachers College, Columbia University finds swastikas spray-painted on her office wall — A Jewish professor and Holocaust scholar at Columbia Teacher's College said she found two swastikas and an anti-Semitic slur spray-painted on her office wall Wednesday.

Discussion: Splinter

Jason Schwartz / Politico:

Fox News will not tweet this story — The network hasn't tweeted since Nov. 8. — Tuesday was a red-letter day for Fox News: The launch of Fox Nation, its new subscription streaming service designed to appeal to the most obsessed Fox News fans. — And yet, armed with a Twitter feed capable …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Vespa / Townhall:

Sen. Jeff Flake's Nauseating Obstructionism Over Protect Mueller Bill Delayed 21 Trump Judicial Nominations — Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MI) won her runoff election last night over Democrat Mike Espy in Mississippi, so Republicans have a solid 53-47 majority.

Discussion: Axios and Politico

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate Judiciary cancels nominee hearings over Flake's Mueller stand

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Raw Story, Washington Post, Axios and CNN

David Freedlander / New York Daily News:

Yes, Mike, run — as a Republican: If Bloomberg tries to become President as a Democrat, it'll backfire — Mike Bloomberg has called the President of the United States a grifter and a menace, his allies in Congress spineless sell-outs running roughshod over the Constitution.

Discussion: Althouse

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:

Papadopoulos's Russia Ties Continue to Intrigue — George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his interactions with a Russia-linked professor in 2016, went to jail on Monday after fighting, and failing, to delay the start of his two-week prison sentence.

Discussion: Washington Press and Raw Story

Sonam Sheth / Business Insider:
Investigators are probing a letter that claims George Papadopoulos said he was pursuing …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Boing Boing

Christina Cauterucci / Slate:

Democrats Blame Kirsten Gillibrand for Al Franken's Fall — They should be thanking her. — When seven women accused then-Minnesota Sen. Al Franken of sexual harassment or abuse last winter, Democrats were put in a tight spot. If they demanded Franken's resignation for alleged acts far less severe …

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Erika Kinetz / Associated Press:

If your Tesla knows where you are, China may too — SHANGHAI (AP) — When Shan Junhua bought his white Tesla Model X, he knew it was a fast, beautiful car. What he didn't know is that Tesla constantly sends information about the precise location of his car to the Chinese government.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Joe Sexton / ProPublica:

“I Don't Want to Shoot You, Brother” — A shocking story of police and lethal force. Just not the one you might expect. — A partnership with Frontline Dispatch. — PART I. — Nine Minutes in Weirton — THE DISPATCHER for the Weirton Police Department took the 911 call at 2:51 a.m. on May 6, 2016.

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

U.N. ambassador hunt drags on as top candidate fades — The hunt for a new United Nations ambassador — a job for which State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert was once considered a lock but is now out of contention — has faced repeated delays and is running up against Nikki Haley's end-of-year departure date.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alex Shephard / New Republic:

What Is Chuck Schumer Thinking? — When the 116th Congress begins in just over a month, President Donald Trump's dream of a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border will be all but dead. Massive gains in the midterm elections will give Democrats a sizable majority in the House of Representatives …

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine and CNBC

U.S. Department of Justice:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Delivers Remarks at the American Conference Institute's 35th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — Thank you, Sandra [Moser]. I appreciate your exceptional work for the Department of Justice.