memeorandum: Trump, Russia and lessons from the mob: Did ‘godfathers’ steer collusion probe? (John Solomon/The Hill)

1:25 PM ET, December 1, 2018

Top Items:

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

George Bush, 41st President, Dies at 94 — George Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, who steered the nation through a tumultuous period in world affairs but was denied a second term after support for his presidency collapsed under the weight …

Bill Clinton / Washington Post:

George H.W. Bush's Oval Office note to me revealed the heart of who he was — Bill Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States. — On Jan. 20, 1993, I entered the Oval Office for the first time as president. As is the tradition, waiting for me was a note from my predecessor, George Herbert Walker Bush.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, IJR and Mediaite

Michael S. Rosenwald / Washington Post:

'Wouldn't be prudent': George H.W. Bush's unlikely friendship with Dana Carvey — In early December 1992, a month after Bill Clinton had whipped him in the election, President George H.W. Bush held a holiday party for his deflated staffers. — They were in for a big surprise.

Discussion: Bloomberg and Hit & Run

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, dies at 94 — George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president …

Discussion: Politico, Hit & Run, JustOneMinute, Los Angeles Times, The Week, FOX6Now.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The American Conservative, Florida Politics and Political Wire

Jeet Heer / New Republic:
George H.W. Bush, embodiment of an older Republican Party, is dead. RIP.

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState and New York Times

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump to name Dec. 5 a national day of mourning for George H.W. Bush

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Sputnik International and Breitbart

Clinton Foundation:
Statement by President Clinton and Secretary Clinton on the Passing of President George H.W. Bush

Discussion: LifeZette, NPR, CBS Denver, IJR, CBS New York, Breitbart, Axios, CBS Dallas and Associated Press

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Offers Praise for Bush and Will Attend the Funeral

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, WTOP and Althouse

Michael Graczyk / Associated Press:
Former President George H.W. Bush dies at age 94

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Washington Post, Axios, Jimmy Carter Presidential …, The Daily Beast and The Week

Mary Kate Cary / USA Today:
George H.W. Bush was an ‘American great’ committed to unity, diversity and generosity

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Todd S. Purdum / The Atlantic: A Kindler, Gentler Republican President Is Dead

NBC News:
Former President George H.W. Bush is dead at 94

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABC News, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Contemptor, Sputnik International, Althouse, Roll Call, HuffPost and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
George H.W. Bush dies at 94. …

Discussion: Florida Politics and twitchy.com

New York Times: George H.W. Bush, Public Servant

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
George H.W. Bush dies at 94

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, The Daily Beast, FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press, Axios and EU Press Room

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:
George H.W. Bush: President, Internationalist, War Hero—Dead at 94

Discussion: Politico and Inquirer Globalnation

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Cohen claims ‘regular contact’ with Trump legal team when crafting false statement to Congress — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen said Friday he was in “close and regular contact” with Trump's White House staff and legal team when he prepared a statement …

Discussion: Reuters, Splinter, The Week, Raw Story and Political Wire

CNN:

Cohen believed Trump would pardon him, but then things changed — Washington (CNN)Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney for President Donald Trump who is now a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, was under the impression Trump would offer him a pardon …

Discussion: Mediaite and Media Matters for America

Sharon LaFraniere / New York Times:

Mueller Exposes the Culture of Lying That Surrounds Trump — WASHINGTON — When Michael D. Cohen admitted this past week to lying to Congress about a Russian business deal, he said he had testified falsely out of loyalty to President Trump. When he admitted this summer to lying …

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Cohen seeks ‘time served’ prison sentence, says again his crimes were meant to protect Trump — Lawyers for former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen argued Friday that their client should not go to prison for the criminal charges to which he has pleaded guilty, and unequivocally linked …

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Scent of the Russians — There's a connection between Cohen's guilty plea and Ukraine's desperate plight. — Garry Kasparov, the chess champion and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative (with which I'm associated), has an excellent suggestion for how to respond immediately …

Discussion: Washington Press, Mediaite, Sputnik International and Breitbart

Justin Miller / The Daily Beast:
Cohen: Trump Knew I Called Kremlin for Help With Trump Tower Moscow

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Informed Comment

Sputnik International: Kremlin: Cohen Indeed Contacted Administration, Was Invited to Economic Forum

Warren P. Strobel / Wall Street Journal:

CIA Intercepts Underpin Assessment Saudi Crown Prince Targeted Khashoggi — Conclusion that Mohammad ‘probably ordered’ killing relies in part on 11 messages he sent to adviser who oversaw hit squad around time it killed journalist — WASHINGTON—Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CNN, CityLab, Raw Story and Al Jazeera

Washington Post:
'We don't want him here': Saudi crown prince is a protected pariah at G-20 summit

Discussion: Reuters and Politico

Julian Borger / The Guardian:
‘I am worried’: Macron's chat with Saudi prince captured at G20

Discussion: The Independent, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Politico, Conservative News Today and Mother Jones

New York Times:
Dodging Friends, Chased by Legal Troubles, Trump Navigates G-20

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Trump Fund-Raiser Received Laundered Foreign Money, Prosecutors Say — WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors cited the involvement of a onetime top fund-raiser to President Trump on Friday in a scheme to launder millions of dollars into the country to help a flamboyant Malaysian financier end a Justice Department investigation.

Discussion: Raw Story

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post: Ex-Justice Dept. employee admits to helping aid lobbying effort meant to shut down Malaysian corruption probe

John Solomon / The Hill:

Trump, Russia and lessons from the mob: Did ‘godfathers’ steer collusion probe? — Back in the mafia's heyday, FBI and IRS agents had a set of surveillance rules. — If one mobster showed up in town, pay notice. If two arrived, be suspicious. If three or four were in the same vicinity, something was going down.

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:
Senate Intelligence Committee has referred cases of suspected lying to Mueller

Discussion: Axios and POLITICUSUSA

Elena Schneider / Politico:

Inside the GOP's California nightmare — Rep. Steve Knight's (R-Calif.) campaign went into election night thinking another tough victory was at hand. — Knight grinded out a win in 2016, in a district President Donald Trump lost, despite relentless Democratic attacks linking Knight and his party's leader.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

GOP seeks to limit Wisconsin early voting, strip powers from Tony Evers and Josh Kaul in lame-duck session — MADISON - Republican lawmakers are seeking to limit voter turnout and want to take away key powers from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general before GOP Gov. Scott Walker leaves office in January.

Phillip Walter Wellman / Stars & Stripes:

The US has dropped more munitions in 2018 in Afghanistan than it has in any year in over a decade — KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States dropped more bombs and other munitions in Afghanistan during the first ten months of 2018 than in any other full year since documentation began, new Air Force data shows.

Craig R. McCoy / Philly.com:

U.N. speech by Temple prof draws fire from university's board chair — The chairman of Temple University's board came out firing Friday against professor Marc Lamont Hill for a speech he made at the United Nations this week criticizing Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.

Discussion: The College Fix