memeorandum: The buying of a president (Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post)

6:30 PM ET, December 6, 2018

Top Items:

Miriam Jordan / New York Times:

Making President Trump's Bed: A Housekeeper Without Papers — At the president's New Jersey golf course, an undocumented immigrant has worked as a maid since 2013. She said she never imagined she “would see such important people close up.” — BEDMINSTER, N.J. — During more than five years …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Root, VICE News, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, Law & Crime, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Raw Story and The Week

Washington Post:

Republican officials had early warnings of voting irregularities in North Carolina — BLADENBORO, N.C. — When GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger lost his primary by a narrow margin in May, he suspected something was amiss. — The congressman turned to a group of friends and family who had gathered …

Discussion: Axios, The Charlotte Observer, Talking Points Memo, NPR, The Root, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, Hullabaloo and electionlawblog.org

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Democrat Dan McCready withdraws his concession in North Carolina congressional race roiled by accusations of fraud — Democrat Dan McCready withdrew his concession Thursday in a North Carolina congressional race that has been roiled by accusations of fraud.

Discussion: Political Wire

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The Wisconsin power grab is part of a bigger Republican attack on democracy

Discussion: PoliticalCharge, Commentary, HuffPost, Right Wing Watch, CNN and Washington Post

Daniel Marans / HuffPost: ‘No Labels’ Refuses To Call Out Republicans By Name For Midwest Power Grab

Eric Bradner / CNN:
North Carolina GOP director open to new election in disputed House race

Discussion: National Journal, Politico, WSOC-TV, Daily Kos and Common Dreams

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
The GOP Is Making Its Contempt for Democracy Clear. Will the Mainstream Media?

Discussion: Washington Post

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

Elizabeth Warren Stands by DNA Test. But Around Her, Worries Abound. — WASHINGTON — The plan was straightforward: After years of being challenged by President Trump and others about a decades-old claim of Native American ancestry, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would take a DNA test …

Discussion: Townhall, Bloomberg, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Wire, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jezebel, twitchy.com, Louder With Crowder, Splinter, Union-News, Washington Free Beacon and Instapundit

BostonGlobe.com:

Deval Patrick knew when to call it quits on a presidential bid. Other politicians take note — Running for president is hard. — Deciding not to run? That can be even harder. — Over the last year, two-term former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has explored the possibility …

Discussion: CNN, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
2020 Is Already Shaping Up to Be Another Festival of Stupid

Discussion: Daily Wire and Townhall

Deval Patrick:
After a lot of conversation, reflection and prayer …

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:

William Barr is leading attorney general candidate in Trump discussions — Former attorney general William P. Barr is President Trump's leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Justice Department — a choice that could be made in coming days as the agency presses forward with a probe …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Media Matters for America, Hot Air, Law & Crime, Breitbart, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and AOL

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump's new top AG pick has urged more Clinton probes and played down both Russia collusion and obstruction

Discussion: Above the Law

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

The White House Has No Plan for Confronting the Mueller Report — Nobody knows how the White House plans to respond to the Mueller report—including the people who work at the White House. — The special counsel is reportedly nearing the end of his probe. Sentencing memos are dropping.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Monthly, New York Times, HuffPost, Balloon Juice, POLITICUSUSA, Splinter, Raw Story, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo and Vox

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Giuliani: The Dog Ate My Counter-Report to Mueller — The Trump administration has been promising they would respond to any charges by Robert Mueller with a devastating point-by-point defense: a “counter-report” written by none other than attorney at law and esteemed cybersecurity expert Rudy Giuliani.

Discussion: New Republic and Raw Story

CNN:

Mueller poised to reveal new details on Russia probe in Manafort, Cohen filings — (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's team could reveal tantalizing new details in its investigation into possible Russian collusion on Friday thanks to a pair of court filing deadlines involving President …

Andrew Napolitano / Fox News:
Judge Andrew Napolitano: Why I don't believe that Mueller is on a fishing expedition (or is about to go home)

Discussion: Mediaite

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Senate Intelligence Committee Grilled Steve Bannon About Cambridge Analytica

Discussion: Shakesville

Mark Follman / Mother Jones:

Documents Point to Illegal Campaign Coordination Between Trump and the NRA — The National Rifle Association spent $30 million to help elect Donald Trump—more than any other independent conservative group. Most of that sum went toward television advertising, but a political message loses …

Mike Spies / The Trace:
Documents Point to Illegal Campaign Coordination Between Trump and NRA

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed News:

Reporters At Bloomberg News Are Worried About Michael Bloomberg's Potential Presidential Run — Reporters at Bloomberg News are on edge after their boss announced that if he chooses to run for president in 2020 — a decision he will have to finalize relatively soon — it could mean the end of the news outlet's political coverage.

Discussion: Political Wire, Mediaite, KBZK, CNBC, Breitbart, Talking Biz News and Radio Iowa, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Suntrup / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Missouri Secretary of State Ashcroft launches investigation into Josh Hawley — • Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has launched an investigation into the way Attorney General Josh Hawley ran his attorney general's office, Ashcroft's deputy general counsel wrote to the Democratic-allied American Democracy Legal Fund on Thursday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Fox Business Network Apologizes for Louie Gohmert Spreading Anti-Semitic George Soros Conspiracy — The openly anti-Semitic attack initially went unchallenged by host Stuart Varney, who later issued an apology. — Matt Wilstein — Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Thursday morning managed …

Discussion: Vox, Contemptor, Washington Press and Splinter

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Rep. Louie Gohmert falsely says George Soros helped take property from fellow Jews

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gohmert, Contemptor and YouTube

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Trump's slow-motion staff ‘shakeup’ stunts 2019 planning — President Donald Trump is still looking for a new United Nations ambassador. He has no deputy national security adviser. His attorney general and Environmental Protection Agency administrator are serving in acting capacities …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Politico: Trump's criminal justice reform nears demise

BuzzFeed News:

A Mysterious Imposter Account Was Used On Facebook To Drum Up Support For The Migrant Caravan — Days before the migrant caravan left Honduras, a fake Facebook account was used to try to bolster its numbers. The social media giant has since deactivated the account but has refused to provide information about who created it.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Szoldra / Task & Purpose:

General McChrystal Told Pompeo To ‘Muddle Along’ In Afghanistan, Leaked Audio Reveals — Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, recently told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he did not know what to do in Afghanistan but offered his “best suggestion” …

Discussion: New Republic

CNBC:

Stocks drop again with Dow's two-day slide now totaling more than 1,000 points — Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as continuing fears over U.S.-China trade relations and concern over a possible global economic slowdown kept investors on edge. — The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 451 points …

Discussion: NPR, The New Neo, The Guardian and Mediaite

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Trump hotel feud erupts between Lewandowski and Florida senators — MIAMI — It was supposed to be a friendly introduction between Republicans at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Wednesday night, when the president's former campaign manager and the Republican leader of the Florida Senate met.

Discussion: Florida Politics and Raw Story

John Harwood / CNBC:

Donald Trump could be the first president since Jimmy Carter to run for re-election during a recession — Until now, Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation has loomed as a singular threat to further erode the President Trump's standing. — But the uncertainty on display …

The Guardian:

Trump aide's appearances on RT channel are focus for Russia inquiry — Ted Malloch, a Trump campaign adviser, has been questioned about his relationship with the Kremlin-controlled broadcaster — Robert Mueller is allegedly examining a Trump campaign adviser's appearances …

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Perticone / Business Insider:

Nancy Pelosi says funding for Trump's ‘immoral, ineffective, expensive’ border wall is off the table — Nancy Pelosi called for a yearlong continuing resolution on funding for homeland security. — Pelosi dismissed a compromise of exchanging border wall funding for a DACA solution.

Discussion: Daily Wire

Matthew Daly / Associated Press: Pelosi takes hard line on Trump's wall ahead of meeting

Bakersfield Californian:

David Valadao concedes to TJ Cox in California 21st Congressional District race — Congressman David Valadao has conceded the race for the California 21st Congressional District, his office announced Thursday. — The three-term Republican representative has called his challenger TJ Cox …

Pete Williams / NBC News:

In potential blow to Manafort, Supreme Court unlikely to change double jeopardy rule — A presidential pardon could keep Trump's former campaign chairman out of federal prison, but it would not free him from being prosecuted on similar state charges. — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court …

Rick Wilson / Washington Post:

Trump could've ruined Bush's funeral. Bush didn't let him. — By including the current president, the late president preempted his successor's proclivity for draining the dignity out of solemn occasions. — Rick Wilson is a Republican political consultant, a Daily Beast columnist and the author of …

Discussion: Washington Press, Raw Story and Mediaite

Deconstructed / The Intercept:

Is This the Democrat Who Can Beat Trump in the Rust Belt in 2020? — Photo illustration: Soohee Cho/The Intercept, Getty Images — Subscribe to the Deconstructed podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Radio Public, and other platforms. New to podcasting? Click here.

Bradford Betz / Fox News:

Democrat accused of repeated use of women's restroom will resign in January — A Colorado Democrat whom female colleagues had accused earlier this year of frequenting a women's restroom inside the Statehouse is resigning, a spokesman said Wednesday. — State Sen. Daniel Kagan's departure …

Discussion: Power Line

New York Times:

Allegation of a Doping Cover-Up by Agents Exposes a Hole in Baseball's Authority — Two years ago, lawyers for Major League Baseball sent a confidential document to the players union containing startling allegations against two of the game's top agents. — The document …