memeorandum: GOP in the dark as Trump weighs emergency declaration (Andrew Restuccia/Politico)

5:30 PM ET, January 8, 2019

Top Items:

Paul Manafort shared 2016 polling data with Russian employee, according to court filing — Paul Manafort shared 2016 presidential campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former employee whom the FBI has said has ties to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNBC, emptywheel, Little Green Footballs and Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Manafort Shared Trump Campaign Data With Russian Associate, Prosecutors Say — WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort shared Trump campaign polling data with an associate tied to Russian intelligence during the 2016 campaign, prosecutors alleged, according to a court filing unsealed on Tuesday.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, Taylor Marsh and The Mahablog

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:
Manafort accused by Mueller of sharing 2016 polling data with Russian linked to Moscow intelligence

Discussion: Shareblue Media and POLITICUSUSA

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
A new link between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence that's more evocative than definitive

Discussion: Daily Mail and Axios

Jack Crowe / National Review:
Manafort Shared Trump-Campaign Polling Data with Russian Associate, Prosecutors Claim

Discussion: RedState

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Manafort allegedly lied about sharing 2016 polling data with Russian operative

Discussion: Politico, Vox and Wired

Bloomberg: Mueller Suspects Manafort Gave 2016 Polling Data to Russian

New York Times:

Trump Invites TV Representatives to Lunch Ahead of His Prime-Time Speech — WASHINGTON — President Trump has invited representatives from cable and broadcast news channels to an off-the-record lunch at the White House ahead of his prime time speech Tuesday night, an address in which he is expected …

Discussion: Politico and Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
GOP in the dark as Trump weighs emergency declaration

Discussion: IJR

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
As shutdown effects loom for normal Americans, Trump is feeling pressure to solve the stalemate

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, NBC News, The Nation, The Root and Hot Air

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:
Why Mike Pence Couldn't End the Shutdown

Discussion: Hit & Run, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Week, Shakesville and Politico

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Trump to argue national security ‘crisis’ at southern border in prime-time address

Discussion: Politico, POLITICUSUSA, Media Matters for America and Axios

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Undecided on Emergency Declaration for Border Wall, Officials Say

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Axios, Vox, TheStreet, Talking Points Memo, Patterico's Pontifications, New York Times and Washington Post

Mike Allen / Axios:
The next juicy White House memoir comes out in 3 weeks, and ABC scored the first interview with its author

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Dara Lind / Vox:
Here's the offer Trump is making to Democrats to end the shutdown

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post and Politico

Washington Post:
Trump to make public case for border wall but not expected to declare emergency in Oval Office address

Discussion: Mother Jones and thenewamerican.com

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Supreme Court turns down mysterious Mueller subpoena fight — The Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a mysterious subpoena fight that apparently involved an unidentified foreign-government-owned company and special counsel Robert Mueller. — Last month, the unknown firm asked …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Political Wire and The Daily Caller

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Supreme Court Receives New Filing in Apparent Mueller Case

Discussion: Raw Story, BloombergQuint, Shakesville and SCOTUSblog

Washington Post:
Supreme Court rules against mystery corporation from ‘Country A’ fighting subpoena in Mueller investigation

Discussion: Vox and Joe.My.God.

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Ginsburg misses second day in a row at Supreme Court

Discussion: Breitbart, Daily Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Veselnitskaya, Russian in Trump Tower Meeting, Is Charged in Case That Shows Kremlin Ties — [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] — Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who in 2016 met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower …

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Monthly, RedState, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, The Real Deal New York, Daily Kos, CNN, The Week, Axios and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting charged in separate case — A Russian lawyer whose role at a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower has come under scrutiny from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was charged Tuesday in a separate case with obstructing justice in a money-laundering investigation.

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Bruno / WSOC-TV:

Emergency Exit: Mark Harris trips alarm trying to evade Channel 9 in uptown — CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After Republican 9th Congressional District candidate Mark Harris finished addressing Mecklenburg County Republicans at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center Monday night, reporters …

Discussion: Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, twitchy.com and Talking Points Memo

Brad Plumer / New York Times:

U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants Closed — WASHINGTON — America's carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3.4 percent in 2018, the biggest increase in eight years, according to a preliminary estimate published Tuesday. — Strikingly, the sharp uptick in emissions occurred …

Discussion: NPR, CNN, Washington Post, Rhodium Group, Motherboard, KTLA, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic, The Guardian and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
U.S. Downgraded E.U.'s Diplomatic Status (but Didn't Say Anything)

Discussion: Washington Post, DW.COM, The Gateway Pundit, Splinter and The Guardian

DailySabah:

A soft coup against Donald Trump — If U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton thought yesterday's visit was going to be a walk in the park, he must have had a rude awakening thanks to the lukewarm reception in the Turkish capital Ankara. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea …

Discussion: The Right Scoop and New York Times

Kareem Fahim / Washington Post:
Turkish leader Erdogan scolds and snubs Bolton over Kurdish fighters

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Lawfare, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, NPR, The American Conservative, Hit & Run and TheBlaze

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

ABC's Jon Karl Grills VP Pence on Trump's Lies About Immigration: ‘This is About Credibility!’ — Vice President Mike Pence gave an interview to ABC's Jon Karl on Tuesday, during which, he was pressed hard on President Donald Trump's credibility amid the ongoing immigration debate.

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:
The Latest: Pence says Trump's wall claim was ‘impression’

Discussion: Breitbart, CNN and The Daily Beast

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:

Donald Trump Was Just Handed a Chance to Supercharge Voter Suppression in 2020 — In a short unpublished opinion so far garnering only slight media attention, the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit decided on Monday what may be one of the most consequential cases poised to affect the 2020 elections.

Discussion: Politico

Joseph Cox / Motherboard:

I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone — T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are selling access to their customers' location data, and that data is ending up in the hands of bounty hunters and others not authorized to posses it, letting them track most phones in the country.

Discussion: The Verge, East Bay Times, Boing Boing and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Kellyanne Conway Corrects Sarah Sanders' Border Terrorist Claim: ‘Unfortunate Misstatement’ — Kellyanne Conway said her colleague, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, made an “unfortunate misstatement” on illegal immigration at the border on Fox News.

Discussion: Law & Crime, Washington Post, Contemptor, Hit & Run and Vox

Daily Mail:
Kellyanne Conway called CNN reporter Jim Acosta a ‘smart ass’

Discussion: IJR and The Gateway Pundit

NBC New York:

NYC Mayor Guarantees Comprehensive Health Care for All in Historic Surprise Announcement — It's not health insurance; it's the city paying for direct comprehensive care for those who can't afford it or are undocumented, a spokesman said — NYC Mayor Guarantees Comprehensive Health Care for All

Discussion: ABC News, abc7ny.com, Joe.My.God., ACA Signups, Breitbart, IJR, Daily Wire, TheBlaze and NTK Network

J. David Goodman / New York Times:
De Blasio Unveils Health Care Plan for Undocumented and Low-Income New Yorkers

Discussion: Townhall, illegal immigration …, Power Line, Gothamist, Common Dreams, CityLab and WPIX 11 New York

Margaret Brennan / CBS News:

U.S. envoy working on Qatar dispute resigns from State Department — Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general and former head of U.S. Central Command who has been working as an envoy for the Trump administration to resolve a dispute with Qatar, has resigned from his position with the State Department.

Discussion: CNN, Task & Purpose, Al Jazeera and The American Conservative

Julie K. Brown / miamiherald:

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel tells staff he's being suspended over Parkland response — It appears that Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is preparing to pack up his office. — The two-term sheriff, the object of fierce criticism over BSO's handling of the Parkland massacre …

Discussion: Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Andy Campbell / HuffPost:

Gavin McInnes' Wife Threatens Neighbors Over ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ Signs — The Proud Boys founder's newest battleground is his neighborhood; his new enforcer is his wife, Emily McInnes. — Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes usually fights his own battles, by way of inciting his membership to commit acts of violence.

Andrea Pitzer / Washington Post:

If Trump declares a state of emergency, he might actually cause one — President Trump recently announced that he could “call a national emergency” to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Despite his assertions to the contrary, no national security crisis exists at the border.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Raw Story and Mediaite

Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Can Trump Build a Wall Under a National Emergency?

Discussion: New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, illegal immigration …, Breitbart, Raw Story, Patterico's Pontifications, Lawfare and Washington Post

Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:

Inside Facebook's ‘cult-like’ workplace, where dissent is discouraged and employees pretend to be happy all the time — More than a dozen former Facebook employees detailed how the company's leadership and its performance review system has created a culture where any dissent is discouraged.

Discussion: Breitbart, more at Techmeme »

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

U.S. Still Leans Conservative, but Liberals Keep Recent Gains — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' assessment of their political ideology was unchanged in 2018 compared with the year prior when 35% on average described themselves as conservative, 35% as moderate and 26% as liberal.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Week, CNN and NTK Network

TMZ.com:

R. Kelly Under Criminal Investigation in Georgia Thanks to ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — R. Kelly is being criminally investigated in Georgia — and it's all because of Lifetime's docuseries ... TMZ has learned. — Sources connected to the case tell us …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, East Bay Times, Joe.My.God., WGN-TV, theGrio, The FADER and The Root

Mark Zuckerberg:

Every year I take on a personal challenge to learn something new. I've built an AI for my home, run 365 miles, visited every US state, read 25 books, and learned Mandarin. — Last year, I focused almost all my time on addressing important issues around elections, speech, privacy, and well-being.

Discussion: Washington Post, TechCrunch, Axios, Mashable, BloombergQuint and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »

The New York Times Company:

2019 State of The Times Remarks — A.G. Sulzberger to Times employees at 2019 State of The Times address. — One of the most important is that the way people find and engage with news is changing. People no longer want to read news from one source, listen to news from another source, and watch news by someone else.