memeorandum: Welcome to the Stephen Colbert primary (Brian Stelter/CNN)

10:15 PM ET, January 14, 2019

Top Items:

Steve King Faces Loss of House Committee Seats Over White Supremacy Remark — House Republican leaders will try to remove Representative Steve King of Iowa from the powerful Judiciary Committee and his other panel assignments on Monday night as the party officials scrambled to appear tough …

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

House Republican leaders move to strip Rep. Steve King of his committee assignments over comments about white nationalism — House Republican leaders on Monday moved to strip Rep. Steve King of his committee assignments over his recent comments about white nationalism.

Discussion: CNN, Axios, National Review, WGN-TV, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, The Week, Mediaite and NBC News

Congressman Bobby Rush:

Rush Responds to Steve King's Rabid Racism with Censure Resolution — WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) released the following statement announcing that he will be introducing a resolution to formally censure U.S. Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) for his pattern of racist and xenophobic statements:

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Joe.My.God., IJR, Axios, The Week and Daily Kos

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Steve King stripped of committee seats — with more punishment coming

Discussion: Associated Press, One America News Network, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo

NPR: How Damaging Are Rep. King's Comments To The GOP?

Washington Post: Rep. Steve King's inflammatory remarks roil a GOP already struggling on race

Emma Ockerman / VICE News:
Democrats are about to punish GOP Rep. Steve King for his “rabid racism”

Discussion: CNN, The Week and Axios

James Arkin / Politico: Romney calls on Steve King to resign after white supremacy remarks

The Daily Beast:

Mueller Probes an Event With Nunes, Flynn, and Foreign Officials at Trump's D.C. Hotel — Devin Nunes has been a pitbull for the president, growling at the prosecutors investigating Trumpworld. Now an event that Nunes himself attended is under Mueller's microscope.

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story, Political Wire and The New Civil Rights Movement

CNN:

Trump's legal team rebuffed request for Mueller interview in recent weeks — (CNN)President Donald Trump's legal team rebuffed special counsel Robert Mueller's request in recent weeks for an in-person session with Trump to ask follow-up questions. — The request was made after Trump's …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Political Wire and The Daily Caller

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Barr sent or discussed controversial memo with Trump lawyers — Washington (CNN)Attorney General nominee William Barr shared a controversial memo last year with nearly all of President Donald Trump's lawyers concluding that an aspect of special counsel Robert Mueller's case could be “fatally misconceived,” Barr acknowledged Monday.

Discussion: KTLA

Senior Trump Official / The Daily Caller:

I'm A Senior Trump Official, And I Hope A Long Shutdown Smokes Out The Resistance — The Daily Caller is taking the rare step of publishing this anonymous op-ed at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose career would be jeopardized by its disclosure.

Discussion: Daily Wire

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:

‘Senior Trump Official’ On Shutdown: ‘We Do Not Want Most Employees To Return’ — An unnamed “senior official in the Trump administration” wrote in an anonymous Daily Caller op-ed Monday that the record-breaking 24-day partial government shutdown “is an opportunity to strip wasteful government agencies for good.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Courier-Journal:

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is going to Canada for surgery — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, one of the fiercest political critics of socialized medicine, will travel to Canada later this month to get hernia surgery. — Paul, an ophthalmologist, said the operation is related to an injury in 2017 when his neighbor …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Common Dreams, Townhall, Politico, Daily Wire, Splinter, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller and Raw Story

New York Times:

At Trump's Inauguration, $10,000 for Makeup and Lots of Room Service — WASHINGTON — Private donors put up $107 million to usher Donald J. Trump into office in style two years ago, and it is now clear just how enthusiastically his inaugural committee went to town with it.

Discussion: Raw Story

John Santucci / ABC News: President Donald Trump's inaugural fund spent lavishly at his DC hotel, new docs show

Josh Lederman / NBC News:

William Barr once warned of need for ‘political supervision’ at Justice Department — Attorney General nominee Barr said in 2001 the idea the Justice Department “has to be independent” gained ground after Watergate and risked going too far. — WASHINGTON — William Barr …

Discussion: USA Today, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, VICE News and The Daily Signal

Lawfare:
Lessons from Watergate: What the Senate Judiciary Committee Should Ask Bill Barr

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, New Republic and Wall Street Journal

John Solomon / The Hill:
Rosenstein, DOJ exploring ways to more easily spy on journalists

Discussion: Breitbart, The Moderate Voice, The Week and Liberty Unyielding

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
Trump's AG nominee: ‘Vitally important’ Mueller finish work

Discussion: Feeds, The Daily Caller, ABC News and Axios

Noah Rothman / NBC News:

Trump's shutdown gamble now hinges on a wall many Republicans were never truly sold on — For two years, the GOP had many opportunities to fund Trump's wall both in part or in whole and it declined on every occasion. — On Friday, January 11, a dubious milestone was reached.

Kristina Peterson / Wall Street Journal: Shutdown Has Been a Year in the Making

Matthew Choi / Politico:
White House spokesman Raj Shah will join lobbying firm

Discussion: Splinter

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Welcome to the Stephen Colbert primary — (CNN)Iowa. New Hampshire. Donor enclaves on the coasts. And... the Ed Sullivan Theater? — Yes, the home of Stephen Colbert's “Late Show” is proving to be a key stop for Democrats who are positioning themselves for 2020 presidential bids.

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:

The House Democrats' Colossal Election Reform Bill Could Save American Democracy — The Democrats' first order of business as they took control of the 116th Congress was introducing H.R. 1, the colossal “For the People Act.” This 571-page behemoth of a bill covering voting rights …

Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
New York Has Some of the Worst Voting Laws in the Country. That's About to Change.

Discussion: Splinter

David French / National Review:

Lawless Federal Judges Are Winning Their War against the Trump Administration — Sunday's injunction against Trump-administration religious-freedom rules is nothing but judicial #Resistance. — It's déjà vu all over again. A federal judge has blocked a lawful Trump-administration policy …

Discussion: Townhall

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post: Judge blocks Trump effort to roll back birth control mandate nationwide

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

P&G Challenges Men to Shave Their ‘Toxic Masculinity’ in Gillette Ad — Spot pegged to #MeToo asks ‘Is this the best a man can get?’ — Gillette is embracing the #MeToo movement in a new digital ad campaign aimed at men, the latest message from an advertiser attempting to change societal norms.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Front Page Magazine, Seeking Alpha and Althouse

David Dayen / The Intercept:

Shuttered IRS Is Sending Automated Warnings of Asset Seizures, With Nobody to Call to Stop Them — The letter from the IRS is dated December 24, 2018, the Monday after the start of the government shutdown. The headline reads, “Notice of intent to seize (levy) your property or rights to property.”

Discussion: Boing Boing

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Joe Lieberman Called Chinese Telecom Giant ZTE a National Security Threat. Now He's a Lobbyist for It. — The former Senator says he can better serve his new client precisely because he was once a critic. — Betsy Woodruff — Joseph Lieberman, the former Connecticut senator …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Burke / The Hill:

Rasmussen poll shows Trump with lowest approval in a year — A conservative-leaning poll released Monday showed President Trump with his lowest approval ratings in almost a year. — The Rasmussen poll found that 43 percent of likely voters polled approve of Trump's job performance …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Daily Wire, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Daily Kos, Hot Air, The Week and illegal immigration …

Daniel Moritz-Rabson / Newsweek:

Right-Wing Activist Laura Loomer Allegedly Trespasses at Nancy Pelosi's California House to Stage Protest — Right-wing activist Laura Loomer reportedly jumped the fence around House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's California house on Monday and set up a tent to protest, according to a Daily Beast reporter.

Discussion: Townhall, RedState and Washington Press

CNN:

Transcripts detail how FBI debated whether Trump was ‘following directions’ of Russia — (CNN)In the chaotic aftermath at the FBI following Director James Comey's firing, a half-dozen senior FBI officials huddled to set in motion the momentous move to open an investigation into President Donald Trump …

Bloomberg:

The Next American Car Recession Has Already Started — These should be boom times for Detroit. Unemployment is at a half-century low, gasoline is cheap and auto sales in the U.S. were near record levels last year. Yet American automakers are closing factories, cutting shifts and laying off thousands of workers.

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed News:

Bernie Sanders Will Meet With Former Female Staffers About 2016 Campaign Sexism And Harassment — Bernie Sanders will meet on Wednesday with women who have said they experienced sexual harassment and gender discrimination while working on his 2016 presidential campaign …

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Politico, Shakesville, Daily Wire, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Axios

Richard N. Haass / Project Syndicate:

THE YEAR OF TRUMP? — The second truth is that peace negotiations are unlikely to work. Talks have taken place on and off over the years, but diplomacy is never far removed from facts and trends on the ground. Both work against a negotiated settlement. — The situation on the ground …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

Old land deal quietly haunts Mick Mulvaney as he serves as Trump's chief of staff — INDIAN LAND, S.C. — Mick Mulvaney was a young businessman and budding politician 11 years ago when he became co-owner of a company that wanted to build a strip mall near a busy intersection in this upscale bedroom community outside Charlotte, N.C.

Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:

Iran is at it again: Another American has been taken by the regime — Next month Iran will mark 40 years since the founding of the Islamic republic. But as the regime enters middle age, it continues to partake in many of the same criminal acts that first put it on the international map.

Discussion: The Guardian

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Trump's shutdown strategy continues to show all the signs of failure — To hear Brad Parscale — President Trump's website designer turned campaign manager — tell it, the government shutdown over which Trump so eagerly proclaimed ownership has been an unalloyed success for the president.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media and Mediaite

Washington Post:

The shutdown is giving some Trump advisers what they've long wanted: A smaller government — President Trump has cast the shuttering of federal agencies as a standoff over his plan to build a wall on the southern border. But for many White House aides and allies, the partial shutdown …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Demands grow to release CIA assessment of Khashoggi murder — More than 100 days after the disappearance and murder of Saudi writer and Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the Trump administration has refused to reveal what the U.S. intelligence community knows about the killing.

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times and Al Jazeera

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is freaking out the news media. And it's working for her. — She's been on the job for less than two weeks and already has generated more national press coverage than some members of Congress get in their whole careers. — Not that it's been all positive, of course.

Discussion: Yahoo News, RedState and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »