memeorandum: Five reasons Kamala Harris is the brand-new 2020 Democratic Party frontrunner (Fox News)

9:35 AM ET, January 22, 2019

Top Items:

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

“Even if He Did Do It, It Wouldn't Be a Crime”: Rudy Giuliani on President Trump — On Sunday, Rudy Giuliani, one of President Trump's lawyers, made a startling admission to the Times and NBC's “Meet the Press” that Trump had been involved in discussions to build a Trump Tower Moscow throughout …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, CNN, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, emptywheel, Joe.My.God., Real Clear Politics, Political Wire, Splinter, AOL, The Week, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog and Contemptor

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Giuliani Says His Moscow Trump Tower Comments Were ‘Hypothetical’ — President Trump's personal lawyer on Monday walked back the timeline he had offered a day earlier on when negotiations ended with Russian officials about a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow, calling his comments “hypothetical” and not intended to convey facts.

Discussion: Just Security, The Guardian, emptywheel and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Axios:
Donald Trump Jr. blames Michael Cohen for Moscow project

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Jim VandeHei / Axios:
Why Rudy Giuliani's Trump Tower Moscow comments were the real news bombshell this weekend

Discussion: Towleroad Gay News, The Real Deal New York, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

NBC News: Emin Agalarov, Russian singer linked to Trump family, cancels upcoming North American tour

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Giuliani walks back statements on Trump Tower Moscow talks

Discussion: Washington Post and CNN

Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:

Twitter suspends account that helped ignite controversy over viral encounter — New York (CNN Business)Twitter suspended an account on Monday afternoon that helped spread a controversial encounter between a Native American elder and a group of high school students wearing Make America Great Again hats.

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, Washington Times, Instapundit, The Resurgent and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »

New York Daily News:

SEE IT: Covington Catholic High students in blackface at past basketball game — This won't help Kentucky student Nick Sandmann's case. — A photo said to be featuring Covington Catholic High School students clad in blackface during a 2015 basketball game made the rounds on Twitter Monday morning amid …

Discussion: Breitbart, twitchy.com, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Snopes.com, Daily Mail, The Atlantic, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Laura Wagner / The Concourse:

Don't Doubt What You Saw With Your Own Eyes — Two days ago, video was posted online that pretty much everyone who saw immediately recognized for what it was—footage of white teens taunting and harassing a Native American elder named Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Discussion: USA Today, CNN, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Balloon Juice, AOL and UPI

Courier-Journal:

Louisville PR firm played a key role in Covington Catholic controversy — This video clip went viral, throwing Covington Catholic into the national spotlight. Longer video has since emerged showing how the incident started. — CONNECT — In the hours after video clips showed Covington …

Discussion: RT, New York Times and NB Blog

Robby Soave / Hit & Run:

If You Still Think Nick Sandmann's Smile Is Proof of Racism, You're Seeing What You Want to See — Some are incapable of viewing the MAGA-hat-wearing teens from Covington Catholic as anything other than pure evil. — In the nearly two hours of video footage that greatly elucidate …

Discussion: Breitbart, LifeNews.com, Grabien News and American Greatness

Elizabeth Dias / New York Times:

After Viral Video, Families of Covington Are Swiftly Circling to Protect Their Boys — COVINGTON, Ky. — On Friday night, all anyone at Covington Catholic High School was talking about was that their star Colonels basketball team had unexpectedly lost to the rival St. Xavier Bombers, 55-45.

Discussion: The Guardian, Townhall, Crisis Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications

The Wrap:
Film Producer Jack Morrissey Apologizes for Deleted Covington ‘Woodchipper’ Tweet

Discussion: Grabien News, The Daily Signal and TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Allum Bokhari / Breitbart:
Twitter Allows ‘Verified’ Calls for Violence Against Conservative High School Kids

Discussion: The Federalist, WLWT-TV, Front Page Magazine and Power Line

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Russian Oligarch and Allies Could Benefit From Sanctions Deal, Document Shows — WASHINGTON — When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and Joe.My.God.

Meduza.io:
Leaked audio records allegedly show how Oleg Deripaska's associates plotted the arrest …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘Absolutely out of control’: Cliff Sims's book depicts life in Trump's White House — President Trump watched on television, increasingly angry, as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan criticized his handling of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. He held the remote control …

Discussion: Daily Wire, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, National Review, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Hullabaloo

Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune:

It started when he couldn't grasp a pen. Diagnosed with ALS at 37, former Obama staffer hopes to use campaign skills to raise funds for a cure. — Brian Wallach, who has been diagnosed with ALS, and his wife, Sandra Abrevaya, are launching I Am ALS, which they hope leads to a better understanding …

Matthew Mosk / ABC News:

US banker with ties to Putin's inner circle sought access to Trump transition: Sources — Nine days after Donald Trump won the presidency, as scores of supporters clamored for meetings with his transition team, the Hollywood producer of “The Apprentice,” Mark Burnett, reached …

Fox News:

Five reasons Kamala Harris is the brand-new 2020 Democratic Party frontrunner — It may seem presumptuous to declare that freshman Senator Kamala Harris of California, who has been in office for only two years, is the most likely Democrat to be nominated for president next year.

Discussion: illegal immigration …

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian:

Joni Ernst says she turned down chance to be Donald Trump's vice-president — The Iowa senator Joni Ernst has stated she turned down the opportunity to be Donald Trump's vice-president because she believed her husband Gail “hated any successes I have”. — In an affidavit filed as part …

Discussion: Political Wire

Elaine Woo / Washington Post:

Harris Wofford, civil rights activist who helped Kennedy win the White House, dies at 92 — Harris Wofford, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, university president and lifelong crusader for civil rights who made a crucial contribution to John F. Kennedy's slender victory …

John Schwartz / New York Times:

Greenland's Melting Ice Nears a ‘Tipping Point,’ Scientists Say — Greenland's enormous ice sheet is melting at such an accelerated rate that it may have reached a “tipping point,” and could become a major factor in sea-level rise around the world within two decades, scientists said in a study published on Monday.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

Reuters:

House Democrats turbocharge committee probes of Trump — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have quietly tweaked a rule on taking secret depositions that is likely to give a boost to their investigations of President Donald Trump, his personal finances and his administration.

Discussion: Political Wire

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

‘The floors are going to buckle’: Iowa prepares for the mother of all caucuses — Bracing for record turnout and fearful of a repeat of the chaos that marred the 2016 caucuses, Iowa Democrats are racing to implement some of the most significant changes in the history of the first-in-the-nation event.

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

“I Have the Same Excitement About This as I Did About Radar”: Maer Roshan, Aughts All-Star, Takes His Talents to Los Angeles — The veteran editor and Radar founder is taking over Los Angeles magazine, one of the remaining regional titles with any juice left.

Mike Allen / Axios:

AOC, Beto: The 7 letters disrupting politics — The biggest political story since the election of Donald Trump is the sudden, stark, sustained rise of the political artists also known as AOC and Beto. — The big picture: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke …

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Crusher of Sacred Cows

Discussion: ABC News

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Exclusive: GOP reaches landmark agreement to juice small-dollar fundraising — President Donald Trump's political team and top Republican officials have reached a landmark agreement to reshape the party's fundraising apparatus and close the financial gap that devastated them in the midterms.

Discussion: CNN and electionlawblog.org

Chantal Da Silva / Newsweek:

ICE Agents Detain Woman Despite ‘High-Risk’ Pregnancy and Deny Her Medication for Days, Immigration Lawyers Say — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has come under fire after its agents arrested a woman who was five and a half months into a high-risk pregnancy during …

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

Why does the left still associate with Louis Farrakhan? — When and how did it become acceptable to be an anti-Semite? When did it become okay to socialize with and even praise a Jew hater? I am referring, of course, to Louis Farrakhan, who spouts the most vile things about Jews yet retains …

Discussion: The Stanford Daily

New York Times:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Tax Hike Idea Is Not About Soaking the Rich — It's about curtailing inequality and saving democracy. — Mr. Saez and Mr. Zucman are economics professors at the University of California, Berkeley, — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has kick-started a much-needed debate about taxes.

Adam Forgie / KUTV-TV:

Provo man facing terrorism charge after making mass shooting threat targeting females — According to a probable cause statement,27-year-old Provo resident Christopher Cleary posted the following threat on Facebook: — “All I wanted was a girlfriend, not 1000 not a bunch of hoes not money none of that.

Discussion: CBS Denver

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:

The GOP has become the pro-Russia party — Once upon a time, Ayn Rand-reading, red-baiting Republicans denounced Soviet Russia as an evil superpower intent on destroying the American way of life. — My, how things have changed. — The Grand Old Party has quietly become the pro-Russia party …

Discussion: Raw Story