memeorandum: A Bruised Trump Faces Uncertain 2020 Prospects. His Team Fears a Primary Fight. (New York Times)

12:35 AM ET, January 27, 2019

Top Items:

Julian Sanchez / New York Times:

Mueller's Real Target in the Roger Stone Indictment — It was probably not Stone himself, but rather his electronic devices. — Mr. Sanchez is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. — For many, Friday's arrest of Roger Stone, the veteran political trickster and longtime adviser to Donald Trump …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Just Security, Vox and The Guardian

Elie Honig / CAFE:

Flipping Roger Stone — As a federal prosecutor working organized crime cases, I routinely staked trials on testimony from some of the worst human beings on the planet. Prosecutors call them “cooperating witnesses,” defendants and defense attorneys call them “rats,” “snitches” and worse, and trials often turn on their testimony.

Discussion: New York Times, MEL Magazine, ABC News and Mediaite

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:

Dithering GOP Stalls House's New Trump-Russia Probe — Democrats now in control of the crucial intelligence committee want to get back to their Russia probe. It can't happen until the Republicans formally join. — The new leadership on the House intelligence committee is eager to revive …

Discussion: Washington Press, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Axios

Associated Press: In Trump ally Stone's case, Mueller finds crime in cover-up

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
‘I Will Piss on Your Grave’: Emails Reveal Roger Stone's Abuse of Frenemy Randy Credico

Discussion: Breitbart, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Intercept

Pelosi / Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Statement on Special Counsel Indictment and Arrest of Trump Campaign Advisor Roger Stone

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Balloon Juice, The Guardian, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Conservative News Today, Mother Jones, The New Civil Rights Movement, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Abigail Tracy / Vanity Fair:
“We Can See Collusion”: With the Stone Indictment, Mueller Begins Making His Case

Discussion: The Guardian and Mediaite

New York Times:

Jared Kushner, a Confident Negotiator, Finds Immigration Deal to Be Elusive — WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, was confident in his ability as a good-faith negotiator who could find a compromise to end the government shutdown. — His pitch to Democratic lawmakers was simple …

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

CNN:

Inside the White House, aides and advisers are despondent over a wasted month — Washington (CNN)As President Donald Trump announced in the Rose Garden on Friday that his quixotic bid to secure more than $5 billion for a border wall would end with no money, he was met with applause from his Cabinet secretaries and senior aides.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Deadline, Fox News Insider, Mediaite, NPR and Raw Story

Alex Horton / Washington Post:
‘He lied about it’: Ann Coulter rips Trump for failing to secure border wall funding

Discussion: Slate, CNN and WTVR-TV

Washington Post:

Donald Trump's demand for a border wall shut down the government. At the same time, his company was firing undocumented workers. — OSSINING, N.Y — They had spent years on the staff of Donald Trump's golf club, winning employee-of-the-month awards and receiving glowing letters of recommendation.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, fox13now.com, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Washington Press, Splinter, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Bernard Condon / Associated Press:

12 immigrant workers at Trump golf course fired, lawyer says — NEW YORK (AP) — A dozen immigrant workers at one of President Donald Trump's golf clubs in New York who are in the U.S. illegally were fired this month even though managers had known about their legal status for years, a lawyer for the workers said Saturday.

New York Times:

A Bruised Trump Faces Uncertain 2020 Prospects. His Team Fears a Primary Fight. — With his approval rating sinking, and foes within the party wooing potential Republican challengers, aides to the president are working to shore up his support. — Mr. Trump, close associates acknowledge …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Press, Outside the Beltway, AOL, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., twitchy.com and Axios

New York Times:

A Bruised Trump Faces Uncertain 2020 Prospects. His Team Fears a Primary Fight. — President Trump's defeat in his border-wall standoff with Congress has clouded his already perilous path to a second term in 2020, undercutting Mr. Trump's cherished image as a forceful leader and deft negotiator …

Discussion: CBS Baltimore and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:

Trump Meets With Hard-Right Group Led by Ginni Thomas — WASHINGTON — President Trump met last week with a delegation of hard-right activists led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, listening quietly as members of the group denounced transgender people and women serving …

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, Washington Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Talking Points Memo

Willie Brown / San Francisco Chronicle:

Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what? — I've been peppered with calls from the national media about my “relationship” with Kamala Harris, particularly since it became obvious that she was going to run for president. Most of them, I have not returned. — Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago.

New York Times:

U.S. and Taliban Edge Toward Deal to End America's Longest War — KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States and the Taliban are closing in on a deal to end America's longest war after six days of some of the most serious Afghan peace negotiations to date wrapped up on Saturday.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Task & Purpose

Ayaz Gul / Voice of America: U.S.-Taliban Agree on Troop Withdrawal Plan, Sources Tell VOA

Reuters: Foreign troops to quit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft deal: Taliban sources

Pamela Constable / Washington Post: U.S.-Taliban talks appear closer to pact after marathon talks in Qatar

Greenville, NC:

FIRST ON WITN: Congressman Walter Jones in hospice — FARMVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Congressman Walter Jones is in hospice, his wife Joe Anne Jones confirmed Saturday at their home in Farmville. — The family declined to give any other details about his condition.

Discussion: illegal immigration …

Associated Press:

Search on for Louisiana man suspected in 5 deaths — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities in Louisiana said they are searching for an “armed and dangerous” 21-year-old accused of killing his parents and three others in two separate but related shootings Saturday.

CNN:
5 dead after shooting spree in Louisiana

Discussion: Daily Kos

New York Times:

Trump and His Associates Had More Than 100 Contacts With Russians Before the Inauguration — Among these contacts are more than 100 in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, emails and private messages on Twitter. Mr. Trump and his campaign repeatedly denied having such contacts with Russians during the 2016 election.

Discussion: The Week, The Root, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA and Joe.My.God.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:

Conservative Kelli Ward to lead Arizona Republican Party after upset — Kelli Ward, the bomb-throwing conservative former state senator and loyalist to President Donald Trump, upended the race to lead the Arizona Republican Party by beating the establishment favorite and incumbent GOP chairman, Jonathan Lines.

Discussion: Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

The Loneliness of the Moderate Democrat — ‘It takes a lot of spine to be a centrist in America today.’ — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — I did it. I found a significantly accomplished, defensibly qualified Democratic officeholder who isn't flirting with — and hasn't fantasized about — a presidential run in 2020.

New York Times:

On Venezuela, Rubio Assumes U.S. Role of Ouster in Chief — WASHINGTON — His hand chopping in the air, his voice stern and stalwart, he declared that it was time for the regional despot to go and warned of the consequences if he did not. With a commander in chief's resolve …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Michael R. Pompeo / US Department of State:
U.S. Department of State

Discussion: IJR

Telegraph:

Melania Trump - An Apology — Following last Saturday's (Jan 19) Telegraph magazine cover story “The mystery of Melania”, we have been asked to make clear that the article contained a number of false statements which we accept should not have been published.