memeorandum: William Webster, ex-FBI and CIA director, helps feds nab Jamaican phone scammer (Tom Jackman/Washington Post)

10:35 AM ET, February 12, 2019

Top Items:

BBC:

Trump supporter attacks BBC cameraman at El Paso rally — A supporter of US President Donald Trump has attacked a BBC cameraman at a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas. — Sporting a Make America Great Again cap, the man shoved and swore at the BBC's Ron Skeans and other news crews before being pulled away.

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Sky News, NPR, Contemptor, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, El Paso Times, KTLA, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Boing Boing and VICE News, more at Mediagazer »

Anita Kumar / Politico:

Beto takes on Trump in tale of 2 mega-rallies — EL PASO, Texas — The showdown between Donald Trump and Beto O'Rourke Monday night over the president's border wall unfolded at competing rallies with thousands of people in venues barely a block apart. — But the events practically took place …

Discussion: RedState, The Intercept, Breitbart, El Paso Times, ABC News, Washington Post and Mediaite

Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:

The Wall Is in Their Hearts — “The wall is being built. It'll continue. It's going at a rapid pace.” — At a rowdy immigration-focused rally in El Paso Monday night, President Trump offered a typically free-associative argument for why the United States must crack down on illegal immigration with a wall on the southern border.

Associated Press:
The Latest: Negotiators say they've agreed on border bill

Discussion: Instapundit

Lissandra Villa / BuzzFeed News:
Beto O'Rourke Calls The Green New Deal “The Best Proposal” He's Seen For Addressing Climate Change

Discussion: Breitbart, American Thinker, Snopes.com, CityLab and National Review

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

‘It will create a firestorm’: Mulvaney's border wall cash grab sparks dissent in White House — The White House is firming up plans to redirect unspent federal dollars as a way of funding President Donald Trump's border wall without taking the dramatic step of invoking a national emergency.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Media Matters for America and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

Lawmakers say they have reached an ‘agreement in principle’ to avoid government shutdown — BREAKING: Lawmakers say they have reached an “agreement in principle” to avoid government shutdown. — Top lawmakers say they have reached a deal to fund the government through the fall …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Week, USA Today, New York Times, Breitbart, Just Security, VICE News, Power Line, WINK NEWS, Splinter, NBC News, Mother Jones, NPR, CNBC and Politico

Associated Press:

Budget deal allows far less money than Trump wanted for wall — WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional negotiators reached agreement to prevent a government shutdown and finance construction of new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, overcoming a late-stage hang-up over immigration enforcement issues …

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, Conservative Review, POLITICUSUSA and NTK Network

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump's failed shutdown strategy produced an even worse deal than he started with

Discussion: Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:
Top Dem negotiator says ‘no one got everything they wanted’ in deal to avoid government shutdown

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The Week

CNN:
Key Hill negotiators say they have reached an agreement in principle to avert shutdown

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Daily Kos, ImmigrationProf Blog, POLITICUSUSA, WTKR-TV, FOX2now.com, The Root and The Week

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Lawmakers reach border deal ‘in principle,’ including $1.375B for physical barriers

Discussion: Townhall

Washington Post:

Americans view Mueller as more credible than Trump, but views of his probe are scattered — As the special counsel investigation seems to be nearing its final stage, Americans view Robert S. Mueller III as far more credible than President Trump, but the public has scattered and partisan perceptions …

Discussion: Political Wire

USA Today:
Robert Mueller has spent two years investigating Trump, and he hasn't said a word. It's possible he never will.

Discussion: CNN, more at Mediagazer »

James Hohmann / Washington Post: The Daily 202: Four in five Americans want Mueller's report made public in its entirety. That may not happen.

Washington Post:
Americans view Mueller as more credible than Trump

Discussion: Politico

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

William Webster, ex-FBI and CIA director, helps feds nab Jamaican phone scammer — Instead of sending $50,000 to the random caller, he performed reverse phone sting for FBI — The caller with the Jamaican accent told the 90-year-old District man he had won $72 million and a new Mercedes Benz …

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Senate has uncovered no direct evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia — “We were never going find a contract signed in blood saying, 'Hey Vlad, we're going to collude,” one Democratic aide said. — WASHINGTON — After two years and 200 interviews, the Senate Intelligence Committee …

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Trump tax returns: House Democrats ready for ultimate fishing expedition

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Ocasio-Cortez Team Flubs a Green New Deal Summary, and Republicans Pounce — WASHINGTON — Days after introducing her Green New Deal — a plan to combat climate change that has won the endorsement of several Democratic presidential candidates — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found …

Discussion: National Review

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Superstar freshman Dems replace Pelosi as GOP targets

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, New York Times and Splinter

Axios:
Startup think tanks are powering the Democratic Party's shift to the left

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Washington Post

Washington Post:

A hedge fund's ‘mercenary’ strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings — When the building housing the downtown Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper sold last April, the name of the buyer — Twenty Lake Holdings LLC — seemed of little consequence.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Edmund DeMarche / Fox News:

Sean Hannity slams ‘garbage compromise’ on preliminary agreement on border security — Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, on Monday blasted the “garbage compromise” after congressional negotiators said they reached an “agreement in principle” on border security funding that includes …

Discussion: Roll Call, IJR, The Resurgent, The Week, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Fox News Insider

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
Lawmakers reach ‘agreement in principle’ in border security talks, with $1.3B for barrier

Discussion: illegal immigration …, Breitbart, Fox News Insider and The Daily Caller

NBC News:
Lawmakers reach deal to avert shutdown with fence funding but no money for border wall

Discussion: Vox, CNN and Politico

Kevin G. Hall / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

12 months, nearly 1,200 deaths: the year in youth gun violence since Parkland — A year after the Parkland shooting on Valentine's Day, February 14, US gun related deaths of children and teens continue. When they weren't killed by active shooters, kids died in accidents and murder suicides.

Elizabeth Landers / CNN: Democrats to propose high-capacity gun magazine ban

Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal:

Writer Sues Twitter Over Ban for Criticizing Transgender People — Canadian blogger tweeted 'Men aren't women,' violating harassment rules on the platform — A Canadian writer filed a lawsuit against Twitter Inc. TWTR .79% on Monday, saying the social-media platform unfairly banned …

New York Times:

Cliff Sims, White House Tell-All Author, Sues Trump for Going After Him Over Book — Cliff Sims, the former White House communications aide who wrote an insider account of life working for President Trump, is suing the president in his official capacity, alleging that he used his campaign organization as a …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Politico, CNN, The Week, KTLA, Axios, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Washington Times

New York Times:

Fairfax Accuser Told Friends She Was Raped by Corey Maggette — The woman who has accused Virginia's lieutenant governor, Justin E. Fairfax, of raping her said that a former N.B.A. player, Corey Maggette, raped her at Duke University 20 years ago and that school officials did not pursue the claim …

Discussion: CNN, The Big Lead, TheBlaze, CBS Los Angeles, Awful Announcing, The Root and The Daily Caller

Jonathan J. Cooper / Associated Press:

Mark Kelly announces run for McCain Senate seat in Arizona — PHOENIX (AP) — Retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who rocketed to the national spotlight when his congresswoman wife Gabrielle Giffords was shot in a failed assassination attempt, announced Tuesday he's running to finish John McCain's last term in the U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Bloomberg, KVOA-TV, Wall Street Journal and Chicks On The Right

Maggie Astor / New York Times:

‘A Woman, Just Not That Woman’: How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail — In the words of her detractors during the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton was abrasive and shrill. She was aloof. She was unlikable. — It's not a coincidence that some of these adjectives are now bubbling …

Bruce Schlesman / Judicial Watch: Judicial Watch: FBI General Counsel Talked to Hillary Clinton's Lawyer about Comey's Letter …

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

Bloomingdale's Apologizes Over ‘Fake News’ T-Shirt, Pulls It From Stores — “We take this feedback very seriously and are working quickly to remove this t-shirt,” the company says in a statement — Department store giant Bloomingdale's apologized on Monday after a customer flagged a “fake news” t-shirt in one of its stores.

Discussion: RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Big League Politics

Gabriel Schoenfeld / The Bulwark:

Michael Anton Is Back to Remind Us That There's Such a Thing as a ‘Trump Intellectual’ — One of the more curious features of the current political landscape is the existence of a small class of people who can be called Trump intellectuals. It's curious not because Trump himself …

Discussion: Power Line

Kevin Johnson / USA Today:

Yes, the Mueller investigation is costly. But the millions seized from Manafort have it on track to break even — WASHINGTON - Some time soon, federal authorities will begin selling off what's left of Paul Manafort's life, a small fortune amassed through a decade of illicit lobbying work.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Burgess Everett / Politico:

GOP livid with Trump over ignored Khashoggi report — Senate Republicans are fuming at President Donald Trump for telling lawmakers he would disregard a law requiring a report to Congress determining who is responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Discussion: The Week and Front Page Magazine