memeorandum: Ilhan Omar Knows Exactly What She Is Doing (Bret Stephens/New York Times)

9:55 AM ET, March 7, 2019

Top Items:

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Ilhan Omar Knows Exactly What She Is Doing — The Minnesota Democrat is bringing Corbynism to the Democratic Party. — There's an old joke about upper-class British anti-Semitism: It means someone who hates Jews more than is strictly necessary. Ilhan Omar, the freshman representative from Minnesota …

Discussion: RedState, National Review, American Greatness, New York Post, Washington Post, Breitbart and Politico

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

New cracks emerge in Dem unity — House Democrats are showing more cracks in their united front just two months into the new Congress. — Leaders are scrambling to contain high-profile rifts between liberals and centrists on everything from the Green New Deal and “Medicare for all,” …

Rahm Emanuel / The Atlantic:

I've Faced the Charge of Dual Loyalty — I'm all for new voices in the U.S. Congress. But, lately, some of those new voices have been voicing some very old canards. — I'm talking about Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the newly elected Democrats who populate the 116th Congress.

Discussion: middleeastmonitor.com

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Jim Clyburn's defense: Ilhan Omar's experience is ‘more personal’ than Jews who had parents in the Holocaust — As Democrats line up to defend Rep. Ilhan Omar and come up with her excuses for her anti-Semitism, House whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., tried to minimize he comments by arguing …

Politico:

Omar uproar swamps Pelosi — The longtime Democratic leader is struggling to unite her warring factions. — With the fallout over Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial comments paralyzing House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi found herself on the floor Wednesday afternoon asking some of her closest allies what exactly she should do.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, The Daily Caller and Shareblue Media

The Daily Beast:
Democrats Plan to Condemn ‘All Hate’ After Backlash Over Planned Ilhan Omar Rebuke

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Daily Wire, Hot Air and The Hill

Ken Klippenstein / TYT Network:
Group Behind Ilhan Omar 9/11 Poster Tied to Trump Nominee

Discussion: New York Magazine

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
2020 Democrats normalize anti-Semitism by defending Ilhan Omar

Discussion: Daily Wire

Daniel Marans / HuffPost:
Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris Condemn Effort To Rebuke Ilhan Omar

Discussion: Townhall, Fox News, Common Dreams, LewRockwell, Politico, Washington Examiner, BuzzFeed News, Mondoweiss and Mediaite

New York Times:
Ilhan Omar Controversy Caps a Month of Stumbles for Democratic Leaders

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and NBC News

Yascha Mounk / Slate:
Ilhan Omar Shouldn't Get a Pass

Discussion: The Forward, emptywheel and Shadowproof

Power Line: Do Dems Hate Hate? No — As Scott has noted, the Democratic Party …

KNSD-TV:

Source: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates Through a Secret Database — The documents detail an intelligence-gathering effort by the United States and Mexican authorities, targeting more than 50 people including journalists, an attorney, and immigration advocates

Discussion: Fortune, Mediaite, Townhall, Axios, Splinter, The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

Julia Ainsley / NBC News:

U.S. officials made list of reporters, lawyers, activists to question at border — Several people on the list told NBC News they were questioned at the border as part of what U.S. border agents called a “national security investigation.” — WASHINGTON — Customs and Border Protection …

Discussion: Slate, New York Post and Townhall

Elliot Spagat / Associated Press: Guidelines ask agents to target Spanish speakers at border

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:

Attorney Says Cohen Directed His Lawyer to Seek Trump Pardon, Contradicting Testimony — Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for President Trump, directed his attorney last spring to inquire about the possibility of a presidential pardon, weeks after federal agents raided his properties, Mr. Cohen's lawyer said Wednesday.

Discussion: CNBC, The Guardian, Splinter, twitchy.com, The Week, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Axios

New York Times:

Giuliani Says Lawyers Have Sought Trump Pardons for Their Clients — WASHINGTON — President Trump's lead lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, said Wednesday that lawyers for several people facing scrutiny from the Justice Department in the investigations into the Trump campaign and presidency …

Discussion: Raw Story and Axios

Eliana Larramendia / ABC News:
Lawyers claiming ties to Rudy Giuliani approached Michael Cohen after FBI raids; investigators looking at contacts

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Michael Cohen discussed pardons with a second Trump lawyer, he tells Congress

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice and Hullabaloo

Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News: Michael Cohen asked lawyer to inquire about pardon, sources say, possibly contradicting Congressional testimony

Victor Morton / Washington Times:
Lanny Davis says Michael Cohen had previous lawyer pursue Trump pardon, contradicting testimony

Discussion: Townhall

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

Embassy Staffers Say Jared Kushner Shut Them Out of Saudi Meetings — When a member of the administration travels overseas, the embassy often helps coordinate the trip. Not when Jared Kushner meets his buddy MBS. — Officials and staffers in the U.S. embassy in Riyadh said they were not read …

Discussion: Raw Story

Carol E. Lee / NBC News:

John Kelly differs with Trump on immigration, mum on security clearances — At Duke University, Trump's former chief of staff dodged questions about security clearances for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. — DURHAM, N.C. — Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said he disagreed …

Discussion: Splinter, The Week, Raw Story and Axios

John Bresnahan / Politico:
‘It gets real personal, real fast’: Dems fear targeting Trump kids could backfire

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
John Kelly, Out of White House, Breaks With Trump Policies

Discussion: ABC News, Political Wire, The Wrap and Just Security

The Daily Beast:
House Dems Discuss Whether to Go After Ivanka Trump

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Questions For and About Jared Kushner

Discussion: Raw Story, ABC News and Vox

Betsy Klein / CNN:
What does Ivanka Trump do?

Discussion: New York Magazine, Raw Story, IJR and Vanity Fair

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

That Time Trump Got $18.3 Million in Palm Beach — Scrutiny of his business dealings is just the start of a long and possibly harrowing experience for the president and his entourage. — A series of hurricanes tore through Florida in 2005, and Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's business …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Raw Story, VICE News and Washington Monthly

Axios:

The biggest political scandal in American history — Even without seeing Robert Mueller's report, or knowing what prosecutors with the Southern District of New York have unearthed, or what congressional investigators will find, we already have witnessed the biggest political scandal in American history.

Discussion: Raw Story

Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:

Jeffrey Epstein, Alan Dershowitz, and Pals Accused of Sex-Trafficking Ring — A lawyer for one of Epstein's victims claims he was trafficking girls to Dershowitz and others—but the Harvard attorney says sealed documents will prove his innocence. — Kate Briquelet

Discussion: Raw Story

David Von Drehle / Washington Post: Open the Jeffrey Epstein files. All of them.

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

White House tries to charm Democrats on new NAFTA — The White House is engineering an unusually by-the-book approach for selling Congress on the replacement deal for NAFTA — with the hope of persuading Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote for the new trade agreement.

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
House Democrats poised to take the baton from Mueller, move toward impeachment

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Roll Call

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:

Wilbur Ross broke law, violated Constitution in census decision, judge rules — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted in “bad faith,” broke several laws and violated the constitutional underpinning of representative democracy when he added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Discussion: Above the Law

Associated Press:
Ahead of court ruling, Census Bureau seeks citizenship data

Discussion: electionlawblog.org

New York Times:

Biden's 2020 Plan is Almost Complete. Democrats Are Impatient. — WASHINGTON — The pieces for a Joseph R. Biden Jr. presidential campaign are falling into place: His nucleus of advisers has begun offering campaign positions to seasoned Democratic strategists.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Week and Vanity Fair

J.T. Smith II / New York Times:

What if the Mueller Report Demands Bold Action? — If Mueller's findings compel legal action, the attorney general should reconsider the policy against indictment of a sitting president. — Mr. Smith served as executive assistant to Attorney General Elliot Richardson in 1973.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Katy O'Donnell / Politico:

Signs of economic strain emerge in Trump's home base — NEW YORK — The luxury real estate market in Manhattan is sagging. The GOP tax law is hitting real estate markets across the nation. — And signs of stress across the broader housing market suggest the industry — which made Donald Trump rich …

The Daily Beast:

How Little Known Andrew Yang May End Up on the 2020 Debate Stage by Gaming the System — You've probably never heard of him. And yet, he's about to bust through the DNC's debate entry threshold. — Some presidential candidates build their campaigns on grassroots support. Others on personal wealth.

Discussion: Politico and Axios