memeorandum: We've All Just Made Fools of Ourselves — Again (David Brooks/New York Times)

12:45 PM ET, March 26, 2019

Top Items:

David Brooks / New York Times:

We've All Just Made Fools of Ourselves — Again — The awful corruption of scandal politics. — “You have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.”

Discussion: The Hill, NB Blog, Liberty Unyielding, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

After Mueller Report, News Media Leaders Defend Their Work — There have been tipping points and bombshells, walls closing in and turning points. And there have been so, so many declarations of “The beginning of the end!” that the comedian John Oliver had a recurring “We got him!” …

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, RedState, The Daily Caller, Big League Politics, twitchy.com, TVNewser, Mediaite, RealClearPolitics and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:

The Critical Part of Mueller's Report That Barr Didn't Mention — On Sunday afternoon, Attorney General Bill Barr presented a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's conclusions that contained a few sentences from Mueller's final report, one of which directly addressed the question …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Obstruction, not collusion, worried Trump's legal team — By the time Martin and Jane Raskin joined Trump's defense, Mueller's prosecutors were rarely asking probing questions about Russia, sources said. — WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's lawyers — including the ones who don't appear …

New York Times:

Disappointed Fans of Mueller Rethink the Pedestal They Built for Him — The sense of mourning started to take hold over the weekend, after Attorney General William Barr said that Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, had not found coordination between President Trump's campaign …

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding, Politico, Washington Post and twitchy.com

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump and Republicans ‘on offense’? Nah. It's just the same old gaslighting.

Discussion: Roll Call, Politico and The Daily Caller

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
MSNBC Panel Admits Mueller Report ‘Undercuts Almost Everything’ In Steele Dossier

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Washington Post:
Democrats largely give up on impeachment in wake of Mueller report

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, Daily Wire, Front Page Magazine, The Week, Liberty Unyielding, POLITICUSUSA and Big League Politics

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Paranoid Center — The Russia panic shows us how a paranoid style …

Discussion: Politico, Grabien News and Washington Post

New York Times:
Barr's Declaration on Trump Puts Justice Dept. Back in Political Crucible

Discussion: National Review, The Nation and American Greatness

Alex Shephard / New Republic:
Give It Up, Democrats. The Russia Investigation Is Over.

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and RedState

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
William Barr has made this a win for Moscow

Discussion: USA Today, POLITICUSUSA, The Atlantic and Conservative News Today

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Reckoning Finally Arrives for the Trump Resistance

Discussion: The Week, emptywheel, The Guardian, CounterPunch, Townhall and NB Blog

NBC News:
House committee chairs demand full Mueller report by April 2 deadline

Discussion: Axios, Right Wing Watch, Fox News, The Week, Reuters, Washington Press and Splinter

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly

Discussion: One America News Network, Shareblue Media, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, ThinkProgress, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, USA Today and RT

John Solomon / The Hill:
Trump-Russia collusion did affect an American election — the one in 2018

Discussion: Breitbart and Law & Crime

Joyce White Vance / Washington Post:
One person the Mueller report didn't ‘exonerate’? Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Common Dreams, Washington Monthly and Fox News

Bloomberg:

Trump Tried to Undo North Korea Penalty, Contrary to U.S. Account — President tweeted that he withdrew North Korea sanctions — U.S. officials talked Trump out of move, devised cover story — President Donald Trump last week intended to reverse sanctions imposed …

Discussion: The American Conservative, Raw Story and Yonhap News Agency

CNN:

Trump administration now says entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down — (CNN)The Trump administration on Monday said the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down, in a dramatic reversal. — In a filing with a federal appeals court, the Justice Department said it agreed …

Discussion: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Shakesville, The Week and ThinkProgress

Dan Diamond / Politico:

In shift, Trump administration backs judge's ruling that would kill Obamacare — The Trump administration on Monday said it supports a federal judge's ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act should be thrown out, signaling a shift in the Justice Department's position and alarming Democrats who vowed to oppose the move.

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Reason, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Wire, Townhall and Balloon Juice

Sam Baker / Axios:
The Trump administration's ACA strike-down stance raises the stakes

Discussion: HuffPost, The Guardian, The Incidental Economist, New York Times, Reason and Raw Story

Dylan Scott / Vox:
The Trump administration wants all of Obamacare overturned by the courts

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, National Review and Talking Points Memo

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Justice Department sides with court ruling Obamacare invalid

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Breitbart, Raw Story and Liberty Unyielding

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Trump administration asks court to completely invalidate Obama's Affordable Care Act

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Reuters, The Hill, NBC News, HillReporter.com, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Fox News and Splinter

Associated Press:

Jussie Smollett's attorneys say all criminal charges dropped — CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that charges alleging he lied to police about a racist and homophobic attack have been dropped. — Smollett attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes …

Discussion: RedState, Right Wing Watch, The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com

Bill Hutchinson / ABC News:

‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett charges dropped: ‘I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one,’ actor tells the press. — ‘I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one.’ — In a stunning move, prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against …

Discussion: The Wrap

Andy Grimm / Chicago Sun-Times:
Charges dropped against ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, One America News Network and Rolling Stone

NBC News:

Mike Pence talked Dan Coats out of quitting the Trump administration — Whenever Trump is souring on Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, whom he calls “Mister Rogers,” Pence encourages him to stick with Coats. — WASHINGTON — The country's intelligence chief was on the verge …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Politico, Washington Times and Splinter

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

GOP congressman quotes Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’ to slam Trump's adversaries as liars — Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) took to the House floor on Monday to portray President Trump's detractors as Nazis, but ended up slurring them using an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory drawn verbatim from Adolf Hitler's writings.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Wire, al.com, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Splinter

Kamala D. Harris / Washington Post:

Our teacher pay gap is a national failure. Here's how we can fix it. — Kamala D. Harris represents California in the Senate and is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. — We must acknowledge this simple truth: We are a country that claims to care about education …

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, IJR and VICE News

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
Kamala Harris' teacher pay price tag: $315B

Discussion: NBC News, CNBC, Fortune, Bloomberg, Vox and Refinery29

Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Kamala Harris details plan to boost teacher pay by an average of $13,500

Discussion: Shakesville

Washington Post:

Pentagon announces $1 billion transfer for border barriers, angering Democrats — The Pentagon announced Monday night that it has authorized the transfer of up to $1 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers to build additional barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, a move that drew sharp objections from Democratic lawmakers.

Discussion: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, CNN, The Week, TheBlaze, POLITICUSUSA and VICE News

Bill Chappell / NPR:
Pentagon Takes $1 Billion From Military Personnel Account To Build Border Fence

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Fortune, Outside the Beltway and New York Post

Washington Post:

Stephen Moore edges closer to Fed seat as key GOP lawmakers express support — A number of key Senate Republicans are expressing openness to confirming conservative economist Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve's board of governors, a positive sign for the White House as aides gauge support for the controversial pick.

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Stephen Moore could inflict more long-term damage than any of Trump's other nominations

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and Quartz

Rachael Bade / Washington Post:

Obama cautions freshman House Democrats about the price tag of liberal policies — Former president Barack Obama gently warned a group of freshman House Democrats Monday evening about the costs associated with some liberal ideas popular in their ranks, encouraging members to look at price tags, according to people in the room.

Discussion: Hot Air, Splinter, Althouse, Fox News and Washington Times

Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast: Obama Warns New House Dems That Liberal Policies Like the Green New Deal Are Very Expensive

Peter Kiefer / Hollywood Reporter:

Commentator Andrew Sullivan Jeered at Hollywood Inclusion Event — Attendees at the morning panel included actresses Amy Landecker, Michaela Watkins and Sophia Bush, plus showrunners Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Jenji Kohan. — At an event billed as 'A Day of Unreasonable Conversation …

Discussion: Breitbart and The American Conservative

Washington Post:

Why NASA's historic all-female spacewalk isn't happening — NASA has aborted its mission for its first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station because there are not enough spacesuits of the best size to fit both female astronauts, the agency said.

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico, VICE News, Fortune, Engadget, The Week and twitchy.com

Sohrab Ahmari / New York Post:

Mueller Madness: The media pundits who got it most wrong — Special counsel Robert Mueller has definitively put to rest the collusion theory of President Trump's election. That's not a little embarrassing for the many journalists, talking heads, celebrities and instant-experts who spent …

Discussion: RedState, Louder With Crowder, The Hill, Contemptor, Breitbart and Mediaite

David Reaboi / Security Studies Group:

BLOOD MONEY: How Qatar Bought Off the Entire DC Establishment — The new film “Blood Money” deals with how the tiny Gulf Emirate of Qatar funds lobbyists, media outlets, think tanks to advance its agenda in Washington at the expense of the US and our allies.

Michael Shepherd / Bangor Daily News:

An early poll shows Susan Collins with a lead over a likely challenger — The first wide-ranging public poll in Maine since the 2018 election has plenty of good news for Democrats after they swept the Blaine House and the Legislature, but U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is an early favorite for re-election in 2020.