memeorandum: Iowa's Socialists Are Already Over 2020 (Elaine Godfrey/The Atlantic)

8:00 AM ET, April 5, 2019

Top Items:

John Solomon / The Hill:

Note to Team Mueller: If you don't indict, you can't incite — View Latest Opinions >> — I've covered the Justice Department for three decades, and seldom have I seen a story like the one published in the New York Times this week under the headline, “Some on Mueller's Team Say Report Was More Damaging Than Barr Revealed.”

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, The New Neo, Breitbart, CBS News and GOP.com

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Rand Paul blocks resolution calling for release of Mueller report — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia probe be made public, marking the fifth time Republicans have blocked the House-passed measure.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, RedState, Hullabaloo and Law & Crime

Grant Stern / Washington Press:
One of America's top Republican Senators just demanded the public release of the Mueller Report

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and National Review

Washington Post:
Potentially damaging information in Mueller report ushers in new political fight

Discussion: ABC News

Luppe Luppen / Just Security:
What Has Bill Barr Done to Earn the Benefit of the Doubt?

Discussion: Politico, Contemptor, Breitbart, Daily Kos and The Week

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Barr's legacy on the line as Mueller team fumes

Discussion: Law & Crime, Shareblue Media, CNBC, ABC News and Axios

Mimi Rocah / The Daily Beast:
Barr Looks Like He's Trying to Protect Trump, Not Get Out the Mueller Report

Discussion: New York Post, The Week, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, The Last Refuge, Balloon Juice, NBC News and Breitbart

BuzzFeed News:

In New Documents, Cohen Says Trump “Instructed” Him To Lie — WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Michael Cohen, President Trump's former fixer, submitted documents to lawmakers Thursday night accusing Trump and his team of lawyers of instructing Cohen to lie to Congress about when negotiations ended to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

In bid to remain out of jail, Michael Cohen tells Congress he has more to add — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is offering House Democrats new information in a bid to stay out of jail while he cooperates with Congress.

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Splinter, Raw Story, Townhall, The Week and Joe.My.God.

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

House Dems ask Capital One for docs on Trump's sprawling businesses — Three powerful House committee chairs asked Capital One for documents last month related to President Donald Trump's business empire — and the financial giant said it was already preserving documents but needs a subpoena …

Discussion: Fox News, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Washington Press

Gigi Sukin / Axios:
Michael Cohen's attorney says testimony spurred more investigations

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and One America News Network

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Cohen offers Democrats more help, in bid to stay out of prison

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and Mediaite

New York Times:

Trump Asked That Confirmation of I.R.S. Counsel Be a Priority — President Trump earlier this year asked Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, to prioritize a confirmation vote for his nominee to be the chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, indicating that it was a higher priority …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Axios and Ways and Means Committee

Ted Barrett / CNN:
Bernie Sanders declines to say when he will release tax returns

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

CNN:
Fact-checking Trump's claims he's under audit

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Daily Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Colleen Long / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: White House pulls nomination to lead ICE head — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday sent paperwork withdrawing the nomination of longtime border official Ron Vitiello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to three people with knowledge of the move.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Week and Axios

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Barrage of setbacks spoils Trump's post-Mueller reset

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, Raw Story, Washington Post, Joe.My.God. and TheBlaze

Anita Kumar / Politico:
Trump on House getting his tax returns: 'They'll speak to my lawyers'

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Vox, Washington Times and Fox News

Charles Hurt / Washington Times:

Donald Trump reacts to Barbara Bush quotes — President Trump said he was not surprised by former first lady Barbara Bush's attacks on him, as posthumously quoted in a new biography. — “I have heard that she was nasty to me, but she should be. Look what I did to her sons,” …

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, The Week, Fox News and Mediaite

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

U.S. Ethics Office Declines to Certify Mnuchin's Financial Disclosure — WASHINGTON — The top federal ethics watchdog said on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's sale of his stake in a film production business to his wife did not comply with federal ethics rules …

Carrie Levine / Center for Public Integrity:
Ethics watchdog won't certify Mnuchin report, but says questions raised by his wife's company now addressed

Discussion: Bloomberg

Joshua Miller / BostonGlobe.com:

He bought the fencing coach's house. Then his son got into Harvard — NEEDHAM — It was a modest house by this town's standards, a center-entrance colonial, three bedrooms and a two-car garage on a quarter-acre lot. The inside hadn't welcomed a renovator in many, many years, and the outside didn't wear its age particularly well.

Discussion: CBS Boston, CBS Baltimore, New York Post and Slate

Anna Palmer / Politico:

How Trump Conspired with the Freedom Caucus to Shut Down the Government — It was as if Mark Meadows were watching a political car crash in slow motion. In November 2018, when House Republicans lost their legislative majority, it rendered him a bit player in Donald Trump's Washington.

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Trump loyalist Gaetz eyes Senate bid in Alabama — Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of President Trump's most devoted loyalists on Capitol Hill who represents the Florida Panhandle, has told GOP colleagues he is considering moving across the state line to run for the Senate in Alabama in 2020, several House lawmakers told The Hill.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit, Splinter, The Week, Shareblue Media and The Daily Caller

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:

Trump's next possible Fed nominee can't understand basic policy issues — Nein, nein, nein. — That should be the Senate's response if President Trump actually nominates his friend Herman Cain, the former pizza magnate turned failed Republican presidential candidate, to the Federal Reserve Board, as Trump said he plans to do.

Discussion: New York Times, BloombergQuint, The Week and Bloomberg

Axios:
Scoop: Trump expected to name Herman Cain to Federal Reserve board

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

157 Republicans Just Opposed Renewing The Violence Against Women Act — They sided with the National Rifle Association over women's safety. Not a good look! — WASHINGTON The House passed legislation Thursday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, despite the vast majority …

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Pete Buttigieg / Vulture:

Pete Buttigieg's 10 Favorite Books — Bookseller One Grand Books has asked celebrities to name the ten titles they'd take to a desert island, and they've shared the results with Vulture. Below is South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's list.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Norman J. Ornstein / New Republic:

Jerry Nadler Was Born to Battle Trump — The House Judiciary Committee chair has been preparing for this moment for decades. — Add to Pocket — Jerry Nadler and Donald Trump have a history. As Michael Daly has recounted in The Daily Beast, Trump approached Nadler in the 1980s …

Discussion: CNN and Bloomberg

Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic:

Iowa's Socialists Are Already Over 2020 — DES MOINES—Caroline Schoonover has two immediate goals. One of them is to systematically dismantle capitalism. The other is to finish watching all seven seasons of Vanderpump Rules. — “There are a lot of things that are not funny …

Discussion: American Enterprise Institute

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Poll: Americans give social media a clear thumbs-down — A sizable majority say social media does more to divide the country than unite it, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. — WASHINGTON — The American public holds negative views of social-media giants like Facebook and Twitter …

Harry Enten / CNN:

Why black voters are so important for Democrats in 2020 — (CNN)Several Democratic presidential contenders made their way to New York City this week to speak at Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention. — That so many 2020 hopefuls are attending a prominent gathering …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Donald Trump Is Trying to Kill You — Trust the pork producers; fear the wind turbines. — There's a lot we don't know about the legacy Donald Trump will leave behind. And it is, of course, hugely important what happens in the 2020 election. But one thing seems sure …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Shareblue Media

Jake Rudnitsky / Bloomberg:

Ex-Congressman's Russian Bank Loses License for Money Laundering — Republican Charles Taylor owns 80% stake in Bank Ivanovo — Bank of Russia said lender broke money-laundering rules — A regional Russian bank owned by a former U.S. congressman had its license revoked Friday …

Discussion: Raw Story

Derek Seidman / Latest - Truthout:

Wendy's Owner Gives Big to Trump While Refusing Farmworkers' Demands — Since January 2013, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has been mounting an effort to pressure Wendy's to participate in its Fair Food Program, which ensures better wages and safer working conditions for Florida's tomato pickers.

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Manchin weighs bid for West Virginia governor in 2020 — Just five months off the race of his life, Joe Manchin is mulling a run for governor in 2020 against GOP Gov. Jim Justice. — The Democratic senator said in an interview Thursday that he's once again “thinking about” running for the …

Lara Seligman / Foreign Policy:

Did India Shoot Down a Pakistani Jet? U.S. Count Says No. — New Delhi and Islamabad had conflicting accounts of a February dogfight. — India's claim that one of its fighter pilots shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet in an aerial battle between the two nuclear powers in February appears to be wrong.

Discussion: Bloomberg and Al Jazeera

Jeannie Etchart:

In Defense of Joe Biden: A Hug When I Needed One — At age 33, I had been a life-long Republican. I worked for, what many might describe as the “dark side and/or Darth Vaders of politics”, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Sarah Palin. I was conservative in my upbringing, values, and beliefs.

New York Times:

How China Turned a City Into a Prison — We visited Kashgar several times to see what life is like. We couldn't interview residents — that would have been too risky for them, because we were constantly followed by the police. But the restrictions were everywhere.

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg:

In Iowa, O'Rourke Says Some Trump Rhetoric Echoes Nazi Germany — He slams the administration for separating families at border — The former congressman spoke to crowd at a college in Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke told a crowd in Sioux City, Iowa …

David M. Herszenhorn / Politico:

Donald Tusk floats 1-year Brexit ‘flextension’ — Britain can have another year to think on Brexit — provided it joins the European Parliament election next month, a senior EU official said. — European Council President Donald Tusk raised the idea after hours of meetings and consultations Thursday …

Discussion: One America News Network