memeorandum: The Reluctance of Bernie Sanders to Release His Damn Tax Returns Is Part of a Bigger Issue (Ryan Grim/The Intercept)

8:10 PM ET, April 5, 2019

Top Items:

CNN:

Trump lawyers issue letter fighting tax return request — Trump on releasing his tax returns: Speak to my lawyers — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump continues to hold his ground against Democratic efforts to obtain his tax returns, with one administration official telling CNN …

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:

The Reluctance of Bernie Sanders to Release His Damn Tax Returns Is Part of a Bigger Issue — Why hasn't Bernie Sanders just released his damn tax returns already? — It's a question that's something of a Rorschach test for Democratic primary voters. For veterans of the great war of 2016 …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Boing Boing

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump says law ‘100 percent’ on his side in tax return fight — President Trump on Friday said the law is “100 percent” on his side in a battle with Democrats over the release of his tax returns. — Trump, who has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit …

Discussion: Politico, Axios and IJR

David French / National Review:

The Trump Era Should Make Libertarians of Us All — Democrats' quest for Trump's tax returns once again highlights the distortions in American law. — Democrats and many other Trump opponents are thrilled that House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal has “formally requested” six years of Donald Trump's tax returns.

Discussion: Washington Post and Patterico's Pontifications

Nancy Cook / Politico: Mnuchin losing two senior Treasury aides

Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
President Trump's Lawyer Urges IRS to Reject Democrats' Tax-Return Demand

Discussion: Law & Crime and Washington Times

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

If Biden Runs, They'll Tear Him Up — The old Democratic Party was warm, like him. The new one rising is colder, less human and divisive.

Discussion: National Review and No More Mister Nice Blog

Sofie Karasek / Washington Post:
A photo of me and Joe Biden went viral. I want him to take ownership for his actions.

Discussion: CNN, Conservative News Today, New York Times, Brass Pills, SARAH PALIN, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Wire, Young Conservatives, The Hill, Althouse and Politico

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Biden: 'I'm not sorry for anything that I have ever done'

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, CNN, Daily Wire, Breitbart and Politico

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
Joe Biden Jokes About Hugging in a Speech, Then Offers a Mixed Apology

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, CBS News, The Hill, Fox News, No More Mister Nice Blog, VICE News and The Daily Caller

Kevin Robillard / HuffPost:
Joe Biden Is Betting The Democratic Party Hasn't Changed

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and PJ Media Home

Emily Kopp / Roll Call:
Campaign consultants frozen out of DCCC money create ‘The Blacklist’

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams and The Intercept

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump is floundering disastrously on multiple fronts. Stop pretending he's in control. — Because so many of us got it so wrong in 2016, there's a tendency among many commentators to reflexively assume President Trump possesses some kind of hidden sway over the political environment that we're all missing.

Discussion: Raw Story, Althouse and The Week

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

Trump raises eyebrows by saying, ‘We should get rid of judges’ — A reporter asked Donald Trump this morning why, after all of his rhetoric, he didn't close the border like he said he would. The president replied: … On the first point, the idea that Mexico is suddenly implementing policies …

Discussion: The Guardian

Charles Duncan / The Charlotte Observer:

Accused of money laundering in Russia, former NC congressman's bank loses license — A Russian bank owned by former North Carolina Congressman Charles Taylor has been accused of money laundering and lost its license, according to Bloomberg News. — The Commercial Bank of Ivanovo …

Discussion: Raw Story, Bloomberg and Joe.My.God.

Associated Press: Ex-US Congressman's Russian bank stripped of license

The Daily Beast:

Trump Is Already Plotting His Post-White House Tell-All Memoir — The president is ‘excited’ about penning a dishy book. So much so that he keeps talking about the scores he plans to settle. — As he navigates turbulent domestic and international affairs, President Donald Trump …

Liz Mair / USA Today:

Free speech means I don't have to be nice to Devin Nunes on Twitter. So why's he suing me? — I didn't act like Miss Congeniality toward a member of Congress. He's upset that I did my job, so now he's trying to stifle my free speech and yours. — CONNECT

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Liberty Unyielding

Washington Post:

Trump ditches his nominee to lead ICE, says he wants someone ‘tougher’ for top immigration enforcement role — President Trump said Friday he is looking for someone “tougher” to lead the country's top immigration enforcement agency, hours after the White House unexpectedly withdrew its nomination …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite, Splinter and Associated Press

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: Bloomberg, Fortune, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, BloombergQuint, FiveThirtyEight, POLITICUSUSA, New York Times, The Week and Raw Story

Media Matters for America:
Herman Cain promoted numerous now-virtually-worthless penny stocks through his mailing list

Discussion: Washington Post, Trending Home, PJ Media Home and theGrio

Washington Post:

‘Our country is full. . . . So turn around,’ Trump warns migrants during border roundtable — President Trump claimed Friday that “our country is full” as he tried to warn off migrants arriving at the southern border in increasing numbers, and threatened Mexico …

Discussion: Breitbart

Associated Press:
‘Our country is full’: Trump says migrants straining system

Discussion: CBS San Francisco

ProPublica:

The IRS Tried to Take on the Ultrawealthy. It Didn't Go Well. — Ten years ago, the tax agency formed a special team to unravel the complex tax-lowering strategies of the nation's wealthiest people. But with big money — and Congress — arrayed against the team, it never had a chance.

Carlos Lozada / Washington Post:

Critical Carlos reads ‘Healthy Holly’ — Inside the children's book that has landed Baltimore's mayor in a political scandal — Hi, I'm Critical Carlos, and I want you to read books like I do! Reading is good for your brain and helps us all learn. If you read enough books, then one day …

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

Is Pete Buttigieg a Transformational Candidate? — One of the reasons I thought Donald Trump would win in 2016 was not just that he was focusing on the core issues roiling the middle classes (immigration and globalization). It was because he had the perfect foil for his persona in Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Front Page Magazine and Slate

Tim Chitwood / ledger-enquirer:

Exclusive: Teresa Tomlinson is taking first official step toward a US Senate bid — Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson is planning to take the first official steps today toward challenging Republican U.S. Senator David Perdue in the 2020 election, according to an exclusive interview Thursday with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

James Arkin / Politico:
Stacey Abrams torn between running for president, Senate

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God. and Talking Points Memo

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. to Designate Iranian Guard Corps a Foreign Terror Group — The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. officials said, a step that would vastly escalate the American pressure campaign against Tehran but which has divided U.S. officials.

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian and The American Conservative

Stephanie Baker / Bloomberg:

Where Rudy Giuliani's Money Comes From — When Rudy Giuliani traveled to Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, in November 2017 to advise the mayor, an unconventional scene awaited him. In an anteroom outside the mayor's office, his pet parrot, Johnny, perched in a large metal cage.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Marcy Wheeler / Washington Post:

We already knew Barr's summary was too easy on Trump. Public records prove it. — Court filings and congressional testimony show the attorney general left out a lot of Mueller's findings. — When Attorney General William P. Barr released a four-page memo two weeks ago opining that …

Discussion: Raw Story, Spectator USA, Daily Kos and The Week

David Margolick / New York Times:

That Noise? The Rich Neighbors Digging a Basement Pool in Their $100 Million Brownstone — The extremely loud and incredibly expensive renovations that have shattered a formerly quiet residential block in Manhattan. — In the middle of West 69th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue …

Discussion: Gothamist

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: Mother Jones, Roll Call, Above the Law, RedState, POLITICUSUSA, The Week and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Ex-spy Valerie Plame eyes run for Congress in New Mexico — ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former CIA operative, author and activist Valerie Plame said Friday she is considering a 2020 run for an open U.S. congressional seat in New Mexico. — Plame told The Associated Press she is spending time with residents and will make a decision soon.

Discussion: twitchy.com and Axios

David Jackson / USA Today:

Donald Trump says he will again skip the White House correspondents dinner — At the 2018 White House Correspondents' dinner, comedian Michelle Wolf delivered a number of racy jokes. Her main target seemed to be Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. — CONNECT

Discussion: Washington Post and The Root, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Trump to have dinner at his for-profit golf course near L.A. during West Coast trip — President Trump plans to have dinner at his for-profit golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday night, with his son Eric Trump, the city council and dozens of friends and supporters, according to one person who was told about the gathering.

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

What the heck does Steve King do all day? — Shunned by his party's leadership, bounced from congressional hearings, removed from key parts of the legislative process, and serving in the House minority — the Republican from Iowa has less to do than any congressman in recent history.

Discussion: Politico

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The “Witch Hunt” Lives: Trump and the Investigation That Just Won't End — President Trump may have thought that he was done with the Mueller investigation, but it is not yet done with him. A barrage of news that came out in the course of a few hours on Wednesday reinforced …

Aya Batrawy / Associated Press:

Saudi Arabia arrests more activists, including 2 US citizens — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia detained eight people, including two dual U.S.-Saudi citizens, in a new round of arrests in the kingdom targeting individuals supportive of women's rights and those with ties to jailed activists …

Discussion: CNN, TheBlaze and The Guardian