memeorandum: Trump's mental condition seems to be getting worse: He should subject himself to a rigorous assessment now (Bandy X. Lee/New York Daily News)

11:05 AM ET, April 6, 2019

Top Items:

‘No Celebrities’: Embarrassing Turnout at Trump's Beverly Hills Fundraiser — Tickets for the event allegedly started at $15,000 and went as high as $150,000. — BEVERLY HILLS, California—Late Friday afternoon, Donald Trump landed in Los Angeles for a re-election fundraiser.

Discussion: Althouse, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Washington Post: Trump visits his for-profit golf course during California trip for dinner with son, local officials

Post and Courier:

Former SC Governor, U.S. Senator Ernest F. ‘Fritz’ Hollings dies at 97 … Fritz Hollings celebrates his 1998 victory over Republican challenger Bob Inglis to retain his U.S. Senate seat. It would be his final campaign. File/Matthew Fortner/staff — Fritz Hollings is sworn …

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

David Travis Bland / The State:

Former U.S. Senator Ernest ‘Fritz’ Hollings has died — One of South Carolina's political titans has passed. — Ernest F. Hollings died on Saturday. — Hollings was 97. — Better known as “Fritz” Hollings, the South Carolina Democrat served in the state's House of Representatives before becoming Lieutenant Governor in 1954.

Associated Press:

A 2016 hangover: Some Bernie Sanders supporters still upset — IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It was hard to miss Cheri Pichone's excitement about Bernie Sanders' second presidential run. She showed up to a recent Iowa rally decked out in Sanders gear, complete with a figurine of the Vermont senator and progressive icon.

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

Discussion: CNN, TheBlaze and Washington Post

Brian Faler / Politico:
Democrats face minefield if they get Trump's tax returns

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, The Hill and IJR

David French / National Review:
The Trump Era Should Make Libertarians of Us All

Discussion: Viking Pundit and Patterico's Pontifications

CNN:
Trump lawyers issue letter fighting tax return request

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Test Feed Using Fields, Trending Home, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Congress' new Mueller fight: Do Dems need to begin impeachment to see secret files? — Do Democrats have to begin the process of impeaching President Donald Trump in order to access special counsel Robert Mueller's secrets? — That legal debate began raging inside the House Judiciary Committee …

Discussion: Raw Story and Slate

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Ruling on grand jury records could affect release of Mueller report details

Discussion: Raw Story

Allison Quinn / The Daily Beast:

Feds Arrest New York Man for Allegedly Threatening to Kill Rep. Ilhan Omar — A 55-year-old New York man was arrested Friday for allegedly threatening to kill freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the Elmira Star-Gazette reports. The man, identified as Patrick W. Carlineo …

Discussion: CNN, Elmira Star-Gazette and Joe.My.God.

Associated Press: FBI: NY man threatened to kill Minn. Congresswoman

Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:

Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski might have been a woman or intersex — Researchers noticed the Polish officer's delicate bone structure after the skeleton was extracted from the Pulaski monument in Savannah, Georgia. — Casimir Pulaski, hero of the Revolutionary War and the pride …

Bandy X. Lee / New York Daily News:

Trump's mental condition seems to be getting worse: He should subject himself to a rigorous assessment now — Two years after organizing a conference at Yale about how mental health professionals could warn the public ethically and effectively, our predictions have borne out to be true …

Discussion: Raw Story

Richard Fausset / New York Times:

3 Black Churches Have Burned in 10 Days in a Single Louisiana Parish — ATLANTA — Three historically black churches have burned in less than two weeks in one south Louisiana parish, where officials said they had found “suspicious elements” in each case. The officials have not ruled …

ABC News:

Trump pulls ICE director nominee amid threats to close border over illegal immigration — Trump said he wants someone “tougher” to lead ICE. — As he left for a high-profile trip to the southern border on Friday to highlight his efforts to stop illegal immigration, President Donald Trump …

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Trump raises eyebrows by saying, ‘We should get rid of judges’

Discussion: The Guardian and The Daily Beast

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Pelosi outlines a path to victory for House Democrats in 2020 — and guarantees it — Barely three months into her second turn in charge, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already mapped out a plan to overwhelm Republicans in the 2020 elections. — “I'm going to have our races won by this November,” the California Democrat said.

Discussion: Political Wire

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Elizabeth Warren just called for eliminating the filibuster. She's got a point.

Discussion: Vox and The Mahablog

Nancy Scola / Politico:

Here's a Trump campaign strategy Democrats are eager to embrace — President Donald Trump left many in Washington scratching their heads when he put his 2016 campaign's digital chief in charge of his entire reelection effort. — But now Democrats are embracing that strategy too.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Abraham Riesman / New York Magazine:

Whatever Happened to the Israeli Left? On the eve of the Jewish state's elections, an appraisal of the battered opposition. — Barreling down a barely existent road in the South Hebron Hills, as I sit in the passenger seat of Nasser Nawaja's well-worn Dacia Duster, the conversation turns to the fate of the Holy Land.

Alexandra Hutzler / Newsweek:

Republican Senator John Kennedy Suggests Someone Could Be ‘Killed’ if Unredacted Mueller Report Is Released — Republican Senator John Kennedy suggested that someone could be “killed” if the unredacted version of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation is released to the public.

Gerard Baker / Wall Street Journal:

The Deep Rot Exposed by the Biden Flap — The problem isn't too much hugging but the rancor and triviality of our political debate

Discussion: Althouse

Neil Irwin / New York Times:

What's at Risk if the Fed Becomes as Partisan as the Rest of Washington — The credibility of the Federal Reserve around the world has been built over decades. — Politicians have had strong opinions on what the Federal Reserve should and shouldn't do throughout its 105-year history.

Associated Press:

The Latest: Jury rejects Harry Reid therapy band injury case — LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's injury lawsuit against the maker of an exercise band (all times local): — A jury in Las Vegas rejected former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's lawsuit against an exercise band maker …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Lauren Kelley / New York Times:

America's Leaders Need Sex Ed — For those who want to regulate women's bodies, ignorance has been no obstacle. — Ms. Kelley is a member of the editorial board. — A few recent news stories have served as reminders that an awful lot of people lack even a basic understanding of the female body.

Matt M. Miller / The Daily Caller:

SPLC Director Threatens To Call Police On Reporter Over Questions About Sexual Harassment Allegations — Two of the remaining top-level staff at the embattled Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) threatened to call the police on a Daily Caller reporter on Thursday, as he tried to ask …

Discussion: The Daily Signal and Trending Home

Associated Press:

Ex-US Congressman's Russian bank stripped of license — MOSCOW (AP) — A small Russian bank owned by former U.S. congressman Charles Taylor was stripped of its license Friday after allegedly breaking anti-money laundering rules. — Russia's central bank said that Commercial Bank of Ivanovo committed …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Charles Duncan / The Charlotte Observer:
Accused of money laundering in Russia, former NC congressman's bank loses license

Discussion: Daily Kos and Joe.My.God.

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:

Ex-spy Valerie Plame eyeing return to Washington — as a member of Congress — Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer whose identity was leaked in 2003 by members of the George W. Bush administration, is seriously considering running for Congress in New Mexico in 2020.