memeorandum: Democrats Rethink the Death Penalty, and Its Politics (Tim Arango/New York Times)

9:25 PM ET, April 7, 2019

Top Items:

Paula Reid / CBS News:

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigning after clashing with Trump on immigration — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is resigning, President Trump announced in a tweet Sunday. CBS News first reported Nielsen's impending departure, which Mr. Trump announced after a 5 p.m. meeting at the White House.

New York Times:

Kirstjen Nielsen Resigns as Trump's Homeland Security Secretary — WASHINGTON — Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, resigned on Sunday after meeting with President Trump, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had made her the target of the president's criticism.

Discussion: Raw Story and Breitbart

Wall Street Journal:

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Resigns — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation comes two days after she visited U.S. southern border with President Trump.

Dara Lind / Vox:

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigns as Trump rage continues — Nielsen was the most aggressive DHS secretary in history. It wasn't enough for Trump. — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen submitted her resignation to President Donald Trump Sunday night …

CNN:

Trump says DHS Secretary Nielsen leaving — (CNN)Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security who has become a face of President Donald Trump's hardline immigration push, is leaving the administration, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter Sunday afternoon.

Discussion: Fox News, Townhall, FITSNews, Raw Story and NPR

Victoria Albert / The Daily Beast:
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to Resign Immediately: Report

Discussion: Politico, CBS News, New York Daily News and Splinter

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

Nunes sending eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr — (CNN)California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he was planning to send eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr as soon as this week.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Splinter and Raw Story

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

William Barr's Choices — Since Barr became Attorney General, he has narrowed the range of information about the Mueller report that he says he will allow the public to see. — Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the intellectual polymath who represented New York in the United States Senate for twenty-four years …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The New Civil Rights Movement

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Scrutiny and suspicion as Mueller report undergoes redaction — The escalating political battle over special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's report centers on redactions — a lawyerly editing process that has angered distrustful Democrats eager to see the all evidence and conclusions …

Zack Budryk / The Hill:

O'Rourke: US-Israel relationship must transcend ‘a prime minister who is racist’ — Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D), in an apparent reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel must transcend “a prime minister who is racist.”

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
In Israel Election, the Future of the West Bank Is Now on the Ballot

Discussion: Haaretz

Emily Shugerman / The Daily Beast:
Republican Jewish Coalition Has to Remind Trump: We Didn't Support Obama

Discussion: Axios

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
Netanyahu Vows to Start Annexing West Bank, in Bid to Rally the Right

Discussion: Slate, New York Post and The Daily Caller

emptywheel:

The Carr Correction and the Barr Pseudo Exoneration — Last week, Buzzfeed released part of a package of materials that Michael Cohen's lawyers provided to Congress in what appears a last minute bid to stay out of prison. While it still represents just Cohen's self-interested view …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Giuliani: Let Congress see the Mueller report

Discussion: Washington Press, Daily Kos, The Guardian, Splinter and Breitbart

Michael Burke / The Hill:

Mulvaney: Democrats will ‘never’ see Trump's tax returns — Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that Democrats will “never” see President Trump's tax returns. — “Nor should they. That's an issue that was already litigated during the election.

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Breitbart and Raw Story

Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News:
Trump attorney Jay Sekulow accuses Democrats of playing politics, 'The president has not asked …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, CNN and IJR

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:

House Democratic Campaign Arm Nears War With Liberals Over Primary Fights — WASHINGTON — The House Democratic campaign arm is on the verge of open warfare with the party's rising liberal wing as political operatives close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi try to shut down primary challenges …

Chris Enloe / TheBlaze:

Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez violate the Constitution with her latest action on Twitter? — On Friday, the Daily Wire's Ryan Saavedra broke the news that Ocasio-Cortez had seemingly changed her accent while speaking to a predominantly black crowd at Al Sharpton's National Action Network.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, IJR, Slate and The Daily Caller

Maureen Groppe / USA Today:

Buttigieg to Pence: If you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is with my creator — Here are a few facts about ‘Mayor Pete.’ — WASHINGTON - Pete Buttigieg got a hero's welcome as he took the stage Sunday at a fundraising brunch for a group that supports LGBTQ candidates.

Discussion: The Guardian, Conservative News Today and Washington Post

Rick Reilly / The Atlantic:

Whatever Trump Is Playing, It Isn't Golf — More than any wife, more than any party, more than any opinion, President Donald Trump has remained fiercely loyal to golf. But I've played golf my entire life. Years ago, I even played with Trump once. Whatever sport he's playing, it isn't golf.

Thomas Fuller / New York Times:

In San Francisco, Making a Living From Your Billionaire Neighbor's Trash — SAN FRANCISCO — Three blocks from Mark Zuckerberg's $10 million Tudor home in San Francisco, Jake Orta lives in a small, single-window studio apartment filled with trash. — There's a child's pink bicycle helmet …

Gregory Wallace / CNN:

Aviation world faces moment of reckoning after 737 MAX crashes — (CNN)It was a moment the aviation world had been waiting for since a second deadly crash grounded the 737 MAX fleet: Boeing gathered hundreds of pilots, airline executives, and regulators to unveil a fix that would return the jetliner to the sky.

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Nunes to send eight criminal referrals to DOJ concerning leaks, conspiracy amid Russia probe — Rep. Devin Nunes announces he will send eight criminal referrals to Justice Dept concerning leaks, conspiracy amid Russia probe. — House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes …

Discussion: Trending Home, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, RedState and Mediaite

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Trump says some asylum seekers look like they're ‘fighting for the UFC’ — President Trump said on Saturday that some asylum seekers should be “fighting for the UFC,” calling the process a “scam.” — Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Trump said some asylum seekers are …

Discussion: The Week and CNN

Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:

Hunger and an ‘Abandoned’ Hospital: Puerto Rico Waits as Washington Bickers — VIEQUES, P.R. — A newborn's cries rarely echo anymore though the hallways of what passes as a hospital on the ravaged island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico. — “We miss it,” said Dennisse Bermúdez Colón, a nurse.

Katy Waldman / New Yorker:

Joe Biden and the Perils of Good Intentions — Americans have been on a long road trip with Joe Biden. The former Vice-President's hot mikes, his “handsiness,” “gaffes,” and “loose-lipped and emotive manner” are all a matter of family lore. Everybody knows a story or two or ten …

Discussion: CNN, Vox and The Nevada Independent

Jared Malsin / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Removes Troops From Libya Amid Fighting in Capital — American military leaves as country stands on precipice of civil war, battle for Tripoli continues with airstrikes — CAIRO—The U.S. military said it pulled a small contingent of American forces from Libya as the country teetered …

Discussion: Geller Report

Damian Paletta / Washington Post:

How regulators, Republicans and big banks fought for a big increase in lucrative but risky corporate loans — Actions by federal regulators and Republicans in Congress over the past two years have paved the way for banks and other financial companies to issue more than $1 trillion in risky corporate loans …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Politico

Marc Santora / New York Times:

Poland's Populists Pick a New Top Enemy: Gay People — WARSAW — Growing up in a small city in southern Poland, part of a religious family and conservative community, Maciej Gosniowski was told again and again that something was wrong with him. — “It would be better if I changed myself,” he recalled teachers telling him.