memeorandum: Scoop: Former White House counsel Don McGahn off the record (Axios)

8:50 AM ET, April 8, 2019

Top Items:

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: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Bipartisan Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Al Jazeera, The Week, National Review, BuzzFeed News, TalkLeft, Splinter and Mediaite

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Stephen Miller pressuring Trump officials amid immigration shakeups — As President Donald Trump roils the capital over illegal immigration, his influential aide Stephen Miller is playing a more aggressive behind-the-scenes role in a wider administration shakeup.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, Raw Story and CNN

Axios:

Behind the scenes: Kirstjen Nielsen sacked by tweet — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her resignation letter with her when she met President Trump in the White House residence yesterday afternoon, top sources tell Axios. — Inside the room: She wasn't intent on quitting but was prepared to, sources tell us.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's ouster exposes Trump's immigration crisis — Washington (CNN)The forced resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is not just the usual story of an administration racked by chaos and the short shelf life of almost everyone who works for an imperious and grudge-bearing President.

Discussion: NPR, Fox News and ImmigrationProf Blog

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Nielsen's ouster signals even tougher Trump border rhetoric

Discussion: The Week, Los Angeles Times and Fox News

Dara Lind / Vox:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigns as Trump rage continues

Discussion: Crooked Timber and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:
Trump says DHS Secretary Nielsen leaving

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, NBC News, Trending Home, ABC News, NPR, The Sun and Townhall

Washington Post:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen leaving Trump administration amid surge of migrants

Discussion: Just Security, The New Civil Rights Movement, Axios, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Bloomberg, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Resigns

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars, Politico and Axios

Associated Press:
Homeland Security Sec. Nielsen resigns amid border turmoil

Discussion: FITSNews, Washington Press, POLITICUSUSA and The Resurgent

Axios:

Scoop: Former White House counsel Don McGahn off the record — Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides. — Details: “I spent the last couple …

Discussion: Raw Story and Politico

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.

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

To Get Trump's Tax Returns, N.Y. Democrats Try a New Strategy — ALBANY — In an attempt to work around the White House, Democratic lawmakers in Albany are trying to do what their federal counterparts have so far failed to accomplish: to obtain President Trump's tax returns.

Discussion: The Hill and Contemptor

Lauren Fox / CNN: Trump, Democrats fight over tax returns: What happens now?

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Republicans are Trashing the Law to Keep Trump's Taxes Secret

Discussion: RedState and CNN

Associated Press:

Bernie Sanders finds himself in a new role as front-runner — DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is quieting critics who questioned whether he could recapture the energy of his upstart 2016 campaign, surpassing his rivals in early fundraising and establishing himself …

Discussion: Axios and Washington Post

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Face it: Biden and Bernie are too old to be president

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, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mercury News and Conservative News Today

Josh Lederman / NBC News:
‘A kind of war’: Buttigieg describes struggle with sexual orientation in emotional speech

Discussion: The Week

Washington Post:

Trump seeks to campaign on problems he promised to fix — President Trump is ratcheting up his attacks on immigration — making and then rescinding a threat to close the nation's southern border in response to a problem that has worsened on his watch. He's reviving his assault …

Jonathan Swan / Axios: A Pelosi-shaped cloud over Trump's NAFTA 2.0 chances

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.”

Discussion: Splinter, Breitbart, middleeastmonitor.com and Reuters

Holly Bailey / Washington Post:
Beto O'Rourke on Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Racist’

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and The Week

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
As Netanyahu Seeks Re-election, the Future of the West Bank Is Now on the Ballot

Discussion: Haaretz

Politico:

Trump's health care brain trust says no thanks — Although the president walked back his promise for an Obamacare replacement ahead of 2020, lawmakers can neither escape the issue or muster a strong response. — President Donald Trump promised a new plan to replace Obamacare.

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: Splinter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Mediaite

Rick Moran / Trending Home:
Nunes to Make Eight Criminal Referrals to Justice Department This Week

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit

David Siders / Politico:

Reality bites Beto after high-flying kickoff — The Texan is campaigning strong, but he's no longer in the stratosphere. — DES MOINES, Iowa — Between the prom proposal from a young admirer, the long lines for photographs and the conservative tracker recording his every word …

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post

Eliza Collins / USA Today:

How Nancy Pelosi is leading divided Democrats through political turmoil, Trump's administration — Nancy Pelosi is presiding over a vastly different Democratic caucus than the last time she was Speaker of the House. Will she keep it together? — CONNECT — FERGUSON, Mo. — Nancy Pelosi doesn't care what you think of her.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

All the Progressive Plotters — Right after the 2016 election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein—cheered on by Hillary Clinton dead-enders—sued in three states to recount votes and thereby overturn Donald Trump's victory in the Electoral College. Before the quixotic effort imploded …

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Trumpism Extols Its Folk Hero — The president's devoted supporters have turned him into a legend of sorts. — My mother is a devout Democrat, but also one of the most socially conservative people I know. This is typical of our home state of Louisiana among black citizens …

politicallyshort.com:

Flynn Leaks and Ignatius Hypocrisy — David Ignatius of the Washington Post poses the interesting question of what responsibility, if any, a journalist has to avoid blowing secrets. While this question was once posed by Ignatius in a Washington Post article written back in 2000 …