memeorandum: McConnell pledges to be ‘Grim Reaper’ for progressive policies (Jordain Carney/The Hill)

9:05 PM ET, April 22, 2019

Top Items:

House Democratic leaders say no immediate plans to open impeachment proceedings against Trump — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers Monday that there are no plans to immediately open impeachment proceedings against President Trump, rejecting calls from several Democrats to initiate steps to try to oust the president.

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, Slate, The Bulwark, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Politico and VICE News

Washington Post:

Trump is accused of gross abuse of his office. We're not talking about the Mueller report. — PRESIDENT TRUMP is accused of a gross abuse of his office, and his administration has not provided Congress the information it needs to reach the truth of the matter.

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
Republican lawmaker sees less-redacted Mueller report

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CNSNews and KTLA

Manu Raju / CNN:
GOP senator says she doesn't think it's ‘necessary’ for Mueller to testify

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Raw Story, IJR and The Week

Kurt Bardella / USA Today:
What would Republicans do with a Mueller report? Build an impeachment case.

Discussion: Commentary, Raw Story and Shareblue Media

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times: The Lure of Impeachment — We need congressional action to cure …

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
House Judiciary chairman subpoenas ex-White House counsel Don McGahn

Discussion: Politico, Washington Times, Townhall, New York Times and The Gateway Pundit

CNN:
House panel issues subpoena to former White House counsel Don McGahn

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Raw Story, The Stranger, Joe.My.God., The Week, What The Fuck … and Daily Kos

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Pelosi beats back calls for Trump impeachment

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., Splinter and Breitbart

Steven Shepard / Politico: Poll: Trump approval sinks 5 points after Mueller report, tying all-time low

Norm Ornstein / The Atlantic:
Impeachment Is Not the Answer. At Least Not Yet.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Hullabaloo

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Elizabeth Warren's plan to cancel student loan debt would be a slap in the face to all those who struggled to pay off their loans — In the escalating battle of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to see who can offer the most free stuff, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. …

Discussion: Splinter, Outside the Beltway, twitchy.com, No More Mister Nice Blog and NBC News

Elizabeth Warren / Team Warren:

I'm calling for something truly transformational: Universal free public college and cancellation of student loan debt — Growing up, my dream was to become a teacher. And I knew that if I wanted to teach, I had to get a college degree. — I managed to get a college scholarship, but then things turned upside down.

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren's Higher Education Plan: Cancel Student Debt and Eliminate Tuition

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Free Beacon, Vanity Fair and The Nation

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Elizabeth Warren's list of proposals to be paid for by ultra-millionaires keeps expanding

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
Elizabeth Warren releases sweeping student debt cancellation and free college plan

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Observer and The Stranger

CNN:

Trump Fed pick Stephen Moore called it a ‘travesty’ that women ‘feel free’ to play sports with men — (CNN)One of President Donald Trump's picks to serve on the Federal Reserve Board has written that women should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men's college basketball games …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Vox, The Bulwark, Vanity Fair, Politico, Bloomberg, Contemptor, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Observer, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Big Lead, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Week and Slate

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times: Stephen Moore, Trump's pick for the Fed, just got a key immigration program dead wrong

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

14 Mueller Report Takeaways You Might Have Missed — Robert Mueller's final 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election—and Donald Trump's apparent attempts to obstruct justice along the way—takes some time to read fully. On close examination, it turns …

Discussion: Vox

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

Mueller Makes It Clear: Trump Was Worse Than a ‘Useful Idiot’ — BACK IN JANUARY, approximately 1,000 Robert Mueller news cycles ago, I argued that given the arc of the special counsel Russia probe, it'd be embarrassing for Donald Trump if he weren't an agent of the Russian intelligence:

Discussion: New York Times

John Nolte / Breitbart: Top 51 Fake News ‘Bombshells’ the Media Spread About RussiaGate

Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost:

The Mueller Report Really Didn't Change Much At All: Poll — The Trump-Russia investigation continues to spark lots of polarization and little consensus. — The Mueller report has bolstered President Donald Trump's critics in their conviction that the president committed wrongdoing …

Discussion: Associated Press

Ken Meyer / Mediaite: Mark Levin Unleashes Wild Rant on ‘Smear Job’ of Trump From Mueller and His ‘Cabal’

Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune:
Column: Definitely impeach Trump — just don't call it ‘impeachment’

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and Raw Story

NBC News:

Sanders releases internal poll showing lead over Trump in PA, WI and MI — WASHINGTON—Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign is releasing new internal polling that shows him leading President Donald Trump in hypothetical matchups in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The Daily Beast:
Trump Calls Bernie Sanders Crazy, Praises Him in Private

Discussion: Breitbart, Fox News and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Trump and his business sue House Oversight chairman to block congressional subpoena of financial records — President Trump is seeking a court order to prevent his accounting firm from complying with what his lawyers say is an illegitimate use of congressional subpoena power by congressional Democrats.

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Kos

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Trump sues in bid to block congressional subpoena of financial records

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, Raw Story, Above the Law, Vox, Shareblue Media, Shakesville, The Daily Beast, The Week, IJR, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., Axios, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Althouse

Kathryn Watson / CBS News: Trump sues Cummings, says he's ignored “constitutional limits on Congress' power to investigate”

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

Sen. Lindsey Graham Bewilders Ivanka Trump's Women's Conference With Terrorism Rant — As he spoke, confused attendees at the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative could be heard asking each other in hushed tones what Graham was talking about. — While on a trip to Cote d'Ivoire …

Discussion: Raw Story

Simon Romero / New York Times:

F.B.I. Was Told That Militia in New Mexico Planned to Kill Obama and Clinton — LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The imprisoned leader of a right-wing militia that detained migrant families in New Mexico first came under the scrutiny of federal authorities in 2017, after the F.B.I. received reports that his group was …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Julia Arciga / The Daily Beast:
New Mexico Border Militia Leader Allegedly Said Group Planned to Assassinate Obama, Clinton

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Joe.My.God. and DCReport.org

Herman Cain:

The real reasons I withdrew from Fed consideration - direct from me, the only source you need — I was on the phone earlier explaining why I had decided to ask President Trump not to nominate me to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank. Shortly after I went through the detailed explanation of my reasons, I was informed:

Discussion: Vox, Vanity Fair, Dealbreaker, Roll Call, Breitbart, The Week, New York Times and Liberty Unyielding

Courier-Journal:

Is Braidy Industries of Kentucky getting in bed with Russian mobsters? — Kentucky might be going into business with the Russian mafia. — Not the rough-and-tumble “Godfather” crowd with the bent noses and such names like Tessio, Barzini and Luca Brasi. — If all goes according to plan …

Washington Post:

Christianity under attack? Sri Lanka church bombings stoke far-right anger in the West. — Sunday's bombings in Sri Lanka marked the country's deadliest violence in a decade, leaving 290 dead and more than 500 injured. But the attacks, which targeted a religious minority …

Discussion: RedState, National Review, The Intercept, twitchy.com, Daily Wire and Splinter

Max Boot / Washington Post:

My former party's reaction to the Mueller report fills me with disgust — Having declared the Republican Party to be morally bankrupt last month — after 90 percent of GOP lawmakers voted to approve President Trump's unconstitutional state of emergency — I am not remotely surprised …

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, RedState, CNBC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and IJR

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

US threatens to veto UN resolution on rape as weapon of war, officials say — Exclusive: US warns it will reject measure over language on sexual health in latest example of hardline abortion stance — The US is threatening to veto a United Nations resolution on combatting the use of rape …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump plausibly committed impeachable offenses. A leading expert explains how. — After botching their initial response to the Mueller report, top Democrats are now seriously engaging the debate over whether the shocking scale of corruption, wrongdoing, contempt for our democracy …

Discussion: Raw Story

John Rossomando / Sara A. Carter:

Ilhan Omar Slammed U.S. Soldiers Involved in ‘Black Hawk Down’ Incident — Investigative Journalist John Rossomando works with the Investigative Project on Terrorism. IPT gave SaraACarter.com permission to reprint the article in full. For more on Rossomando's work please visit here.

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Daily Caller News Foundation

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

McConnell pledges to be ‘Grim Reaper’ for progressive policies — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday vowed to be the “Grim Reaper” for progressive policies if Republicans hold on to the Senate in 2020. — “If I'm still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper.

Discussion: Splinter and Shareblue Media

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

What to do about Sarah Sanders? White House reporters have a few ideas. — Reporters have long approached White House press secretary Sarah Sanders with a trust-but-verify attitude, knowing full well that Sanders is tasked with spinning some of the more unspinnable statements made by her boss, President Trump.

Discussion: PJ Media Home and RedState