memeorandum: Restoration Versus Revolution (Amy Walter/The Cook Political Report)

11:05 AM ET, April 26, 2019

Top Items:

Joe Biden Expresses Regret to Anita Hill, but She Says 'I'm Sorry' Is Not Enough — WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Anita Hill earlier this month to express his regret over “what she endured” testifying against Justice Clarence Thomas at the 1991 Supreme Court hearings …

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Restoration Versus Revolution — A couple of weeks ago, I noted that one way to look at the 2020 Democratic primary contest was to think of it as a battle between those candidates who wanted a ‘revolution’ versus those who want to see more of a ‘restoration.’ The leaders of the ‘revolution’ wing …

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Why Is Joe Biden the Only Democrat Who Wants to Talk About Donald Trump? — In the week since the release of the Mueller report, President Trump has gone to war against its findings, raged against advisers who coöperated with the special counsel's investigation, lied about what the report concluded …

NBC News:

If it's Biden v. Bernie, buckle up — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — They're both white men in their mid-to-late 70s. And they're both current/former creatures of the U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and IJR

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Trump's Biden insults fueled by belief he can win — Hours after Joe Biden posted an online video announcing his 2020 White House bid, President Donald Trump responded on Twitter. “Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” Trump taunted the former vice president on Thursday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Front Page Magazine, Fox News, Herman Cain and The Root

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Joe Biden is the best candidate to beat Trump

Discussion: IJR, Mashable and The Guardian

Henry Olsen / Washington Post:
Trump's greatest threat has arrived

Discussion: The Week and Bloomberg

Jordan Schachtel / Conservative Review:
Biden wanted to establish a ‘Biden-Putin commission’ to cozy up to the Kremlin

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, the way of improvement …, Townhall, Breitbart and New York Times

Murray Waas / The New York Review of Books:

Mueller Prosecutors: Trump Did Obstruct Justice — Prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded last year that they had sufficient evidence to seek criminal charges against President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice over the president's alleged pressuring …

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

Washington Post:

Rosenstein fires back at critics over Mueller report — NEW YORK — Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein hit back hard against politicians and the press Thursday night, and warned that hacking and social media manipulation are “only the tip of the iceberg” …

Discussion: Axios and Outside the Beltway

U.S. Department of Justice:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Delivers Remarks at the Armenian Bar Association's Public Servants Dinner — “Peri yerego.” Good evening. — Rick, I am grateful for your friendship and for your 20 years of exceptional service to the Department of Justice …

Discussion: National Review, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, twitchy.com, IJR and The Daily Caller

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico: Rosenstein defends Russia investigation, takes shots at Obama administration

Washington Post:
Stymied by aides, Trump sought out loyalist to curtail special counsel — and drew Mueller's glare

Discussion: The Week, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Washington Times

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Jon Decker Blasts Fox News Colleagues for Charlottesville Remarks in Leaked Emails — In leaked internal emails obtained by Mediaite, Fox News Radio correspondent Jon Decker scolded several of his colleagues for their remarks on the 2017 Charlottesville attack in which a white supremacist killed a protestor.

The Daily Beast:

Fox News Reporter Rips Colleagues Over Charlottesville: You Sound Like ‘White Supremacist Chat Room’ — In emails obtained by The Daily Beast, one bold Fox reporter stands up to two of his colleagues who defended Trump's ‘both sides’ comment about neo-Nazi rallygoers.

Scott Jones / FTVLive:

EXCLUSIVE! Fox News Internal Emails Regarding Biden's Announcement — As Joe Biden was making his announcement to run for President, Biden used the ugly scene from Charlottesville's as a talking point to launch his run for President. — At Fox News, there was an internal email debate as to how to cover this?

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump tries to re-write his own history on Charlottesville and ‘both sides’

Discussion: The Guardian, Breitbart, RedState, PJ Media Home and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Executives Are Very Worried Fox & Friends Will Be Next”: After Taking Over Fox, Lachlan Murdoch Is in a Trump Trap — When advertisers rebelled at outrage anchors like Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson, Trump called Lachlan's daddy, Rupert Murdoch, to keep them on the air.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story: Hannity pondering bailing on Fox News because he no longer feels the network is loyal to Trump: report

Bianca Quilantan / Politico:
Trump: Russia investigations an attempted ‘coup’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Political Wire and Contemptor

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
How Fox News distorts the news: A Mueller case study

Discussion: Vox and Raw Story

Fred Imbert / CNBC:

US economy grows by 3.2% in the first quarter, topping expectations — The U.S. economy grew at a faster pace than expected in the first quarter and posted its best growth to start a year in six years. — First-quarter GDP expanded by 3.2% in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said.

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, Political Wire and twitchy.com

Heather Long / Washington Post:
U.S. economy grew 3.2 percent in early 2019, smashing expectations

Discussion: Bloomberg and Daily Caller News Foundation

BuzzFeed News:

Trump Says Mar-A-Lago Can't Find US Workers To Hire. New Documents Show Dozens Applied. — Trump often says his resorts have no choice but to hire foreign guest workers — there just aren't any Americans to take the jobs. But government records show nearly 60 US residents applied for those jobs, and only one was hired.

Washington Post:

Pentagon set to expand military role along southern border — The Pentagon is preparing to approve a loosening of rules that bar troops from interacting with migrants entering the United States, expanding the military's involvement in President Trump's operation along the southern border.

David Smiley / Miami Herald:

FBI to meet with Florida governor to discuss election-hacking attempts by Russians — Silent so far on new information that Russian hackers may have phished their way into a local elections office, the FBI has agreed to meet next month with Florida officials to brief them on the topic.

CNN:

Connolly threatens to jail Trump officials who won't comply with subpoenas — Washington (CNN)A Democratic lawmaker on Thursday ratcheted up warnings to the Trump administration amid a growing standoff over subpoenas and oversight requests the White House says it will resist.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, Joe.My.God., Townhall, Vanity Fair, Raw Story and What The Fuck …

Baltimore Sun:

Attorney for Baltimore Mayor Pugh says she's not ‘lucid’ enough to make a decision about resigning — Mayor Catherine Pugh's lawyer Steve Silverman says that she “is not fit to make decisions today” about resigning. (Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun video) — Amid raids by the FBI and IRS …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News, The Root, Daily Caller News Foundation, Associated Press, CBS Baltimore, The Last Refuge, Jezebel, theGrio, USA Today, Big League Politics and New York Post

Charlie Warzel / New York Times:

How Do You Stop Facebook When $5 Billion Is Chump Change? — A trivial fine would mean the government isn't just deferential to Facebook, but that it doesn't truly understand its power. — Mr. Warzel is an Opinion writer at large. — It's time for Facebook to pay up. Sort of.

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post and Slate, more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Drew / New York Times:

The Danger in Not Impeaching Trump — It may be risky politically, but Congress has a responsibility to act. — Ms. Drew is a journalist based in Washington who covered Watergate. — The decision facing the House Democrats over whether to proceed with an impeachment of President Trump …

Glenn Thrush / New York Times: As Democrats Agonize, G.O.P. Is at Peace With Doing Nothing on Mueller's Findings

Mike Allen / Axios:

Bob Woodward is considering another book on Trump — After his blockbuster “FEAR,” which comes out in paperback this fall, Bob Woodward tells me he's considering a second book on President Trump, perhaps before the election: “I'm not sure. Let's see what the story is.”

Discussion: Raw Story

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump's top aide is trying to overhaul the West Wing snake pit — It may be Washington's most coveted happy hour invitation. On the patio outside the White House chief of staff's office, cozily enclosed by greenery, West Wing aides relax with beer and wine under a white pergola …

Discussion: USA Today, The Atlantic and Washington Post

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

The Russians and the Dossier — Mueller should have investigated whether Moscow used Steele in its interference. — Politicians keep reminding us not to lose sight of special counsel Robert Mueller's broader assignment: to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: Power Line

Jed Handelsman Shugerman / New York Times:

The Trump Campaign Conspired With the Russians. Mueller Proved It. — By the standards of a potential impeachment inquiry, the evidence is clear. — Mr. Shugerman is a law professor at Fordham. — In his first letter after receiving the Mueller report, Attorney General William Barr accurately quoted …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called Rep. Ilhan Omar after Trump's tweet sparked a flood of death threats — Twitter did not take down the tweet, despite Omar's request, a source said. — Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey phoned Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday and stood by the company's decision …

Discussion: The Daily Dot, New York Post, The Verge, Vanity Fair, Splinter, Fox News, TheBlaze, Slate, Townhall, Mediaite, Raw Story, Contemptor, Motherboard and theGrio, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Will it use hacked materials again? Trump campaign will not say — President Trump's reelection campaign won't say whether it would use stolen information from hacks or other breaches, setting up a clash with Democratic rivals who have pledged to forgo such tactics and prompting some worry in Trump's own party.

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Hannah Beech / New York Times:

Sri Lankan Accused of Leading Attacks Preached Slaughter. Many Dismissed Him. — KATTANKUDY, Sri Lanka — Zaharan Hashim, a radical Muslim preacher accused of masterminding the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, never hid his hatred.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

CNN:

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia said they confessed. But court filings show some executed men protested their innocence — Beirut, Lebanon (CNN)Long before Saudi Arabia announced it had carried out one of the largest mass executions in its history earlier this week, some of the men condemned …

Leila Fadel / NPR:

Activists And Suicide Prevention Groups Seek Bans On Conversion Therapy For Minors — Peter Nunn is 32 and he's happy. He lives just outside Atlanta with his husband Monte, his dog Amelie, and their cat Hollow. — The dining room is decorated with a photo gallery wall of family …

Rachel M. Cohen / The Intercept:

Washington Becomes First State to Approve Publicly Funded Long-Term Care — Washington state lawmakers on Tuesday passed the nation's first long-term care benefit program, which would provide residents with up to $36,500 to pay for costs like caregiving, wheelchair ramps, meal deliveries, and nursing home fees.