memeorandum: After divisive battle among Democrats, Maryland House elects Baltimore County Del. Adrienne Jones as speaker (Baltimore Sun)

5:15 PM ET, May 1, 2019

Top Items:

How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr — Accomplished people lacking inner strength can't resist the compromises necessary to survive this president. — Mr. Comey is the former F.B.I. director. — People have been asking me hard questions. What happened to the leaders in the Trump administration …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Fox News, CNN, Axios, Raw Story, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, emptywheel, WTVR-TV, Talking Points Memo, Sara A. Carter, NB Blog, Vox, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, Boing Boing, Daily Kos and New York Post

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

The real reason Bill Barr is defending Trump — Bill Barr didn't want to work for President Donald Trump. — At age 68 and semi-retired for a decade, the attorney general resisted three efforts over two years to recruit him into Trump's fold. When approached in late 2018 for his current job …

Discussion: Breitbart, Hullabaloo, The Moderate Voice, The Week, Politico, Raw Story and New York Times

Andrew McCarthy / Fox News:

Mueller's letter to Barr - A neat trick by the Washington Post before hearings begin — “Mueller complained to Barr about memo on key findings.” That's the banner headline at the top of the Washington Post's website Wednesday. But when you click your way to the actual story, it turns out that the headline is not true.

Discussion: RedState and Instapundit

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

William Barr and his horrible hearing — So far, Attorney General William P. Barr's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee has done himself and the administration no favors. To the contrary, former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal observes, “Barr has been evasive and misleading from the first paragraph.

Discussion: Vox, National Review and Fox News

Washington Post:

Mueller told the attorney general that the depiction of his findings failed to capture ‘context, nature, and substance’ of probe — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III expressed his concerns in a letter to William P. Barr after the attorney general publicized Mueller's principal conclusions.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

4 early takeaways from William Barr's tense hearing — Attorney General William P. Barr ventured up to Capitol Hill on Wednesday an embattled man. About 15 hours before his testimony, The Washington Post reported that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III had sent Barr a letter saying Barr's summary …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, Mediaite and Variety

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Hirono calls Barr a liar and says he should resign — Washington (CNN)Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono told Attorney General William Barr to his face Wednesday that he should resign and accused the nation's top law enforcement official of lying to Congress.

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Week, Balloon Juice and Townhall

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Mueller Pushed in Letter for Barr to Release Report's Summaries

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Washington Press, The Week, Townhall, Outside the Beltway, Vox, Political Wire and Mercury News

VICE News:
Elizabeth Warren is now calling for Barr to resign

Discussion: Vox and CNN

Tim Ahmann / Reuters:
Agreement reached to have Mueller testify on Russia probe: lawmaker

Discussion: Townhall, IJR, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA and House Judiciary Dems

Chris Stevenson / The Independent: Robert Mueller to testify to congress about Trump-Russia report, senior Democrat says

Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
The Democrats' Fatal Impeachment Error

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, NB Blog and Washington Press

Guy Benson / Townhall:
Analysis: Democrats' Dubious Barr Derangement is an Emotional Stand-in For Impeachment

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News and Mashable

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
House Dems pass motion to allow Judiciary staff to question Barr

Discussion: American Greatness, IJR, Algemeiner.com and The Gateway Pundit

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
'I don't know': Barr's professed ignorance prompts calls for his resignation after Mueller letter

Discussion: CNN, Shareblue Media, The Guardian, Daily Kos, RealityChek and The Week

Brad Reed / Raw Story: Mueller's letter to Barr is ‘screaming this is really wrong’: CNN's David Gregory

Jordyn Hermani / Politico:
Democratic White House hopefuls call on AG Barr to resign

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Breitbart

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Barr takes shots at Mueller and his ‘snitty’ letter

Discussion: Fox News, Breitbart, CNN, Just Security and The Guardian

Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
READ: Mueller Letter To Barr Reveals New Contacts Over Release Of Report

Discussion: Hullabaloo, VICE News and Mother Jones

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
William Barr Hearing: Live Updates and Analysis of Testimony on the Mueller Report

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Stranger, The Daily Caller, Reuters and The Week

Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News:
Mueller didn't intend report to be roadmap for Congress, AG Barr tells lawmakers

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Townhall, Vox, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and twitchy.com

Rachael Bade / Washington Post:
House Democrats consider holding Barr in contempt of Congress if he does not comply with requests

Discussion: Daily Kos, Political Wire and The Stranger

Bill Lambrecht / Houston Chronicle:

Rep. Joaquin Castro won't run for U.S. Senate in 2020 — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn, choosing instead to continue pursuing a fast-rising career in Congress focusing on security and border issues.

Discussion: Political Wire and Roll Call

The Texas Tribune:

Joaquin Castro won't challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate seat — After months of speculation that he would run for statewide office, the fourth-term congressman has decided to run for reelection in the U.S. House. … Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Tom Benning / Dallas Morning News: Joaquin Castro won't challenge Texas Sen. John Cornyn, marking second pass on Senate run in 2 cycles

Derek Kravitz / ProPublica:

How Taxpayers Covered a $1,000 Liquor Bill for Trump Staffers (and More) at Trump's Club — A top-shelf, closed-door drinking session. $546-a-night hotel rooms. A special government credit card for Mar-a-Lago. Taxpayers foot the costs — and the president profits.

Discussion: Washington Times, Politico, Boing Boing, The Week, Rolling Stone, Eater and POLITICUSUSA

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Biden calls for end to U.S. support for Saudi war in Yemen — Former vice president Joe Biden is taking his first major foreign policy stance since officially announcing his candidacy for president by calling for the United States to end its assistance to Saudi Arabia for its war in Yemen.

Discussion: NBC News, Outside the Beltway, RealClearPolitics and The Daily Caller

Alex Pareene / New Republic:
Democrats Have Created an “Electability” Monster

Discussion: Axios, Chicago Sun-Times, Fox News, The Week and Althouse

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
One Big Difference Between Biden and Every Other Recent Democratic Nominee

Discussion: Reason, The Resurgent, Shakesville and The Week

Michael Edison Hayden / Southern Poverty Law Center:

Prolific Alt-Right Propagandist's Identity Confirmed — Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, a man can become a major player in the white supremacist “alt-right” movement without ever revealing his face to his audience. And that's just what Joseph Jordan did.

Baltimore Sun:

After divisive battle among Democrats, Maryland House elects Baltimore County Del. Adrienne Jones as speaker — Baltimore County's Del. Adrienne Jones was unanimously elected the next speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates on Wednesday, the first woman and African American to hold the position.

Washington Post:
Bitter race for Maryland House speaker to be decided Wednesday

Discussion: Washington Blade

WSOC-TV:

Source: UNCC shooting victim jumped on gunman to save others — Two people were killed and four others injured after a gunman opened fire in a classroom at UNCC Tuesday — Police arrested and charged 22-year-old Trystan Terrell with 2 counts of murder and 4 counts of attempted murder

Discussion: CNN, Faithwire, Daily Caller News Foundation, ABC News, WSB-TV, myfox8.com, Washington Post and The Daily Beast

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

A 16-Year-Old Unaccompanied Immigrant Boy Has Died In US Government Custody — A 16-year-old unaccompanied immigrant boy died in US government custody in Texas on Tuesday, officials said. — The boy was handed over to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) …

Discussion: CNN and KTLA

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

‘Make Sh*t Up’: Inside Jacob Wohl's Bonkers Investment Plan — The bumbling political operative pitched investors on a scheme to use fake news stories to manipulate political betting markets for profit. — Bumbling conservative provocateur Jacob Wohl pitched investors this spring on a scheme …

Discussion: The Daily Dot

Benjy Sarlin / NBC News:

‘Democracy Dollars’: Gillibrand's plan to give every voter $600 to donate to campaigns — The Democratic presidential hopeful wants to use a voucher system to clean up politics — but it's got strings attached. — WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., unveiled a plan on Wednesday …

Discussion: Kirsten Gillibrand, Chicks On The Right, Splinter, Daily Caller News Foundation, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, Daily Wire, The Resurgent, Washington Times, twitchy.com, CNSNews and electionlawblog.org

Anne Helen Petersen / BuzzFeed News:

Charlie Kirk And Candace Owens' Campus Tour Is All About The Owns — “If you disagree, go to the front of the line.” — That's what Charlie Kirk tells the 500-plus people gathered in a ballroom at Montana State University in Bozeman. He and Candace Owens, his coheadliner …

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Lindsey Graham kicked off Barr's testimony by whipping up a Hillary Clinton conspiracy theory — Sen. Lindsey O. Graham's metamorphosis over the past three years has been remarkable, transforming from one of President Trump's harshest critics on the campaign trail into one of his staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Amber Phillips / Washington Post: Lindsey Graham's stunningly fact-free, pro-Trump spin of the Mueller report

Mike Dennison / KBAO-TV:

MT Gov. Bullock preparing to announce candidacy for president — HELENA — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will announce his bid for the presidency in two weeks, MTN News has learned — adding to the 20 Democrats already running for the 2020 nomination to challenge President Trump.

Discussion: Political Wire