memeorandum: How conservatives rationalize their surrender to Trump (Max Boot/Washington Post)

10:55 AM ET, May 2, 2019

Top Items:

A Real Attorney General — Bill Barr gets smeared for refusing to duck and cover like Loretta Lynch. — By The Editorial Board — Washington pile-ons are never pretty, but this week's political setup of Attorney General William Barr is disreputable even by Beltway standards.

Discussion: Instapundit

National Review:

The Incredibly Dumb Bill Barr Scandal — Is it already August? That's usually the Beltway silly season appropriate for such a ridiculous non-scandal as the Great Bill Barr Summary of Findings Outrage of 2019. — As everyone knows, Bill Barr released a brief letter summarizing …

Discussion: Althouse

The Daily Beast:

The Trump White House Is Loving Itself Some Bill Barr: He ‘Dismembered’ Democrats — He may not be the president's Roy Cohn. But the attorney general is certainly winning plaudits from Trumpland. — Shortly after Attorney General William Barr's Senate testimony ended on Wednesday …

Discussion: Politico and Just Security

Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:
Why Barr Can't Whitewash the Mueller Report

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Spectator, PBS NewsHour and Talking Points Memo

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Moderate Democrats fret they made a ‘big mistake’ backing Barr

Discussion: ABC News, Associated Press, Raw Story, Splinter, Breitbart, Vox, The Week, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit, FiveThirtyEight, Townhall and The Daily Beast

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
‘The Mueller Report’ is officially a best-seller

Discussion: Axios and Splinter

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
We Should Not Have Been Surprised About Bill Barr

Discussion: Washington Post

Greg Miller / Washington Post:
With Mueller silent, Barr interprets the special counsel's report — to the advantage of Trump

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mercury News, IJR and Talking Points Memo

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
William Barr has shamelessly corrupted the debate over the Mueller report

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, swampdrain.com, The Bulwark, The Daily Signal, Hullabaloo and Florida Politics

New York Times:
Bob Mueller's Extraordinary Letter to Bill Barr

Discussion: American Greatness, Simple Justice, New Republic, Washington Press and The Week

Rich Lowry / National Review:
No, Bill Barr Didn't Lie or Mislead

Discussion: American Greatness, Contemptor and Washington Post

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Barr puts Trump's actions in best light, despite ‘substantial evidence’ of obstruction cited by Mueller

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Week, Vox, Daily Wire, Fox News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Breitbart

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
William Barr's ‘snitty’ slip-up gives away his game

Discussion: Fox News, swampdrain.com, Raw Story, The Guardian and New York Post

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:

A Former Alt-Right Member's Message: Get Out While You Still Can — If you remember Katie McHugh, it's probably because of the tweets. — A short selection: “British settlers built the USA. ‘Slaves’ built the country much as cows ‘built’ McDonald's. Amateur...”

Discussion: Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Julie Turkewitz / New York Times:

Michael Bennet, Senator From Colorado, Is Running for President — DENVER — Michael Bennet, the moderate, studious Democratic senator from Colorado known for his work on education and immigration reform, announced his candidacy for president on Thursday. — He joins a field so packed …

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC News, Vox, The Daily Caller and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
Sen. Michael F. Bennet of Colorado becomes the latest Democratic presidential candidate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Fox News and Political Wire

Emily Tillett / CBS News:
Sen. Michael Bennet announces he's running for president in 2020

Discussion: Roll Call, NPR, Townhall and Daily Wire

Ellen McCarthy / Washington Post:

Chasten Buttigieg has been a homeless community-college student and a Starbucks barista. Now, he could be ‘first gentleman.’ — “Are you going to write about my meal?” Chasten Buttigieg asks, scanning the breakfast menu of a Manhattan cafe last month. — He had oatmeal with a side of fresh fruit.

Charlotte Alter / TIME:

Mayor Pete Buttigieg's Unlikely, Untested, Unprecedented Presidential Campaign — As Pete Buttigieg addressed supporters off a back porch in Marshalltown, Iowa, the Devil was whispering his name. “Pete,” the Devil hissed into a microphone. “You're sooo smart, Pete.”

Max Boot / Washington Post:

How conservatives rationalize their surrender to Trump — Former FBI director James Comey has published in the New York Times the most insightful analysis I have read of how President Trump corrupts those who work for him — such as Attorney General William P. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Fox News, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money and POLITICUSUSA

James Comey / New York Times:

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 …

New York Times:

Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies — WASHINGTON — It was a foreign policy role Joseph R. Biden Jr. enthusiastically embraced during his vice presidency: browbeating Ukraine's notoriously corrupt government to clean up its act.

Discussion: Daily Wire and Political Wire

Politico:

Trump attacks Biden despite Kushner directive to lay off Dem field — Kushner told campaign officials to not attack 2020 Dems — but that rule doesn't seem to apply to the candidate himself. — As the 2020 Democratic presidential field began to form earlier this year …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Reuters, ABC News and Washington Post

Cynthia Fodor / KCCI-TV:
Biden calls on US attorney general to resign amid criticism

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dot and Washington Times

Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Democrats itching to take down Biden over free-trade past

Discussion: Washington Post

New York Times:

With Maduro Still in Power, Questions About the U.S. Role in Venezuela — WASHINGTON — Nobody said regime change was going to be easy. — President Trump's top advisers woke up Tuesday believing that a rebellion in the Venezuelan military that day would galvanize a popular uprising …

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon and Slate

Associated Press:
US hopes for Venezuela change fizzle for 3rd time this year

Discussion: The Atlantic, Bloomberg, The American Conservative and Politico

Washington Post:
Venezuela's opposition put together a ‘serious plan.’ For now, it appears to have failed.

Discussion: Breitbart and New York Post

Julia Harte / Reuters:

Exclusive: Foreign government leases at Trump World Tower stir more emoluments concerns — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department allowed at least seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump World Tower in 2017 without approval from Congress …

Discussion: Political Wire, Mediaite and Raw Story

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: What Trump is saying behind closed doors about the Democratic field — DRIVING THE DAY — TIGER COMING TO TOWN ... Trump administration sources tell us that TIGER WOODS is coming to the White House on Monday for a ceremony to celebrate his Masters win.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jacob Soboroff / NBC News:

Emails show Trump admin had ‘no way to link’ separated migrant children to parents — “What you are requesting,” said a top ICE official, “is not something that we are going to be able to complete in a rapid fashion.” — LOS ANGELES — On the same day the Trump administration …

Discussion: Slate, The Hill, Splinter, Axios and Political Wire

John Solomon / The Hill:

Nellie Ohr's ‘Hi Honey’ emails to DOJ about Russia collusion should alarm us all — First came the text messages between FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, which gave us a painful glimpse at potential political bias inside America's most famous crime-fighting bureau.

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and Forbes

Angela Wright-Shannon / Washington Post:

Joe Biden doesn't owe me an apology. Clarence Thomas does. — Angela Wright-Shannon is a freelance writer and editor living in Charlotte and a senior facilitator with the OpEd Project. — Joe Biden doesn't owe me an apology. Only Anita Hill can speak to what he owes her, but as …

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Hillary Clinton: 'China, if you're listening, why don't you get Trump's tax returns?' — At a news conference in July 2016, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump famously called for Russia's assistance in finding Hillary Clinton's missing emails.

Discussion: Breitbart and Political Wire

TMZ.com:

Conservative Host Ben Shapiro Target of Death Threats, FBI Makes Arrest — 9:15 PM PT — We've learned 3 agencies — the FBI, Secret Service and Kent PD — teamed up to nab the suspect Wednesday during a traffic stop in Kent, WA. — The man is being held in a federal detention center …

Discussion: TheBlaze, Haaretz, twitchy.com, CBS Los Angeles and Fox News

Valerie Richardson / Washington Times:

Covington Catholic teen Nick Sandmann sues NBC for $275 million — Attorneys for Nicholas Sandmann filed a $275 million lawsuit Wednesday against NBCUniversal over its coverage of the Kentucky teen, accusing the network of creating a “false narrative” driven by its “anti-Trump agenda.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, LifeNews.com, RedState, Daily Wire, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Tom Vanden Brook / USA Today:

Military sexual assaults rise by almost 38%; alcohol involved in nearly two out of three — At the Marine Corps' Mountain Warfare Training Center near Lake Tahoe, commanders are training troops for a more capable, high tech enemy like Russia, North Korea or China.

Discussion: Politico, Axios and ABC News

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Former security clearance chief denies White House aides pressured him — The former official who oversaw security clearances for the first two years of the Trump administration acknowledged to lawmakers behind closed doors that he had issued clearances over the objections of lower-level staffers …

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Stephen Moore: Trump's Fed pick underpaid ex-wife's alimony for years — New finding may present an additional obstacle for Moore's selection for a position on the world's most powerful central bank — Stephen Moore, Donald Trump's embattled pick for the Federal Reserve board of governors …

Discussion: Political Wire