memeorandum: Anatomy of a smear: How far-right websites spread a fake story about Pete Buttigieg (CNN)

7:10 AM ET, May 6, 2019

Top Items:

POLITICO Playbook: Will Democrats start playing hardball with Trump? — DRIVING THE DAY — A FEW THINGS WE'RE WATCHING ... — WHEN WILL DEMOCRATS start making PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP pay a political price for the administration's refusal to cooperate in congressional investigations?

Discussion: The Seattle Times

New York Times:

In Tiger Woods, Trump Finds a Hero and a Business Opportunity — WASHINGTON — Ever since Tiger Woods arrived on the public stage as a golf phenom at the age of 21, Donald J. Trump has been cultivating him as a celebrity who could add a sheen to his properties around the globe.

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Mulvaney aims for ‘more proactive, less reactive’ Trump message — The president's staff chief looks to give the communicator-in-chief more backup. — One of Mick Mulvaney's first acts after he started working as President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff in December was to hit the television airwaves.

Discussion: Associated Press

Axios:

Scoop: Inside a top Trump adviser's fundraising mirage — A political organization run by David Bossie, President Trump's former deputy campaign manager, has raised millions of dollars by saying it's supporting Trump-aligned conservative candidates — but has spent only a tiny fraction of that money supporting candidates.

Discussion: Splinter and Raw Story

Axios:

Elderly Bossie donors say they thought they were helping Trump — About two-thirds of the contributions made to David Bossie's Presidential Coalition in 2017 and 2018 came from donors giving less than $200 in a single year. And of the donors identified in its tax forms, most said they were retired.

Discussion: Campaign Legal Center and Raw Story

Hugh Hewitt / Washington Post:

Democrats have done Republicans a huge favor — After the release of the report written by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Democrats had two options: They could either attempt to inflate the narrative of obstruction of justice that the special counsel hinted at but did not act upon …

Michael Tackett / New York Times:

Trump Objects to Mueller Testifying Before Congress — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Sunday that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, should not testify before Congress, setting up another confrontation with Democrats over presidential authority and the separation of powers.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Jezebel, RedState, POLITICUSUSA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Bloomberg and Little Green Footballs

Bradley D. Hays / Washington Post: What William Barr misses about presidential accountability

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Trump: 2 years of my term were ‘stollen’ — President Donald Trump on Sunday floated the idea of extending his constitutionally limited time in office, complaining online that two years of his first White House term were “stollen” as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Discussion: Political Wire

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
Trump furiously demands Mueller not appear before House Judiciary Committee in Twitter meltdown

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Week, RedState and Rolling Stone

Zachary Basu / Axios: House Democrat walks back Mueller's “tentative” agreement to testify on May 15

CNN:
Trump reverses course, says Mueller ‘should not testify’ before Congress

Discussion: The Week, Washington Press, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Mother Jones and New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Deploys Forces to Mideast to Deter Iran — The U.S. is deploying a carrier strike group and a number of bombers to the Middle East to serve as a deterrent to Iran based on new intelligence that suggests allied interests and American forces could be imperiled.

Discussion: The Guardian and Splinter

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Navy strike group deployed to send ‘message’ to Iran — The U.S. military is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Central Command region in the Middle East to send a “clear and unmistakable message” to Iran, national security adviser John Bolton said in a statement Sunday.

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Breitbart, Axios and New York Times

Washington Post:

Trump says he will increase tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday as he complains about pace of trade talks — President Trump said Sunday that he will increase tariffs on Chinese imports on Friday, unexpectedly setting what appears to be a new deadline to produce a comprehensive deal or trigger …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Week, ThinkProgress and Townhall

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
Beijing's one-child policy is gone. But many Chinese are still reluctant to have more.

Discussion: Althouse

New York Times:

Trump Names Mark Morgan, Former Head of Border Patrol, to Lead ICE — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday named Mark Morgan, a former Obama administration official who has aligned himself with some of Mr. Trump's hard-line positions on border security, as the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Molly O'Toole / Los Angeles Times:
Trump taps Mark Morgan, former Obama Border Patrol chief, to head ICE

Discussion: Vox, ABC News, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
Trump taps Mark Morgan, former Obama official who supports border wall, to head ICE

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, Slate, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Washington Times and Splinter

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump names ex-Obama Border Patrol chief new head of ICE

Discussion: NPR, East Bay Times, Bloomberg, Breitbart and Politico

CNN:

Anatomy of a smear: How far-right websites spread a fake story about Pete Buttigieg — (CNN)This is a story about how political operatives tried to take down a presidential candidate, and ended up just humiliating themselves. — It's also a story about how a smear was spread by right-wing websites …

Saleha Mohsin / Bloomberg:

Mnuchin's Day Job Consumed by Protecting Trump's Tax Returns — Treasury chief hits deadline to hand over president's forms — Mnuchin's policy goals may be undermined by oversight fight — Steven Mnuchin's job as Treasury secretary is to protect the value of the dollar.

Discussion: Raw Story

Will Bunch / Philly.com:

Trump's diabolical plan to blow up democracy, get reelected and avoid jail just might work — How did Donald Trump's most recent week go? — Let's see ... his recently handpicked attorney general William Barr was accused of committing a crime by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and seems on the brink of a contempt of Congress citation.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Fox News, HuffPost, New York Post and Washington Free Beacon

Associated Press:

Michael Cohen heads to prison in Trump hush-money scheme — NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, the former lawyer, media attack dog and all-around fixer for President Donald Trump, is scheduled to begin serving a three-year prison sentence Monday for crimes including campaign finance violations related …

Discussion: The Week

Shonda Rhimes / TIME:

Most Influential People — Loving Michelle Obama wasn't much of a choice. It was something that came naturally, because of how she carried herself. Because she resembled us and was moving in spaces where, as black Americans, we weren't exactly meant to be, she seemed so powerful.

Zack Budryk / The Hill:

Red Sox manager to skip White House visit — Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not visit the White House this week to celebrate the team's 2018 World Series win, citing the Trump administration's handling of hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, according to Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día.

Discussion: One America News Network, Rolling Stone, Breitbart and Mediaite