memeorandum: Who signed the letter asserting Trump would have been charged with obstruction if he weren't president … (Matt Zapotosky/Washington Post)

10:50 PM ET, May 7, 2019

Top Items:

Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses — Newly obtained tax information reveals that from 1985 to 1994, Donald J. Trump's businesses were in far bleaker condition than was previously known. — By the time his master-of-the-universe memoir “Trump …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The nightmare scenario for Democrats on Trump's corruption — The administration's categorical refusal to release President Trump's tax returns heightens the difficult question Democrats face, and raises the prospect of a nightmare scenario — both in political and substantive terms.

Discussion: Fox News, Althouse, Raw Story, Shakesville and The Guardian

New York Times:

5 Takeaways From 10 Years of Trump Tax Figures — Since the 2016 presidential campaign, journalists at The New York Times and elsewhere have been trying to piece together Donald J. Trump's complex and concealed finances. Now The Times has obtained 10 years of previously unrevealed figures …

Discussion: RedState and Raw Story

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

N.Y. Lawmakers Move Closer to Allowing Release of Trump's State Tax Returns — As a standoff builds in Washington over the president's federal tax returns, New York's Legislature is moving quickly to allow the release of Mr. Trump's state returns. — ALBANY — As the standoff …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, POLITICUSUSA, RedState, The Daily Caller, Slate and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Aram Roston / Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump fixer Cohen says he helped Falwell handle racy photos — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Months before evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr.'s game-changing presidential endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016, Falwell asked Trump fixer Michael Cohen for a personal favor, Cohen said in a recorded conversation reviewed by Reuters.

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Splinter, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Washington Times, ABC News and Mediaite

Juliegrace Brufke / The Hill:

House Democrats threaten salaries of Trump officials who block interviews — House Democrats are threatening the salaries of Interior, Commerce and Justice Department staff if they block ongoing committee investigations. — House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings …

Associated Press:

Trump has signed off on Kushner's immigration plan — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed off on a new immigration plan being spearheaded by senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner that appeared to receive a positive reception from Republican senators briefed on it Tuesday.

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart and Daily Kos

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Nadler moving forward with Barr contempt vote amid DOJ talks

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Daily Kos

Kyra Phillips / ABC News:
Exclusive: Sarah Sanders doubles down on White House stonewalling subpoenas from Congress …

Discussion: Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Mediaite, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, courthousenews.com, The Week and Associated Press

Dan Merica / CNN:
Pete Buttigieg: God doesn't belong to a political party, but 'I can't imagine' God would be a Republican

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Wire

Shannon Pettypiece / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Issues Impeachment Warning as White House Escalates Fight

Discussion: CNBC, Axios, Political Wire and The Week

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Kushner briefs senators on immigration plan

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and New York Post

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
White House instructs former counsel Don McGahn not to comply with congressional subpoena

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Politico, Axios, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Outside the Beltway, courthousenews.com, Townhall, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, Splinter, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post and The Week

The Daily Beast:

Trump Admin Inflated Iran Intel, U.S. Officials Say — John Bolton and other Team Trump hawks are trumpeting intelligence that Tehran is readying attacks on U.S. forces. They're exaggerating the threat, officials tell The Daily Beast. — On Sunday, the National Security Council announced …

Discussion: Forbes, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Inkstick

Kevin Baron / Defense One:

How Not to Announce a Ship Deployment — A simple press conference could have avoided 36 hours of confusion and fears of war with Iran. — This all could have been avoided with one press conference. — Line up the defense secretary, the Joint Chiefs chairman, the appropriate generals and admirals …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breaking Defense, FDD and Townhall

Colin Kahl / Foreign Policy:
Trump's Iran Policy Is Becoming Dangerous

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times and Algemeiner.com

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Iran moving ballistic missiles by boat, US officials say

Discussion: Breitbart

CNN:
Pompeo abruptly cancels trip to Germany

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Hill, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Shareblue Media

Associated Press:
Pompeo makes surprise visit to Iraq

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill

New York Times:

School Shooting in Colorado Leaves 1 Student Dead and 7 Injured — HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Last month, as the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting approached, STEM School Highlands Ranch joined hundreds of schools near Denver in closing temporarily amid security concerns.

Discussion: CBS News, CNN, VICE News and Vox

TheDenverChannel.com:

1 student dead, multiple injured in Highlands Ranch school shooting, officials say — HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — An 18-year-old male student was killed, multiple others injured and two suspects were in custody in the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

Discussion: NBC News, Denver Post, BuzzFeed News, ABC News, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, 6abc, KPTM, Fort Smith/Fayetteville News, Daily Wire and New York Post

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Exclusive: Mueller fought release of Comey memos to prevent Trump and others from changing stories — (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors didn't want former FBI Director James Comey's memos released because they feared that President Donald Trump and other witnesses could change …

Discussion: The Last Refuge, Political Wire and Mediaite

Kevin R. Brock / The Hill:

James Comey is in trouble and he knows it — James Comey's planet is getting noticeably warmer. Attorney General William Barr's emissions are the suspected cause. — Barr has made plain that he intends to examine carefully how and why Comey, as FBI director, decided that the bureau …

Marianne LeVine / Politico:

Durbin: McConnell ignored election security because GOP benefited from Russians — Sen. Dick Durbin suggested Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wasn't putting election security legislation up for a vote because Republicans benefited from Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: Breitbart

Associated Press:
The Latest: Senate Dems say McConnell fears Mueller findings

Discussion: Big League Politics, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:
Trump Is Governing by Grievance

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Vanity Fair

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Putin Accomplice Mitch McConnell Says Case Closed

Discussion: Vox, Common Dreams and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

A day after blocking House demand for Trump's tax returns, Mnuchin addressed gathering of his top fundraisers — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin addressed a group of top donors backing President Trump's reelection Tuesday evening, making an unusual political appearance at a gathering …

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Common Dreams, Townhall and Mother Jones

Daniel Moritz-Rabson / Newsweek: Former Bush Ethics Chief Calls for Mnuchin to Release Trump's Tax Returns or Go ‘To The Slammer’

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg: Why Mnuchin Doesn't Want You to See Trump's Tax Returns

Justin Duckham / Mediaite:

Anti-Jacob Wohl Protest Tied to Jacob Wohl's Email Address — Conservative activist Jack Burkman tweeted Tuesday morning that he's expecting “hundreds of leftist protestors” to gather outside an upcoming press conference he'll be holding with fellow far-right troll Jacob Wohl.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and twitchy.com

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast: Jacob Wohl Tried to Create a Fake Counter Protest to His Own Press Conference

WFAA-TV:

Sandra Bland recorded her own arrest. Watch her cellphone video from the 2015 traffic stop — The family of Sandra Bland — who died in a Waller County jail cell — is calling for a re-opening of the criminal investigation into Bland's arrest and death after seeing footage for the first time.

Discussion: NPR, Vox, Washington Post, theGrio, Fortune, Axios, New York Post, Slate, Reason, The Guardian, TheBlaze, Shakesville, The Daily Caller, The Root, WREG-TV, Jezebel and VICE News

David Montgomery / New York Times: Sandra Bland, It Turns Out, Filmed Traffic Stop Confrontation Herself

Wall Street Journal:

Federal Appeals Court Allows Trump Back-to-Mexico Asylum Policy to Remain in Effect — Court grants administration's request to leave policy in place during litigation, stays last month's ruling by San Francisco judge — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled the Trump administration can …

Discussion: Political Wire

Ted Hesson / Politico:
Appeals court allows Trump to keep asylum seekers in Mexico, for now

Discussion: Axios

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:
U.S. asylum screeners to take more confrontational approach as Trump aims to turn more migrants away at the border

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Axios

Adam Behsudi / Politico:

Companies scramble to prepare for Trump's new taxes on Chinese goods — U.S. companies are bracing for a huge jump in costs as tariffs on $200 billion worth of consumer products and other goods from China are set to more than double on Friday per President Donald Trump's orders.

Discussion: Washington Post and One America News Network

Mark Niquette / Bloomberg:
Yes, Trump Tariffs Are Costing Billions. No, China Isn't Paying

Discussion: New York Times, ABC News, VICE News and Washington Post

Heather Long / Washington Post:
Trump's steel tariffs cost U.S. consumers $900,000 for every job created, experts say

Discussion: Axios

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Who signed the letter asserting Trump would have been charged with obstruction if he weren't president, and what they hope happens next — By early Tuesday evening, more than 720 former federal prosecutors who worked in Democratic and Republican administrations had signed a letter asserting …

Discussion: Common Dreams, VICE News, Above the Law, Political Wire and Shakesville

Hope Hodge Seck / Military.com:

Navy Leader Who Told Sailors to 'Clap Like We're at a Strip Club' Has Resigned — A Navy command master chief who inadvertently made headlines with a raunchy direction to sailors ahead of a visit from the vice president has resigned, the service announced Tuesday.

Rachel Frazin / The Hill:

White supremacists interrupt Arkansas Holocaust remembrance event — A group of white supremacists in Arkansas interrupted a Holocaust remembrance event this week carrying Nazi flags and shouting racial slurs, local news reported Tuesday. — The Courier reported that demonstrators interrupted …

Discussion: Fort Smith/Fayetteville News, Right Wing Watch and Raw Story

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Trump Furious With Ally David Bossie Over His Reported Self-Dealing — The president even instructed top officials on his campaign to retaliate against his former deputy campaign manager. But as of Tuesday, nothing had come. — On Monday morning, Donald Trump was incensed over a report …

Discussion: New York Times, ABC News, Politico, Hullabaloo, CNN, Rolling Stone, Axios, Raw Story and Mediaite

John Solomon / The Hill:

Steele's stunning pre-FISA confession: Informant needed to air Trump dirt before election — If ever there were an admission that taints the FBI's secret warrant to surveil Donald Trump's campaign, it sat buried for more than two-and-a-half years in the files of a high-ranking State Department official.

Discussion: RedState and The Last Refuge

Peter Hamby / Vanity Fair:

“This Is Do-or-Die”: Joe Biden's “Electability” Argument Is How Democrats Lose Elections — When Democrats play it safe and “fall in line,” the results are devastating—as Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry made plain. If Biden wins the nomination next year, it will be because Democrats went with their heads, not their bleeding hearts.