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12:30 PM ET, May 21, 2019

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
A Would-Be Trump Aide's Demands: A Jet on Call, a Future Cabinet Post and More  —  Access to a government jet 24 hours a day.  An office in the West Wing, plus guaranteed weekends off for family time.  And an assurance of being made secretary of homeland security by November.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Expected to Pick Ken Cuccinelli for Immigration Policy Role  —  President Trump is expected to name Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former attorney general of Virginia and an immigration hard-liner, as his choice to coordinate the administration's immigration policies, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday.
Sarah Ferris / Politico:
Pelosi clashes with fellow Dems in closed-door debate on impeachment  —  House Democratic leaders sparred internally on Monday over whether to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her allies rejecting the call to move forward for now, according to multiple sources.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Some in Pelosi's leadership team rebel on impeachment, press her to begin an inquiry  —  Members of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership team confronted her in a contentious Monday night meeting and argued that it was time to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, according to multiple officials in the room.
Billy House / Bloomberg:   McGahn Defies House Subpoena After White House Claims Immunity
Washington Post:
McGahn fails to show at Judiciary hearing, amping up anger among House Democrats
Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Balloon Juice
Alex Shephard / New Republic:
Is Trump DOA in the Rust Belt?  —  If you're the betting sort, maybe bet on the 2020 election being decided in the Rust Belt.  It was there, in 2016, when the Democrats' fabled “blue wall”—Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania—crumbled, handing an Electoral College victory to Donald Trump.
Discussion: Vox, Raw Story, Axios and Washington Post
RELATED:
Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:   Trump pumps up Pennsylvania crowd in bid to defy polling yet again
Politico:
Trump reveals alarm over Biden in Pennsylvania: ‘He left you folks’
Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Week
NBC News:
Russian documents reveal desire to sow racial discord — and violence — in the U.S.  —  The revelations come as U.S. intelligence agencies have warned of probable Russian meddling in the 2020 election.  —  LONDON — Russians who were linked to interference in the 2016 U.S. election discussed ambitious plans …
Discussion: Shakesville
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
I Watched 20 Hours of Robert Mueller Testifying.  Here's What Congress Would Be In For.  —  The former FBI head hasn't talked in public for two years—but when he did, he knew his Russia threats and didn't suffer fools gladly.  —  Darren Samuelsohn is a senior White House reporter for POLITICO.
Discussion: Raw Story
Melanie Zanona / Politico:
House Freedom Caucus condemns Amash over impeachment comment  —  The House Freedom Caucus on Monday night formally condemned one of its founding members for declaring that President Trump committed impeachable offenses, but stopped short of kicking Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) out of the hard-line conservative group.
RELATED:
Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
Trump Appeal Now Goes To Court Headed By Merrick Garland  —  Twitter users can't stop laughing at the irony of the situation.  —  President Donald Trump's attorneys have vowed to appeal Monday's decision in favor of a House committee seeking his financial records, but people on Twitter were thrilled about where the case will end up.
Alana Goodman / Washington Examiner:
Top Democrat's wife may have gained ‘illegal private benefit’ from his committee activities  —  A charity run by the wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings received millions from special interest groups and corporations that had business before her husband's committee and could have been used illegally …
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and IJR
The Daily Beast:
Fox News Host Pete Hegseth Privately Lobbied Trump to Pardon Accused War Criminals  —  The president isn't just watching the network, he's taking policy advice from its morning hosts.  —  If the president pardons U.S. servicemen accused and convicted of war crimes, you can thank one of Donald Trump's favorite cable-news hosts.
Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:
Parents are poisoning their children with bleach to ‘cure’ autism.  These moms are trying to stop it.  —  Private Facebook groups urge parents to poison autistic kids with chlorine dioxide to “cure” them.  These moms are going undercover to fight back.  —  When they aren't working …
Rahm Emanuel / The Atlantic:
It's Time to Hold American Elites Accountable for Their Abuses  —  Normally, a scandal centered on how rich parents used bribes to win their children's admittance into elite colleges wouldn't play so heavily in the national news.  No one much cared when Donald Trump promised large donations as his children enrolled at Penn.
Abbey Crain / al.com:
Alabama Public Television refuses to air Arthur episode with gay wedding  —  Alabama Public Television chose not to air PBS's Arthur episode that included a same-sex marriage.  —  In the episode, which aired nationwide May 13, Arthur and his friends attend their beloved teacher Mr. Ratburn's nuptials to his partner.
Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:
Miami Candidate's Campaign Workers May Have Tampered With Absentee Ballots UPDATED … An explosive, 150-page WhatsApp chat leaked to Miami New Times appears to show members of Miami-Dade County Commission District 5 candidate Alex Diaz de la Portilla's 2018 campaign team discussing destroying …
Gregg Re / Fox News:
Loretta Lynch accuses Comey of misrepresenting key Clinton probe conversation, was ‘quite surprised’ by his testimony  —  Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has flatly accused former FBI Director James Comey of mischaracterizing her statements by repeatedly alleging, under oath …
RELATED:
Brett T. / twitchy.com:   Under the bus: Loretta Lynch denies telling James Comey to call Clinton investigation a ‘matter’
Abha Bhattarai / Washington Post:
Walmart workers invited a special guest to crash the company's annual meeting: Bernie Sanders  —  For years, Walmart workers have attended the company's annual shareholders meeting to call for higher wages, better benefits and more predictable schedules.  —  This year they'll have someone …
Yair Ghitza:
Revisiting What Happened in the 2018 Election  —  An Analysis of the Catalist Voter Registration Database … Immediately following the 2018 election, we published an analysis of demographic voting patterns, showing our best estimates of what happened in the election and putting it into context compared to 2016 and 2014.
Emily Oster / The Atlantic:
End the Plague of Secret Parenting  —  I'm an economist.  I love data and evidence.  I love them so much that I write books about data-based parenting.  When questions arise about how to support parents at work (for example, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter), my first impulse is to endorse paid parental leave.
Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
We don't know what Trump's tax returns are hiding.  But the hints are troubling.  —  When you look at the short span of President Trump's political career, one question jumps out: How much of his craziest, most paranoid and norm-violating behavior is motivated by a desire to keep his financial arrangements secret?
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
'I Don't Want an Exciting President'  —  Joe Biden makes his supporters feel safe, but nominating him is risky.  —  On Saturday afternoon, at Joe Biden's official campaign kickoff rally in Philadelphia, I asked every attendee I met why they were supporting, or at least considering supporting, the former vice president.
Discussion: Althouse and the daily howler
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Long-serving Trump aide DeStefano to depart White House  —  Johnny DeStefano, one of President Trump's top advisers who served as a bridge between the Republican Party and the administration, is leaving the White House on Friday, according to officials familiar with his decision.
Washington Post:
A conservative activist's behind-the-scenes campaign to remake the nation's courts  —  Leonard Leo helped conservative nonprofits raise $250 million from mostly undisclosed donors in recent years to promote conservative judges and causes  —  Leonard Leo stepped onto the stage in a darkened Florida ballroom …
NBC News:
Thousands of immigrants suffer in solitary confinement in U.S. detention centers  —  Newly obtained documents show that ICE detainees are sometimes placed in solitary for reasons that have nothing to do with rule violations.  —  Dulce Rivera lived for the one hour a day she was allowed …
Hanna Trudo / The Daily Beast:
Latest Sign of Beto O'Rourke's Flameout: Opposition Research Requests Have ‘Died Off’  —  The noticeable downtick in interest could signal trouble for Beto's once hotly anticipated campaign.  —  In the days leading up to Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign, a top Republican opposition research firm …
Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:
Men Paid More Than Women in Kamala Harris's Senate Office and Campaign  —  Under Harris plan, companies would face major fines for even a 1% pay gap  —  A new plan from Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) to eliminate the gender pay gap would fine companies if they are unable to prove they're paying men …
Discussion: CNSNews, New Republic and ThinkProgress
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Trump Cannot Grok the Idea of “Honor”  —  1. Honor  —  I want to take a minute to unpack why, exactly, Trump's pardoning of American war criminals is so bad.  —  Let's start with this: I suspect Trump's heart is in the right place.  I'm not his rabbi, but my guess is that Trump's thinking goes something like this:
Ryan Cooper / The Week:
Bernie Sanders is bringing back the most underrated education policy  —  Over the past two decades, education reform has been a major topic of debate and policymaking, from President Bush's No Child Left Behind bill to President Obama's Race to the Top initiative.
Claire Lehmann / Quillette:
At Australian Ballot Boxes, the Left's Empathy Deficit Came Home to Roost  —  The result of Saturday's federal election in Australia is being treated as the most staggering political shocker in my country since World War II.  Scott Morrison, leading the Liberal Party, looks to have won a majority government …
Washington Post:
Anti-vaxxers target communities battling measles  —  MONSEY, N.Y. — In a suburban shopping center an hour north of New York City, hundreds of mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in a sex-partitioned ballroom to hear leaders of the national anti-vaccine movement.
Mikhael Smits / Washington Free Beacon:
Virginia Lawmaker Connected to Anti-Semitic Groups  —  Tied to Hamas propaganda and fundraising group the Islamic Association for Palestine  —  A member of the Virginia legislature and former volunteer for Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) is connected to multiple anti-Semitic organizations and is the son of a Hamas fundraiser.
Discussion: twitchy.com
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
Trump's war-crime pardons would insult millions of service members
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
'Medicare for All's' rich benefits ‘leapfrog’ other nations
Amanda Litman / Vanity Fair:
“They Never Showed Up”: How Democrats Lost the Red-State Fight for Abortion Rights
Discussion: National Post
Jayne Ann Bugda / PAHOMEPAGE:
Eyewitness News One on One with President Trump
Discussion: Breitbart
Kendall Karson / ABC News:
Abortion-rights protesters descend on Supreme Court in wake of controversial state bans
Discussion: The Cut and Washingtonian
David Marchese / New York Times:
Wanda Sykes on Ignoring Michelle Obama and Leaving 'Roseanne'"
Discussion: Althouse
Amy Russo / HuffPost:
Betsy DeVos Used Private Email For Official Business In ‘Limited’ Cases
Discussion: Political Wire
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Democrats face their own divisions on abortion
Discussion: RedState
 Earlier Items: 
The Daily Beast:
Feds Broke Up Alleged Scheme to Send Surplus Pentagon Gear to Iran
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Federal court presses Trump administration to release Khashoggi documents
Steven Nelson / Washington Examiner:
‘This was a steal’: Campaign real estate deal that ‘thrilled’ Trump could be illegal
Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
DHS backup border funding plan would take millions from TSA, other agencies
Mohamed Younis / Gallup:
Four in 10 Americans Embrace Some Form of Socialism
Max Read / Vulture:
Westeros Is Screwed  —  In 2011, Game of Thrones premiered …
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
The US NHTSA suggests easing rules allowing for fully driverless cars and urges companies operating driverless cars to share more data for greater transparency

 
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