memeorandum: Are investigations of Trump the new McCarthyism? (Alan Dershowitz/The Hill)

11:20 AM ET, May 23, 2019

Top Items:

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Maria Bartiromo: ‘Is There Any Reason Why We Should Not Be Trusting President Trump?’ — Maria Bartiromo opened her titular Fox Business Network show Mornings with Maria Thursday morning with a bipartisan discussion over Wednesday's dramatic White House developments between President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

How ‘Infrastructure Week’ Became a Long-Running Joke — WASHINGTON — At this point in the Trump presidency, “Infrastructure Week” is less a date on the calendar than it is a “Groundhog Day"-style fever dream doomed to be repeated. — Roughly two years after the White House first came …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Washington Post, Daily Kos and Observer

Grant Stern / Washington Press:

Trump appears to have just accidentally revealed he lied to Mueller in Rose Garden rant — It would appear that President Trump admitted that he lied in written answers given to Special Counsel Robert Mueller during his appearance at the White House this morning.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Trump seems to be transparently mad — This is not the work of an orderly mind. — President Trump stormed into the Cabinet Room 15 minutes late Wednesday morning and immediately proceeded to blow up a long-planned meeting with Democratic leaders about an infrastructure bill.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Contemptor, NBC News, RealClearPolitics and Politico

Alex Shephard / New Republic:

Trump v. The “I” Word — There is a theory—one bordering, in some circles, on conventional wisdom—that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump are in complete agreement about impeachment. “It seems that Trump and Republican political strategists have reached pretty …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, Shareblue Media and The Week

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Why Pelosi is so good at infuriating Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Raw Story, NBC News, Media Matters for America, UPI, Breitbart, Conservative Review, IJR and ThinkProgress

NBC News:
After infrastructure blowup, Trump owns Washington gridlock

Discussion: Roll Call, MSNBC and Washington Times

David Montanaro / Fox News:
Donald Trump Jr. blasts Pelosi's ‘cover-up’ claim: Democrats don't want my father to have ‘any wins’

Discussion: Politico and Vox

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Pelosi Pushes Go-Slow Strategy on Impeachment as She Goads Trump

Discussion: Baltimore Sun, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, New Yorker, Shareblue Media, The Week, Slate and Vox

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Schumer calls Trump a ‘get-nothing-done president’ as blame game continues after aborted White House meeting

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Florida Politics and The Mahablog

Associated Press: Trump's campaign centered on fighting Democrats, not policy

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Dianne Feinstein's dinner with the foreign minister of Iran

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post and Raw Story

Associated Press:
3 minutes: Trump meeting with Democrats goes bust in a flash

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Wire

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Pelosi goads Trump into another temper tantrum

Discussion: Power Line, The Hill and CNBC

Jonathan Easley / The Hill: Poll: 60 percent say Trump should not be reelected

Washington Post:

Putin out-prepared Trump in long, freewheeling meeting, Rex Tillerson told House panel — Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Russian President Vladimir Putin out-prepared President Trump during a key meeting in Germany …

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Politico, Axios, Breitbart, Slate, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Washington Times and Mediaite

CNN:
Tillerson told lawmakers Putin was more prepared than Trump in Germany meeting

Discussion: Just Security, New York Post, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Week and Splinter

Audrey Strauss / Justice News:

Bank CEO Stephen M. Calk Charged With Corruptly Soliciting A Presidential Administration Position In Exchange For Approving $16 Million In Loans — Ms. Strauss said: “As alleged, Stephen M. Calk abused the power entrusted to him as the top official of a federally insured bank by approving millions …

Discussion: Axios, Shareblue Media, Political Wire, Raw Story and Law & Crime

NBC News:

Wells Fargo, TD Bank have already given Trump-related financial documents to Congress — The disclosures come as a federal judge ruled Wednesday that two other banks — Deutsche Bank and Capitol One — can give financial documents to Congress. — WASHINGTON — A key congressional committee …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Shareblue Media, The Week, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, CNN and The Guardian

Trump, Inc.:

Trump and Deutsche Bank: It's Complicated — Whispers of money laundering have swirled around Donald Trump's businesses for years. One of his casinos, for example, was fined $10 million for not trying hard enough to prevent such machinations. Investors with shady financial histories sometimes popped up in his foreign ventures.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Mother Jones and Raw Story

Brendan Pierson / HuffPost: Judge Rules Against Trump, Paves Way For Banks To Hand Over His Business Records To Congress

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

In letter, ‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh said ISIS ‘doing a spectacular job’ — Lindh is set to be released from prison Thursday amid concerns among U.S. authorities that he remains a potentially violent Islamic extremist. — John Walker Lindh, the American captured fighting …

Discussion: NBC Southern California, Associated Press, UPI, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh released from prison after 17 years

Discussion: Mercury News, Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, twitchy.com, Townhall and Daily Wire

Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:
I Wrote to John Walker Lindh. He Wrote Back.

Discussion: NPR

Alan Dershowitz / The Hill:

Are investigations of Trump the new McCarthyism? — When I came of age during the 1950s, liberals and civil libertarians were deeply concerned about the abuses of congressional investigations to expose communists and “fellow travelers.” Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy was using congressional committees to do his dirty work.

Fred Backus / CBS News:
Americans say administration should cooperate with congressional investigations — CBS News poll

Discussion: Raw Story

Dan Alexander / Forbes:

The Truth Behind Trump Tower Moscow: How Trump Risked Everything For A (Relatively) Tiny Deal — It's getting late, and Felix Sater—a onetime Trump partner, two-time convicted felon and longtime federal informant—sits in the back of a New York City restaurant, ready for a drink.

Douglas Hanks / Miami Herald:

Documents detail how Jerry Falwell Jr. went into South Beach venture with ‘pool boy’ — New court documents offer a peek into how evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr. wound up in the South Beach hotel business with a former Fontainebleau Hotel pool attendant — The latest twist involves a top aide …

New York Times:

India Election Results: Modi and the B.J.P. Make History — With a commanding lead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party are set to expand their majority. “India wins yet again!” he posted on Twitter. — RIGHT NOW Mr. Modi is making his victory speech to B.J.P. supporters after the party's sweeping victory.

Discussion: Vox, Al Jazeera and UPI

Bloomberg: Modi Strengthens Grip on Power, Pulling India Further to Right

Michelle Alexander / New York Times:

My Rapist Apologized — I still needed an abortion. — My 12-year-old daughter recently asked me what I think about abortion. She walked into the kitchen, poked around the refrigerator, then spun around and blurted it out: “I can't decide what I think about abortion. I want to know what you think.”

ProPublica:

TurboTax Uses A “Military Discount” to Trick Troops Into Paying to File Their Taxes — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom based in New York. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.

Washington Post:

While teaching, Elizabeth Warren worked on more than 50 legal matters, charging as much as $675 an hour — Sen. Elizabeth Warren worked on more than 50 legal matters during her career as a professor at Ivy League law schools, charging as much as $675 an hour to advise a variety of clients …

Discussion: emptywheel, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Law & Crime, Vox, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Shakesville and Axios

James Arkin / Politico:

Return of the Republican civil war? — A prominent conservative group is trying to lure a staunch ally of President Donald Trump into a primary race against Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, threatening to inflame intra-party tensions in a state crucial to the party's 2020 strategy.

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Is Delayed Until Trump Leaves Office, Mnuchin Says — WASHINGTON — Harriet Tubman — former slave, abolitionist, “conductor” on the Underground Railroad — will not become the face of the $20 bill until after President Trump leaves office, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, The Week, Mother Jones and Axios

Joe Tacopino / New York Post:

Man allegedly hiding drugs in butt accidentally shoots himself in testicles — A bungling felon from Washington state made a series of blunders when he shot himself in the testicles and tried to hide the weapon — all while storing drugs in his anus, a report said Thursday.

Discussion: 444

The City:

Brooklyn Community Board Roils Over $26,000 SUV Splurge — A Brooklyn community board spent $26,000 in taxpayer money on an SUV — which THE CITY found parked Wednesday night across from a home owned by the board's manager. — The discovery came as some members of Community Board 1 fumed …

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Esquire's Editor Is Out in Reshuffling at Hearst Magazines — Jay Fielden is leaving his position as Esquire's editor in chief, a job he held three years, he and Hearst Magazines announced Thursday. The change at the venerable men's publication, which started in 1933 …

more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Senate Dem. warns Trump could push through Saudi bomb deal without congressional approval — Congress approves arms sales to foreign governments. But Trump could bypass lawmakers by declaring a national security emergency to sell weapons to Riyadh. — Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy warned …

Discussion: Political Wire

CBS News:

A 10-year-old migrant girl died last year in government care, officials acknowledge — The federal agency that oversees the care of unaccompanied migrant children acknowledged to CBS News on Wednesday that a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador died in its custody Sept. 29, 2018.

Discussion: The Guardian, Shakesville, Splinter, Political Wire, The Daily Beast, UPI, Associated Press, CBS Dallas, The Week, New York Post, VICE News, The Daily Caller and Slate

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

Federal Rats Are Fleeing the Sinking Collusion Ship — The entire Trump-Russia collusion narrative was always implausible. — One, the Washington swamp of fixers such as Paul Manafort and John and Tony Podesta was mostly bipartisan and predated Trump. — Two, the Trump administration's …