memeorandum: Trump's July Fourth event and weekend protests bankrupted D.C. security fund, mayor says (Peter Jamison/Washington Post)

5:00 PM ET, July 10, 2019

Top Items:

New Jeffrey Epstein accuser: He raped me when I was 15 — Jennifer Araoz says she was recruited outside her New York City high school to provide sexual massages to the wealthy financier. — Jennifer Araoz says she was 14 years old when a young woman approached her outside her New York City high school in the fall of 2001.

Discussion: The Guardian, Fox News, Daily Wire, Politico, VICE, The Week, Florida Politics, Splinter, TODAY.com, The Intercept and Washington Press

Dánica Coto / Associated Press:

Whispers, suspicion about Epstein on Caribbean island — CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Ask about Jeffrey Epstein on St. Thomas and rooms go quiet. Some people leave. Those who share stories speak in barely audible tones. — The 66-year-old billionaire bought Little St. James Island off …

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:

Trump labor secretary who cut Epstein deal plans to slash funds for sex trafficking victims — Democrats condemn as ‘amoral’ Alex Acosta's proposed 80% funding cut for US agency that combats child sex trafficking — Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted …

Discussion: The Week, CNN, The Atlantic, Reason, Splinter, BuzzFeed News, New York Post, Financial Times, twitchy.com, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, Talking Points Memo and Washington Times

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

Peter Wehner Has Chilling Theory For GOP Silence On Alex Acosta's Deal With Jeffrey Epstein — “We have a president who is a sexual predator,” the longtime Republican insider said. — A longtime Republican insider is calling out GOP lawmakers for “hypocrisy” for not demanding the resignation …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

“I Was Told Epstein ‘Belonged to Intelligence’ And to Leave It Alone.” — In my earlier post I mentioned the reporting of Vicky Ward who did a lengthy piece on Epstein for Vanity Fair in 2003 and is now revisiting the story in The Daily Beast. (Ward had a detailed version of the underaged girls part …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Daily Wire and Big League Politics

The Daily Beast:
Acosta, Who Cut Deal With Epstein, Tried to Slash Anti-Trafficking Program by 80 Percent

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Hollywood Reporter:
Jeffrey Epstein Moved Freely in Hollywood Circles Even After 2008 Conviction

Discussion: On Point, Daily Kos, VICE, Press Herald and Front Page Magazine

New York Times:
Jeffrey Epstein Was a ‘Terrific Guy,’ Donald Trump Once Said. Now He's ‘Not a Fan.’

Nikki Schwab / New York Post:
Schumer got thousands in donations from Jeffrey Epstein

Discussion: The Atlantic, BuzzFeed News, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Week and Big League Politics

Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
The Jeffrey Epstein charges are revolting, but let's be careful about implicating others

Discussion: New York Times, Splinter, Breitbart and The American Conservative

New York Magazine:
Jeffrey Epstein's Rolodex: A Guide to His Famous Friends and Acquaintances

Discussion: Mercury News and Big League Politics

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

Tucker Carlson's Latest Attack on Ilhan Omar Is a Pack of Racist Lies — The central premise of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was that America wasn't so great. The mogul has described the United States as “the suckers of the world.” He's called our infrastructure “an embarrassment,” …

Discussion: Vox, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Splinter, Breitbart and The Federalist

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

Tucker Carlson Has Failed to Assimilate — While I favor granting citizenship automatically to children born in the United States, I was reminded of birthright citizenship's biggest downside Tuesday while listening to Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show. — Unlike immigrants …

Discussion: Washington Post, WCCO | CBS Minnesota and Geller Report News

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Tucker Carlson blasts Rep. Ilhan Omar, and she calls him a ‘racist fool’

Discussion: The Root, Atlanta Black Star, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Human Events, Washington Press, Mediaite, Conservative News Today, NB Blog, Roll Call and The Week

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Tucker Carlson embraces hateful nativism in attack on Rep. Omar

Discussion: The Intercept, The Hill, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller and Common Dreams

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Fifteen minutes on cable television that illustrated one of America's deepest political divides

Discussion: Slate and The Daily Beast

Wall Street Journal:

State Department Analyst Resigns After White House Blocked Climate Change Testimony — A State Department intelligence analyst has resigned in protest after the White House blocked portions of his written testimony to a congressional panel to exclude data and evidence on climate change …

Discussion: Political Wire

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Intelligence aide, blocked from submitting written testimony on climate change, resigns from State Dept.

Discussion: The Center for Climate …

Sarah Ferris / Politico:

‘Do not tweet’: Pelosi scolds progressives in closed-door meeting — Speaker Nancy Pelosi chided progressives in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, calling on them to address their intra-party grievances privately rather than blasting their centrist colleagues on Twitter.

Discussion: National Review, Breitbart, Splinter, Political Wire and Mediaite

John Kass / Chicago Tribune: Column: Democrats might win census citizen question in courts but lose at the ballot box.

Emily Tillett / CBS News: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests dissolving Department Homeland Security

Danielle Muoio / Politico:
In wake of Trump Twitter ruling, former New York assemblyman sues Ocasio-Cortez

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post and Breitbart

Peter Jamison / Washington Post:

Trump's July Fourth event and weekend protests bankrupted D.C. security fund, mayor says — President Trump's overhauled July Fourth celebration cost the D.C. government $1.7 million, an amount that — combined with police expenses for demonstrations through the weekend …

Discussion: CNN, Axios, Daily Kos, KTLA, Washington Times, Shareblue Media, Splinter, Mediaite, The Week and The Root

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’: Disdain for Trump Runs Among Ambassadors — WASHINGTON — Ask members of the Washington diplomatic corps about the cables that Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador who resigned Wednesday, wrote to London describing the dysfunction and chaos of the Trump administration …

Discussion: New York Post, Political Wire, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Daily Wire and Washington Post

BBC:

Sir Kim Darroch resigns as UK ambassador to US — Sir Kim Darroch has resigned as UK ambassador to the US, amid a row over leaked emails critical of President Trump's administration. — The ambassador was branded “a very stupid guy” by Mr Trump, after emails emerged calling the Trump administration “clumsy and inept”.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Poke, Talking Points Memo and TheBlaze

Stephen Castle / New York Times:
Kim Darroch, U.K. Ambassador, Resigns After Leak of Trump Memos

Discussion: GOV.UK, Financial Times, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, Althouse and VICE

Thomas Wright / The Atlantic:
The U.K. Ambassador's Crime Was Stating the Obvious

Discussion: Fortune, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, WPIX 11 New York, ABC News and Politico

Tim Alberta / Politico:

‘Mother Is Not Going to Like This’: The 48 Hours That Almost Brought Down Trump — One by one, they had trickled out of the conference room on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. It was Friday, October 7, 2016, two days before the second presidential debate, and the Republican nominee's brain trust …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Washington Post:

Appeals court dismisses emoluments lawsuit involving Trump's D.C. hotel — A federal appeals court Wednesday sided with President Trump, dismissing a lawsuit claiming the president is illegally profiting from foreign and state government visitors at his luxury hotel in downtown Washington.

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, CNBC, RedState, Politico, The Federalist Papers, Reuters, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Axios and The Week

Alberto Nardelli / BuzzFeed News:

An Explosive Secret Recording Reveals How Russia Tried To Funnel Millions To The “European Trump” — A close aide to Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini held covert talks to pump Russian oil money to his far-right party. BuzzFeed News has the tape.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Financial Times, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Jed Shugerman / The Daily Beast:

Mueller Missed the Crime: Trump's Campaign Coordinated With Russia — The special counsel will testify before Congress next week. He needs to answer for historic legal and factual errors. — Ever since the release of the Mueller Report, countless commentators have implored everyone to just #ReadtheReport.

Casey Michel / ThinkProgress:

Trump's attempts to smear Christopher Steele just hit a roadblock — For months, President Donald Trump and his allies have tried to smear Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Steele Dossier, as someone bent on bringing down the president through lies and deceit.

Discussion: Townhall, The Week and PJ Media Home, more at Mediagazer »

Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Trump dossier author Steele gets 16-hour DOJ grilling

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Fox News, The Last Refuge, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Washington Post and New York Times

Kate Aronoff / The Guardian:

Neoliberal pundits want to write off Bernie Sanders again. That's no surprise — The same media outlets that failed to predict Trump are pushing their status quo-friendly narrative on the Democratic race — Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign is collapsing.

Discussion: Washington Post

Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost:
Joe Biden Isn't The Unequivocal 2020 Democratic Front-Runner Anymore

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Roll Call

Natasha Korecki / Politico:
Embattled Biden ditches Rose Garden strategy

Discussion: The Hill, Vanity Fair, The Resurgent, Shakesville, CNN and Eschaton

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

How to Give Away $420 Million: Cheryl and Haim Saban on Hollywood Philanthropy, Israel and 2020 Politics — The outspoken media moguls, who have pledged much of their $3.2  billion fortune to charity, reveal how they select causes like women's empowerment, healthcare and a $50 million gift …

Discussion: CNN, Mondoweiss, Common Dreams, Jewish Insider, Washington Free Beacon and Splinter

Kasie Hunt / NBC News:

McGrath raises a record $2.5 million on first day of Senate campaign — WASHINGTON — Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath raised more than $2.5 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign against Mitch McConnell — over $1 million of it coming in just the first five and a half hours …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Fox News, Politico, The Slot, Mother Jones, Shakesville, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Axios, New York Post, IJR, Mediaite, VICE, Hot Air, Courier-Journal, Vox, CNN, Common Dreams, Washington Monthly, Daily Wire, Reuters, Roll Call and NB Blog

Perry Bacon Jr / Insider Louisville:
News Analysis: Does Amy McGrath have a chance against McConnell?

Discussion: Breitbart, Splinter and Shareblue Media

Heather Long / Washington Post:

S&P 500 soars above 3,000 for first time as Fed Chair Jerome Powell hints interest rate cut likely in July — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell had two messages for Congress Wednesday: Central bank independence is critical and an interest-rate cut is likely at the end of July.

Discussion: CNBC, Politico, Wall Street Journal and The Week

Donna Borak / CNN: Fed chair: I won't leave if Trump asks me to quit

New York Times:

Justice Dept. Tells Mueller Deputies Not to Testify, Scrambling an Agreement — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is seeking to discourage Robert S. Mueller III's deputies from testifying before Congress, potentially jeopardizing an agreement for two of the former prosecutors …

Discussion: AOL.com, Politico, Vanity Fair, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Lawfare, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Confusion hangs over Mueller testimony, as Dems plan marathon hearings

Discussion: Politico and Townhall

Scott Cohn / CNBC:

The comeback state of 2019: Kansas economy rebounds from tax-cutting disaster — KEY POINTS — The year's biggest declines belong to Michigan, California, Idaho, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. — The Sunflower State jumped 16 spots to No. 19 in this year's CNBC America's Top States …