memeorandum: How to Give Away $420 Million: Cheryl and Haim Saban on Hollywood Philanthropy, Israel and 2020 Politics (Tatiana Siegel/Hollywood Reporter)

5:35 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: Fox News, The Guardian, Washington Post, Daily Wire, Politico, VICE, The Week, Florida Politics, TODAY.com, Splinter, 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.”

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Hullabaloo and Daily Wire

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: Washington Post, On Point, VICE, Daily Kos and Front Page Magazine

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Records show Clinton dined with Epstein in 1995, predating public timeline

Discussion: Newsweek, The Nation and The Federalist Papers

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

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

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

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

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

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: Axios, New York Post, Political Wire, The Week, The Atlantic, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, WPIX 11 New York and Politico

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, VICE and TheBlaze

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

Discussion: GOV.UK, Washington Monthly, Politico, Financial Times, New York Magazine, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, Outside the Beltway, Telegraph and PJ Media Home

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

Discussion: Fortune, ABC News, Politico, Axios and NPR

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The U.S.-U.K. ‘special relationship’ is in tatters after the resignation of British ambassador

Discussion: The Week

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 …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Slate and The Daily Beast

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, One America News Network, Common Dreams, Breitbart, Splinter, Mediaite and Political Wire

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

Discussion: Reason

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

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, CNBC, RedState, National Review, One America News Network, Daily Kos, The Federalist Papers, Politico, Raw Story, The Week and Axios

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

Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate:

How Many Florida Voters Could Tom Steyer Enfranchise for the Amount He Plans to Spend Running for President? — A proposal for a better investment in democracy. — Tom Steyer, a California investor/billionaire/liberal activist, announced this week that he is running for president …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, Bloomberg and New Republic

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, The Week, Mondoweiss, Common Dreams, Jewish Insider, Washington Free Beacon and Splinter

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

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

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

Discussion: Breitbart, Splinter and Shareblue Media

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.

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, TheBlaze and The Week

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

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 …

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Confusion hangs over Mueller testimony, as Dems plan marathon hearings — House Democrats are planning to turn former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's highly anticipated congressional testimony next week into a marathon string of hearings, setting the stage for what could be hours …

Discussion: Politico and Townhall

New York Times:
Justice Dept. Tells Mueller Deputies Not to Testify, Scrambling an Agreement

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

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