memeorandum: Make Central America Great Again (Wall Street Journal)

11:30 PM ET, July 11, 2019

Top Items:

Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:

Sebastian Gorka at the center of Rose Garden ruckus following Trump event — WASHINGTON — It was an unusual spectacle, even by the unconventional standards of the Trump administration. After President Trump invited a group of right-wing and fringe media figures to the White House for a …

Discussion: VICE

Caleb Howe / Mediaite:

Trump Says It's Not Free Speech to ‘Write Bad’ About ‘Something Good’: That's ‘Dangerous Speech’ — President Donald Trump had a lot to say at the White House Social Media Summit on Thursday, including offering his take on what does and does not constitute free speech.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, more at Mediagazer »

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Trump Praises Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists at White House: ‘The Crap You Think of Is Unbelievable’ — The social media summit at the White House featured a who's who of the right wing fringe, but the president was the one who made it a truly bizarre affair.

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart and The Week

Charlie Warzel / New York Times:

Uncle Trump Wants You! (To Join His Troll Army) — The White House meme summit was a circus. But you shouldn't dismiss it. — Mr. Warzel is an Opinion writer at large. — On Thursday afternoon, just as the titans of the pro-Trump internet gathered at the White House to commiserate …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Verge, Washington Post and Politico, more at Techmeme »

CNN:
Trump makes 6 false claims during his ‘social media summit’

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Just Security and FOX2now.com

Ashley Parker / Washington Post: ‘Like a rocket’: Trump revels in his love-hate relationship with Twitter

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Trump accuses social media companies of ‘terrible bias’ at White House summit decried by critics

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, NPR, Big League Politics, Breitbart and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:
Trump's Social Media Summit Mortifies White House, Enrages Far-Right Allies

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, FOX2now.com, Slate, CNN, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Variety, New Republic, The Week, Mediaite, New York Times, Hullabaloo, Reason, Daily Kos, One America News Network and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC/WSJ poll: Biden, Warren top 2020 Democratic field — Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders round out the top four candidates in the first NBC/WSJ post-debate poll. — WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., lead the Democratic presidential field …

Discussion: The Week and Bloomberg

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Biden holds commanding lead among South Carolina Democrats — South Carolina Democratic primary voters, more than half of whom are expected to be African American, say former Vice President Joe Biden is the best candidate to handle racial issues.

Discussion: Political Wire and Politico

CBS News: Biden answer's Trump's “America first” with his own foreign policy plan

Miami Herald:

New victims come forward as Epstein asks to be released from jail to his Manhattan mansion — At least a dozen new victims have come forward to claim they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein even as the multimillionaire money manager tries to convince a federal judge to allow him to await …

Discussion: Slate, Crooks and Liars, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Post, ThinkProgress, Townhall, VICE, Shero and PJ Media Home

The Daily Beast:
Acosta's Epstein Excuses Are Nonsensical and Self-Serving

Discussion: Breitbart

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Former state's attorney pushes back against Acosta account of Epstein case

Discussion: New Yorker, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Front Page Magazine, Florida Politics and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

David Montgomery / Washington Post:

AOC's Chief of Change — Saikat Chakrabarti isn't just running her office. He's guiding a movement. — On a Wednesday morning in late May, emissaries of two of the strongest political voices on climate change convened at a coffee shop a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Instapundit

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Democratic lawmaker unloads on Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff for ‘using the race card’ — Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) unloaded on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday for “using the race card” after Ocasio-Cortez accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of being racially insensitive.

Discussion: RedState, Fox News, Conservative Christian News, Splinter, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Mediaite

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez clash drags on, threatening Democratic unity

Discussion: The Root, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Splinter

The Hill:
Dems rush to support Pelosi amid fight with Ocasio-Cortez

Discussion: Power Line, Common Dreams, CNN, Daily Wire and Althouse

Sam Dorman / Fox News:
House Dem blasts ‘juvenile’ Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff: ‘Ignorance is beyond belief’

Discussion: Townhall and Daily Wire

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:

Trump announces end of fight to add citizenship question to census — President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is backing down from his effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, and will instead take executive action that instructs the Commerce Department to obtain …

Discussion: The Federalist Papers, National Review, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, New York Post and Politico

Gregg Re / Fox News:
Trump, ‘not backing down’ in effort to count citizens amid census fight, announces executive order

Discussion: NBC News, Townhall, ABC News and Associated Press

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News: Trump Has Backed Down On Adding A Citizenship Question To The 2020 Census

New York Times:
Trump Says He Will Seek Citizenship Information From Existing Federal Records, Not the Census

Discussion: Washington Post, Vanity Fair, USA Today, Financial Times, Washington Monthly, Vox, Mother Jones, ImmigrationProf Blog, CNN, Splinter, CBS News, Outside the Beltway and The Root

John T. Bennett / Roll Call: Trump drops census effort, announces new plan to ‘count’ noncitizens

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:

Fox News Host Tyrus Sent Lewd Text Messages To Colleague: ‘Pull Your Boobs Out’ — Fox News split up Tyrus and his former Fox Nation co-host, Britt McHenry, after he sent her the messages. But he still works at the network. — Tyrus, a Fox News contributor and a host on the network's digital channel …

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

New book details how Republican leaders learned to stop worrying and love Trump — Few people have more power in President Trump's White House than Madeleine Westerhout, his executive assistant who controls access to the Oval Office, delivers the president's marker-scribbled messages …

Grace Panetta / Business Insider:
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan said he wanted to ‘scold’ …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and National Review

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Alabama senator says Trump opposed to Sessions Senate bid — President Trump is not on board with a potential Senate bid by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). — Shelby told The Hill on Thursday that he has discussed a potential Sessions candidacy …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Splinter and New York Post

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

House Judiciary approves subpoenas for 12 key witnesses, including Jared Kushner — The House Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday to authorize subpoenas for 12 crucial witnesses as part of House Democrats' ongoing investigations targeting President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Washington Post, Boing Boing, CNN, Breitbart and Wall Street Journal

John Wagner / Washington Post:
House panel votes to subpoena Kushner, former attorney general Sessions in investigation …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and POLITICUSUSA

John Bresnahan / Politico:
House to vote next week on criminal contempt against Barr and Ross

Discussion: One America News Network and Axios

Cassandra Sweetman / KFOR-TV:

Logan Co. man allegedly driving stolen vehicle filled with uranium, a rattlesnake, and Kentucky Deluxe — GUTHRIE, Okla. - Two people were arrested after a traffic stop of a stolen car revealed the two had a rattlesnake, radioactive uranium, and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe.

Discussion: The Week, Metro.co.uk, New York Post, FOX31 Denver, KTLA and Associated Press

John Solomon / The Hill:

Democrats' opposition research got exposed — this time, not by the Russians — When the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee in summer 2016, one of the crown jewels obtained by Vladimir Putin's team was the party's opposition research files on then-GOP candidate Donald Trump.

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:

The ‘Billy Graham rule’ doesn't honor your wife. It demeans her — and all women. — It's charitable to first assume our fellow humans are acting in good faith, so let's first assume that Robert Foster genuinely believes he is the hero of this story. Let's assume that when the Mississippi …

Discussion: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, The Slot and Shareblue Media

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Elizabeth Warren takes on Trump with immigration overhaul — Elizabeth Warren on Thursday unveiled her plan to reform the nation's immigration system amid a deepening crisis over detention at the southern border and a fraught debate across the country and within the Democratic Party on the way forward.

Elizabeth Warren / Team Warren:
A Fair and Welcoming Immigration System

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, Breitbart, New York Times, VICE, The Week, Daily Kos, UPI, Washington Times and Observer

KRON4.com:

ICE raids have already begun in Bay Area, immigration attorneys say — CONTRA COSTA COUNTY (KRON) — While the focus is on upcoming weekend ICE raids, immigration attorneys in the Bay Area say those raids have already begun. — A group of Bay Area immigration attorneys entered federal ICE offices …

Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:

Weinstein's Legal Team Falls Apart Again: 'He's Impossible to Work With' — Lawyer Jose Baez, who once represented Casey Anthony, was granted permission to withdraw from the disgraced movie mogul's sexual-assault case. — Harvey Weinstein's legal “dream team” for his much-anticipated …

Discussion: The Week and CityNews Toronto

Melanie Zanona / Politico:

‘A real barn-burner’: Potential Senate showdown looms in Wyoming — Former Rep. Cynthia Lummis announced a bid for Senate in Wyoming Thursday, becoming the first Republican to jump into the race and setting up a potential clash with her successor in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney.

Discussion: Political Wire

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

U.S. allies hold breakfast for departing British ambassador — and ‘the message is clear’ — In what one European diplomat called a subtle but “pretty clear” message of solidarity with departing British Ambassador Kim Darroch, his German counterpart hosted him and the French …

Discussion: Power Line, 1A and The Week

Kevin Collier / CNN:

As Feds struggle, states create their own anti-election propaganda programs — New York (CNN)As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, individual states are ramping up education efforts to counter the threat posed by foreign disinformation campaigns to US elections.

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

‘You are asking my client to lie’: Flynn lawyers fought with prosecutor — During a tense exchange last month, Michael Flynn's new legal team accused a federal prosecutor of trying to coerce the former Trump national security adviser to lie under oath, new court documents revealed on Thursday.