memeorandum: 'It's going to be tough': House Democrats appear less likely to get Trump's tax returns before 2020 election (Washington Post)

8:20 PM ET, August 22, 2019

Top Items:

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

The Justice Department Sent Immigration Judges A White Nationalist Blog Post With Anti-Semitic Attacks — An email sent from the Justice Department to all immigration court employees this week included a link to an article posted on a white nationalist website that “directly attacks sitting immigration judges …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, The New Civil Rights Movement, Political Wire and Boing Boing

Arkansas Online:

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton backs buying Greenland, says he floated idea to Trump, Danish ambassador — The U.S. should obviously buy Greenland, and anyone who doesn't see that is blinded by disdain for the president, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said Wednesday. — Cotton, R-Arkansas …

Discussion: Contemptor and NPR

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Trump's idea of buying Greenland is far from absurd

Discussion: CBC News, The Week and Just Security

The Daily Beast:
Trump Invited Himself to Denmark Before Canceling Trip, Danes Say

Discussion: Vox, Snopes.com, The Local and Wall Street Journal

Talk Business & Politics:
Sen. Cotton says he asked Danish ambassador about selling Greenland

Discussion: USA Today, ArkansasTimes, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, Politico, Fox News, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, Splinter, Althouse, Daily Wire, Arizona Republic and BBC

Morten Buttler / Bloomberg:
Trump's ‘Nasty’ Label Draws Response From Danish Prime Minister

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Fortune

Associated Press:

AP-NORC poll: Trump approval still weak despite economy — NEW YORK (AP) — About 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump's overall job performance, according to a new poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research …

Discussion: USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Press Herald, Bloomberg, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Eschaton and National Review

Polls:

Potential Impeachment Impact On 2020 — Democrats want inquiry despite little likelihood of ousting Trump — West Long Branch, NJ - President Donald Trump's approval rating may remain underwater, but a majority of the public continues to oppose removal by impeachment even as the House Judiciary Committee has started proceedings.

Discussion: Fox News

Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
Trump has 62 percent disapproval rating in new AP poll

Discussion: Bloomberg

HuffPost:

Democratic National Committee Votes To Reject Climate Debate — The vote came a day after the 2020 climate candidate Jay Inslee, who had been pushing for the debate, dropped out of the race. — The Democratic National Committee has rejected a proposal to host a single-issue debate on the climate crisis.

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Splinter, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams and NBC News

Allan Smith / NBC News:

Giuliani says State Dept. aided his effort to press Ukraine on Trump opponents — Giuliani pressed for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and the release of damaging information on Paul Manafort. — President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani confirmed Thursday …

Discussion: Law & Crime, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, CNN, Contemptor, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, The New Civil Rights Movement, Mother Jones, Politico and New York Times

Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:

Stephanie Grisham's Turbulent Ascent to a Top White House Role — WASHINGTON — Stephanie Grisham doled out fast food and tracked lost gear as a press wrangler on President Trump's 2016 campaign, far from the in-crowd flying on the gold-plated Trump jet. An early and hard-working convert …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Political Wire, The Intellectualist, Daily Kos, Politico and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Trump, frustrated by unpopularity with Jews, thrusts Israel into his culture war — The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights — President Trump decided long ago that it would be smart politics for him to yoke his administration to Israel and to try to brand the Democratic Party as anti-Semitic.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Snopes.com, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Splinter, Jewish Insider, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, The American Conservative, New York Post, RedState, RELEVANT Magazine, Jewish Journal, Little Green Footballs, New York Times, Washington Press and The Week

Jordan Weissmann / Slate:
What Republicans Really Mean When They Call Jews Disloyal

Discussion: Religion News Service, Hot Air, BizPac Review, PinkNews and USA Today

Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:
How anti-Semitic beliefs have quietly taken hold among some evangelical Christians

Discussion: The Intellectualist

Miriam Elder / BuzzFeed News:
Donald Trump's Not Talking To Jews When He Talks About Jews

Discussion: NPR, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller and Jewish Insider

Mitch McConnell / New York Times:

The Filibuster Plays a Crucial Role in Our Constitutional Order — Democrats who want to change Senate rules for temporary political gain will rue the day, as they have before. — Mr. McConnell is the Senate majority leader. — “You'll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

Discussion: Shareblue Media, National Review, PJ Media Home, Vox, CNN, twitchy.com, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Daily Wire, IJR, Axios, Washington Times and Politico

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
Abolishing the Filibuster Is Unavoidable for Democrats

Discussion: National Review and Florida Politics

David Folkenflik / NPR:

A Dead Cat, A Lawyer's Call And A 5-Figure Donation: How Media Fell Short On Epstein — Toggle more options — Hear Part 1 — Toggle more options — Hear Part 2 — Toggle more options — A coterie of intimidating lawyers. A deployment of charm. An aura of invincibility.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, Boing Boing and Rolling Stone

NBC News:

The Epoch Times begins hiding its connection to a huge pro-Trump ad buy on Facebook — By hiding its multimillion-dollar dark money ad spend, the organization is bypassing Facebook's political advertising transparency rules. — The Epoch Times, a conservative news outlet that has spent …

more at Mediagazer »

Katie Schwartzmann / ACLU:

A Louisiana Parish Jailed a U.S. Citizen for Being Latinx. We're Suing. — Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold - despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver's license, and a Social Security card …

New York Times:

Patrick Byrne, Overstock C.E.O., Resigns After Disclosing Romance With Russian Agent — Patrick Byrne resigned as chief executive of the online retailer Overstock.com on Thursday, saying in a letter to shareholders that he had no choice but to quit as a result of the attention stirred …

Discussion: CNBC, Vanity Fair, РБК, Talking Points Memo, Axios, TechCrunch, The Week, New York Post and CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »

Bess Levin / Vanity Fair:

Trump Has Told Friends That Gutting Medicare Could Be a Fun “Second-Term Project” — Republicans want Trump to deal with the exploding deficit by gutting the social safety net, and the president is reportedly receptive to the idea. — When Donald Trump was running for president …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air and New York Times

TMZ.com:

Barack and Michelle Obama Buying Mega-Mansion in Martha's Vineyard — BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA LOCKING DOWN INCREDIBLE MARTHA'S VINEYARD ESTATE!!! — THE PRESIDENTIAL PAD — LAUNCH GALLERY — Barack and Michelle Obama may soon become Kennedy adjacent because we've learned they're …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, New York Post, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, twitchy.com, The Source, theGrio and 77 WABC Radio

Bridie Pearson-jones / Daily Mail:
Barack and Michelle Obama are reportedly trying to buy a sprawling estate in Martha's Vineyard …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Yun Li / CNBC:

Manufacturing sector contracts for the first time in nearly a decade — KEY POINTS — The U.S. manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) was 49.9 in August, below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the first time since September 2009, according to IHS Markit.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Breitbart, Nightly Business Report and POLITICUSUSA

Washington Post:

The month a shadow fell on Trump's economy — Top White House advisers notified President Trump earlier this month that some internal forecasts showed that the economy could slow markedly over the next year, stopping short of a recession but complicating his path to reelection in 2020.

Matt Vespa / Townhall:

The More You Know: Reporter Discovers That Background Checks Work When Denied A Firearms Purchase — Okay—let's look at the positives of this story. A Business Insider reporter, Hayley Peterson, tried to buy a gun at Walmart to test “the placement, selection, marketing …

Hayley Peterson / Business Insider:
I tried to buy a gun at Walmart twice, and roadblocks left me empty-handed both times

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Hill, Don Surber, RedState, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Louder With Crowder, BizPac Review, NB Blog and FOX2now.com

CNN:

Trump court pick denounced feminists, gay-rights groups and diversity efforts in 1990s, 2000s editorials — (CNN)A White House aide nominated by President Donald Trump for a federal appeals court seat has a history of denouncing women's marches against sexual assault, dismissing education …

Axios:

Scoop: Top Homeland Security aide resigns amid tensions with White House — Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan's top aide and spokesman is resigning amid frustration in the White House over the Department of Homeland Security's handling of major policy rollouts and White House distrust …

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement and The Intellectualist

Washington Post:

'It's going to be tough': House Democrats appear less likely to get Trump's tax returns before 2020 election — House Democrats appear increasingly unlikely to secure President Trump's tax returns before the 2020 presidential election, according to interviews with legal experts and several lawmakers …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Trump's unhinged display should frighten everyone — It's no joke, as former vice president Joe Biden would say. In the last week or so, we've witnessed President Trump deny there is a threat of recession; blame the Federal Reserve chairman for raising interest rates too high (!); deny …

Discussion: Raw Story and Home Page Rotator

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

If Trump Were an Airline Pilot — Through the 2016 campaign, I posted a series called “Trump Time Capsule” in this space. The idea was to record, in real time, what was known about Donald Trump's fitness for office—and to do so not when people were looking back on our era …

John Solomon / The Hill:

The road not taken: Another FBI failure involving the Clintons surfaces — August in Washington can be the political equivalent of an elephant graveyard: One good rain can wash away the dirt and expose the bones of scandals past. — And this August did not disappoint.

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive — ‘Crappy Jew Year’: New York Times Editor's Antisemitism, Racism Exposed — A New York Times political editor has a years-long history of antisemitic and racist comments on his Twitter page, a Breitbart News investigation has found. — Tom Wright-Piersanti …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState, Fox News, Washington Times, Front Page Magazine, twitchy.com, Daily Wire, The Rush Limbaugh Show, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, LifeZette and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Speak up, April Ryan. Speak up, CNN. — Ever since she joined CNN in 2017, April Ryan has distinguished herself as a vociferous and resilient advocate for press freedom. After the White House stripped CNN's Jim Acosta of his credentials, for example, she responded in grand terms …

Discussion: NB Blog

Marianne LeVine / Politico:

Trump kills plan to cut billions in foreign aid — President Donald Trump has scrapped a plan to freeze more than $4 billion in foreign aid in a move that would have been another end run around Congress' power of the purse. — The president's decision Thursday to forgo a “rescission” …

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Caller, CNN and TheBlaze

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Trump's ‘chopper talk’ puts media on the defensive — It was another bravura performance of “Chopper Talk.” — The latest iteration of President Donald Trump's signature news conferences in front of a thwapping Marine One on Wednesday was a whirligig of boastfulness …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, Althouse, twitchy.com and Daily Kos

Meghan Morris / Business Insider:

We found Jeffrey Epstein's social-media accounts. On Spotify, his tastes ranged from Louis C.K. to songs like ‘Before You Accuse Me’ and ‘Hot for Teacher.’ — Business Insider found the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's public accounts on social media and music-streaming services, including Pinterest, Twitter, and Spotify.

Discussion: Boing Boing

The Daily Beast:

U.S.-Denmark Relations Are Now in the Hands of a Conspiracy-Loving, Climate-Denying Ex-Actress — Carla Sands, who heads U.S. mission to the Kingdom of Denmark, has no diplomatic experience and now is in charge of patching things up with the Danes. — The United States ambassador tasked …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Politico