memeorandum: Four days that pitched America into an impeachment nightmare (Stephen Collinson/CNN)

8:50 AM ET, September 27, 2019

Top Items:

White House Knew of Whistle-Blower's Allegations Soon After Trump's Call With Ukraine Leader — The whistle-blower, a C.I.A. officer detailed to the White House at one point, first expressed his concerns anonymously to the agency's top lawyer. — WASHINGTON — The White House learned …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

In Ukraine Phone Call, Alarmed Aides Saw Trouble — WASHINGTON — No one bothered to put special limits on the number of people allowed to sit in the “listening room” in the White House to monitor the phone call because it was expected to be routine. By the time the call was over 30 minutes later …

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story, The Irish Times, Breitbart, Slate, Deadline, The Gateway Pundit and Financial Times

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Just How Corrupt Is Bill Barr? — Trump's attorney general is implicated in the Ukraine scandal, but refuses to recuse. — By now you have probably read the opening of the whistle-blower complaint filed by a member of the intelligence community accusing Donald Trump of manipulating American foreign policy for political gain.

Eli Stokols / Los Angeles Times:

Trump at private breakfast: 'Who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that's close to a spy' — President Trump expressed disgust Thursday morning with the explosive whistleblower complaint, slamming the intelligence officer and the White House aides who helped him or her as “almost a spy” and suggested it was treason.

Washington Post:

Effort to shield Trump's call with Ukrainian leader was part of broader secrecy effort — The White House has taken extraordinary steps over the past two years to block details of President Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders from becoming public, following embarrassing disclosures early …

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, The Week, HuffPost, Politico, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Raw Story

New York Times:

Trump Said His Ukraine Envoy Would ‘Go Through Some Things.’ She Has Already. — WASHINGTON — President Trump's words about Marie L. Yovanovitch, his former ambassador to Ukraine, were ominous. In a telephone conversation that has set off a political crisis for Mr. Trump, he told Volodymyr Zelensky …

Discussion: Politico

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

Whistleblower painstakingly gathered material and almost single-handedly set impeachment in motion — The whistleblower's identity remains obscured, the details of his work for the CIA cloaked in secrecy. But the document he delivered reveals almost as much about the investigative mission …

Discussion: RedState

Bloomberg:

Trump's Attack on Whistle-Blower in Private Meeting Was Caught on Video — President Donald Trump used a closed-door gathering with U.S. diplomats to the United Nations to attack Democratic rival Joe Biden and disparage a whistle-blower complaint over his controversial call …

Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:
Rudy Giuliani: ‘You Should Be Happy for Your Country That I Uncovered This’

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, The Root, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Axios, CNN, Mediaite, HuffPost, Raw Story, Contemptor, The Week, The Independent and Splinter

Ryan Broderick / BuzzFeed News:
A Nonsense QAnon Conspiracy Theory Ended Up In Donald Trump's Call To the Ukrainian President …

Discussion: American Greatness and Washington Post

New York Times:
Why the Trump Impeachment Inquiry Is the Only Option

Discussion: Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal:
Giuliani Sits at the Center of the Ukraine Controversy

Discussion: Mediaite

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Four days that pitched America into an impeachment nightmare

Discussion: CNSNews, Washington Post and The Resurgent

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump Attacks Whistle-Blower's Sources and Alludes to Punishment for Spies

Tom Nichols / USA Today:
Ukraine scandal: Trump's new impeachable offense is threatening the life of a CIA officer

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost, Fox News and Bloomberg

Washington Post:
Trump writes the GOP impeachment playbook: Scorched earth. But will it work?

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Slate, The Week, HuffPost and Raw Story

New York Times:
Why The Times Published Details of the Whistle-Blower's Identity

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo and Townhall, more at Mediagazer »

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Whistle-Blower Is Not a Traitor, Mr. President

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Mashable, The Atlantic and Fox News

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

More than 300 former officials call Trump's actions concerning Ukraine ‘profound national security concern’ — More than 300 former U.S. national security and foreign policy officials have signed a statement warning that President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine are a “profound national security concern” …

Discussion: Raw Story

John Solomon / The Hill:

These once-secret memos cast doubt on Joe Biden's Ukraine story — Former Vice President Joe Biden, now a 2020 Democratic presidential contender, has locked into a specific story about the controversy in Ukraine. — He insists that, in spring 2016, he strong-armed Ukraine to fire …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, American Greatness and Breitbart

HuffPost:

Democrats Show Unity On Impeachment; Republicans Show Fractures — The loudest GOP voices are trashing the whistleblower, but some Republicans aren't so sure. — WASHINGTON ― It's been one week since most of Capitol Hill heard the first reports of a whistleblower …

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic and The Guardian

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
How a conservative columnist helped push a flawed Ukraine narrative

Discussion: Foreign Policy, more at Mediagazer »

Axios:
Ukraine controversy spotlights Joe Biden's family problem as the 2020 race heats up

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart and Washington Free Beacon

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Biden's brother touted Biden Cancer Initiative ties in investment pitch

Discussion: New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, The National Interest, Fox News, twitchy.com, National Review and The Daily Caller

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“It's Management Bedlam”: Madness at Fox News as Trump Faces Impeachment — The Republicans mounting primary challenges to __Donald Trump__ are not exactly the Never Trump movement's top draft picks. With little hope of defeating an incumbent president dependably popular inside his party …

Discussion: Raw Story, Slate, Hollywood Reporter, Breitbart, The Week, Splinter, Palmer Report, POLITICUSUSA and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Voter Support for Impeachment Grows Amid Ukraine Scandal — Backing for impeachment increases by 13 net points since the weekend — President Donald Trump pauses during a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 25 in New York City.

Discussion: Washington Times, Mediaite, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, BuzzFeed News, The Week, Hullabaloo, Palmer Report, Shareblue Media and Political Wire

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Support for impeachment jumps in new poll

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Associated Press, Fox News, The Week, One America News Network, Vox and Washington Post

Maggie Astor / New York Times: Phil Scott Is First G.O.P. Governor to Back Impeachment Inquiry

Clifford Michel / The City:
Rep. Max Rose in Hot Seat as Holdout on Trump Impeachment Inquiry

Discussion: Detroit Free Press

David Brooks / New York Times:

Yes, Trump Is Guilty, but Impeachment Is a Mistake — This political brawl will leave Trump victorious. — Donald Trump committed an impeachable offense on that call with the Ukrainian president. But that doesn't mean Democrats are right to start an impeachment process.

Discussion: The Federalist, The American Conservative and Washington Post

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report: Will Impeachment Reshape the 2020 Race?

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Wall Street Democratic donors warn the party: We'll sit out, or back Trump, if you nominate Elizabeth Warren

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Root, The First Street Journal, RedState, Occupy Democrats, USA Today, Breitbart, The Week, National Review and VodkaPundit

Axios:

Pelosi: Attorney General Bill Barr has “gone rogue” — Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC's “Morning Joe” on Friday that she believes Attorney General Bill Barr has “gone rogue” with his handling of the controversy regarding the Trump administration's interactions with Ukraine.

Discussion: Political Wire, One America News Network, CNN, Politico and Breitbart

Evan Perez / CNN: Justice Department knew about whistleblower complaint involving Trump more than a week before referral

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Barr and Giuliani's Excellent Trump Adventure

Discussion: Rolling Stone, New York Times, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and The Independent

Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:

Everyone In Washington Is Reading the Whistleblower Complaint — Except Senate Republicans — The document dominating the news Thursday was still unknown to many GOP lawmakers — A nine-page whistleblower complaint might have been the most-read document in Washington on Thursday—but not among Senate Republicans.

Discussion: CNSNews

Gabriel T. Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
Pence Advised Against Releasing Rough Transcript of Ukraine Call

Discussion: Political Wire

Reis Thebault / Washington Post:
Two Republican governors say they support impeachment inquiry of Trump

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos, Palmer Report and Breitbart

Carol Hunter / Des Moines Register:

We hear you. You're angry. Here's what we are doing about it. — We took appropriate action because there is nothing more important in journalism than having readers' trust. — CONNECT — The Des Moines Register staff has heard from hundreds of people in the past few days upset …

Discussion: Washington Post, WHOTV, Reason, Instapundit, NB Blog, The American Conservative, PJ Media Home, The Daily Caller, Althouse and Cernovich

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:

Jeff Flake says ‘at least 35’ Republican senators would privately vote to impeach Trump — Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake made a bold claim on Thursday when he said “at least 35” GOP senators would privately vote for President Trump's impeachment. — Appearing at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival …

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Trump is on track for a level of defeat in California not seen since the Civil War — President Trump lost overwhelmingly in California in 2016, and 2020 could be even worse, putting him on track for the poorest showing by a Republican presidential candidate in the state since the Civil War, a new poll finds.

Discussion: Raw Story and NBC News