memeorandum: Trump-Putin phone calls in Democrats' sights: Schiff (Reuters)

11:10 PM ET, September 29, 2019

Top Items:

Biden Campaign Demands TV News Execs Stop Booking Giuliani — In a Sunday letter, the former vice president's aides say that it is editorially irresponsible to book the president's personal lawyer. — Joe Biden's presidential campaign made an extraordinary request to executives …

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, Slate, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones, Variety, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Last Refuge, Axios, Mediaite and Politico

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Trump-Supporting Lawyers diGenova and Toensing Teamed Up With Giuliani to Dig Up Ukraine Dirt on Biden: Report — According to a top U.S. official, all three were working off the books apart from the administration, Fox News reported on Sunday morning. — In a bombshell report Sunday morning …

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Vanity Fair and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Biden Campaign Urges TV Networks to Stop Booking Giuliani — Advisers to the former vice president wrote to executives at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News to “demand” that Mr. Giuliani not be invited on the air to discuss Ukraine and President Trump. — Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s presidential …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Political Wire, Splinter, RealClearPolitics, Townhall and POLITICUSUSA

Los Angeles Times:

Former Ukraine prosecutor says he saw no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden — Ukraine's top law enforcement official repeatedly rebuffed President Trump's personal lawyer's demands to investigate Joe Biden and his son, insisting he had seen no evidence of wrongdoing that he could pursue despite Trump's allegations.

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, The Daily Caller and New York Times

Kat Tenbarge / Business Insider:

Trump reportedly worked with 2 ‘off the books’ lawyers to pressure Ukraine for damaging information about Joe Biden, in addition to Giuliani — Fox News' Chris Wallace reported Sunday morning that President Donald Trump has worked with two personal lawyers, in addition to former …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Steve Coll / New Yorker: The Integrity of the Trump Impeachment Inquiry

Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Joe Biden faces the Trump fusillade. Are he and his campaign up to it?

Discussion: Political Wire

Justine Coleman / The Hill:
Biden campaign demands news channels stop booking Giuliani

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Giuliani was not working alone in Biden Ukraine probe

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Palmer Report, The Guardian, Politico, HuffPost, Splinter, New York Post, KyivPost and Townhall

Rishika Dugyala / Politico:
Giuliani says Trump ‘framed by the Democrats’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Scott Pelley / CBS News:

The impeachment inquiry: “We could not ignore what the president did.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff talk with Scott Pelley about the impeachment inquiry of President Trump — Tonight, “60 Minutes” …

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, The Last Refuge, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Reuters:

Trump-Putin phone calls in Democrats' sights: Schiff — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress is determined to get access to Donald Trump's calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, the chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee said on Sunday …

Discussion: Political Wire and News Agency UNIAN

Washington Post:
Intelligence panel has deal to hear whistleblower's testimony

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Bloomberg

NBC News: Full Schiff: ‘Real risk in not moving forward’ on impeachment

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Schiff says House Intel has reached agreement for whistleblower testimony

Discussion: Politico and Breitbart

New York Times:

Trump Was Repeatedly Warned That Ukraine Conspiracy Theory Was ‘Completely Debunked’ — Thomas P. Bossert, President Trump's first homeland security adviser, said he was “deeply disturbed” that Mr. Trump had urged Ukraine to investigate Democrats. — WASHINGTON — President Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire

Allan Smith / NBC News:

‘Enough’: Trump's ex-homeland security adviser ‘disturbed,’ ‘frustrated’ by Ukraine allegations, says president must let 2016 go — “If he continues to focus on that white whale, it's going to bring him down,” Bossert said. “Enough. The investigation's over.”

Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News:
Rudy Giuliani fires back at former White House aide who accused him of spreading ‘completely false’ theory

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Occupy Democrats, Vox, Axios, New York Post, HuffPost and Mediaite

Andrew O'Reilly / Fox News:
Stephen Miller says Trump is ‘real whistleblower’ and calls complaint ‘partisan hit job’ in contentious interview

Discussion: Washington Post, PJ Media Home, Splinter, Politico and CNN

Chris Francescani / ABC News:
‘A bad day and a bad week for this president’: Former Trump official

Discussion: emptywheel, HuffPost, Slate, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, New York Post, Raw Story and Mediaite

CBS News:

CBS News poll: Majority of Americans and Democrats approve of Trump impeachment inquiry — More than half of Americans — and an overwhelming number of Democrats — say they approve of the fact that Congress has opened an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Discussion: DemCast, CNN, Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Mediaite, Rolling Stone and Liberty Unyielding

Kendall Karson / ABC News:
Only 17% of Americans surprised by Trump's actions tied to Ukraine: POLL

Discussion: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Ipsos, Slate, NB Blog, Pirate's Cove and Axios

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Impeach the Malignant Fraudster — This is how Republicans can redeem themselves. — It is the clarity of Donald Trump's transgression that is most remarkable. — By his own admission, and backed up by the quasi-transcript released by the White House and by the whistle-blower complaint …

Discussion: Raw Story

USA Today:

Is Donald Trump's Justice Department part of the Ukraine scandal cover-up? — A campaign finance violation isn't the only federal crime suggested by what we know. Why would Justice walk away with so much left on the table? — CONNECT — Despite compelling evidence implicating President Donald Trump …

David Rohde / New Yorker: The Dangerous Position of William Barr

Norah O'Donnell / CBS News:

Mohammad bin Salman denies ordering Khashoggi murder, but says he takes responsibility for it — Saudi Arabia's crown prince also discusses the impact of a September attack on Saudi oil facilities, and responds to allegations that a female Saudi activist has been tortured in prison

Kareem Fahim / Washington Post: In ‘60 Minutes’ interview, Saudi crown prince denies ordering Khashoggi killing

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Dem leaders plot impeachment messaging war with Trump — House Democrats are plotting an all-out offensive against President Donald Trump as they pursue an impeachment inquiry, announcing plans on Sunday to streamline their messaging operation and aid vulnerable lawmakers as they face potential blowback in their districts.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

NBC News:

Top White House aides planning impeachment response effort — “We're not going to get caught flat-footed, and we're not going to take it lying down,” said one person familiar with the plan. — WASHINGTON — Top White House aides plan to present President Donald Trump with a wide-ranging response strategy …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Zack Budryk / The Hill:

Trump retweets bot that replaces key words in his tweets with ‘shark’ — Amid a flurry of retweets commending conservative radio host Mark Levin's clash Sunday morning with Fox News's Ed Henry, President Trump retweeted a bot that substitutes the word “shark” for key words in his tweets and retweets.

Discussion: Slate