memeorandum: Trump now says both China and Ukraine should investigate Bidens (Kevin Liptak/CNN)

8:45 PM ET, October 3, 2019

Top Items:

Trump Ordered Ukraine Ambassador Removed After Complaints From Giuliani, Others — Marie Yovanovitch dismissed after Trump allies said she was blocking Biden probe and bad-mouthing president, people familiar with the matter say — WASHINGTON—President Trump ordered the removal of the ambassador …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTLA, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Raw Story, Political Wire and ABC News

New York Times:

Trump Envoys Pushed Ukraine to Commit to Investigations — WASHINGTON — Two of President Trump's top envoys to Ukraine drafted a statement for the country's new president in August that would have committed Ukraine to pursuing investigations sought by Mr. Trump into his political rivals, three people briefed on the effort said.

Discussion: CNN, Political Wire, Slate, Raw Story and Mediaite

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:

‘Crazy to withhold security assistance’ to Ukraine for political purposes: Top US diplomat — In newly disclosed text messages shared with Congress, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine at the time writes to a group of other American diplomats that “I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

Discussion: Hot Air, Hullabaloo, The Week, Raw Story, The American Conservative, One America News Network, Politico and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Giuliani was warned that Ukrainian claims of Bidens' misconduct were not credible, Trump's ex-envoy tells lawmakers — The former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned President Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani …

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
In May, Ukrainian oligarch said Giuliani was orchestrating a ‘clear conspiracy against Biden’

Discussion: Politico, KTLA, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, The Ringer and The Week

Fox News:
Ex-Ukraine envoy Volker meets with lawmakers amid impeachment probe, as texts reveal ‘quid pro quo’ dispute

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

CNN:

Trump raised Biden with Xi in June call housed in highly secure server — Washington (CNN)When President Donald Trump suggested — without prompting — that China should investigate Joe Biden and his son, he thrust another political grudge into what was already the world's most complicated and consequential relationship.

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, CANNONFIRE, Political Wire and The Guardian

CNN:

Republican senators echoed Biden in urging Ukrainian president to reform prosecutor general's office — (CNN)A newly unearthed letter from 2016 shows that Republican senators pushed for reforms to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office and judiciary, echoing calls then-Vice President Joe Biden made at the time.

Discussion: HuffPost, Axios, Vox, Occupy Democrats, Splinter, Law & Crime, Slate, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and Washington Post

Andrew Kirell / The Daily Beast:

CNN Refuses to Air Trump Ad Pushing Biden-Ukraine Claims and Bashing Network Anchors — The 30-second spot paints the president as a victim of Democrats and alleged “media lapdogs” like CNN. — In a move that is sure to ratchet up tension with the White House, cable news channel CNN …

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, The National Interest, Deadline, Politico, Townhall, Mediaite and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

Financial Times:

Donald Trump encourages China to investigate Bidens — Donald Trump has urged China to investigate Joe Biden, the former vice-president, blatantly encouraging a foreign nation to interfere in the 2020 presidential election even as Democrats pursue an impeachment inquiry into similar requests to Ukraine.

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Did Donald Trump Just Self-Impeach? — In the ten days since the House of Representatives launched its impeachment inquiry, President Trump has spoken and tweeted thousands of words in public. He has called the investigation a “coup” and the press “deranged.”

Michael Calderone / Politico:

Trump wins the chyron war with Biden — President Donald Trump's shocking request Thursday on the White House lawn that not only Ukraine, but also China, should investigate the Bidens, may have shown his open defiance of impeachment threats, but it also gave major air time to the innuendo …

Discussion: New York Times, PolitiFact, The Atlantic and Breitbart

Zack Budryk / The Hill:
GOP senator says he doesn't remember signing 2016 letter urging ‘reform’ of Ukraine prosecutor's office

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump campaign to drop bomb on Biden in early voting states

Discussion: Associated Press, One America News Network, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and The Bulwark, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Trump Publicly Urges China to Investigate the Bidens

Discussion: Law & Crime, Wall Street Journal, The Root, The Moderate Voice, Al Jazeera, Vanity Fair, The Mahablog, Slate, Outside the Beltway, Politico, Althouse, The Week, Inquirer.com and Washington Post

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Trump keeps making it harder for supporters to defend him

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron Rupar / Vox:
Irony is dead: The Trump sons are doing everything possible to make corruption a major 2020 issue

Discussion: Politico and Forbes

New York Times:
CNN Rejects 2 Trump Campaign Ads, Citing Inaccuracies

Discussion: Vanity Fair and Shareblue Media

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Just Committed More High Crimes on the White House Lawn

Discussion: emptywheel, Washington Post, HuffPost, Daily Kos, Vox and Progress Pond

Michael Calderone / Politico: Biden warns Fox News against running Trump ad

Oma Seddiq / Politico: Trump floats idea of his own news network to counter CNN

Aaron Blake / Washington Post: Trump's request that China investigate the Bidens is his most brazen yet. It might also be the most problematic.

Judd at Popular Information / Popular Information:
Facebook says Trump can lie in his Facebook ads

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, New York Times, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, The Verge, Balloon Juice and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Trump now says both China and Ukraine should investigate Bidens

Discussion: Raw Story, NBC News, Vox, KTLA and twitchy.com

Washington Post:

IRS whistleblower said to report Treasury political appointee might have tried to interfere in audit of Trump or Pence — An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted …

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Slate, Spectator USA, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Political Wire, The Week, Law & Crime and Raw Story

Axios:

Scoop: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry — The White House is planning to send Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter as soon as Friday arguing that President Trump and his team can ignore lawmakers' demands until she holds a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry …

Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Pelosi Sends Letter to Leader McCarthy Reiterating the Critical Importance of the Ongoing Impeachment Inquiry

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Republicans prep formal rebuke of Schiff to defend Trump

Discussion: Knoxville News-Sentinel, HuffPost and Breitbart

Alex Moe / NBC News:
McCarthy calls for Pelosi to suspend impeachment inquiry

Discussion: HuffPost and Daily Kos

Theodoric Meyer / Politico:

Energy Secretary Rick Perry eyeing White House exit in November — Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to announce his resignation from the administration by the end of November, according to three people familiar with his plans. — Perry, who had been Texas' longest serving governor …

Discussion: Political Wire, One America News Network and Raw Story

Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel / CREW: Rick Perry Created AI Office Within Energy Dept. Despite Wife's Investments

NBC News:

Another GOP senator breaks from Trump to defend Ukraine whistleblower — “I stand with Chuck Grassley on this,” Ernst said, referring to Iowa's other Republican senator who defended the unnamed whistleblower. — Another Republican senator is speaking out in defense of the intelligence …

Discussion: Politico, Axios and The Daily Beast

Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Mad King's Enablers

Discussion: CNN, Trending Politics, CBS News and Raw Story

David Byler / Washington Post:

Why Elizabeth Warren is getting such good press — It seems like every day a new story breaks about how Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) is climbing in the polls, releasing a new policy proposal, “winning” a primary debate or taking some other step toward becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.

Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau: As Warren rises, debate over her ability to beat Trump intensifies

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Joe Biden is no longer a front-runner

Susan Page / USA Today:

Perilous times for President Trump: By 45%-38%, Americans support impeaching him over allegations related to Ukraine, poll finds — From the moment Donald Trump became a national political figure, he has been cloaked in controversy and shadowed by investigations.

Gabby Orr / Politico:
Trump's impeachment defiance spooks key voting blocs

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo, One America News Network, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Andrew Napolitano / Fox News:

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump's call with Ukraine president manifests criminal and impeachable behavior — The House of Representatives has begun to gather evidence in an effort to determine if President Trump has committed impeachable offenses. The Constitution defines an impeachable offense as …

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Law & Crime and HuffPost

Washington Post:

Bob Woodward interviewed the ‘She Said’ authors at a book event. Things got tense. Then there was heckling. — It seemed like the perfect combination of three Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalists: The Washington Post's Bob Woodward interviewing the New York Times's Jodi Kantor …

Discussion: HuffPost, Vox, Los Angeles Magazine, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Daily Beast and Splinter

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

White House Floats Potential DOJ Investigation Into ‘Joe Biden and His Family’ — A tiny, largely unnoticed edit to a daily White House newsletter this week suggests the Trump administration is leaving open the possibility of siccing the Justice Department on Joe Biden.

Discussion: CNN and The White House

Ben Collins / NBC News:

Trump seized on a conspiracy theory called the ‘insurance policy.’ Now, it's at the center of an impeachment investigation. — Just months after Trump's inauguration, conspiracy theorists pushed a fanciful and unsubstantiated narrative in which the DNC framed Russia for election interference.

BuzzFeed News:

The New Way To Hack Democracy: The Political Operatives Who Fake Voter Outrage With Millions Of Made-Up Comments — Sarah Reeves sat on her couch in Eugene, Oregon, staring at her laptop screen in furious disbelief. She was reading the website of a government agency, where her mother appeared …

Discussion: The Register, Slate and Politico

David Brooks / New York Times:

Why Trump Voters Stick With Him — An imagined conversation with Flyover Man. — Urban Guy: I hope you read the rough transcript of that Trump phone call with the Ukrainian president. Trump clearly used public power to ask a foreign leader to dig up dirt on his political opponent.