memeorandum: What We Know About Hunter Biden's Business in China (New York Times)

10:15 AM ET, October 4, 2019

Top Items:

Trump Envoys Pushed Ukraine to Commit to Investigating Biden — WASHINGTON — Two of President Trump's top envoys to Ukraine worked on 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 …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Washington Post, KTLA, Shareblue Media, The Week, NBC News, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Splinter, Mediaite, Political Wire and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:

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: Washington Post, CNN, Raw Story, The Week, Splinter, HuffPost, The Lid, The Atlantic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Bloomberg, KTLA, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Politico, New York Times and Reuters

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: The Guardian, RedState, David Harris Jr, New York Times, CNN, Vanity Fair, Slate, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Spectator USA, Law & Crime, HuffPost, National Review, Breitbart, Raw Story and Political Wire

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.

Molly Beck / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Ron Johnson OK with President Trump asking China to investigate 2020 political rival — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks with members of the media after meeting with the Middleton Chamber of Commerce at Serendipity Labs in Madison on Thursday. Johnson Thursday said that there was nothing wrong …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Fox News, Splinter, Occupy Democrats, New York Magazine, HuffPost, Vox and Axios

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:

Ukraine to Review Criminal Case on Owner of Firm Linked to Biden's Son — KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine's top prosecutor said on Friday that he would review several important cases previously handled by his predecessors, including a criminal case involving the owner of a natural gas company …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Lawfare and Slate

Theodoric Meyer / Politico:

Energy Secretary Rick Perry eyeing 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: CNN, New York Times, Breitbart, Washington Post, KTLA, Axios, Raw Story, HuffPost, The Week, One America News Network, Splinter and New York Post

Zack Budryk / The Hill:

GOP senator says he doesn't remember signing 2016 letter urging ‘reform’ of Ukraine prosecutor's office — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters Thursday he did not recall signing a letter urging reforms in the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor President Trump has alleged former Vice …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost and Law & Crime

CNN:
Damning text messages detail Trump pressure on Ukraine

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian and The Week

Jake Sherman / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The smoking texts

Discussion: Associated Press, HuffPost and Raw Story

Will Englund / Washington Post:
Ukraine's new chief prosecutor to ‘audit’ Biden case

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, Hullabaloo, Splinter, The Week, Progress Pond and USA Today

Michael Calderone / Politico:
Trump wins the chyron war with Biden

Discussion: The Week, Vox, Breitbart and The Atlantic

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
‘Crazy to withhold security assistance’ to Ukraine for political purposes: Top US diplomat

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, The Week, Breitbart, Hot Air, Axios, Hullabaloo, One America News Network, Raw Story, Law & Crime and The American Conservative

New York Times:
Trump, the Self-Impeaching President

Discussion: CNBC, Outside the Beltway, Politico and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:
What We Know About Hunter Biden's Business in China

Discussion: The Hill, New York Post, The Root, Vanity Fair and The Mahablog

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

Discussion: The Week

Washington Post:
Trump publicly calls on China to investigate Bidens

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Power Line, Axios and The Daily Caller

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Pelosi: 'I'm very worried' about whistleblower's safety

Discussion: Washington Times

NBC News:
Giuliani says State Dept vowed to investigate after he gave Ukraine docs to Pompeo

Discussion: The Bulwark

Harry Enten / CNN:

Trump's impeachment polling is historically unprecedented — Lemon and Cuomo debate if there's enough to impeach Trump — (CNN)The poll numbers are in on impeachment, and it's not good news for President Donald Trump. A clear plurality of Americans approve of the House's impeachment inquiry into Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire

USA Today:

How Democrats should impeach Trump: A searing constitutional duty, a plan from 2 realists — We're different but we agree: No president has placed America in more peril for less reason than Trump. Refusing to confront him only emboldens him. — CONNECT

Discussion: New Republic and Raw Story

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.”

Issues & Insights:
Impeachment Comments Democrats Would Rather You Forget

Discussion: Instapundit

CNN:

Trump promised Xi US silence on Hong Kong democracy protests as trade talks stalled — (CNN)During a private phone call in June, President Donald Trump promised Chinese President Xi Jinping that the US would remain quiet on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong while trade talks continued, two sources familiar with the call tell CNN.

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to review ruling on Louisiana abortion law — The Supreme Court will review a restrictive Louisiana law that gives the justices the chance to reconsider a recent ruling protecting abortion rights. — The court said Friday it would consider whether the 2014 law requiring doctors …

Discussion: Politico and One America News Network

Devin Dwyer / ABC News: Supreme Court to hear Louisiana abortion case

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate: This Supreme Court Term Will Launch a Conservative Revolution

Joseph Morton / Associated Press:

'Americans don't look to Chinese commies for the truth': Sasse decries Trump's call for probe — “If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that's a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps,” Sen. Ben Sasse told The World-Herald on Thursday.

Discussion: National Review, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Jordain Carney / The Hill: Sasse breaks with Trump's call for probe: 'Americans don't look to Chinese commies for the truth'

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Schiff's false claim his committee had not spoken to the whistleblower — “We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower, we would like to.” — We recently took Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to task for misleading reporters about the fact that he was a participant …

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, CNN, New York Times, FOX News Radio and NB Blog

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Schiff's Shifty Timeline — What did the House Intel Committee chairman know and when did he know it? — If the latest impeachment push continues to backfire, Democrats can thank their duplicitous House Intelligence chairman, Adam Schiff. — The New York Times reported this week that the …

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 …

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, House Republican Leader, NPR, Breitbart, RedState, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Axios:
Trump's impeach-me strategy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The White House

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

Discussion: The Hill and Breitbart

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Three deeply problematic aspects of newly released text messages centered on the Ukraine scandal — It's generally not a good sign when a government official sends a written message questioning the propriety of an action and another official replies by suggesting they talk on the phone.

The Daily Beast: Damning Trump Team Texts Detail Pressure Campaign on Ukraine

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

September unemployment rate falls to 3.5%, a 50-year low, as payrolls rise by 136,000 — By Jeff Cox@JEFFCOXCNBCCOM@JEFF.COX.7528 — The jobless rate in September dropped 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%, the lowest since December 1969. — Nonfarm payrolls rose by 136,000 in September …

Discussion: Townhall

Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
U.S. Added 136,000 Jobs in September; Unemployment Rate at 3.5%

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway

Axios:

Trump's Senate red wall — Every time President Trump seems to tempt fate — like inviting China on camera yesterday to investigate the Bidens — just remember that he's counting on his red wall in the Senate will save him even if he's impeached. — The big picture: Here's a visual look …

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Marc Caputo / Politico:

'You're making him a further victim': Dems fume over DNC treatment of Biden — The Republican National Committee and its chair, Ronna McDaniel, have been blasting out dozens of tweets ripping Joe Biden — and Democratic impeachment efforts — for days on end. Donald Trump has been busy doing the same.

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Daily Kos and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

Maybe not Trump? Never Trumpers insist they won't back Warren — Prominent “Never Trump” Republicans insist they would never back rising Democratic contender Elizabeth Warren, describing an election that pits the liberal Massachusetts senator against a president they despise as a choice between two unacceptable options.