memeorandum: McConnell tells Senate Republicans to be ready for impeachment trial of Trump (Washington Post)

11:10 PM ET, October 16, 2019

Top Items:

Burgess Everett / Politico:

McConnell eyes quick impeachment trial in Senate — Senate Republicans are preparing for a speedy impeachment trial that concludes before the end of the year. — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that he expects Speaker Nancy Pelosi to approve articles …

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Fox News, Hot Air, Law & Crime and Axios

Zachary Basu / Axios:

Democrats say Trump had a “meltdown” and insulted Pelosi in Syria meeting — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that they walked out of a meeting with President Trump …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and Breitbart

Lisa Mascaro / Associated Press:

‘See you at the polls’: Trump and Pelosi have it out — WASHINGTON (AP) — He said she's a third-rate politician. She said he's having a meltdown. — And with that President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chalked up the latest explosive meeting that ended abruptly with a walkout at the White House.

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Elizabeth Warren is failing the commander in chief test — It should be obvious this week that the United States needs a president who has the foreign policy chops to speak clearly about the United States' role in the world and has a real plan to keep our country safe.

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, Yahoo News and Foreign Policy

Washington Post:
Trump tries to distance himself from chaos in Syria as tensions with lawmakers in both parties escalate

Discussion: New York Times, The White House, Patterico's Pontifications, Politico, Vanity Fair, The Last Refuge and Mediaite

William Saletan / Slate:
Is Elizabeth Warren an Ideologue?

Discussion: Washington Post, The Mahablog, PinkNews and The Week

Dan Zak / Washington Post: Day 1,000 of the Trump presidency: ‘I think now we have to pray’

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Inside the Derailed White House Meeting

Discussion: The Hill, Sputnik International, Breitbart and New York Post

Vincent Wood / The Independent:
Turkey ‘effectively holding 50 US nuclear bombs hostage’ at air base amid Syria invasion

Discussion: Hot Air

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
'Sanctions aren't going to do any good': Senate GOP blasts Trump's Turkey strategy

Discussion: Raw Story

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Romney: Trump administration opened door to Turkey invasion

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, One America News Network and Politico

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Joe Biden Goes Off: Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders Are ‘Trying to Con the American People’ Like Trump

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Bipartisan House Majority Condemns Trump for Syria Withdrawal

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and The Wrap

Zachary Cohen / CNN:
Trump appears to confirm open secret about US nuclear weapons in Turkey

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire and East Bay Times

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Trump Doctrine: American Unexceptionalism

Discussion: KTLA and HuffPost

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
House overwhelming rebukes Trump over Syria withdrawal

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Week

New York Times:
Trump Lashes Out on Syria as Republicans Rebuke Him in House Vote

Discussion: Defense One, Breitbart, The American Conservative, National Review, Vox, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Mother Jones and Political Wire

CNN:
Day after debate, Elizabeth Warren's campaign says it's reviewing ‘other revenue options’ for Medicare for All

Discussion: The Hill

Clare Foran / CNN:
Democrats say Trump had a ‘meltdown’ at White House meeting

Discussion: The Root, Associated Press, The American Conservative and Talking Points Memo

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart: Exclusive Video — White House's Peter Navarro Pushes Nancy Pelosi to Pass US-Mexico-Canada Agreement …

Wall Street Journal:

Rick Perry Called Rudy Giuliani at Trump's Direction on Ukraine Concerns — President's lawyer said Ukraine had worked to hurt Trump in 2016 election, energy secretary says in interview — WASHINGTON—Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he sought out Rudy Giuliani this spring …

Discussion: Axios and Raw Story

CNN:

Federal investigation of Rudy Giuliani includes counterintelligence probe — (CNN)For months, investigators looking into Rudy Giuliani's business dealings in Ukraine have dug into everything from possible financial entanglements with alleged corrupt Ukrainian figures to counterintelligence concerns raised …

Discussion: New York Times, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The New Civil Rights Movement and Wall Street Journal

Axios:

Scoop: Kurt Volker testimony revealed depth of concerns about Giuliani — New details from Kurt Volker's closed-door interview indicate Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, was deeply conflicted about whether to take the job because of concerns about Rudy Giuliani's shadow involvement.

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Amid impeachment probe, Gordon Sondland is overseeing a renovation of his residence that has cost $1 million in taxpayer money — BRUSSELS — Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and a central figure in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump …

Discussion: Vanity Fair

New York Times:

Ex-Aide Saw Gordon Sondland as a Potential National Security Risk — A former top White House adviser viewed Mr. Sondland, a Trump donor and the ambassador to the European Union, as a risk because he was so unprepared for his job. — WASHINGTON — A former top White House foreign policy …

Discussion: What The Fuck …, NBC News, Politico, Raw Story, HuffPost, The Week, Daily Kos, National Review, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Just Security, CNN and The Dispatch

Josh Lederman / NBC News:

Sondland asked Ukrainian officials during private White House talk about gas firm linked to Hunter Biden — Sondland's meeting with Ukrainian officials just steps from the White House Situation Room came minutes after a larger meeting that included John Bolton.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

New York Times:

Gordon Sondland Elbowed His Way Into Ukraine Policy. It Could Cost Him. — Mr. Sondland was to tell impeachment investigators that President Trump placed a condition on any meeting with Ukraine's president — the opening of an investigation that could benefit Mr. Trump.

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:
Trump's Impeachment Blockade Crumbles as Witnesses Agree to Talk

Discussion: Raw Story

William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:

“There Is Definite Hanky-Panky Going On”: The Fantastically Profitable Mystery of the Trump Chaos Trades — The president's talk can move markets—and it's made some futures traders billions. Did they know what he was going to say before he said it? — In the last 10 minutes of trading …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Washington Post:

McConnell tells Senate Republicans to be ready for impeachment trial of Trump — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republican senators Wednesday to be ready for an impeachment trial of President Trump as soon as Thanksgiving, as the Senate began to brace for a political maelstrom that would engulf the nation.

Discussion: The Week

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:
Congress Approval, Support for Impeaching Trump Both Up

Discussion: Hot Air, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, New Republic, Occupy Democrats, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Roll Call, Fox News, The Week, The New Civil Rights Movement, Political Wire and Scott Rasmussen

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Only once has Gallup seen more support for removing a president. Nixon was gone four days later.

Discussion: Politico

Heather Vogell / ProPublica:

Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies — The president's businesses made themselves appear more profitable to lenders and less profitable to tax officials. One expert calls the differing numbers “versions of fraud.” — Stay up to date with email updates …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Vox, Washington Post, Contemptor, VICE, The Gateway Pundit, The Real Deal New York, Hullabaloo, JONATHAN TURLEY, Patterico's Pontifications, Law & Crime, CANNONFIRE, Raw Story, The Week, Shareblue Media, Slate, Above the Law and Balloon Juice

Bess Levin / Vanity Fair:

Which Trump Will Take the Fall for Years of Tax Fraud? — Junior and Eric, it's time to prove your loyalty. — Last February, not long before he reported to prison, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified that his boss had regularly inflated his personal assets when it served his purposes to do so …

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Dodgy Bookkeeping Is a Trump Family Tradition

Discussion: emptywheel, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

House lawyers: Trump trying to ‘obstruct his own impeachment’ — Lawyers for the House of Representatives on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of trying to “obstruct his own impeachment” by claiming the authority to block his advisers from cooperating with congressional investigations.

Discussion: The Hill and The New Civil Rights Movement

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
The lawyer at the center of the Ukraine vortex

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Dems grapple with impeachment timing as evidence piles up

Discussion: Political Wire

Bloomberg:

Trump-Erdogan Call Led to Lengthy Quest to Avoid Halkbank Trial — Barr, working with Mnuchin, sought a deferred prosecution deal — Prosecutors filed charges when Trump sought to punish Erdogan — President Donald Trump assigned his attorney general and Treasury secretary to deal …

Discussion: New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and U.S. Department of Justice

Washington Post:

Pompeo adviser to decry politicization of State Dept. in impeachment probe testimony — Michael McKinley, the former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo until his sudden resignation last week, will tell House impeachment investigators Wednesday that career diplomats …

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Hill, The American Conservative, The Week, Mediaite and Raw Story

Robert C. O'Brien / Washington Post:
Here's how I will streamline Trump's National Security Council

Discussion: The Hill

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Ex-Pompeo adviser tells Congress he resigned over Trump's attacks on Yovanovitch

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, The Hill and NBC News

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

Joe Biden, Bleeding Cash, Spent Nearly $1 Million on Private Jets — Per the ex-veep's FEC data, roughly one out of every 16 dollars raised by the campaign has been spent on such aviation. — Joe Biden's presidential campaign is bleeding cash. And a big reason why appears to be an antiquated …

Discussion: Politico, New York Post, The Week, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Schiff pressed Volker to say Ukraine felt pressure from Trump — In a secret interview, Rep. Adam Schiff, leader of the House Democratic effort to impeach President Trump, pressed former U.S. special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker to testify that Ukrainian officials felt pressured …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller and PJ Media Home

NBC News:

Ukrainian Oligarch Firtash linked to Giuliani pals' gas deals and Biden dirt digging — A Ukrainian oligarch who is fighting extradition to the U.S. may figure in both the dirt digging and the gas deals pursued by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. — WASHINGTON — When two Rudy Giuliani associates …

Discussion: Raw Story, MSNBC and TIME