Top Items:
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Forget Trump's “Meltdown”—Follow the Testimony — On a week of revelations in the House's impeachment inquiry. — In a series of tweets in late July, Donald Trump called Elijah Cummings, a Democratic representative from Baltimore and one of his chief congressional critics, a “brutal bully” …
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CNN:
Trump unhappy with Mulvaney's press briefing in which he acknowledged quid pro quo, source says — (CNN)President Donald Trump is not pleased with acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's press briefing and his acknowledgment on Thursday of a quid pro quo, according to a source close to the President.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and The Resurgent
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Impeachment inquiry shows Trump at the center of Ukraine efforts against rivals — Two Cabinet secretaries. The acting White House chief of staff. A bevy of career diplomats. President Trump's personal attorney. And at the center of the impeachment inquiry, the president himself.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNN, Sputnik International and Daily Kos
Axios:
Trump's shout-it-out-loud strategy — The Trump administration is testing a novel strategy for dealing with controversy and possible illegalities: Pretend you have nothing to hide by blurting it out loud. — Why it matters: President Trump and his aides and allies seem to think that by being unapologetic …
Discussion:
Miami Herald, CNN, YouTube and Political Wire
New York Times:
Mulvaney Says, Then Denies, That Trump Held Back Ukraine Aid as Quid Pro Quo — At first the acting White House chief of staff undercut the president's denials, but late in the day he reversed himself. — WASHINGTON — Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff …
Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
GOP Senator Breaks With White House Over Ukraine Quid Pro Quo — “You don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said. — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) pushed back on the idea endorsed by the Trump administration …
Discussion:
DemCast, Sputnik International, Daily Kos and The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast:
Mick Mulvaney Has Conservatives Asking: WTF Are You Doing?
Mick Mulvaney Has Conservatives Asking: WTF Are You Doing?
Discussion:
New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Dispatch
Washington Post:
Mulvaney confirms Ukraine aid withheld in part to force probe of Democrats
Mulvaney confirms Ukraine aid withheld in part to force probe of Democrats
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, New York Times, CNBC, The Mahablog, Shareblue Media, What The Fuck … and Politico
CNN:
What House investigators have learned after two weeks of Ukraine interviews
What House investigators have learned after two weeks of Ukraine interviews
Discussion:
CAFE, The American Conservative and KTLA
Elena Becatoros / Associated Press:
Fighting in Kurdish-held Syrian town despite cease-fire — CEYLANPINAR, Turkey (AP) — Fighting continued Friday morning in a northeast Syrian border town at the center of the fight between Turkey and Kurdish forces, despite a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that went into effect overnight.
Discussion:
National Review, Daily Kos, CNBC, Al Arabiya, Political Wire and France 24
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New York Times:
In ‘Cave-In,’ Trump Cease-Fire Cements Turkey's Gains in Syria — The agreement, announced by Vice President Mike Pence, may stop the killing in the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria. But the cost to American influence is expected to be high. — WASHINGTON — The cease-fire agreement reached …
Discussion:
Just Security, Outside the Beltway, Althouse and Common Dreams
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Sen. Mitt Romney raises a troubling theory about Trump and Turkey
Sen. Mitt Romney raises a troubling theory about Trump and Turkey
Discussion:
Political Wire and Foreign Policy
Washington Post:
ISIS eyes breakout opportunity as Turkish forces batter Kurds
ISIS eyes breakout opportunity as Turkish forces batter Kurds
Discussion:
HuffPost, Wall Street Journal and The Week
Amnesty International:
Syria: Damning evidence of war crimes and other violations by Turkish forces and their allies
Lara Seligman / Foreign Policy:
Turkish Proxies Appear to Be Using White Phosphorus in Syria
Turkish Proxies Appear to Be Using White Phosphorus in Syria
Discussion:
The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week and Breitbart
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump's Capitulation to Erdogan Is Complete
Trump's Capitulation to Erdogan Is Complete
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Common Dreams and The Bulwark
Washington Post:
Diplomat tells investigators he raised alarms in 2015 about Hunter Biden's Ukraine work but was rebuffed — A career State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy told congressional investigators this week that he had raised concerns in early 2015 about then-Vice President Joe Biden's son serving …
Discussion:
National Review and Political Wire
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Alexander Nazaryan / Yahoo News:
Pentagon expert could reveal key details in Ukraine probe — WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2018, Congress allotted $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, part of a continuing effort to help the Eastern European nation defend itself against Russia. Several months later,
Christopher Donato / ABC News:
Former Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis roasts Donald Trump: ‘I earned my spurs on the battlefield’ — Former Defense Secretary James Mattis roasted his former boss at the Alfred E. Smith dinner in New York City on Thursday night. — Mattis took the stage at the annual dinner …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Political Wire and Contemptor
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Marina Pitofsky / The Hill:
Mattis responds to Trump criticism: 'I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals' — Former Defense secretary James Mattis responded to the President Trump calling him “the world's most overrated general” during a meeting with Congressional leaders Wednesday. — “I'm not just an overrated general.
Discussion:
Washington Post, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Politico and Sputnik International
Leo Shane III / Military Times:
Trump blasts Mattis as 'the world's most overrated general'
Trump blasts Mattis as 'the world's most overrated general'
Discussion:
USA Today, Task & Purpose, ABC News and Vox
Jonathan Browning / Bloomberg:
Oleg Deripaska-Linked Firm Was Raided for Undisclosed U.S. Inquiry — Filings in U.K. reveal ‘live and ongoing’ U.S. criminal probe — Laundering investigation grew out of Robert Mueller's work — U.S. prosecutors are seeking records from a company associated …
The Daily Beast:
Nunes Tries to Use Steele Dossier to Defend Trump During Closed-Door Hearing — Ambassador Gordon Sondland appeared perplexed by Nunes' comments, according to one source, and the exchange was “awkward.” — During a closed-door impeachment meeting on Capitol Hill, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Blair Miller / TheDenverChannel.com:
New poll shows majority of Coloradans support impeachment inquiry, Hickenlooper leads Gardner — Keating Research-OnSight Public Affairs-Martin Campaigns poll conducted Oct. 10-14 — <p>WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 28: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) listens during a Commission On Security …
William H. McRaven / New York Times:
Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President — If President Trump doesn't demonstrate the leadership that America needs, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office. — Admiral McRaven is a former commander of the United States Special Operations Command.
Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump holds Dallas rally as impeachment fight messes with his lead in Texas — DALLAS — Texas on Thursday night offered President Donald Trump a much-needed break from the backlash over his Syria decision and the relentlessness of the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
Discussion:
The Federalist, Political Wire and Fox News
Roy Blunt / USA Today:
Forget Donald Trump, Republicans. Save the GOP for the sake of your party's future. — The longer Republicans remain silent on how President Trump is abusing the Republican Party, the more it will sound like the silence of the lambs: Our view — It has long been said that Republicans ought …
Paul Brandus / USA Today:
Trump's unmatched sleaze: Grifters, women, trampling Constitution and now G-7 at Doral — We've never had a president like Donald Trump. He falls into every single sleaze category, from women to profiteering to attacking the Bill of Rights. — CONNECT — We've had presidents who were used …
Discussion:
CREW
Otillia Steadman / BuzzFeed News:
Porn Stars Are Fed Up With Instagram Wrongly Taking Down Their Accounts — Sex workers and Instagram tried to make peace over takedowns in a meeting this summer. Then porn star Jessica Jaymes' account was incorrectly removed — after she died. — Porn stars and other sex workers are furious …
Vladimir Soldatkin / Reuters:
Russia says it is starting to resume U.S. cyber cooperation: TASS — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States are gradually starting to resume cooperation on cyber security, TASS news agency cited the head of Russia's FSB Federal Security Service as saying on Thursday.
David Brooks / New York Times:
If It's Trump vs. Warren, Then What? — A hard but necessary choice to save the country. — This is a memo for the politically homeless. It's a memo to those of us who could never support Donald Trump but think the Bernie-Squad-Warren Democratic Party is sprinting too far left.
Discussion:
The American Conservative
Joe Uchill / Axios:
Cozy Bear didn't hibernate as previously thought — Cozy Bear, the less-discussed of the two Russian hacker groups that breached the Democratic National Committee in 2016, had been thought to be scaling back operations since that election, but a new report finds the group instead became more covert.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, WeLiveSecurity and MIT Technology Review
Jim Swift / The Bulwark:
Meet Trump's Illuminati Scholar — They've done it. Finally, the Trump administration has reached its logical conclusion. The presidency that began with Alex Jones and birtherism has finally brought a brave truth teller into the deep state fold. — If you haven't heard …
Discussion:
George Mentz, Shareblue Media and HuffPost
David Stavrou / Haaretz:
A Million People Are Jailed at China's Gulags. I Managed to Escape. Here's What Really Goes on Inside — Rape, torture and human experiments. Sayragul Sauytbay offers firsthand testimony from a Xinjiang ‘reeducation’ camp — Send me email alerts — Zen Subscribe now
Ally Mutnick / Politico:
Why Republicans should be worried about their chances of retaking the House — Democrats are building a financial bulwark around their House majority that's going to be tough for Republicans to breach in 2020. — Thirty-three of the 44 most vulnerable House Democrats have stashed …
United States Department of State:
Special Representative for Syria Engagement James F. Jeffrey Remarks to the Traveling Press — MS ORTAGUS: Do you have something to say first? — AMBASSADOR JEFFREY: Yeah, just the Vice President, Mike Pompeo, and National Security Advisor O'Brien came out here to carry out the President's directive …