memeorandum: Giuliani pressed State Department, White House to grant visa to former Ukrainian official (Washington Post)

8:20 PM ET, October 19, 2019

Top Items:

BBC:

Brexit: PM sends letter to Brussels seeking further delay — Boris Johnson will send a letter to the EU by 00:00 BST to request a Brexit delay - but he will not sign it, according to a Downing Street source. — The request will be accompanied by a second letter, signed by Mr Johnson …

Discussion: UPI, The Guardian, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Boris Johnson Forced to Seek Brexit Extension After Rebuke from Lawmakers — Even as the British prime minister asked the E.U. to delay the deadline for departure, he warned this would be bad for both sides. — LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a stinging defeat on Saturday …

Discussion: Slate, The Guardian and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

British Government Asks for EU Delay Amid Johnson Resistance — The prime minister didn't sign the letter, and sent a second one urging EU leaders not to grant an extension — LONDON—The British government formally asked the European Union to delay the country's departure for the third time …

The Guardian:
MPs put brakes on Boris Johnson's Brexit deal with rebel amendment

Discussion: The Week, New York Post and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:
Parliament votes to withhold approval of Brexit deal, postponing Boris Johnson's moment of reckoning

Discussion: The Guardian, Hot Air, Al Jazeera and YouGov

Emilio Casalicchio / Politico:
Why Boris Johnson may not get his big Brexit vote after all

Discussion: One America News Network, The Sun, Associated Press and Jacobin

New York Times:

Review of Russia Inquiry Grows as F.B.I. Witnesses Are Questioned — The review, led by the prosecutor John Durham, has focused on former investigators who are frequent targets of President Trump. — WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors reviewing the origins of the Russia investigation …

Discussion: The Last Refuge, PJ Media Home and No More Mister Nice Blog

NBC News:

AG Barr expands mysterious review into origin of Russia investigation — If U.S. Attorney John Durham is conducting a criminal investigation, it's not clear what allegations of wrongdoing are being examined. — NBC: AG Barr expands controversial review into origin of Russia investigation

Discussion: The Last Refuge, MSNBC, The Gateway Pundit and BizPac Review

Washington Post:

GOP congressman who won't rule out impeaching Trump announces retirement — A day after Rep. Francis Rooney (Fla.) became the first House Republican to say he would consider voting to impeach President Trump, he announced his retirement. — The two-term congressman from a reliably …

Discussion: The Guardian, CNN, HuffPost, Rolling Stone, Daily Kos and Axios

Christian Vasquez / Politico:

GOP congressman who was open to impeachment calls it quits — Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), who was the first House Republican express openness to voting to impeach President Donald Trump, announced his retirement on Saturday. — “I thought the idea was you came and did your public service and left …

Discussion: Washington Post

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Francis Rooney, G.O.P. Lawmaker Who Won't Rule Out Impeachment, Is to Retire

Discussion: Slate and Raw Story

Sam Dorman / Fox News:
Rep Francis Rooney announces retirement, wants to be a ‘model for term limits’

Discussion: UPI, Wall Street Journal, Florida Politics and Roll Call

Financial Times:

Donald Trump's presidency continues its bizarre degeneration — The oddest moment of a surreal week even by Donald Trump's standards was when the US president extolled America's ties with ancient Rome. Mr Trump surely did not mean to spark thoughts of Caligulan dissolution.

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Trump veterans see a presidency veering off the rails — Former Trump White House officials and other Republicans close to the White House are increasingly worried about President Trump's erratic behavior and say there are no longer enough safeguards around him to prevent self-inflicted disasters large and small.

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, The Week and The Wrap

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Trump's season of weakness: A president who prizes strength enters key stretch in a fragile state — The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights — President Trump, whose paramount concern long has been showing strength, has entered the most challenging stretch of his term …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Bulwark and The Hill

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:

‘I am not a Russian spy’: Jill Stein slams Clinton's accusations — Washington (CNN)Former 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein slammed Hillary Clinton's accusations that she and 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard are Russian assets, calling Clinton's comments a “wild and insulting theory.”

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, The Federalist Papers and Washington Post

Mary Kay Linge / New York Post:
Hillary Clinton bails on DC event that Tulsi Gabbard is attending

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review, Townhall and Fox News

Rachel Frazin / The Hill:
Gabbard fundraises off Clinton attack: ‘I challenge her’ to ‘face me directly’

Discussion: Breitbart

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Put Up or Shut Up on These Accusations, Hillary

Discussion: Instapundit and twitchy.com

New York Times:

The Crisis of the Republican Party — The G.O.P. will not be able to postpone a reckoning on Donald Trump's presidency for much longer. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Discussion: Raw Story, Hullabaloo and Boston.com

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story: ‘This is a real warning’: Ex-campaign aide bluntly states Clinton didn't go far enough criticizing Tulsi Gabbard

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Bannon Teams Up With Chinese Group That Thinks Trump Will Bring on End-Times — Steve Bannon made a fiercely anti-China movie for some of the Chinese government's biggest foes. — After trying to launch his own cryptocurrency and failing to turn an Italian monastery into a training camp …

Michael Bachelard / Sydney Morning Herald:

This Kurdish woman's death sparked a global outcry. Now we know how she died — Duhok: Six days after Donald Trump announced his troops were abandoning the “endless war” in Syria, a Kurdish woman called Hevrin Khalaf was driving along the country's M4 highway when her armoured vehicle …

BBC: Turkey's Erdogan vows to ‘crush heads’ of Kurdish fighters

Washington Post:

Inside Joe Biden's brawling efforts to reform Ukraine — which won him successes and enemies — Vice President Joe Biden was losing his temper, dressing down the president of Ukraine in front of a group of high-level advisers and officials from both countries inside a regal complex at the United Nations.

Washington Post:
Giuliani pressed State Department, White House to grant visa to former Ukrainian official

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, The Week and The Guardian

Washington Post:

Sanders returns to the trail with a major rally: ‘To put it bluntly, I am back’ — NEW YORK — Sen. Bernie Sanders returned to the campaign trail Saturday with the support of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, making a comeback nearly three weeks after suffering a heart attack.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Fox News and HuffPost

Bill Scher / Politico:
AOC's Sanders Endorsement Won't Change 2020. But It Might Change the Democratic Party.

Discussion: NBC News, One America News Network, Breitbart, Fox News, The Daily Caller and VICE

Gordon Deegan / Independent.ie:

Gardai paid Donald Trump's Doonbeg resort €14k for snack bags for members during US President's visit — A €14,000 spend by the Gardai on sandwich/snack bags for members was part of the overall €107,625 catering payment to the Donald Trump owned Trump Doonbeg resort in west Clare.

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

Democrats introduce ‘THUG Act’ to block funding for G-7 at Trump resort — Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would block federal funding for next year's Group of Seven (G-7) summit at Trump National Doral Miami. — Democratic Reps. Lois Frankel (Fla.), Bennie Thompson (Miss.) …

Discussion: Hullabaloo