memeorandum: Jake Tapper Calls Out Top Republicans Avoiding His Show for 4th Week in a Row, ‘Shirking’ Their Duties of Accountability (Ken Meyer/Mediaite)

3:35 PM ET, October 20, 2019

Top Items:

Zachary Basu / Axios:

Mulvaney: Trump was “honestly surprised” at level of backlash over G7 decision — Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on “Fox News Sunday” that President Trump was “honestly surprised” at the level of pushback he received from the decision to choose his own Doral resort …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, The Hill, Political Wire and Breitbart

CNN:

Mulvaney faced White House ouster threat before impeachment crisis took over — Washington (CNN)Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney faced internal efforts to oust him before House Democrats moved ahead with their impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, multiple sources tell CNN.

Discussion: Fox News, The Guardian, New York Post, Mediaite and Law & Crime

Justine Coleman / The Hill:

Fox's Wallace says ‘well-connected’ Republican told him there's a 20 percent chance GOP will vote for impeachment — Fox's Chris Wallace said a “well-connected” Washington Republican told him that there's a 20 percent chance enough Republicans will vote to remove President Trump from office in an impeachment trial in the Senate.

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

The revenge of the State Department — They've been derided as a “deep state,” slurred as “Obama holdovers,” threatened with draconian budget cuts and told President Donald Trump doesn't even need them. — Now, America's diplomats are taking their revenge.

Adia Robinson / ABC News:

‘I never saw that’: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Mulvaney quid pro quo admission — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he never saw the kind of quid pro quo that acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney referred to on Thursday with regard to the decision-making process he was involved in.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, HuffPost, Breitbart, The Hill, Political Wire and Contemptor

Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Caught up in Trump impeachment, US diplomats fight back

Discussion: Politico and The Hill

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 10-20-19: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Bob Menendez

Discussion: The Hill

New York Times:

Trump Campaign Floods Web With Ads, Raking In Cash as Democrats Struggle — On any given day, the Trump campaign is plastering ads all over Facebook, YouTube and the millions of sites served by Google, hitting the kind of incendiary themes — immigrant invaders, the corrupt media …

more at Techmeme »

Tim Ahmann / Reuters:

Syria critic Lindsey Graham reverses stance, says Trump's policy could succeed — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been one of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump's decision to move U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria, said on Sunday he now believed “historic solutions” were possible.

Associated Press:

Defense chief: US troops leaving Syria to go to western Iraq — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that under current plans all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to prevent its resurgence.

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, PJ Media Home and The Daily Beast

Yuliya Talmazan / NBC News:
U.S. troops leaving Syria for western Iraq, Defense Secretary Esper says

Discussion: Michigan Advance, Politico, Associated Press, Fox News, msb.gov.tr, Mediaite, MSNBC and UPI

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: Secretary of Defense Esper Media Engagement En Route to Afghanistan

Nancy A. Youssef / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Troops Leaving Syria Will Be Assigned to Iraq, Defense Chief Says

Discussion: Reuters, Task & Purpose, Political Wire and Axios

Baltimore Sun:

Former Baltimore Mayor Thomas ‘Young Tommy’ D'Alesandro III dies at 90 — Thomas D'Alesandro III, a former Baltimore mayor and member of a storied political family affectionately known as “Young Tommy,” died at his North Baltimore home Sunday of stroke complications. — He was 90 years old.

Discussion: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Politico, CNN, New York Post and The Hill

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Jake Tapper Calls Out Top Republicans Avoiding His Show for 4th Week in a Row, ‘Shirking’ Their Duties of Accountability — CNN's Jake Tapper called out Republican lawmakers on Sunday for their avoidance of CNN amid the latest controversial developments surrounding President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Althouse

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast: CNN Hires Former GOP Congressman and Trump Loyalist Sean Duffy as Political Commentator

Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:

Red Flags All Over for Senate Republicans — New polls and fundraising reports show key GOP senators in political trouble, giving Democrats a solid shot to win back control of the upper chamber. — Buried in the Washington drama of impeachment, corruption, and foreign policy chaos …

Discussion: Axios and CNBC

Susan Walsh / National Journal: Red Flags All Over for Senate Republicans

Stephanie McCrummen / Washington Post:

‘I want to see what comes out of the woodwork’ — NEW YORK — It was Week 3 of the ongoing impeachment inquiry, and Joanne Vega was only beginning to pay attention, the details sifting into her consciousness as she half-listened to Fox News or caught snippets on the radio driving to her job caring for special-needs children.

Anita Kumar / Politico:

Trump can't stop bragging to foreign leaders about his resorts — President Donald Trump was sitting beside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office in March when he fondly recalled his luxury golf resort on Ireland's west coast. — He gushed about his two tony Scottish resorts months later …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and Vox

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

After Criticism,Trump to Select New Location for G7 — White House officials would consider another site, the president said, suggesting Camp David was a possibility. — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Saturday that he would no longer be holding next year's Group of 7 summit …

Discussion: The Root, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, Bloomberg, Sputnik Arabic, LifeZette, The Federalist Papers, The Daily Caller, Townhall, The Guardian, Mediaite, Breitbart and News & Guts Media

Maya Parthasarathy / Politico:
Mick Mulvaney: Trump ‘surprised’ over Doral pushback

Discussion: New York Post

Washington Post:
Trump says his Doral golf resort will no longer host next year's G-7 summit, bowing to criticism

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, NBC News, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, Slate, POLITICUSUSA, The Sun, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, PJ Media Home, Raw Story and Contemptor

Jordan Libowitz / CREW:
CREW Statement on G-7 Doral Announcement

Discussion: HuffPost

Washington Post:
Trump tweets that his Doral golf resort in Miami will no longer host next year's G-7 summit after criticism

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, Rolling Stone and The Gateway Pundit

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

The Liberation of Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney is leaning forward in his chair, his eyes flashing, his voice sharp. — It's a strange look for the 72-year-old senator, who typically affects a measured, somber tone when discussing Donald Trump's various moral deficiencies.

Alex Ward / Vox:

State Department talking points counter Trump's optimistic message on Syria — “Turkey does not appear to be mitigating the humanitarian impact of its invasion and occupation of some parts of northeast Syria,” one part reads. — President Donald Trump has continuously championed his decision …

Discussion: Axios