memeorandum: Read the Opening Statement by the Top Diplomat in Ukraine (New York Times)

12:10 PM ET, October 23, 2019

Top Items:

Trump administration sought billions of dollars in cuts to programs aimed at fighting corruption in Ukraine and abroad — Democrats have slammed White House insistence that Trump was focused on corruption - not Bidens - when he blocked Ukraine aid funds — The Trump administration …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

New York Times:

Contradicting Trump, Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze Before It Became Public — Top officials were told in early August about the delay of $391 million in security assistance, undercutting a chief argument President Trump has used to deny any quid pro quo. — KIEV, Ukraine …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Guardian, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, The Mahablog, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Week and Mother Jones

Peter Baker / New York Times:

An Envoy's Damning Account of Trump's Ukraine Pressure and Its Consequences — William B. Taylor Jr. laid out in visceral terms the potentially life-or-death stakes of what he saw as an illegitimate scheme to pressure Kiev for political help by suspending American security aid.

Discussion: Washington Post, Liberty Unyielding and Outside the Beltway

John Podhoretz / Commentary:

Trump Will Be Impeached — Remember when I said last week that October 17 was the worst day of the Trump presidency? Well, October 22 and has now come along to break the record. This is the day that, I think, has ensured Donald Trump's impeachment. Not his removal. But impeachment will be bad enough.

Washington Post:
Opening statement of Ambassador William B. Taylor

Washington Post:
Here's the quid pro quo proof, Lindsey Graham

Discussion: Just Security, Raw Story, Mother Jones and New York Post

New York Times:
Read the Opening Statement by the Top Diplomat in Ukraine

Discussion: The Week, The Guardian, Washington Post, Raw Story, The American Conservative and Breitbart

Michael Warren / CNN:
5 explosive lines from Bill Taylor's statement

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Power Line, UPI and RedState

QU Poll:

Release Detail — October 23, 2019 - Approval Of Impeachment Inquiry Reaches 55 Percent, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Disapprove Of Trump's Decision On Syria 2-1 — Approval among American voters of the U.S. House impeachment inquiry, an inquiry to determine whether …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Bloomberg, Roll Call, The Hill, Daily Kos, Washington Times, The Week and Axios

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Live updates: House Republicans barge into secure room, disrupt planned testimony in Trump impeachment inquiry — A group of House Republicans barged into a secure room at the Capitol on Wednesday where the latest witness in the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry was set to testify, temporarily shutting down the proceedings.

Discussion: Fortune, The Daily Caller, National Review, Occupy Democrats, Mediaite and The Guardian

Zachary Basu / Axios:
House Republicans storm closed impeachment hearing in protest

Discussion: Raw Story

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Sean Duffy Gets Repeatedly Owned In Bonkers CNN Segment: 'My Nose Isn't a Heat-Seeking Missile for the President's Backside' — CNN's New Day hosted a duel between Republicans on Wednesday morning as former congressmen Sean Duffy and Charlie Dent squared off on whether Bill Taylor …

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Post

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
How much more of Donald Trump can Republicans possibly take?

Discussion: The Federalist Papers, Political Wire, Mediaite and twitchy.com

ABC News:
The Note: GOP weariness grows as Trump defenses give way

Discussion: Politico

CNN:

CNN Poll: Biden's lead in Democratic primary hits widest margin since April — WASHINGTON (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden's lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for president has rebounded, and now stands at its widest margin since April, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, SSRS, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, The Week, The Hill, Washington Times, New York Post, Des Moines Register, Mediaite and Political Wire

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
How Centrist Democrats Botched the 2020 Primary

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fox News, Washington Post, CNN and The Hill

Sarah Longwell / The Atlantic:

Mitt Romney, It's Time — Donald Trump has never feared another elected Republican. Over the course of five years, he has bullied and insulted, mocked and complained about nearly every GOP officeholder past and present, including George W. Bush and Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeff Flake.

The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: We Asked Every GOP Senator About Impeachment. Seven Ruled It Out.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Resurgent, Raw Story and Vanity Fair

Jared Whitley / Real Clear Politics:
Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Shut Up?

Discussion: Power Line

The Daily Beast:

Trump Whines That Senate Republicans Are Failing Him on Impeachment and Not Owning Nearly Enough Libs — The president and his advisers want Republicans in the Senate to stage their own hearings to counteract what's happening in the House. — President Trump, his advisers …

Discussion: The Hill, UPI, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Breitbart and Contemptor

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner: GOP senators warn Trump he risks political harm from impeachment with chaotic approach

Maggie Miller / The Hill:
Senate Republicans block two election security bills

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

Will Trump shut down the government to fight impeachment? — Analysis: Washington is bracing for the prospect that president may seek to let funding lapse in a bid to blame Democrats. — WASHINGTON — Impeachment, meet government shutdown. — With funding for federal operations set to expire Nov. 21 …

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire and MSNBC

Heather Caygle / Politico: Pelosi and McConnell are on an impeachment collision course

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Trump's worst week ever

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press and New York Times

The Harvard Crimson:

A Note To Readers — To our readers: — Last month, The Crimson covered a rally organized by campus group Act on a Dream that called for the abolition of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During the course of our reporting, Crimson reporters requested comment from ICE …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, The College Fix and Washington Times

Ruoqi Zhang / The Harvard Crimson:
Harvard Student Groups Condemn The Crimson's Coverage of Abolish ICE Rally

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Reason and Althouse

BuzzFeed News:

Federal Investigators Are Probing Suspicious Financial Transactions By Two Giuliani Associates Who Ran A Back-Channel Campaign — A federal grand jury investigating activities surrounding Rudy Giuliani's back-channel campaign in Ukraine has demanded legal documents that include records …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Washington Post:
Prosecutors flagged possible ties between Ukrainian gas tycoon and Giuliani associates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, The Week and Raw Story

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:
“MICHAEL COHEN IS NOW EVEN MORE VALUABLE THAN BEFORE”: THE PRESIDENT'S FORMER ATTORNEY OFFERS DIRT …

Discussion: NPR and Raw Story

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Dick's Sporting Goods CEO quietly tests presidential bid — Ed Stack, the CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods and a longtime Republican donor, is testing the waters for a possible third-party presidential bid that could scramble the dynamics of the 2020 general election.

Discussion: Axios, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, IJR, twitchy.com, The Hill, Forbes and Press & Sun-Bulletin

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Former Acting Attorney General: ‘Abuse of Power Is Not a Crime’ — Matthew Whitaker also blasted the “global elitists and careerists” who are upset with Trump for “upsetting the apple cart” of the “world establishment.” — Following Tuesday's devastating House testimony by acting U.S. Ambassador …

Discussion: The Week

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
‘Abuse of Power Is Not a Crime’: Trump's Former Attorney General Defines His Credo

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Times and HuffPost

Associated Press:

Iraq official: US troops from Syria to leave Iraq in 4 weeks — BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S troops withdrawing from northeastern Syria to Iraq are “transiting” and will leave the country within four weeks, Iraq's defense minister said Wednesday. — Najah al-Shammari made the remarks …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Defense One, CNN and Washington Post

New York Times:
‘What Is Going to Happen to Us?’ Inside ISIS Prison, Children Ask Their Fate

Discussion: Defense One and Outside the Beltway

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump lawyer: Trump can't be prosecuted for shooting someone — A lawyer for Donald Trump argued in federal court on Wednesday that the president could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in New York City and not be prosecuted. — The lawyer, William Consovoy, was responding to a question …

Discussion: Political Wire and NBC News

GovExec.com:

Special Counsel Temporarily Suspends Knowing Hatch Act Violators Without Pay — The two Defense Logistics Agency employees were aware of the law limiting political activity and in one case had received extensive training. — The Office of Special Counsel on Friday announced it had imposed …

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Washington Post:

How a Beltway power couple and a political newcomer learned to thrive in the Trump era — When Brad Parscale was looking for advice about how to navigate Washington after running the digital strategy for Donald Trump's upstart presidential campaign in 2016, the brash political newcomer turned to a Beltway power couple.

Matt Labash / New York Times:

Not Your Father's Masculinity — Meet the “new man”: whatever others say he is. — Mr. Labash is the author of “Fly Fishing With Darth Vader.” — John Wayne, that repository of testosterone — now considered an illicit substance in many states — once played a character who said …

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

As a Centrist Path Opens, Pete Buttigieg Moves Toward It — Mr. Buttigieg began his campaign in obscurity, staking out progressive positions. As his standing rises, he has moved toward the center, hoping to draw support away from Joe Biden. — PHILADELPHIA — In February, Pete Buttigieg …

Tim Skubick / WLNS-TV:

Poll shows U.S. Senate race a toss-up — 6 News is releasing some exclusive statewide polling data tonight confirming that the race for one of the state's U.S. Senate seats is a dead heat. — That's bad news for the Democrats and good news for the Republicans.

Rachel Holliday Smith / The City:

How Manhattan's City Bakery Crumbled, Under Weight of Debts — Walking into City Bakery on West 18th Street in Manhattan, it was hard to imagine the popular eatery with the best hot chocolate in New York and a famous pretzel croissant could ever crumble. — The roomy, bustling cafe brimmed …