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Feds blow door off safe, issue subpoenas as probe into Giuliani associates escalates — (CNN)Federal prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed the brother of one of the recently indicted associates of Rudy Giuliani, according to two people familiar with the matter, as they escalate their investigation in the campaign-finance case.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry Into Its Own Russia Investigation — The move is likely to open the attorney general to accusations that he is trying to deliver a political victory for President Trump. — WASHINGTON — For more than two years, President Trump has repeatedly attacked …
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Law & Crime, Mother Jones, Washington Post, Fox News, Vanity Fair, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, The Gateway Pundit, PJ Media Home, IJR, Associated Press, Political Wire, Hullabaloo, The Last Refuge, Reason, Breitbart, VICE, Raw Story, emptywheel, Shareblue Media, The Week, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Disrn, The Daily Caller, Politico, LifeZette, Washington Times, UPI, Small Dead Animals, KFOR-TV, HuffPost, twitchy.com, The Federalist Papers, The Root, Contemptor, POLITICUSUSA, Townhall, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite, New York Post, Axios and News & Guts Media


Giuliani probe snowballs — Rudy Giuliani's problems keep piling up. — His responsibilities are shrinking as Donald Trump's TV-friendly personal attorney. His efforts to dig up dirt on the president's political opponents have landed his highest-profile client in a congressional impeachment investigation.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, emptywheel, News & Guts Media, Law & Crime and POLITICUSUSA


Trump Organization Exploring Sale of Marquee Washington Hotel — Move is motivated partly by ethical criticisms concerning profiting on the property — The Trump Organization is exploring a sale of the rights to the company's opulent Washington, D.C., hotel, a move it says is motivated partly …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, CNBC, The Hill, Political Wire and Raw Story


White House official expected to back up diplomat's testimony over Trump push for Ukraine probe into Bidens — Why the ‘quid pro quo’ defense may not matter — (CNN)Tim Morrison, a top Russia and Europe adviser on President Donald Trump's National Security Council, is expected to testify …
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Roll Call, UPI, The Guardian and Talking Points Memo
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NSC official plans to testify in impeachment probe even if White House tries to block him — Tim Morrison, a National Security Council official who has been identified as a witness to one of the most explosive pieces of evidence unearthed by House impeachment investigators …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Raw Story, CNN and Political Wire


Republicans Fight Trump's Impeachment by Attacking the Process — President Trump wants his party to defend him more aggressively. Senators instead are denouncing the House investigation. — WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress struggled for a second consecutive day Thursday …

White House eyes ex-Treasury spokesman to lead impeachment messaging efforts
Discussion:
VICE, Political Wire and New York Times

White House seeks a communications guru to fight Trump impeachment
Discussion:
Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA


DNC raises thresholds for December debate — The halfway mark of the Democratic debate calendar is coming up, and the sixth debate will likely feature the smallest stage yet. — New thresholds announced by the Democratic National Committee for the sixth debate — which will be hosted …
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CNN, Associated Press, Axios, The Week, The Daily Caller, The Wrap and Political Wire
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Sixth Democratic debate to be hosted by PBS and Politico in Los Angeles
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Politico, Breitbart, One America News Network, The Hill and Deseret News


Gabbard Skips Iowa Forum, Appears On Fox News Instead — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's bizarre week in American politics continued Thursday night, when she skipped an appearance at LULAC's Latino town hall in Des Moines, appearing that evening instead on Sean Hannity's Fox News show.
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CNN, The Outline, Slate, WORLD, Big League Politics and IJR
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Tulsi Gabbard echoes Republican frustrations with impeachment inquiry: 'I don't know what's …
Discussion:
Townhall, The Federalist and Fox Business


Scoop: “Anonymous” to expose private Trump conversations — The anonymous “senior Trump administration official” who will release a tell-all book, “A Warning,” next month was a frequent participant in meetings with President Trump and plans to recount specific conversations, sources tell me.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Daily Caller and CNN


Rand Paul: Is Quid Pro Quo the Status Quo? — Isn't all foreign aid supposed to be quid pro quo? — We give you this aid — on the expectation that you will not steal any of it for personal use, that you will spend it as we instruct, and on the understanding that if you don't spend the money …
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Mahalo, Hawaiʻi — I am so grateful. — Grateful to call Hawaiʻi home; grateful for our people and the spirit of aloha that binds us all together; and grateful for our precious 'āina, beautiful oceans, and towering mountains. — Most of all, I'm grateful to all of you …
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U.S. Watchdog Council Says Justice Department Erred in Blocking Whistleblower Complaint — Memo saying matter wasn't urgent was wrong, Council of Inspectors General concludes — A U.S. watchdog council has faulted a Justice Department legal memo that initially blocked the Ukraine whistleblower's complaint …


Introducing Facebook News — Testing a dedicated place for news in the US — Journalism plays a critical role in our democracy. When news is deeply-reported and well-sourced it gives people information they can rely on. When it's not, we lose an essential tool for making good decisions.
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Shareblue Media, NPR, UPI, The Hill, Deadline, TechCrunch and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »
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‘Powerful woman’ Kellyanne Conway mocks and threatens reporter for mentioning her husband (AUDIO) — Top White House aide Kellyanne Conway, describing herself as “a powerful woman,” aggressively and disparagingly told a female reporter that it was improper to write about her husband …
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Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Townhall, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, Raw Story, Fox News, The Wrap, Hot Air, Mediaite, New York Post and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
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Elizabeth Warren wants to remake American capitalism — As it stands, the Democratic front-runner's programme has too little time for markets or business — ELIZABETH WARREN is remarkable. Born into a struggling family in Oklahoma, she worked her way up to become a star law professor at Harvard.


U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says U.S. will leave forces in Syria to defend oil fields from Islamic State — BRUSSELS — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Friday that the United States would leave forces in Syria to protect oil fields and keep them from falling into the hands of the Islamic State.
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Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Associated Press and Defense One
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We represent the whistleblower. Their identity is no longer relevant. — The public now knows more about the call with Ukraine than what was in the complaint. — Our client's whistleblower complaint about President Trump's efforts to solicit interference from Ukraine in the 2020 U.S. election …


Trump Administration Responsible For More Than 5,400 Child Separations, ACLU Says — The figure includes more than 1,500 migrant children that were not previously disclosed by the Justice Department. — SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. immigration authorities separated more than 1,500 children …
Discussion:
Axios


Could Lindsey Graham be any more obsequious? — It was another sad milestone in the decline of John McCain's faithful sidekick into President Trump's Lickspittle Lindsey. — Not quite two weeks ago, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vowed to be Trump's “worst nightmare” and called the Syria pullout …
Discussion:
Occupy Democrats, New York Post, Vox and NBC News
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Why Donald Trump — and Other Powerful Men — Love to Cast Themselves As Victims
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Slate


Trump Cuts Out Media That Doesn't ‘Make Him Feel Beautiful’ — It's a comfort mechanism for the president that intensifies whenever he feels under siege and when scandal swirls. — For months, President Trump has refused to grace CNN or MSNBC with what he views as the gift of his presence.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Washington Post


Maria Butina released from federal prison, expected to be deported to Russia — (CNN)Russian gun rights enthusiast Maria Butina was released from the Tallahassee Federal Correction Institution on Friday after having served more than 15 months behind bars, according to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons …
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Political Wire, New York Post, UPI and Breaking News USA
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Russian agent Butina freed from U.S. prison, set to be deported
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Fox News


Morrissey is anti-immigrant and backs a white nationalist political party. Why don't fans care? — For years, when professor Melissa Mora Hidalgo wasn't teaching classes at Cal State Fullerton or UC San Diego, the Los Angeles-based culture writer could often be found on stages throughout the region …


José Andrés, a Trump critic, to throw first pitch at World Series game Trump is expected to attend — The Nationals announced Friday that D.C. restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés will throw out the first pitch ahead of World Series Game 5 on Sunday, should the series extend that long.
Discussion:
DCist, USA Today, Mediaite, Politico and One America News Network


The Fall of WeWork: How a Startup Darling Came Unglued — The cliff dive has little precedent, even in the boom-and-bust world of venture capital — Just months before the spectacular fall of WeWork, one of the country's most gilded startups, chief executive Adam Neumann summoned the heads …
Discussion:
Power Line, UPI and Jewish Insider


George Soros Has Enemies. He's Fine With That. — In an interview, Mr. Soros explained why he thinks the tide is turning back to “globalists” like him and what might happen in the 2020 election. — George Soros is a billionaire philanthropist, a former currency trader, a liberal champion and — in certain circles — a boogeyman.
Discussion:
Townhall, CNBC, Axios, Breitbart and Political Wire


On “Human Scum” and Trump in the Danger Zone — After Ambassador William Taylor's testimony, the President is freaking out about impeachment. — At 1:48 p.m. on October 23rd, Donald Trump posted a tweet that, in any other political moment, would be a strong contender for the worst public statement ever …
Discussion:
Daily Kos


Revenge porn is being used to smear and discredit a sitting congresswoman — Katie Hill may not be a perfect victim, but posting a naked photo of her in retaliation is a rightwing smear campaign — The conservative website Red State published revenge porn of a sitting congresswoman last week.
Discussion:
Politico


Mike Pompeo, either quit and run for U.S. Senate in Kansas or focus on your day job — BY THE KANSAS CITY STAR EDITORIAL BOARD — If Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, then he should quit his rather important day job and do that.
Discussion:
Wichita Eagle


People Keep Assuming Conservative Women in Photos Must Be With the Resistance — The woman in the blue dress was yet another loyal conservative mistaken for a resistance warrior. — The unlikely star of the anti-impeachment stunt Republicans pulled on Wednesday wasn't any of the congressmen …


Scientists Were Hunting for the Next Ebola. Now the U.S. Has Cut Off Their Funding. — Predict, a government research program, sought to identify animal viruses that might infect humans and to head off new pandemics. — In a move that worries many public health experts …


Vulnerable Senate Republicans Shrink From Defending Trump — Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2020, fearful of straying too far from Mr. Trump yet at pains to defend him, have adopted a strategy of saying as little as possible. — WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans facing steep re …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Week, Raw Story and Honest Graft