memeorandum: As Trump moves to bully witnesses and derail impeachment, Democrats see obstruction (Washington Post)

1:10 PM ET, November 1, 2019

Top Items:

‘Fireside chat on live television’: Trump says he wants to read Ukraine call transcript to American people — A defiant President Trump signaled he will not cooperate with the Democratic Party's impeachment proceedings, insisting his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was …

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump Isn't Ready for the Impeachment Hearings — He's always been more comfortable with chaos than teamwork and preparation. — After weeks of damaging testimony from current and former White House advisers and career diplomats, the House of Representatives voted on Thursday to publicly endorse …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Just Security, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, Axios and UPI

Washington Post:

As Trump moves to bully witnesses and derail impeachment, Democrats see obstruction — President Trump has sought to intimidate witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, attacking them as “Never Trumpers” and badgering an anonymous whistleblower. He has directed the White House to withhold documents …

Meghann Myers / Military Times:

How the Army officer who testified against Trump could end up in a court-martial — When Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman appeared before members of Congress on Tuesday to discuss what he knew about President Trump's conversations with Ukraine's president, he was violating an order from his commander …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The GOP defense of Trump is getting more corrupt. Here's what's next. — President Trump, who possesses supreme confidence in his mesmerizing charisma and powers of persuasion, is considering a plan to recite the text of his corrupt call with the Ukrainian president on live national television.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Raw Story

Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon - sources — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, two days after the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.

Discussion: Politico and The Hill

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
Impeachment inquiry focuses on 2 White House lawyers

Discussion: NBC News, Political Wire, ABC News, Florida Politics and Associated Press

Vivian Salama / Wall Street Journal:
Vindman's Identical Twin May Be Called to Testify in Impeachment Inquiry

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Raw Story

Fox News:

Warren's $52T ‘Medicare-for-all’ plan revealed: Campaign still claims no middle-class tax hikes needed — EXCLUSIVE: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's long-awaited “Medicare-for-all” funding plan projects the government-run health care system would cost a staggering sum of …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, ABC News, Axios, Washington Free Beacon, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, PJ Media Home, Mediaite, Towleroad Gay News, The Daily Caller and Sara A. Carter

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

The issue that Obama alums think could doom Elizabeth Warren — An Elizabeth Warren event is like the candidate herself: well-organized, precise, unpretentious. The candidate, almost always clad in her campaign uniform of black sneakers, black pants and a black camisole covered …

Discussion: YouTube

New York Times:

Elizabeth Warren Proposes $20.5 Trillion Health Care Plan — Ms. Warren would impose huge tax increases on businesses and billionaires to pay for “Medicare for all,” but she said she would not raise taxes on the middle class. — WASHINGTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed $20.5 trillion …

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Elizabeth Warren may as well have said Mexico is going to pay for ‘Medicare for all’ — Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday came out with her long-awaited plan to “pay for” the “Medicare for all” proposal she supports. But it is not actually a serious proposal to solve problems that have vexed health economists for decades.

Discussion: Vox and Washington Free Beacon

Kathryn Krawczyk / The Week:
Jeff Bezos would pay nearly $7 billion to Elizabeth Warren's Medicare-for-all tax

Discussion: Townhall, Fox News, Althouse and Mediaite

Elizabeth Warren / Team Warren:
Ending the Stranglehold of Health Care Costs on American Families

Discussion: People's Policy Project, American Prospect, NBC News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, UPI and Bloomberg

CNN:
Elizabeth Warren releases plan to fund Medicare for All, pledges no middle class tax hike

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
Elizabeth Warren proposes new taxes to fund Medicare-for-all but says middle class would be spared

Discussion: Breitbart

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Elizabeth Warren says she would not raise middle class taxes for $52 trillion health care plan

Discussion: Redstate and Townhall

Ady Barkan / The Intercept:
Elizabeth Warren's Plan Is a Massive Win for the Medicare for All Movement

Discussion: New York Times

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds — Ms. Warren garnered 22 percent in a New York Times/Siena College poll, to 19 percent for Bernie Sanders. Pete Buttigieg has surged, while Mr. Biden's travails have put the race in flux. — Which of these Democrats would be your first choice in the Iowa caucuses?

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Axios, CNN, National Review, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Siena College Research …, Mediaite, Bloomberg, The Hill, Politico, Washington Times and Breitbart

David Brooks / New York Times:

Impeach Trump. Then Move On. — Stop distracting from the core issue, elite negligence and national decline. — Is it possible that more than 20 Republican senators will vote to convict Donald Trump of articles of impeachment? When you hang around Washington you get the sense that it could happen.

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Jewish Insider, Axios and Washington Post

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Americans divided 49% to 47% on impeachment, with criticism for both sides: POLL — Americans are split essentially even on impeaching Donald Trump and removing him from office, with criticism on both sides of the issue — toward Trump, for his response to the inquiry, and toward congressional Democrats …

Discussion: Progress Pond, The Hill and Bloomberg

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Will This Time Be Different?

Discussion: USA Today and Hot Air

Washington Post:
Americans sharply divided over whether to impeach and remove Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, The Hill and Associated Press

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

How Deadspin Imploded — The last meeting for many of Deadspin's journalists took place on Wednesday in a conference room adorned with fake black cobwebs, a large spider and bloody handprints beside the words: “HELP US.” — The plea, it seemed, went unanswered.

Discussion: Vox, Mediaite, The Week, Current Affairs, Mother Jones and Big League Politics, more at Mediagazer »

Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:

The Mavening of Sportswriting — Deadspin staffers resigned this week after a dispute with management. Like so many other publications, the future will bring an undead version of the site. — You've been waiting for it, haven't you? Wondering whether it'll turn up next to an old Drew Magary Funbag.

Discussion: Drew Magary, Nieman Lab, New York Post, Breitbart, BizPac Review and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Videos show indicted Giuliani associate standing behind Trump at 2018 rally — (CNN)News footage from an October 20, 2018, midterm election rally in Nevada shows indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas standing behind President Donald Trump. — Parnas and his business partner …

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Wire and Contemptor

Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok - sources — NEW YORK/BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co's $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly …

Discussion: Variety and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Jenny Leonard / Bloomberg:

Pelosi Calls USMCA ‘Easiest Trade Deal,’ Sees Vote When Ready — Pelosi is optimistic, but doesn't rule out vote in 2020 — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Donald Trump's new Nafta deal is the “easiest trade deal that we've ever done.” — “We're on a path to yes …

Billy House / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Expects Public Impeachment Hearings to Begin This Month

Discussion: The Hill

Ross Ramsey / The Texas Tribune:

Texas voters evenly split on impeachment of Donald Trump, UT/TT Poll finds — Texas voters are divided on whether the president should be removed from office, but nearly half think impeachment investigations should proceed, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Ben Makuch / VICE:

Ghislaine Maxwell Was a Guest at Jeff Bezos's Secret Book Retreat — Motherboard has learned Jeffrey Epstein's alleged fixer attended the Amazon CEO's exclusive book retreat ‘Campfire’ last year. — Every fall, the elite of the literary world and Hollywood convene at a highly secretive …

Discussion: CNBC

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump, Lifelong New Yorker, Declares Himself a Resident of Florida — The president filed a “declaration of domicile” last month saying that his property in Palm Beach will be his permanent residence. — He came of age in Queens, built Trump Tower, starred in “The Apprentice,” …

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump abandons proposing ideas to curb gun violence after saying he would following mass shootings — President Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials …

Discussion: The Hill, One America News Network, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and IJR

Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press:

Police officer retires after far-right group ties revealed — A Connecticut police officer has retired after a civil rights organization raised concerns about his membership in a far-right group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies, a town official said Friday.

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

GOP Lawmaker Head-Butts Camera Rather Than Answer A Question About Trump — Rep. Don Young really didn't want to answer this one. — Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) came up with a novel way to avoid a question about President Donald Trump on Thursday. — Instead of ignoring the activists …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, National Review and Contemptor

Center for Public Integrity:

Halloween's over. The FEC? Still a zombie. — These are dark times at the Federal Election Commission, which has now gone two months without enough commissioners to enforce federal campaign finance laws. — That's because U.S. senators and President Donald Trump have failed to strike …

Charles Sykes / USA Today:

The Republican Party must choose between Donald Trump and the party's fundamental values — Trump aims to discredit and delegitimize the impeachment process by turning it into a circus. But circuses need clowns. Is the GOP up for that? — This is the stark political reality …

Discussion: R Street and Washington Post

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump: The Soviet Witch Coup Has Found Me Innocent — Republicans have spent weeks calling impeachment proceedings a coup, and then a witch hunt. Confusingly, they appear to believe witch hunts are quasi-judicial proceedings run by actual witches, and accordingly circulated merchandise depicting Democrats as a coven.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Post and POLITICUSUSA

Mehdi Hasan / The Intercept:

Bernie Sanders Says Denying Aid Because of Hamas Is “Part of an Effort to Dehumanize Palestinians” — On Monday, the only Jewish candidate in the Democratic presidential race stood in front of an audience of Jews in Washington, D.C., and suggested cutting U.S. aid to Israel. — And they applauded him.

Discussion: HuffPost, Townhall and Wall Street Journal

Elizabeth Cohen / CNN:

She was called the n-word and given instructions to slit her wrists. What did Facebook do? — (CNN)You can call someone the n-word and give her graphic instructions on how to kill herself, and you won't get kicked off Facebook. — Or you can tell a mother you hope her son gets raped …

Discussion: Raw Story