memeorandum: No firsthand knowledge is GOP rallying cry in defense of Trump on impeachment (Washington Post)

7:10 PM ET, November 14, 2019

Top Items:

Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:

Rudy Giuliani says Trump will stay loyal to him but jokes that he has ‘insurance’ — Exclusive: The president's personal lawyer has emerged as a key figure in the impeachment inquiry, with speculation that Republicans will seek to paint him as a rogue actor

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Hill, Law & Crime, Hullabaloo, The Week, Political Wire, Mediaite and Raw Story

Associated Press:

AP source: 2nd US official heard Trump call with Sondland — WASHINGTON (AP) — A second U.S. Embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a cellphone call between President Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union discussing a need for Ukrainian officials to pursue “investigations,” The Associated Press has learned.

Discussion: The Dispatch, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Week, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime, KTLA, Politico, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Intercept, NBC News and CBS News

CNN:

Russian spies likely intercepted ambassador's cell phone call with Trump — Washington (CNN)US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's cell phone call to President Donald Trump from a restaurant in Ukraine this summer appears to be a shocking security breach that raises significant …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Political Wire, The Guardian and Washington Post

Associated Press:
AP source: 2nd US embassy official overheard President Trump's call with Sondland about need for Ukraine investigations

Discussion: Raw Story and Shareblue Media

Christian Caryl / Washington Post:
Sorry, Republicans, but Paul Manafort really was corrupt

Discussion: Associated Press, New Republic and BuzzFeed News

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
The 5 questions Gordon Sondland needs to answer

Discussion: Associated Press, Slate, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

Erica Werner / Washington Post:

Career White House budget official expected to break ranks, testify in impeachment inquiry — Mark Sandy would be the first Office of Management and Budget official to appear after a series of political appointees defied congressional subpoenas — A longtime career employee at the White House Office …

Discussion: Axios

CNN:
Top Democrats privately concede major shift in public opinion on impeachment is unlikely

Discussion: Political Wire

Washington Post:
No firsthand knowledge is GOP rallying cry in defense of Trump on impeachment

Discussion: Tangle, New York Times, The Week and Hot Air

Sabrina Rodriguez / Politico:
Pelosi: USMCA deal is ‘imminent’

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and Blue Virginia

Washington Post: Live updates: A second State Department official overheard Trump's call with E.U. envoy discussing …

Washington Post:

Trump asks Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from prosecutors, setting up historic separation-of-power showdown — President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to stop a prosecutor's investigation of his personal finances, a bold assertion of presidential power that seeks …

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, The Root, Daily Kos, Political Wire and Axios

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Bar Release of His Tax Returns — A fight over a Manhattan grand jury subpoena could yield a major decision on presidential power. — WASHINGTON — President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to bar his accounting firm from turning over eight years of his tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Trump wants Supreme Court to block subpoena for his taxes

Discussion: Politico, Axios, The Hill, Law & Crime and One America News Network

Gianluca Mezzofiore / CNN:

Italian council is flooded immediately after rejecting measures on climate change — (CNN)Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice's Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time in its history on Tuesday night — just after it rejected measures to combat climate change.

Discussion: The Verge, WTKR-TV, NPR, CityLab, Common Dreams, New York Times and Q13 FOX News

Los Angeles Times:

Santa Clarita shooting: 2 teens killed; attack came on suspect's birthday, officials say — One person was killed and at least four others were injured in a shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita early Thursday, authorities said. — Two students were killed …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, KTLA, New York Post, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Slate and MSNBC

NBC Southern California:

At Least Three Victims in Shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita — Students with arms raised were escorted by deputies from the school about 40 miles north of Los Angeles — There are at least three victims in a shooting Thursday morning at a high school in Santa Clarita, where the search continues for the shooter.

Discussion: New York Times, KTLA, Breitbart, KNSD-TV, USA Today, The Hill, Law & Crime, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, The Week, New York Post and TMZ.com

Emily Shapiro / ABC News:
At least 2 killed in California school shooting, with 16-year-old suspect in ‘grave condition’

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Boing Boing and TheBlaze

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Senate Confirms Wildly Problematic Trump Court Pick Steven Menashi — He's never tried a case. He condemned women's rights and diversity. He refused to answer senators' questions. Republicans confirmed him anyway. — WASHINGTON ― The Senate voted Thursday to make Steven Menashi …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Common Dreams and Political Wire

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Senate confirms controversial Trump judicial nominee

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, The Hill and Slate

Steve Benen / MSNBC: Senate GOP confirms highly controversial Trump judicial nominee

Melissa Ratliff / WLEX:

Gov. Bevin concedes election following recanvass — FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — At a podium inside his office, Governor Matt Bevin conceded the election nine days after losing to Gov.-elect Andy Beshear. — The governor formally requested a recanvass following his loss to Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Discussion: Axios and Raw Story

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Matt Bevin concedes Kentucky governor's race

Discussion: HuffPost

Daniel Desrochers / Lexington Herald-Leader:
Matt Bevin concedes Kentucky governor race. 'We're going to have a change.'

Discussion: Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. watchdog won't let witnesses give written feedback on report about FBI's Russia probe, sparking fears of inaccuracy — The Justice Department Inspector General's office has told witnesses who are set to review draft sections of its long-awaited report on the FBI investigation …

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Five Cellphones, Trump Straws, a Lot of Cash—What This Giuliani Crony Was Carrying When the FBI Arrested Him — Lev Parnas also had the business card of a top Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutor with whom Giuliani met this year. — BEAST INSIDE — When Rudy Giuliani crony Lev Parnas …

Discussion: Raw Story

Morning Call:

Most Pennsylvania voters have dim view of Trump, new poll shows. His Democratic foes have work to do, too — One year before Pennsylvania voters will head to the polls in a critical swing state, a new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll shows nearly six in 10 don't believe President Donald Trump should be re-elected.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Political Wire

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Close races between Trump and Democrats in North Carolina

Discussion: War Room

Washington Post:

RNC to hold winter meetings at Trump resort that was considered for G-7 summit — The Republican National Committee will hold its winter meetings at President Trump's Doral golf course in Florida next year — awarding another of the party's most lucrative events to the president's private business, a party spokesman said Thursday.

Discussion: The Hill

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Fox's prime time stars are telling Trump that the impeachment hearings are a ‘disaster’ for Democrats — New York (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. — I wanted to know what President Trump …

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, Mediaite, NBC News and New Yorker, more at Mediagazer »

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
10 Takeaways From Day One of Impeachment

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Slate, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Week, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Progress Pond

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Bloomberg's Team Calls His Crude Remarks on Women ‘Wrong’ — As Michael Bloomberg prepares a presidential run, his history of crude remarks is likely to draw scrutiny. His team said some were “disrespectful.” — It was a cheeky birthday gift for a hard-charging boss …

Discussion: HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, The Hill, National Review, IJR, The Daily Caller, The Week and Associated Press

NBC News:

Trump admin preparing to take over private land in Texas for border wall — The Trump administration is preparing court filings to begin taking over private land in Texas to build a border wall as early as this week, say officials. — The Trump administration is preparing court filings …

Discussion: National Review and Political Wire

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Erdogan upends Oval meeting to play anti-Kurd film on iPad — An Oval Office meeting yesterday with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took a dark turn when Erdoğan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, BBC, The Hill, Hullabaloo, CNN, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Raw Story, VICE, Commentary, National Review, Hot Air, Defense One, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, The Week, Ted Cruz, Mediaite and Wall Street Journal

Madison Dibble / Washington Examiner:

'I'm embarrassed for you': Kellyanne Conway steams after clip of husband's MSNBC commentary played — CNN host Wolf Blitzer pressed Kellyanne Conway to respond to her husband, George Conway's MSNBC commentary on the impeachment hearings. — George Conway joined MSNBC's coverage …

Discussion: Politico, IJR and Deadline

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Ethics Committee extends review of Talib, probes Hastings for alleged relationship with staffer — The House Ethics Committee on Thursday announced it is extending its review of a campaign finance matter related to Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, while acknowledging for the first time a probe …

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

ProPublica:

A Trump Tax Break To Help The Poor Went To a Rich GOP Donor's Superyacht Marina — Wealthy donors Wayne Huizenga Jr. and Jeff Vinik lobbied then-Gov. Rick Scott for the lucrative tax break — and won it. Poorer communities lost out. … The Rybovich superyacht marina lies on the West Palm Beach …

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, Florida Politics and Boing Boing

Charlie Nash / Mediaite:

Steve King Goes Full Steve King: Posts Photos of George Soros' Son Falsely Claiming He's Whistleblower (UPDATED) — Rep. Steve King (R-IA) posted photos of the son of left-wing billionaire George Soros on Thursday, absurdly accusing him of being the White House whistleblower.

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Occupy Democrats, The Daily Beast, Iowa Starting Line, Political Wire and @politifact

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Rand Paul may force vote to bring Hunter Biden as witness in impeachment trial — Sen. Rand Paul could force a vote on the Senate floor that would bring Hunter Biden or other White House-favored impeachment witnesses to an impeachment trial. — Paul said on Thursday he's considering forcing votes …

Discussion: Townhall, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

House Committee on Ethics:

Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative Ross Spano — Pursuant to Committee Rule 7, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics (Committee) determined on November 14, 2019, to release the following statement:

Discussion: Axios, The Hill and U.S. Representative Ross Spano

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

RNC plunges into Louisiana gov's race amid signs of trouble — The Republican National Committee is pouring another $1 million into the Louisiana governor's race ahead of Saturday's runoff — a move that comes amid mounting GOP concerns about losing a second major election in a conservative state in as many weeks.

Discussion: The Hill, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball and Talking Points Memo

Bill Oakley / Washington Post:

One of the defenses of Trump is — literally — a TV-cartoon joke — A former ‘Simpsons’ writer on the ‘Sideshow Bob defense.’ … — Sideshow Bob, “The Simpsons,” Season Six, Episode Five, 1994 — This rhetorical absurdity, originally intended as joke on a TV cartoon, is now being trotted out in all seriousness by the GOP.

Steven Overly / Politico:

Amazon suing Pentagon over $10B cloud contract, alleging ‘bias’ — Amazon is going to court to overturn the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft a cloud computing contract worth up to $10 billion, claiming the selection process for the so-called JEDI program was injected with “unmistakable bias” and “political influence.”

Discussion: Associated Press

WKRC:

Ohio House passes bill allowing student answers to be scientifically wrong due to religion — COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKRC) - Ohio lawmakers are weighing in on how public schools can teach things like evolution. The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the “Student Religious Liberties Act. ”

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:

On Facebook, fears of parasites push people to post pictures of feces and pursue dangerous remedies — While these groups have been under pressure from authorities, they have so far been successful in sidestepping Facebook's broader crackdown on health misinformation.