Top Items:
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Ambassador's cellphone call to Trump from Kyiv restaurant was a stunning breach of security, former officials say — A U.S. ambassador's cellphone call to President Trump from a restaurant in the capital of Ukraine last summer was a stunning breach of security, exposing the conversation …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Stranger, The Week, New York Times, Politico and POLITICUSUSA
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Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
10 Takeaways From Day One of Impeachment — After weeks of Republican complaints about the secret “Soviet-style” hearings, there was something deliciously ironic about watching Devin Nunes pivoting to complain that Wednesday's public impeachment hearing was a “televised theatrical performance.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, The Week, Mother Jones and NBC News
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Crazy for Trump: On the G.O.P. Plan to Keep Impeachment Partisan — The hearings open with diplomatic gravitas—and nutty conspiracy theories. — It didn't take long for the crazy to start. Even before the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings of Donald Trump had been sworn …
Discussion:
The Hill, Progress Pond, New York Times and Washington Post
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:
Fox News
Noah Bookbinder / New York Times:
The Evidence of Wrongdoing by Trump Is Overwhelming
The Evidence of Wrongdoing by Trump Is Overwhelming
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Guardian and The Atlantic
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: What Democrats and Republicans are telling us about Wednesday's impeachment show
POLITICO Playbook: What Democrats and Republicans are telling us about Wednesday's impeachment show
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press and The Week
Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
As Talks With Putin Loom, Ukraine Looks in Vain for U.S. Help
Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:
The impeachment hearings, on Earth and Earth-45
The impeachment hearings, on Earth and Earth-45
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, CBS News, CNN and Slate
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:
National Review, The Hill, VICE, Defense One, Raw Story, The Week, CNN, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and Politico
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Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Graham blocks resolution recognizing Armenian genocide after Erdoğan meeting — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked a resolution on Wednesday that would have formally recognized the Ottoman Empire's genocide against the Armenian people. — Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) …
Uri Friedman / The Atlantic:
How Trump's ‘Green Light’ Moment in Syria Shook the World
How Trump's ‘Green Light’ Moment in Syria Shook the World
Discussion:
NPR
Perry Bacon Jr / FiveThirtyEight:
Why Deval Patrick Is Making A Late Bid For The Democratic Nomination — It may seem strange that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is entering the presidential race, as he will reportedly announce on Thursday. It's really late. The field still has 16 “major” candidates.
Discussion:
Vox, CNN, Washington Post, The Hill, New York Post, CBS Boston and Althouse
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YouTube:
Deval Patrick Announcement Video — In a spirit of profound gratitude for all the country has given to me, with a determination to build a better, more sustainable, more inclusive American Dream for everyone: — I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Atlantic, Fox News, ABC News, Townhall, The Guardian, NPR, Washington Times, One America News Network, Bloomberg, Axios and New York Times
CNN:
Deval Patrick announces presidential campaign
Deval Patrick announces presidential campaign
Discussion:
Q13 FOX News, HuffPost, The Guardian and The Hill
Renato Mariotti / Politico:
Impeachment Is Not a Fair Fight, and on Day One It Showed — If it looked like House Republicans were throwing a lot of mud at the wall to see what might stick during the first day of public impeachment hearings, that's because they had settled into a strategy many defense attorneys adopt …
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Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Why Democrats did much better than expected in the first hearing
Why Democrats did much better than expected in the first hearing
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Reason
William Saletan / Slate:
The Seven Ways Wednesday's Hearing Clarified Trump's Real Motives
The Seven Ways Wednesday's Hearing Clarified Trump's Real Motives
Discussion:
Breitbart, Law & Crime and The Guardian
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Michael Bloomberg Has a History of Demeaning Comments About Women — As he prepares a presidential run, Mr. Bloomberg's crude remarks are likely to draw scrutiny. His team issued a statement saying that some of them were “disrespectful and wrong.” — It was a cheeky birthday gift …
Discussion:
National Review, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Associated Press
CNN:
Exclusive: Trump DC hotel sales pitch boasts of millions to be made from foreign governments — The hotel's biggest selling point though, according to a copy of the brochure seen by CNN, is the one thing that the Trump family insists it didn't take advantage of: profiting off foreign governments.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Guardian and Raw Story
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:
The Hill and The Daily Caller
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Elizabeth Warren buys CNBC commercial time to blast billionaires in a fiery new campaign ad — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is firing back against a group of billionaires who have criticized her plans with a new TV ad set to air on CNBC later this week. — The ad takes aim at longtime investor …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Post, Common Dreams, New York Times, HuffPost, TheStreet, Twitchy, The Week, Raw Story and Mediaite
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Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
Warren Wealth Tax Could Slow Economy, Early Analysis Finds
Warren Wealth Tax Could Slow Economy, Early Analysis Finds
Discussion:
Political Wire
Associated Press:
AP-NORC/USA Facts poll: Americans struggle to ID true facts — WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharply divided country, here's something many Americans agree on: It's hard to know what's a true and honest fact. — A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research …
Discussion:
Political Wire and The Hill
Aila Slisco / Newsweek:
Axios' Swan Says Trump Team, White House Thinks They Won First Day of Impeachment Hearings: ‘They Feel Great Today’ — President Donald Trump and his team “feel really great” about the first public impeachment hearing, according to Axios journalist Jonathan Swan.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Facebook fetes Kavanaugh — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has kept a relatively low-profile since the Senate narrowly confirmed him last year amidst serious allegations of sexual assault. That will change tonight when Kavanaugh is the keynote speaker at the annual convention …
Discussion:
The Verge and Washington Post
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:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball
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, Boing Boing and Florida Politics
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump's Best Defense on Impeachment Undermines His Case for Re-Election — Insubordinate bureaucrats may save him from being removed from office, but they also show him to be a weak president. — The best defense of President Donald Trump on the first day of the House's public impeachment hearings came …
Discussion:
Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and CNN
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 …
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Rush Limbaugh Mocks Bill Taylor, George Kent as ‘Self-Important Nerds’ Who ‘Believe in Their Own Superiority’ — As the impeachment hearing was underway today, Rush Limbaugh said that both Bill Taylor and George Kent are “self-important nerds” who are only upset because the president wouldn't do foreign policy their way.
The Guardian:
Trump proposed sending migrants to Guantánamo, claims book by anonymous author — Plan to designate migrants as ‘enemy combatants’ provoked astonishment and mortification, says author of A Warning — Donald Trump proposed designating all migrants entering the US without permission as …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Contemptor and Washington Post
Ann Marimow / Washington Post:
Congress can seek eight years of Trump's tax records, appeals court rules — Congress can seek eight years of President Trump's tax records, according to a federal appeals court order Wednesday that moves the separation-of-powers conflict one step closer to the Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, Raw Story, Axios and Political Wire
Blake Flayton / New York Times:
On the Frontlines of Progressive Anti-Semitism — I am a young, gay, left-wing Jew. Yet I am called an “apartheid-enabler,” a “baby killer” and a “colonial apologist.” — Mr. Flayton is a sophomore at George Washington University. — I have never done 23-and-me, nor have I “ancestry.com'd” myself.
Michael Edison Hayden / Southern Poverty Law Center:
Emails Detail Miller's Ties to Group That Touted White Nationalist Writers — White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller demonstrates a connection to an anti-immigrant think tank that promoted white nationalist writers, according to emails acquired by Hatewatch.
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Times and NBC News
The Daily Beast:
Revealed: The Pro-Trump Playbook for Smearing U.S. Diplomats — Ukraine isn't the only place a U.S. official was sidelined after ethically dubious officials peddling conspiracy theories saw an in with Trump's personal attorney. — Foreign governments have settled on a new strategy …