Top Items:
Associated Press:
AP source: 2nd US official heard Trump call with Sondland — WASHINGTON (AP) — A second U.S. embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a key cellphone call between President Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union discussing the need for Ukrainian officials to pursue “investigations,” The Associated Press has learned.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Week, KTLA, CBS News and Washington Post
RELATED:
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:
New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Tangle, The Stranger, The Week, The Atlantic, Politico, Vox, POLITICUSUSA 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:
Washington Monthly, Yahoo News, The Hill, New York Times and Washington Post
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:
Slate, Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Mother Jones and NBC News
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:
The Atlantic and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Live updates: Pelosi says testimony of diplomats ‘corroborated evidence of bribery’ by Trump
Live updates: Pelosi says testimony of diplomats ‘corroborated evidence of bribery’ by Trump
Discussion:
Politico and Political Wire
Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:
Kellyanne Conway says ‘nothing new’ in impeachment hearing despite new revelations
Kellyanne Conway says ‘nothing new’ in impeachment hearing despite new revelations
Discussion:
The Hill
Noah Bookbinder / New York Times:
The Evidence of Wrongdoing by Trump Is Overwhelming
The Evidence of Wrongdoing by Trump Is Overwhelming
Discussion:
The Week, Daily Kos, The Guardian and The Atlantic
Matthias Williams / Reuters:
U.S. envoy Sondland did not link Biden probe to aid: Ukraine minister
U.S. envoy Sondland did not link Biden probe to aid: Ukraine minister
Discussion:
Breitbart
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, Fox News, The Guardian, Townhall, NPR, One America News Network, ABC News, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Axios and New York Times
RELATED:
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:
The Bulwark, CNN, Washington Post, CBS Boston, New York Post, New York Times, The Hill, Althouse and CBS News
Hannah Brown / Vox:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is running for president
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is running for president
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic and One America News Network
The Boston Globe:
Deval Patrick to launch 2020 presidential bid in N.H. today: ‘I feel I have something to offer’
Deval Patrick to launch 2020 presidential bid in N.H. today: ‘I feel I have something to offer’
Discussion:
Center for Public Integrity, Politico, WBUR, The Daily Beast, Political Wire, The Week, NPR and WWLP-TV
CNN:
Deval Patrick announces presidential campaign
Deval Patrick announces presidential campaign
Discussion:
Hot Air, Q13 FOX News, HuffPost and The Guardian
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:
Vox, Law & Crime, The Hill, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Slate, The Week and TMZ.com
RELATED:
Los Angeles Times:
Santa Clarita shooting: At least 5 injured; suspect captured, officials say — At least five people were wounded in a shooting at Saugus High School when a gunman opened fire on the Santa Clarita campus early Thursday, authorities said. — At least five people were injured — two critically …
Discussion:
NBC News, KTLA, The Daily Beast, fox8.com, Talking Points Memo, NPR and New York Post
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 …
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, The Hill, The Week, ABC News and Breitbart
RELATED:
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
Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:
The impeachment hearings, on Earth and Earth-45
The impeachment hearings, on Earth and Earth-45
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, CNN and Slate
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:
Washington Post, Breitbart and Law & Crime
Axios:
Impeachment's dueling echo chambers
Impeachment's dueling echo chambers
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch, The Daily Northwestern and Politico
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:
Fox News, BBC, New York Post, National Review, The Hill, Defense One, Raw Story, VICE, The Week, CNN, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and Politico
RELATED:
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 Gerstein / Politico:
Trump lawyers poised to take tax returns fight to Supreme Court — The fight over access to President Donald Trump's tax returns is expected to reach the Supreme Court on Thursday via one of two fast-track requests the president plans in a last-ditch bid to keep his financial records secret …
Discussion:
National Review
RELATED:
Walter Olson / Cato Institute:
Supreme Court Won't Intervene In Connecticut Gunmaker Case, For Now
Supreme Court Won't Intervene In Connecticut Gunmaker Case, For Now
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Reason
Ann Marimow / Washington Post:
Congress can seek eight years of Trump's tax records, appeals court rules
Congress can seek eight years of Trump's tax records, appeals court rules
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Root, HuffPost, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Axios and Political Wire
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
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:
National Review, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Associated Press
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:
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story
Reed Richardson / Mediaite:
Nixon WH Lawyer John Dean: First Day of Trump Hearings Yielded More Damning Testimony Than All of Watergate — Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean characterized the first day of public impeachment testimony against President Donald Trump as both thorough and damning, saying House Democrats …
RELATED:
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
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
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
The Economist:
Why Obama-Trump swing voters like heavy metal — Americans' musical tastes mirror their political divides — One reason America has become so polarised is that its two big parties are increasingly seen to represent tribes as well as policies. One study by Lilliana Mason of the University …
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: What Democrats and Republicans are telling us about Wednesday's impeachment show — DRIVING THE DAY — DAY ONE IS OVER, and it's hard to encapsulate six hours of hearings in a single headline. We spent the evening in the Capitol chatting up lawmakers, aides and reporters …
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press and The Week
Kate Cox / Ars Technica:
Google will offer checking accounts, says it won't sell the data — Checking accounts would be rich data trove Google says it will keep to itself. — The Google empire is enormous and ubiquitous, covering basically the entire Internet in one way or another.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Observer and CBS San Francisco, more at Techmeme »
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.