memeorandum: 'It doesn't matter': House Republicans embrace ‘quid pro quo’ (David M. Drucker/Washington Examiner)

9:25 AM ET, November 20, 2019

Top Items:

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Sondland Kept Pompeo Informed on Ukraine Pressure Campaign — The diplomat at the center of the impeachment inquiry looped in the secretary of state at key moments as American officials pushed for investigations sought by President Trump. — WASHINGTON — Gordon D. Sondland …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Common Dreams, Hullabaloo, The Week, Joe.My.God., Daily Kos, Political Wire, Mediaite, Roll Call, Raw Story, Washington Post and Just Security

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The Spectacular Failure of the Trump Wranglers — Kurt Volker and many others tried to manage the President. Impeachment is the result. — On Tuesday, nearly seven hours into the marathon third day of public impeachment hearings, Kurt Volker tried to explain to the House Intelligence Committee …

Discussion: Raw Story

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Sondland Will Trash Rudy in Impeachment Hearing — “We weren't happy with the President's directive to talk with Rudy,” he said. “We did not want to involve Mr. Giuliani.” — U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is set to throw Rudy Giuliani under the bus when he testifies to Congress this morning.

Discussion: Political Wire, Raw Story and Axios

Ari Feldman / The Forward:

Alexander Vindman's Family Under 24-Hour Security Monitoring After Twitter Targeting By Trump — The Army has placed Alexander Vindman, an expert on Ukraine and a central figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, and his family under 24-hour security monitoring …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, PEN, Raw Story, Redstate, The Week, The Atlantic, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, The Daily Beast and The Hill

The Daily Beast:

Trump White House Blasts Out Anti-Vindman Talking Points to Surrogates — It is the latest attack from the president's team on one of his employees. — The Trump White House has taken the extraordinary step of distributing talking points to allies of the president trashing one of its employees.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., PEN, Deseret News, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and Bloomberg

Peter Baker / New York Times:

A White House Now ‘Cannibalizing Itself’ — “On July 25th, along with several of my colleagues, I listened to a call between President Trump and President Zelensky, the content of which has since been publicly reported. I found the July 25th phone call unusual because in contrast …

Discussion: Political Wire

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Sondland: ‘Was there a quid pro quo? The answer is yes’ — Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified on Wednesday more bluntly than he had before that President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, sought to condition a White House invite for Ukraine's new president to demands …

The Daily Beast:

Sondland Was Talking to Zelensky Allies About Biden Investigations in Mid-May — On the eve of the ambassador's public testimony before House impeachment investigators, two sources say he was pushing for the probes earlier than was previously known. — U.S. Ambassador to the European Union …

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Impeachment's trench warfare

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Josh Hammer / New York Post:
Alexander Vindman condemned himself in his impeachment testimony

Discussion: Fox News

Josh Lederman / NBC News:
Sondland testimony targets Trump, Pompeo and confirms deal with Ukraine

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God. and MSNBC

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Republicans should have thought twice before calling Volker and Morrison

Discussion: Vox, Taylor Marsh and CNN

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
‘The answer is yes’: Sondland affirms ‘quid pro quo’ in Ukraine dealings

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, The Dispatch and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:
Ukrainian gas executive cooperating in US probe of Giuliani

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and The American Independent

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Lou Dobbs Guest Mocks Vindman: He's a ‘Deep State Crybaby’

Discussion: Washington Post and Contemptor

Adam Edelman / NBC News: 10 things we learned from a marathon day of impeachment testimony

Washington Post:
‘Comes down to one guy’: In impeachment probe, all eyes turn to Gordon Sondland

Discussion: Politico, The Week and Political Wire

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Kurt Volker, impeachment witness requested by Republicans, debunks many of their arguments

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TheBlaze and Mother Jones

Los Angeles Times:
$35 million in Pentagon aid hasn't reached Ukraine, despite White House assurances

Discussion: The Week, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Axios

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Sondland testimony could be pivotal point of impeachment showdown

Discussion: Vox, WPIX 11 New York and FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Sara Carter / Sara A. Carter:
Vindman Advised Ukraine Prez About Alleged Plot But Not His Commander-in-Chief

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Kyle Baxter / The Bulwark:
The Unbelievable Gordon Sondland

Discussion: Slate and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

'It doesn't matter': House Republicans embrace ‘quid pro quo’ — After saying they could not accept a quid pro quo, House Republicans say it no longer matters if President Trump tied $400 million in military aid earmarked for Ukraine to Kyiv agreeing to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Discussion: Raw Story

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

How Republicans' star impeachment witness turned on them — (CNN)Former US Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker was widely seen as Republicans' impeachment ace in the hole. On Tuesday on Capitol Hill, it didn't work out that way. — Volker's opening statement repeatedly acknowledged …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

A very bad impeachment hearings day for Donald Trump — Analysis: Four witnesses delivered testimony that was deeply damaging to Trump's remaining defenses against allegations that he was personally involved in an arms-for-investigations deal. — WASHINGTON — They both wore the uniforms …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Washington Post:
Even Republicans' preferred witnesses are implicating Trump

Discussion: New York Times

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
This answer from Kurt Volker makes very little sense

Discussion: CNN and Hot Air

Yahoo News:

FBI seeks interview with CIA whistleblower — WASHINGTON — The FBI recently sought to question the CIA whistleblower who filed a complaint over President Trump's July 25 Ukraine call — a move that came after a vigorous internal debate within the bureau over how to respond to some of the issues raised …

Discussion: Raw Story

Christopher Dickey / The Daily Beast:

Nikki Haley Used System for Unclassified Material to Send ‘Confidential’ Information — Newly released emails suggest that in 2017 the then-ambassador lost her password for classified communication and so used a different system. — North Korea had just tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable …

Discussion: Raw Story

Akela Lacy / The Intercept:

As President, Pete Buttigieg Wants to Give 25 Percent of Federal Contracts to Minorities. As Mayor, He Gave 3 Percent. — One of the main tenets of Pete Buttigieg's plan to address racial inequality if he becomes president is a proposal to increase the number of federal contracting dollars …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Week and The Daily Beast

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
There Are Two Rhodes Scholars Running For President. Only One Gets Mentioned.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Slate

Ady Barkan / The Nation:

Why I'm Endorsing Elizabeth Warren — Elizabeth or Bernie? It's a difficult and wonderful choice to have. — I have spent my entire career at the messy and vital intersection of movement-building, electoral politics, and governance. And for the past three years, I've done that work under …

Discussion: CNN

Dave Philipps / New York Times:

Navy Wants to Eject From SEALs a Sailor Cleared by Trump, Officials Say — Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher is expected to be formally notified of the action on Wednesday. — The Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile war crimes case has been ordered to appear before Navy leaders Wednesday morning …

Discussion: Slate, Washington Times, Hullabaloo, Task & Purpose, American Thinker, New York Post, Raw Story and Washington Post

Heather Schwedel / Slate:

An Interview With the Woman Who Strongly Needed Her Coffee During a Live Impeachment Hearing — Tuesday's award for the most amusing diversion from the minutia of the impeachment hearings goes to McClatchy congressional reporter Emma Dumain, who went minorly viral for chugging coffee …

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Post and CNN

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

ANALYSIS: What if Trump was right about Ukraine? — One of the most important issues in President Trump's impeachment defense is also one of the least explored: To what degree were Trump's concerns about Ukraine valid? It's well documented that the president fixated on Ukrainian activity …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Sergii Leshchenko / KyivPost:
Republicans keep lying about me at impeachment hearings

Discussion: The Intercept, more at Mediagazer »

David Harsanyi / National Review:

Nancy Pelosi Is Already Attacking the Legitimacy of the 2020 Election — Democrats are unable to accept the fact that a bunch of voters will simply disagree with them. — ancy Pelosi just stated that 'it is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump's fate.' @FoxNews In other words …

Discussion: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, FactCheck.org and Washington Post

TIME:

Mike Pompeo Is Searching for a Safe Exit from State Ahead of Senate Run, GOP Sources Say — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told three prominent Republicans in recent weeks that he plans to resign from the Trump Administration to run for the U.S. Senate from Kansas in next year's elections.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and Raw Story

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Collins ‘strongly’ considers a Senate bid if Kemp doesn't tap him — It raises the chance of a GOP clash over Isakson's seat — U.S. Rep. Doug Collins said Wednesday he is “strongly” considering a run for the U.S. Senate if he isn't appointed to the job by Gov. Brian Kemp …