memeorandum: Trump says he won't allow Navy to punish SEAL who posed with dead body (Ryan Browne/CNN)

3:10 PM ET, November 21, 2019

Top Items:

Fiona Hill tells Devin Nunes to his face that his Ukraine conspiracy theory is ‘harmful’ — It's already been publicly embraced by Vladimir Putin. — One reason that Russia's interference effort in 2016 was successful was that it leveraged a powerful source of energy: partisanship.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Guardian, The Week, Politico, Joe.My.God. and Daily Kos

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Fiona Hill clashes with GOP over ‘fictional’ Ukraine claims — President Donald Trump's former top Russia aide sparred with Republican lawmakers on Thursday, accusing them of emboldening Moscow by pushing a “fictional narrative” that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Discussion: CNN, Breitbart, Progress Pond, New York Times, ABC News, TheBlaze, New York Post, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Axios, Contemptor and The Root

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Impeachment hearings putting Trump through emotional wringer — One day, he's up. One day, he's down. Other days he's just angry. — President Donald Trump has gone through a range of emotions since House Democrats started their public impeachment hearings last week about whether …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, New York Times, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, USA Today, Law & Crime and FiveThirtyEight

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Fiona Hill Viewed Serving Trump as Risky. Now She's an Impeachment Witness. — Ms. Hill's decision to be the president's top adviser on Russia and Europe strained friendships, made her a target of conspiracy theories — and landed her in the center of the tumult over Ukraine.

Discussion: The Guardian

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The GOP defense of Trump is in slow-motion collapse. It's about to get worse. — We know this to be true: Approximately one week passed between President Trump's decision in mid-July to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, and a phone call on July 26 …

Discussion: TheBlaze and Slate

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

The huge Gordon Sondland revelation almost everyone missed — (CNN)Gordon Sondland made a LOT of news in his opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. There was a quid pro quo between the Americans and the Ukrainains. Everybody in the White House knew about it.

Discussion: Raw Story

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
No Mystery — Republicans aren't being moved by Sondland's testimony …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, The G-File and Slate

Washington Post:
Sondland's bombshell testimony leaves Trump's Republican allies scrambling

Discussion: The American Independent, The Hill, New York Times, Breitbart, US News, The Federalist, NBC News, Foreign Policy and The Guardian

Rachel Siegel / Washington Post:
Trump took credit for opening a Mac factory. It's been open since 2013.

Discussion: The Verge, CNN and HuffPost, more at Techmeme »

CNN:
‘I think this is also going to blow up’: Witness says EU ambassador was running ‘domestic political errand’

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, FOX2now.com, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, The Gateway Pundit, WTVR-TV, Lawyers, Guns & Money and WPIX 11 New York

HuffPost:
Sondland's Testimony Was A Bombshell. Republicans Pretended It Was A Dud.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Vox

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
David Holmes made clear how pressure was applied to Ukraine — and how that pressure continues

Discussion: The Atlantic, Raw Story and CREW

ABC News:
Trump impeachment hearings live updates: Fiona Hill and David Holmes testify

Discussion: Fox News, Mother Jones, The Week, The Hill and Althouse

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump cozies up to GOP during impeachment — including Mitt Romney and Susan Collins

Discussion: The Hill, The American Independent and Vanity Fair

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: ‘Buckle up’: Last day of the impeachment show ... for now

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, Breitbart and The Week

Washington Post:
Gordon Sondland just made this scandal a whole lot bigger

Discussion: The Wrap

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Donald Trump's Gordon Problem

Discussion: staff, Raw Story, Daily Kos and POLITICUSUSA

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:

Israel's Netanyahu Indicted on Charges of Fraud, Bribery and Breach of Trust — The first prosecution of a sitting Israeli premier deepens the political paralysis in a country that has had two inconclusive elections this year, and may be headed to a third vote.

Discussion: Associated Press, Jerusalem Post, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Netael Bandel / Haaretz:

Netanyahu Charged With Bribery, Fraud and Breach of Trust, Capping a Dramatic Political Year — Netanyahu becomes first sitting prime minister in Israel's history to be charged with bribery, in case involving quid-pro-quo with telecom tycoon — >> All of Netanyahu corruption cases, explained

Discussion: Law & Crime and Joe.My.God.

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted on corruption charges

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Amy Teibel / Bloomberg: Benjamin Netanyahu to Face Trial on Charges of Bribery and Fraud

NBC News:
Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust

Discussion: Townhall and POLITICUSUSA

Raoul Wootliff / The Times of Israel:
AG announces Netanyahu to stand trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust

Discussion: National Review, Reuters, Jerusalem Post and The Gateway Pundit

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Pete Buttigieg Is in Bad Shape With Black Democrats. Here's How Bad. — No Democrat in modern times has won the party's nomination without claiming majorities of black voters, the most crucial voting bloc in South Carolina and an array of delegate-rich states.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Vox, The Atlantic and GV Wire

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:
Why Pete Buttigieg got a pass in the debate

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, CBS News, Washington Free Beacon, The Hill, Washington Post, New York Times, FactCheck.org, Outside the Beltway and Joe.My.God.

Iowa State University: Warren slipping as Buttigieg continues to surge

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The Lost Debate — There are winners and losers, even when no one watches.

Discussion: National Review

NBC News:
Democrats are winning impeachment inquiry on substance but can they win on politics?

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Washington Post and Raw Story

John Hendrickson / The Atlantic:

What Joe Biden Can't Bring Himself to Say — His eyes fall to the floor when I ask him to describe it. We've been tiptoeing toward it for 45 minutes, and so far, every time he seems close, he backs away, or leads us in a new direction. There are competing theories in the press, but Joe Biden has kept mum on the subject.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Lev Parnas Helped Rep. Devin Nunes' Investigations … The indicted Giuliani associate helped arrange meetings and calls in Europe for the Republican congressman in 2018. — Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, helped arrange meetings and calls in Europe for Rep. Devin Nunes in 2018 …

Discussion: Vox, emptywheel, Breitbart, Salon, Byline Times, CANNONFIRE, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Balloon Juice, New York Times, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Dave Philipps / New York Times:

Trump Reverses Navy Decision to Oust Edward Gallagher From SEALs — The president said Chief Gallagher, who has been at center of a high-profile war crime case, would not lose his membership in the elite commando force. — President Trump on Thursday reversed a decision by the Navy seeking …

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, The American Independent, TheBlaze, The Hill, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Ryan Browne / CNN:

Trump says he won't allow Navy to punish SEAL who posed with dead body — (CNN)President Donald Trump has once again weighed in on potential disciplinary action against Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, appearing to override a Navy decision to initiate a review that could result in him being stripped of his status as a SEAL.

NBC News:

Trump hosted Zuckerberg for undisclosed dinner at the White House in October — The meeting took place during Zuckerberg's most recent visit to Washington, where he testified before Congress about Facebook's new cryptocurrency Libra. — President Donald Trump hosted a previously undisclosed dinner …

Discussion: Redstate, Vox, Politico, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HuffPost, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Mashable, Engadget, Axios and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Rep. Devin Nunes / The Permanent Select Committee …:

Nunes Opening Statement for Hill and Holmes Hearing on Impeachment — f t # e — Opening Statement for Hill and Holmes Hearing on Impeachment — Throughout these bizarre hearings, the Democrats have struggled to make the case that President Trump committed some impeachable offense …

Discussion: Redstate and Breitbart

Hope Yen / Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: Trump, GOP claims on Ukraine corruption

Discussion: Politico, KSLNewsRadio and Florida Politics

Peter Elkind / ProPublica:

Prosecutors Investigating the Trump Organization Zero In on Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg — Weisselberg is one of the Trump Organization's longest tenured employees and is now co-running the business. He escaped federal prosecution for the Stormy Daniels payments but is now a focus of an investigation by Manhattan's district attorney.

Discussion: Law & Crime

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:

Americans Steal Kremlin's Playbook, for Clicks and Profit — An investigation found that a former Fox News executive hired Macedonians to write culturally and politically divisive content for his websites. — SAN FRANCISCO — At first glance, the websites Conservative Edition News …

Discussion: Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Jim Jordan used to torment GOP leaders. Now he's leading them in defending Trump. — It's easy to picture Jim Jordan in a locker room, standing jacketless on a cooler or folding chair, rolling up his sleeves and rallying the troops before a crucial showdown.

Discussion: Raw Story