memeorandum: Navy Secretary says review of SEAL should proceed despite Trump's opposition (Ryan Browne/CNN)

12:00 AM ET, November 23, 2019

Top Items:

Vicky Ward / CNN:

Giuliani associate willing to tell Congress Nunes met with ex-Ukrainian official to get dirt on Biden — (CNN)A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani tells CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee …

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, KTLA and Mediaite

Simon Shuster / TIME:

Exclusive: CEO of Ukraine State Gas Firm Preparing to Testify in Giuliani Probe — The CEO of Ukraine's state gas company, Naftogaz, is ready to give evidence in a U.S. federal investigation that is reportedly probing the business dealings of Rudy Giuliani, the CEO said in an exclusive interview on Friday.

Discussion: Axios

Michael Wilner / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Records show contact between Pompeo and Giuliani ahead of Ukraine ambassador's ouster

Discussion: Raw Story, Associated Press and Mercury News

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
A Senate Trial Could Put Trump's Use of Aggressive Defense Tactics to Their Biggest Test

Discussion: Raw Story

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Exclusive — Devin Nunes to Sue CNN, Daily Beast over Fake News Attacks

Discussion: The Daily Wire and Daily Kos

Harry Siegel / New York Daily News: ‘1984’ arrives 35 years late: Republicans like Devin Nunes are intent on making 2 plus 2 equal whatever …

New York Daily News:
Giuliani Ukraine pal gave ‘hard evidence’ to Trump impeachment investigators, wants to testify

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:

Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts — A watchdog report will portray the pursuit of a wiretap of an ex-Trump adviser as sloppy, but it also debunks some accusations by Trump allies of F.B.I. wrongdoing. — WASHINGTON — A highly anticipated report …

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. watchdog finds political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI's Russia probe but documents other errors — The Justice Department's internal watchdog is expected to find in a forthcoming report that political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI investigation …

Discussion: Townhall, Law & Crime and Raw Story

New York Times:

Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says — Moscow has run a yearslong operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference. Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Intercept, FactCheck.org, The Week, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, Washington Times, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Outside the Beltway and Associated Press

Steve Scherer / Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. Navy secretary backs SEAL's expulsion review, despite Trump objection — HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said on Friday a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers weighing whether to oust him from the elite force …

Discussion: Navy Times and The Gateway Pundit

Sébastien Roblin / NBC News:

Navy defies Trump's clemency of SEAL Edward Gallagher to save its institutional integrity — The Pentagon's effort to discipline a rogue SEAL despite presidential intervention shows the military understands it needs to get elite units in order. — The Navy announced it was considering …

Ryan Browne / CNN:
Navy Secretary says review of SEAL should proceed despite Trump's opposition

Discussion: The American Independent

Doyle Hodges / Washington Post:
Trump said the Navy can't take away Eddie Gallagher's SEAL qualification. That could be a problem.

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Redstate

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The Awful Truth About Impeachment — Facts be damned is Trump's approach, and it's working. — After five days, twelve witnesses, lots of shouting, and dozens of angry tweets from the President, the House Intelligence Committee's public impeachment hearings into Donald Trump's Ukraine affair ended …

Discussion: Washington Post, RealClearPolitics and The Nation

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Trump's Defenders Have No Defense — Witnesses were uneven, but even his closest allies don't try to deny he did what he's accused of doing. — Look, the case has been made. Almost everything in the impeachment hearings this week fleshed out and backed up the charge that President Trump muscled Ukraine for political gain.

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story and Mediaite

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Keep in mind these points about a historic week

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Washington Post:

Trump opens up Camp David as an ‘adult playground’ to woo GOP lawmakers during impeachment — President Trump, partial to gold and marble elegance, never took a shine to rustic Camp David. So acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney pitched him on an unusual idea at the start of the House impeachment inquiry …

Discussion: Breitbart and The Hill

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

‘A lot of things are the matter with me’: The best lines from Trump's Fox interview — President Donald Trump called in to “Fox & Friends” on Friday for a nearly hour-long interview that he agreed after was a form of “stress relief.” — As House Democrats close in on an impeachment vote …

Discussion: One America News Network, Breitbart and Mediaite

Toluse Olorunnipa / Washington Post: In rollicking 53-minute conversation, Trump embraces conspiracies, spreads falsehoods and insults opponents

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump riffs for an hour, Bloomberg's big buy

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times and CNN

David Lynch / Washington Post:
Trump says he might veto legislation that aims to protect human rights in Hong Kong because bill …

Discussion: Reason and Foreign Policy

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Biden: Lindsey Graham will ‘regret his whole life’ doing Trump's bidding on Ukraine — Watch “CNN Tonight” at 10 p.m. ET to see Don Lemon's full interview with former Vice President Joe Biden. — Abbeville, South Carolina (CNN)Joe Biden said he is “embarrassed” for South Carolina …

Discussion: Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Reuters, Vanity Fair, HuffPost and TheBlaze

Amanda Teuscher / American Oversight:

State Department Releases Ukraine Documents to American Oversight — On Friday evening, the State Department released nearly 100 pages of records in response to American Oversight's lawsuit seeking a range of documents related to the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine.

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

‘Tuesday Afternoon Impeachment’ Is as Big as ‘Monday Night Football’ — TV's impeachment drama is drawing big ratings, but a Democratic debate on MSNBC sank to a viewership low. — On the third day that impeachment hearings blanketed American televisions, from morning talk shows to late-night monologues …

Discussion: New York Times

Tobin Smith / New York Times:
Why Fox News Slimed a Purple Heart Recipient

Discussion: NB Blog

CNN:

Trump makes at least 18 false claims in ranting Fox & Friends interview — Washington (CNN)Fox & Friends tried harder than usual — not especially hard, but harder than usual — to challenge President Donald Trump. — It did not work very well. — Trump ranted dishonestly …

Discussion: New York Times, Joe.My.God. and Daily Kos

Geoff Bennett / NBC News:
Yovanovitch's lawyers rate Trump's embassy portrait claim Pinocchio worthy

Discussion: CBS News, Occupy Democrats and Talking Points Memo

Michael Calderone / Politico: Jake Tapper: Trump is trying to ‘gaslight the country’

Sydney Morning Herald:

Defecting Chinese spy offers information trove to Australian government — A Chinese spy has risked his life to defect to Australia and is now offering a trove of unprecedented inside intelligence on how China conducts its interference operations abroad. — Wang “William” Liqiang …

Discussion: PoliticalShort, The Guardian, New York Times and TechCrunch

Katie Benner / New York Times:

Barr's Legal Views Come Under Fire From Conservative-Leaning Lawyers — A speech by Mr. Barr last week, in which he argued that Mr. Trump had never overstepped his authority, so alarmed a group of lawyers that they felt compelled to push back publicly. — WASHINGTON — A group …

Discussion: Raw Story

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Read This — I read through this a number of times before deciding to publish it. But I strongly, strongly recommend it to you. The author of the email is a former federal prosecutor. When I first read it I confess I found it all a bit loopy or improbable.

Discussion: CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Mahablog, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:

After a damaging week and a bizarre Fox rant, psychiatrists and GOP strategists are worried for Trump — 'He has terrible judgment, and if he had real lawyers they would've hit him with a cattle-prod before they let him do that interview' — For a man who craves the spotlight …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump's GOP defenders cannot be shamed. It's time to try this instead. — If there is one widely shared conclusion about the impeachment hearings that have just concluded, it's that President Trump's GOP defenders were never “gettable.” — This idea has been repeated countless times in recent days …

Discussion: Slate, The Atlantic and New York Times

Washington Post:

Amazon's formal challenge to massive Pentagon award uses videos that mark potential influence exerted by Trump — The e-commerce giant followed through with the threat it made week ago, challenging the Defense Department's decision to award the lucrative contract to rival Microsoft.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire, more at Techmeme »

YouTube:

ADL International Leadership Award Presented to Sacha Baron Cohen at Never Is Now 2019 … Sacha Baron Cohen is the well-deserved recipient of ADL's International Leadership Award, which goes to exceptional individuals who combine professional success with a profound personal commitment …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and TechCrunch

Sacha Baron Cohen / The Guardian:
Read Sacha Baron Cohen's scathing attack on Facebook in full: ‘greatest propaganda machine in history’

Discussion: Reason, Algemeiner.com and Mashable

Washington Free Beacon:

Warren Confronted by School Choice Activist Over Sending Son to Private School — The Democratic presidential candidate elided the inconvenient fact that her son attended a tony private school — Confronted by a school-choice activist Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Sky Palma / Raw Story:

‘Delete your account traitor’: GOPer Marsha Blackburn slammed for ugly smear of Lt. Col. Vindman — In a tweet fired off today, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) took a jab at one of the witnesses who testified at this week's hearings in the House impeachment inquiry, and she immediately …

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

South Bend black leader endorses Biden, rebukes Buttigieg — The longest-serving African American man on the South Bend, Ind., Common Council is endorsing Joe Biden for president, a rejection of Pete Buttigieg that highlights the South Bend mayor's struggles with black voters.

Discussion: Associated Press, Townhall, Fox News, Bloomberg, CNN, The National Interest, The Hill, Mediaite, Axios, The Guardian, CBS News, The Boston Globe, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mother Jones

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Bolton Teases a City Eager to Hear His Story — John R. Bolton, President Trump's former national security adviser, said he was breaking his silence — on Twitter. But what he meant was that he was taking back control of his Twitter account. He kept quiet on Ukraine and impeachment.

Discussion: New York Post, Big League Politics, IJR, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Antonia Farzan / Washington Post:

When a deep red town's only grocery closed, city hall opened its own store. Just don't call it ‘socialism.’ — BALDWIN, Fla. — When Sean Lynch ran for mayor, he never anticipated that the job would involve hiring a butcher and tracking the sale of collard greens.

Ellen Barry / New York Times:

The Jungle Prince of Delhi — For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital. It was a tragic, astonishing story. But was it true? — NEW DELHI — On a spring afternoon in 2016 …