memeorandum: McConnell: Senate could pass partisan rules package for impeachment trial (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

9:00 PM ET, December 3, 2019

Top Items:

Report Reveals Call Records Between Giuliani, White House and Nunes — Draft impeachment report shows president's lawyer and top Republican lawmaker in frequent contact — WASHINGTON—Call records obtained by impeachment investigators revealed new details about Rudy Giuliani's interactions …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Law & Crime

Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times:

Devin Nunes slaps CNN with $435 million defamation lawsuit — Rep. Devin Nunes on Tuesday filed a defamation suit against CNN for its Nov. 22 “demonstrably false hit piece” that said the California Republican traveled to Vienna in 2018 to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Impeachment Investigators Got Rudy Giuliani's Phone Records—And They're Quite Revealing — Trump's lawyer was in talks with, among others, Devin Nunes and officials at OMB as the president pursued a political agenda in Ukraine. — Rudy Giuliani and one of his indicted Ukrainian associates exchanged …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Associated Press, The Mahablog, The Hill and NBC News

Zachary Basu / Axios:

Call records show Devin Nunes in contact with indicted Giuliani associate — Call records included in an impeachment report released by House Democrats Tuesday show that House Intelligence ranking member Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) had a number of contacts in April with Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas …

Discussion: National Review

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Nunes sues CNN over ‘demonstrably false’ Ukraine report — Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has filed a $435 million defamation suit against CNN over a story that alleged Nunes met with a fired Ukrainian prosecutor in an effort to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Law & Crime and The American Independent

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The Intelligence Committee's report is a triumph — Some observers of the impeachment hearings conducted under the auspices of the House Intelligence Committee bizarrely concluded that the proceedings lacked “pizzazz.” While that is a ridiculous metric for evaluating an inquiry …

Discussion: Cmte Intelligence (D) …, Vanity Fair and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Marshall Cohen / CNN:
Democrats obtained phone records showing how Trump allies coordinated ‘false narratives’

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times: A Mysterious ‘-1’ and Other Call Records Show How Giuliani Pressured Ukraine

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Trump abused power of presidency, Dems conclude in impeachment report

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, NBC News, Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The Hill, One America News Network and Viking Pundit

Natasha Bertrand / Politico: Nunes' role exposed and 8 more takeaways from the Intel report

Elizabeth Vaughn / Redstate:
Adam Schiff Has Crossed a Line: He's Obtained Phone Records of Devin Nunes, Nunes' Aide, Rudy Giuliani and John Solomon

Discussion: HuffPost and The Gateway Pundit

Sean Davis / The Federalist:
Devin Nunes Sues CNN For Defamation Following False Vienna Collusion Story

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Deadline, The Wrap, VICE and Breitbart

Fox News: Devin Nunes sues CNN for $435M over ‘false and defamatory’ Ukraine story

John Bowden / The Hill:
Nunes files defamation suit against CNN over Ukraine story

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Sean Hannity

Brad Kutner / courthousenews.com:
Devin Nunes Makes Good on Pledge to Sue CNN for Libel

more at Mediagazer »

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Devin Nunes Sues CNN: Reveals He Was Not in Vienna in Late 2018, Did Not Meet Victor Shokin

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Kamala Harris / Medium:

I am suspending my campaign today — Eleven months ago at the launch of our campaign in Oakland I told you all: “I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. I will speak the truth.”

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Kamala Harris cancels big-money fundraiser at New York law firm amid reports of campaign turmoil — The event was canceled due to what was described by the campaign as a “personal matter,” according to people familiar with the situation. — An invitation shows that the fundraiser …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, American Greatness, Los Angeles Times, Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, Washington Post, Big Think, Slate, Al Jazeera, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Power Line, IJR, PJ Media Home, HotAir, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

‘One of the hardest decisions of my life’: Kamala Harris ends once-promising campaign — Kamala Harris is ending her presidential campaign after months of failing to lift her candidacy from the bottom of the field — a premature departure for a California senator once heralded as a top-tier contender for the nomination.

Discussion: Redstate, The Daily Caller, The American Independent, Washington Post, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, Occupy Democrats, Breitbart, The Hill, New York Post, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Sean Hannity and Mediaite

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
Good Riddance to Kamala Harris

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, The Resurgent, Axios and The Federalist

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
The spectacular collapse of Kamala Harris

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart and The Federalist

David Byler / Washington Post:
Why Kamala Harris's failure echoes Marco Rubio's

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones and Breitbart

Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau: Democrats once hailed their diverse 2020 field. Now the top candidates are all white

Chelsea Janes / Washington Post:
Kamala Harris roared into the presidential race with an electrifying rally. She didn't make it to the first vote.

Discussion: New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, ABC News, Associated Press, The Root, The Stranger, CNN and Balloon Juice

CNN:

Former official says Trump often refused to believe his intelligence briefings — (CNN)One of President Donald Trump's most common responses to intelligence briefings is to doubt what he's being told, former Deputy Director of Intelligence Susan Gordon said Tuesday.

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, Political Wire and Raw Story

U.S. Department of Justice:

California CEO and Seven Others Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Conduit Campaign Contribution Case — Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed against the CEO of an online payment processing company, and seven others, charging them with conspiring to make and conceal conduit …

Discussion: Raw Story

Spencer Hsu / Washington Post: Key Mueller witness, major Clinton and Trump donor charged with funneling $3.5 million …

CNN:

Graham says he's ‘1,000% confident’ Russia meddled in 2016 US election — not Ukraine — Washington (CNN)Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday said he is “1,000% confident” that Russia, not Ukraine, meddled in the 2016 US presidential election, breaking from President Donald Trump …

Discussion: HotAir, Mediaite, Slate, The Root and Raw Story

New York Times:
Impeachment Report Says Trump Solicited Foreign Election Interference

Discussion: The Wrap, KyivPost, Talking Points Memo and HuffPost

Brakkton Booker / NPR: Rep. Adam Schiff: ‘The Uncontested Facts Show This President Solicited A Bribe’

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze in July, Says Ex-Top Official in Kyiv

Discussion: Breitbart, The American Independent, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Axios, The Hill, Politico, Talking Points Memo, National Review and KyivPost

NBC News:
Democrats' impeachment report cites Trump obstruction and withholding aid, warns of ‘grave harm’

Discussion: Politico and MSNBC

CNBC:

Trump loses appeal to block Deutsche Bank, Capital One from handing his financial records to Congress — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Deutsche Bank and Capital One can hand over years of President Donald Trump's financial records in compliance with House Democrats' subpoenas.

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and TalkLeft

David Enrich / New York Times:

Trump Loses Appeal on Deutsche Bank Subpoenas — A federal court ruling is a victory for House Democrats who are investigating President Trump's relationship with the German bank. — A federal appeals court said Tuesday that Deutsche Bank must turn over detailed documents …

Discussion: Mother Jones, CNN, Daily Kos, National Review and Gothamist

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: A December curveball?

Discussion: Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Tim Carpenter / Topeka Capital-Journal:

U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins tangled in voter fraud, perjury allegations for listing UPS store as residence — U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins' decision to sign a Kansas voter registration form and two other election documents that asserted his residential address was a United Parcel Service store in Topeka …

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

McConnell: Senate could pass partisan rules package for impeachment trial — Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said that if he's unable to reach a deal with Democrats to set the rules for a Senate impeachment trial then he will try to to do so solely with GOP votes.

Discussion: UPI and Politico

Raheem Kassam / The Daily Caller: The Senate Impeachment Trial Will Become Pelosi's Nightmare

Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell backs Georgia governor's pick for Senate amid Trump skepticism

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox and The Dispatch

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Extorted Ukraine in 2017 and 2018 Before Getting Caught This Year — The House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry report demonstrates in exhaustive detail that President Trump and numerous aides pressured Ukraine to open investigations for Trump's political benefit.

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Politico:
Folksy John Kennedy gets serious pushback on Ukraine mess

Discussion: The Hill

Frank Thorp V / NBC News:
State Dept. undersecretary: ‘I am not’ aware of any efforts by Ukraine to meddle in 2016 election

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Times, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and PJ Media Home

Ian MacDougall / New York Times:

How McKinsey Helped the Trump Administration Carry Out Its Immigration Policies — Newly uncovered documents show the consulting giant helped ICE find “detention savings opportunities” — including measures the agency's staff sometimes viewed as too harsh on immigrants.

Julia Ioffe / GQ:

Trump Is Waging War on America's Diplomats — And the impeachment inquiry is only making things worse. With new figures and fresh horror stories, Julia Ioffe reports on how the president is politicizing our embassies, alienating our allies, and decimating the ranks of the foreign service.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill and Raw Story

Kim Bellware / Washington Post:

A Texas lawmaker who said opponents lined up because they're ‘Asian’ just lost the governor's support — A lawmaker in Texas facing primary challengers for the first time since 2012 lost a key endorsement after saying his opponents are running because they're “Asian.”

Discussion: Raw Story