memeorandum: Facts will help Democrats win Trump impeachment debate even if Senate doesn't remove him (Julian Epstein/USA Today)

8:20 AM ET, December 6, 2019

Top Items:

Phone logs in impeachment report renew concern about security of Trump communications — President Trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by Russian and other foreign intelligence services …

Discussion: HuffPost, Sputnik International, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Nancy Pelosi and that four-letter word — One of the things every Catholic child is taught is that the word “hate” should never be used in connection with another human being. — This admonition flows from the expansive Catholic interpretation of the Fifth Commandment.

Discussion: Althouse

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
On Trump impeachment, Democrats pivot back to Russia

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Guardian

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Pelosi's Leap on Impeachment: From No Go to No Choice

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and The Wrap

Washington Post:
‘The president gave us no choice’: Pelosi resisted Trump's impeachment, now she's the public face

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic and Associated Press

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Does Pelosi have the votes for impeachment?

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Associated Press, Spectator USA and Disrn

Mariam Khan / ABC News:
Senate Republicans blast Pelosi, House Democrats for pursuing impeachment against Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, Raw Story, Politico and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:

Doubts Surface Over Giuliani-White House Budget Office Calls — Number associated with OMB is also linked to several other offices in the White House — WASHINGTON—House Democrats earlier this week released records asserting that Rudy Giuliani was in contact with a phone number associated …

Discussion: New York Times, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller and New York Post

Real Clear Politics:
White House: Adam Schiff Has Wrong OMB Number

Discussion: CNN and Breitbart

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal: Adam Schiff Is Watching

Michael Forsythe / New York Times:

When Pete Buttigieg Was One of McKinsey's ‘Whiz Kids’ — Among the hoops that candidates for plum consulting jobs at McKinsey & Company had to jump through in late 2006 was a bit of play acting: They were given a scenario involving a hypothetical client, “a business under siege,” …

Discussion: HuffPost

New York Times:

Buttigieg's Untenable Vow of Silence — He needs to give voters more information about his work for the consulting firm McKinsey. — The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

Discussion: NBC News, The Guardian, CNN, Bloomberg, HuffPost and The Hill

New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren Attacks Pete Buttigieg's Private Fund-Raisers: ‘Open Up the Doors’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
The Problematic Pete Wars

Discussion: VICE

CNN: Elizabeth Warren calls on Pete Buttigieg to open up fundraisers

Elie Mystal / The Nation:

The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack — Jonathan Turley's testimony was so inconsistent, it contradicted his own previous statements on impeachment. — The House Judiciary Committee held something like a national teach-in on impeachment yesterday.

Jonathan Turley / The Hill:

Democrats offering passion over proof in Trump impeachment — The most dangerous place for an academic is often between the House and the impeachment of an American president. I knew that going into the first hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Please, Democrats, Don't Make the Impeachment Articles Too Narrow

Discussion: Salon, Washington Post and The Underground Bunker

Julian Epstein / USA Today:
Facts will help Democrats win Trump impeachment debate even if Senate doesn't remove him

Discussion: The Bulwark, Washington Monthly, The Last Refuge and Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The Daily Beast:

Rudy's New Ukraine Jaunt Is Freaking Out Trump's Lieutenants—and He Doesn't Care — Top administration officials have been tracking Giuliani's venture through Europe, wondering if he's going to cause yet another major headache for the president. — Rudy Giuliani's decision to travel …

Discussion: KIFI-TV, Breitbart and The American Independent, more at Mediagazer »

David Harsanyi / National Review:
Adam Schiff's Attack on the Free Press

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, BizPac Review and Townhall

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Schiff: No, We Didn't Subpoena John Solomon's Phone Records

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TheBlaze and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jake Zuckerman / Charleston Gazette-Mail:

WV employees suspended after photo emerges of correctional officers' Nazi salute — Local journalism makes a difference — Your support makes that possible — subscribe today for 99¢ — Your support makes that possible — subscribe today for 99¢

Discussion: WCHS-TV, HuffPost, VICE, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo and New York Post

Axios:

Biden: Media, rivals wrong that AOC represents direction of party — Former Vice President Joe Biden told “Axios on HBO” in Iowa that he has shaped the 2020 race, faulting the media and his rivals for thinking Democratic voters are more liberal than the reality.

Discussion: Washington Post and Jezebel

Mike Brest / Washington Examiner:
Voter attacked by Biden calls him ‘senile’ and says he should drop out of 2020 race

Discussion: CBS News, BizPac Review, Mediaite, NB Blog, Breitbart, American Greatness, Fox News, Vanity Fair, New York Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, New York Times, IJR and ENM NEWS

Marc Caputo / Politico:
'You're a damn liar, man': Biden lashes out at Iowan over Hunter claim

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, NPR, Washington Post, Boston.com, The Federalist, Althouse, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Washington Times, VICE and Breitbart

Nicole Hong / New York Times:

R. Kelly Used Bribe to Marry Aaliyah When She Was 15, Charges Say — He bribed a government employee in 1994 so that he could obtain a fake ID for the singer Aaliyah, a person familiar with the matter said. — A persistent question has dogged R. Kelly's two-decade music career …

Discussion: Slate, The Independent, The Daily Caller, SPIN, Associated Press, The Wrap, TMZ.com, News Breaking LIVE and PAPER

ProPublica:

Inside the Cell Where a Sick 16-Year-Old Boy Died in Border Patrol Care — Video obtained by ProPublica shows the Border Patrol held a sick teen in a concrete cell without proper medical attention and did not discover his body until his cellmate alerted guards. The video doesn't match the Border Patrol's account of his death.

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, KIFI-TV, ImmigrationProf Blog, New York Times, Associated Press, Common Dreams, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos and The American Independent

John Harwood / CNBC:

Joe Biden says Trump is ‘ripping the soul out of this country’ and 'we're likely to inherit a recession' — Joe Biden sat down with CNBC's John Harwood on Thursday to discuss a range of topics, including trade, health care, taxes and President Trump's standing among world leaders.

John Harwood / CNBC: Joe Biden: President Trump has drastically weakened our standing around the world

Bryan Anderson / Sacramento Bee:

Another California GOP lawmaker is leaving the Republican Party. Here's why — California's Republican Party is getting even smaller. — The super-minority in the Legislature has lost another state lawmaker, as former Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley has decided …

Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story

Psychology Today:

Disgraced “Peloton Husband” Speaks Out — The psychological impact of being at the centre of worldwide controversy. — Few people know what it's like to be thrust into the public eye amidst worldwide controversy quite like the actor who plays the “tone-deaf” husband in a recent controversial Peloton ad.

Discussion: HotAir and New York Post

Nelson Oliveira / New York Daily News:

Boy invites entire kindergarten class to his adoption hearing — and it's adorable — This boy's definition of family will warm your heart. — A Michigan kindergartner brought his entire class to witness his adoption hearing Thursday in an adorable courtroom scene marking Kent County's annual Adoption Day.

Discussion: The Independent

Adam Ganucheau / Mississippi Today:

Southaven Republican challenges 14-vote loss to Democrat, asks House to overturn election — State Rep. Ashley Henley, a Southaven Republican, is asking the GOP-led Mississippi House to overturn the results of the election she narrowly lost to Democrat Hester Jackson-McCray.

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:

Russian agents planned hit from assassins' lairs in French Alps, say intel officials — Western intelligence agencies tracked up to 15 members of Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, including 2 who poisoned a defector in London. — WASHINGTON — A group of elite Russian military …

Bisma Parvez / Detroit Free Press:

Uranium-contaminated site collapses into Detroit River — A Detroit property contaminated with uranium and other dangerous chemicals partially collapsed into the Detroit River on Nov. 26, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has confirmed.

Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:

Uber disclosed 3,000 sexual assaults in U.S. rides last year in its long-awaited safety report — Uber disclosed 3,000 sexual assaults in U.S. rides last year in its long-awaited safety report, amidst widespread criticism of its safety practices and pressure to increase its transparency …

Discussion: New York Times, Slate, Boing Boing, Balloon Juice and Fox News, more at Techmeme »

Alyssa Goodman / AP Images Spotlight:

Top AP photos of 2019 range from the epic to the intimate — Ours is a world of sweeping vistas, and intimate scenes. In 2019, Associated Press photographers captured both. — A single Border Protection officer stands in the rain at the border; pieces of heavy equipment …

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:

Is Melania Trump sending coded messages, or are we just talking to ourselves? — A new unauthorized biography of Melania Trump is titled “Free, Melania,” and although the words refer to the left-wing fantasy meme that the first lady is a prisoner begging for liberation, the comma demands unpacking.

Discussion: Sputnik International, Newsweek, BizPac Review, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

New York Times:

Indictment Details How Emirates Sought Influence in 2016 Campaign — In charges unsealed this week, the Justice Department laid out new elements of an effort by an American ally to buy access in Washington. — The donors referred to their campaign contributions as baked goods, usually “baklava.”

Discussion: Sara A. Carter and TheBL.com