memeorandum: Trump goes after Pelosi's teeth as the House gears up for impeachment vote (Karoun Demirjian/Washington Post)

8:25 AM ET, December 16, 2019

Top Items:

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Schumer's opening pitch for the Senate impeachment trial — On Sunday night, Chuck Schumer made his opening bid to Mitch McConnell in the two leaders' negotiations over the Senate impeachment trial. — Driving the news: Schumer has sent a letter to McConnell in which he asks the Republican leader …

Discussion: DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and The Hill

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Trump's Senate trial is rigged, but a Watergate hero has an idea for saving impeachment — After feeding page after page of the U.S. Constitution into a paper shredder as he denied America's first black president his right to even a hearing on his Supreme Court pick while holding …

Discussion: CNN, Reason, CBS News and Vox

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump's impeachment chaos evolves into a White House strategy

Discussion: Raw Story

Leigh Ann Caldwell / NBC News:
Schumer proposes Bolton, Mulvaney testify in Senate impeachment trial

Discussion: Politico, One America News Network, Associated Press, Washington Post and Breitbart

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Schumer requests four witnesses, including Mulvaney and Bolton, in letter to McConnell about Senate impeachment trial

Discussion: HuffPost

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate Dems ask that Mick Mulvaney and John Bolton testify at impeachment trial

Discussion: Raw Story

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Schiff: I ‘hope to hell’ I'd impeach Obama if he did the same as Trump

Discussion: Reuters and The Hill

Leigh Ann Caldwell / NBC News: Schumer proposes that Bolton and Mulvaney testify in Senate impeachment trial

Associated Press: Democrats seek Bolton, Mulvaney for impeachment trial

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Trump goes after Pelosi's teeth as the House gears up for impeachment vote — President Trump opened a new, dental front Sunday in his periodic feuding with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggesting on Twitter that her teeth were falling out as she answered a reporter's question about why bribery was not made an article of impeachment.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story, The Hill, Occupy Democrats, HuffPost, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Rachael Bade / Washington Post:

Freshman Democrats push for Amash as impeachment manager — A private campaign is underway to draft Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial of President Trump, a bid to diversify House Democrats' appeal to voters with a rare conservative voice.

Discussion: NBC News, National Review, Letters from an American, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, CNN, The Hill, Axios, Mediaite, Raw Story, Eschaton and Fox News

Connor Mannion / Mediaite:

House Republican Defends Trump Attacking Nancy Pelosi's ‘Teeth’: 'He's Frustrated' About Getting Impeached — GOP Rep. Mike Johnson appeared on CNN Sunday, where he was immediately asked about President Donald Trump's tweet claiming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's “teeth were falling out.”

Discussion: BizPac Review and Sputnik News

emptywheel:
Why Justin Amash Should Be an Impeachment Manager

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo and CNN

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: Biden, Sanders Lead 2020 Democratic Race — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lead the crowded Democratic field, pulling in together about half of the support of Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Florida Politics and Common Dreams

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Biden, Sanders lead Democratic field: poll — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) are leading the Democratic primary field in a new NPR/PBSNewsHour/Marist poll, the latest indication that the progressive senator from Vermont is seeing a surge in support ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Discussion: Associated Press

Associated Press: Turbulence shakes Democrats going into final debate of 2019

William Cummings / USA Today:
Trump trails all top Democrats, half of voters favor impeachment, Fox News poll says

Discussion: Contemptor, THE LIBERTARIAN VINDICATOR, Talking Points Memo and DNyuz

Sarah Ferris / Politico:

Staff exodus in Van Drew office after party switch — Five senior aides to Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey resigned on Sunday as the lawmaker formally prepared to switch parties, stating they were “deeply saddened and disappointed by his decision.” — The aides in Van Drew's Washington office wrote …

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill, NBC News, CNN, HuffPost, DNyuz, Redstate, New York Post, Axios, Fox News, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Associated Press

CNN: Five aides resign from office of Democratic congressman expected to switch parties

Elissa Slotkin / Detroit Free Press:

Rep. Elissa Slotkin: How I reached my decision on impeachment — (Photo: Nick King/Lansing State Journal) — On September 23, I wrote in an op-ed column for the Free Press that I believed President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine, by his own admission, warranted the opening of an impeachment inquiry.

Discussion: Axios and The Hill

Alexander Heffner / USA Today:

Trump impeachment: Pelosi reclaims the Constitution for liberals and today's America — The Trump impeachment is spotlighting the Founders' fears of foreign influence on US security and leaders, and turning liberals into originalists. — There is one indisputable fact about the impeachment …

Elizabeth Drew / New York Times:

The Impeachment Process Is Barely Functioning — Hyperpartisan politics and an implacable president may break Congress's ability to check him. — Ms. Drew is a journalist based in Washington who covered Watergate. — When the process of impeachment drove President Richard Nixon from office in 1974 …

Discussion: CNN

Robby Soave / Reason:

James Comey Asked the American People To Trust the FBI. Why Should They? — In an interview with Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, former FBI Director James Comey admitted that his agency made “significant mistakes” during the course of its investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

Discussion: The Hill, Redstate and Rolling Stone

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Will Hurd: ‘Media Was Lied To’ About FISA Abuse, Steele Dossier

Discussion: Redstate

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Chris Wallace wants journalists to push for the truth. But Fox News often traffics in propaganda.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review

Fox News:
James Comey, Pam Bondi and Rep. Adam Schiff talk FISA report, impeachment on ‘Fox News Sunday’

Discussion: Washington Post and Althouse

Rebecca Rosenberg / Page Six:

Harvey Weinstein: I deserve pat on back when it comes to women — More than 80 women have accused him of sex assault or harassment — but for Harvey Weinstein, it's still all about himself. — The alleged serial sex predator and disgraced Hollywood producer whined to The Post …

Discussion: USA Today, Deadline, Law & Crime, Variety, TMZ.com, Sputnik News, The Wrap, The Daily Beast, IndieWire and DNyuz, more at Mediagazer »

Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:

Lindsey Graham's Democratic Challenger Nearly Tied in Heavily-Republican South Carolina, Poll Shows — Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is statistically tied with Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, with the staunch pro-Trump incumbent seeing his favorability ratings plummet among independent voters.

ABC News:

Bloomberg's sexist remarks fostered company culture that degraded women, lawsuits allege — Bloomberg allegedly told employee who had just announced pregnancy to “kill it.” — Mike Bloomberg has on repeated occasions faced and fought allegations that he directed crude and sexist comments …

Wall Street Journal:

Boeing Weighs Cutting or Halting 737 MAX Production — Management of aerospace giant sees an output pause as most viable option, as fleet grounding stretches into 2020 — Boeing Co. BA -1.33% is considering either halting or further cutting production of the 737 MAX amid growing uncertainty …

Discussion: KTLA and Bloomberg

Max Boot / Washington Post:

The only principle Republicans have left is partisanship — I come before you, my friends, to defend Republicans against charges that they are unprincipled, two-faced hypocrites. — Pointy-headed coastal elitists, with all sorts of useless book learning that real Americans don't need …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Don't worry, Sen. Graham. No one thought you'd be fair.

Discussion: American Greatness, New York Post and Raw Story

Alexa Corse / Wall Street Journal:

Voting-Machine Parts Made by Foreign Suppliers Stir Security Concerns — Technology linked to companies under authoritarian governments highlights risks; China-based suppliers don't always mean Chinese-made parts — A voting machine that is widely used across the country contains some parts …