memeorandum: The fate of L.A.'s Democratic presidential debate hinges on a bargaining session (Matt Pearce/Los Angeles Times)

7:30 AM ET, December 17, 2019

Top Items:

USA TODAY Poll: Impeached or not, Trump leads his Democratic rivals for another term — Susan Page William Cummings Nicholas WuUSA TODAY — WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump, the first modern president to face impeachment during his first term in the White House, now leads …

Discussion: The Hill

CNN:

CNN Poll: The nation remains divided on impeachment as House vote approaches — (CNN)The American public is about evenly split over whether President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, with the House of Representatives poised …

Discussion: The Resurgent

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Moderate Dems take a leap on impeachment — DRIVING THE DAY — THIS HOUSE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY was built in places like Richmond, Va., Salt Lake City and Charleston, S.C. It was in these traditional Republican strongholds that voters who put DONALD TRUMP in the White House decided …

Discussion: DNyuz

QU Poll:
Release Detail — December 16, 2019 - Trump Job Approval …

Discussion: New York Times, HotAir, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post: Americans locked in partisan stalemate on removing Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds

Gary Langer / ABC News: Most expect fair trial for Trump; 7 in 10 say let aides testify (POLL)

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

How far can the House go to stop a sham trial? — I am hardly alone in noticing that between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's “total coordination” with the White House and Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham's expression of open contempt for impeachment (I will NOT be fair!) …

Discussion: NBC News, The Mahablog and Daily Kos

Jonathan J. Cooper / Associated Press:

McSally 'hasn't been convinced' Trump should be impeached — PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Sen. Martha McSally has not been convinced that President Donald Trump should be removed from office, her campaign manager said Monday after a recording surfaced of her suggesting to GOP activists that the president hadn't abused his power.

Edward B. Foley / Politico:
Here's One Surprising Way Congress Could Avoid an Impeachment Disaster

Discussion: Bangor Daily News, Redstate and U.S. Senate

Washington Post:
Centrist Democrats line up behind impeachment

Discussion: HuffPost

Politico:
Republicans scoff at Chuck Schumer's impeachment trial proposal

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News and Associated Press

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast: Seth Meyers Goes Off on Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham for ‘Rigging’ Trump Impeachment Trial

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Impeachment moves to Senate. Get ready for a scramble — and a January surprise

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Laurence H. Tribe / Washington Post: Don't let Mitch McConnell conduct a Potemkin impeachment trial

CNBC:

Vox Media to cut hundreds of freelance jobs ahead of changes in California gig economy laws — Hundreds of Vox Media freelancers will lose their jobs in the coming months. — Vox Media is preparing for a California law, Assembly Bill 5, which goes into effect in 2020 and forbids non-employees …

more at Mediagazer »

John Ness / SBNation.com:
Thank You, California — This is a bittersweet note of thanks …

Discussion: Golden State Of Mind, Mavs Moneyball and The Wrap

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

On Tuesday, March for Impeachment — The anti-Trump majority needs to make itself seen. — Brian Kilmeade — the dark-haired guy on “Fox & Friends,” Fox News's morning show — was surprised. During the program on Monday, a correspondent reported that a Fox News poll showed that 50 percent …

Discussion: Mediaite, Redstate, Raw Story and CNN

Jamie Lovegrove / Post and Courier:

SC's U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham to vote in favor of impeaching Trump — WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham said Monday he plans to vote in favor of both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, concluding after weeks of deliberation that Trump's conduct was “unacceptable.”

Discussion: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, KSLTV.com, DNyuz, CNN, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, VICE, New York Times, HotAir, Roll Call and The Hill

Mark Weiner / Syracuse Post-Standard:

Rep. Anthony Brindisi will vote to impeach President Trump (Exclusive) — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi says he plans to vote Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump after concluding the president abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Rep. Ben McAdams will vote to impeach President Donald Trump

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and Rep. Ben McAdams …

Washington Post:

Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges — A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion …

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Axios

Medium:

HISTORIANS' STATEMENT ON THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT TRUMP — President Trump's numerous and flagrant abuses of power are precisely what the Framers had in mind as grounds for impeaching and removing a president. Among those most hurtful to the Constitution have been his attempts to coerce …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, HuffPost, Axios and Raw Story

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Giuliani Provides Details of What Trump Knew About Ambassador's Removal — Rudolph Giuliani said in an interview that he briefed the president “a couple of times” about Marie Yovanovitch, the envoy to Ukraine, setting her recall in motion. — WASHINGTON — Rudolph W. Giuliani said on Monday …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, New Yorker, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, The Independent and Vox

Charles Homans / New York Times:

How the Internet Came to Loathe Pete Buttigieg — Last month, after polls showed Pete Buttigieg vaulting unexpectedly to the lead in Iowa's Democratic caucus, he aired an ad introducing his plan for higher-education reform: a proposal to make public-college tuition free for households earning …

Sebastian Smith / Agence France-Presse:

Impeachment hurts but Teflon Trump thrives — US President Donald Trump faces impeachment but conflict is what he thrives on — Washington (AFP) - Impeachment is about the worst thing that can happen to a president — unless that president is Donald Trump.

Christina Zhao / Newsweek:
GOP State Senator Rebukes Trump, Declares ‘Republicans All Over the Country’ Want President Impeached

Discussion: The Hill

Rebecca Klar / The Hill:

Stacey Abrams group files emergency motion to stop Georgia voting roll purge — A voting rights group launched by former Georgia state lawmaker and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams filed an emergency motion Monday in an attempt to stop a planned purging of voter rolls.

Discussion: Fair Fight and The Gateway Pundit

Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Federal judge allows Georgia voter registration purge

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios, The American Independent and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Michael Flynn's sentencing set for Jan. 28 after judge rejects his attacks on the FBI, Justice Department — A federal judge on Monday rejected Michael Flynn's attacks against the FBI and the Justice Department, setting a long-delayed sentencing for President Trump's former national security adviser for Jan. 28.

Discussion: Raw Story

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

For party switch, Rep. NJ Jeff Van Drew owes voters an apology — and individual donors their money back — History is not going to remember Jeff Van Drew as a profile in courage. The freshman Democrat from Cape May won the New Jersey 2nd District seat in Congress as a part of the blue wave …

Politico:
How Trump and McCarthy wooed Jeff Van Drew to switch parties

Discussion: The Hill

Wall Street Journal:

Peter Thiel at Center of Facebook's Internal Divisions on Politics — Billionaire investor thinks political-ad policy shouldn't change; some directors and executives disagree — Facebook Inc. FB 1.96% 's senior leadership is increasingly divided over how to address criticism of the company's effect …

New York Times:

We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated — The president and his enablers have replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet. — The authors have worked for and supported Republican campaigns. — Patriotism and the survival of our nation in the face of the crimes …

Matt Donnelly / Variety:

Screenplay About Barron Trump Sabotaging Dad's 2016 Presidential Campaign Makes Annual Black List — Barron Trump could be coming to the big screen soon, in a wild scripted ride that imagines President Donald Trump's 10-year-old son attempting to thwart his presidential ambitions.

Stamford Advocate:

A tweet gave a journalist a seizure. His case brings new meaning to the idea of ‘online assault.’ — Kurt Eichenwald sat down at the desk in his Dallas home office and logged onto Twitter. The prominent journalist and author was used to Internet invective - especially then …

Vincent Wood / The Independent:

Erdogan threatens to recognise killings of Native Americans as genocide in response to Armenia resolution — ‘It is a shameful moment in US history,’ says Turkish president — Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to recognise the killing of Native Americans at the hand …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Australian / Daily Mail:

Assange is currently being held at Belmarsh prison (pictured above) which has housed some of the UK's most notorious prisoners — The WikiLeaks founder is set to fight extradition to the US, where he faces 18 charges, including conspiring to commit computer intrusion.

Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

Lawmakers Reach Late and Narrow Tax-Break Deal — Biodiesel, railroad, alcohol breaks extended as larger agreement proves elusive — WASHINGTON—Congressional leaders struck a tax-policy deal late Monday, capping a long weekend of negotiations with an agreement that will extend lapsed …

New York Times:

Strict Vaccine Law Stumbles in N.J. Legislature — There were not enough votes in the State Senate to end religious exemptions to vaccine requirements for all students. — The New Jersey Legislature, seemingly on the verge of passing one of the strictest vaccine laws in the nation on Monday …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, The Hill and DNyuz

New York Times:

There Are Economic Warning Signs for Trump in the Midwest — The American economy has found its footing after a summer recession scare. But much of the Midwest is still stumbling. — President Trump campaigned in 2016 on a pledge to restore jobs — manufacturing jobs, specifically …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, The Big Picture and Fox News

Clay Risen / New York Times:

Liquor Taxes Could Go Up 400%, Thanks to Congressional Dysfunction — A temporary cut in federal taxes on alcohol fueled the growth of American distilleries, but its expiration threatens their demise. — The last two years have been good ones for Lyon Distilling.

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Sanders surges ahead of Iowa caucuses — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is rising in the polls ahead of Thursday's pivotal debate in Los Angeles, reestablishing his standing in the top tier of Democratic contenders with the Iowa caucuses less than 50 days away.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Politico