memeorandum: If Trump's Impeached, Then Why Can't a Senate Trial Start Now? (Noah Feldman/Bloomberg)

9:10 PM ET, December 22, 2019

Top Items:

Keith E. Whittington / Reason:

When Is an Officer Impeached? IV — Now that President Donald Trump has gotten wind of the fact that he might not yet have been impeached, we should make some things abundantly clear. — At a Turning Point USA event in Florida, the president noted, “In fact, there's no impeachment.

Discussion: Redstate, Raw Story, Law & Crime, American Greatness, JONATHAN TURLEY and Washington Examiner

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Key Democratic senator remains undecided on whether Trump should be removed from office — Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who won a stunning special election victory in 2017 and faces a difficult reelection campaign next year, said Sunday that he remains undecided on whether President Trump should be removed from office.

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:
If Trump's Impeached, Then Why Can't a Senate Trial Start Now?

Discussion: Reason, the way of improvement … and New York Post

Adia Robinson / ABC News:
Pelosi's decision to withhold articles of impeachment ‘bizarre’: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, The Hill, Axios, Joe.My.God., New York Post and American Greatness

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News: Pence chief of staff not worried about Pelosi impeachment tactics: ‘She will yield’

Ursula Perano / Axios:
Sen. Roy Blunt: Impeachment trial is “not a trial in any classic sense”

Discussion: The Hill

Rebecca Klar / The Hill:

Christianity Today editor: Trump's ‘public morality’ makes him ‘unfit’ for office — Christianity Today Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli said on Sunday that President Trump has crossed a line where his actions benefiting the evangelical community no longer excuse his misconduct in other areas.

Discussion: New York Times, CNBC, Joe.My.God., Fox News, DemCast, Mediaite and The French Press

Timothy Dalrymple / Christianity Today:

The Flag in the Whirlwind: An Update from CT's President — Why our editor in chief spoke out against Trump, and why the conversation must continue. — Reader responses to Mark Galli's recent editorial have spanned the spectrum. We have received countless notes of encouragement from readers who were profoundly moved.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, the way of improvement … and The American Spectator

Robert Costa / Washington Post: ‘Evangelicals are not monolithic’: Following scathing editorial, top Trump aide defends president

Justin Caruso / The Daily Caller:
Poll: 43% Of Evangelicals Approve Of Trump's Removal From Office

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Hill and The Resurgent

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Exclusive: John Bolton hits Trump for bluffing on North Korea nukes — In his sharpest criticism yet of his old workplace, John Bolton suggested the Trump administration is bluffing about stopping North Korea's nuclear ambitions — and soon might need to admit publicly that its policy failed badly.

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, One America News Network, Raw Story, Mediaite, myfox8.com, NPR and NBC News

New York Times:

It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App. It's Secretly a Spy Tool. — ToTok, an Emirati messaging app that has been downloaded to millions of phones, is the latest escalation of a digital arms race. — WASHINGTON — It is billed as an easy and secure way to chat by video or text message …

more at Techmeme »

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:

How a Poisoning in Bulgaria Exposed Russian Assassins in Europe — For years, members of a secret team, Unit 29155, operated without Western security officials having any idea about their activities. But an attack on an arms dealer in Sofia helped blow their cover.

IMPORTANTVILLE:

Scoop: Mayor Pete's South Bend polling — The mayor leads the Democratic field in his hometown. — In one of his last acts as both mayor and presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg commissioned a poll of his own South Bend constituents showing he leads the Democratic field and President Trump …

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
Dem Debate Ratings Debacle: Rerun Exhaustion, Or Impeachment Burnout?

Discussion: PJ Media Home, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway and Viking Pundit

Kim Norvell / Des Moines Register:

Elizabeth Warren shakes up Iowa campaign style, with more candid events, but she still shies away from candidate attacks — OTTUMWA, Ia. — As she slips in state and national polls, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is shaking up her campaign style in Iowa — a move that paves the way for more candid, sometimes personal events.

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Warren on fundraising: ‘I wanted to do better’

Discussion: Vox, The Hill, CNBC and WTOP

USA Today:

How America went from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in one head-spinning political decade — Obama's America and Trump's America feel like separate nations, but they are bound by Newton's law: For every action, an equal and opposite reaction. — How did we get from Barack Obama to Donald Trump?

Susannah Luthi / Politico:

How Trump is filling the liberal 9th Circuit with conservatives — A bastion of liberalism in the federal judiciary is slowly turning rightward, threatening Democratic court challenges on everything from abortion to who gets a green card. — The Senate confirmation of Lawrence VanDyke …

Discussion: Raw Story

Colby Itkowitz / SFGATE:
Trump is remaking the federal judiciary

Discussion: Axios and The Hill

New York Times:

Stranded on Border, This Migrant Became the Camp Doctor — A Cuban doctor waiting for asylum in the United States has become the only full-time physician at a makeshift encampment for 2,500 migrants in Mexico. — MATAMOROS, Mexico — Under a canopy on the edge of a squalid encampment …

Axios:

Scoop: Buttigieg fundraiser dangles influence for cash — In a recent email exchange with a wealthy prospective donor, a top fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg made an offer that was unusually blunt — even by modern pay-to-play standards.

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Universal Notifies Theaters ‘Cats’ Is Being Updated With “Improved Visual Effects” — The move is unheard of for a finished film already in release. — How many lives does Cats have? — On Friday — the movie's opening day — Universal notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving …

Discussion: New York Times, Deadline, The Independent, Breitbart, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Slate and New York Post

Associated Press:

Inside impeachment: How an ‘urgent’ tip became ‘high crimes’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — The night before the whistleblower complaint that launched President Donald Trump's impeachment was made public, Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee crammed into the same room to get a first look at the document.

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

FISA Judge Orders FBI To Identify All Cases Involving Lawyer Who Allegedly Altered Carter Page Email — The top judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered the FBI to review cases involving a bureau attorney who allegedly altered an email regarding Carter Page.

New York Post: If FBI was routinely cutting corners on FISA warrants, Comey will look even worse