memeorandum: Seattle reels in spending by ‘foreign-influenced’ companies (Gene Johnson/Associated Press)

10:05 PM ET, January 13, 2020

Top Items:

White House expects GOP defections on calling witnesses in Senate impeachment trial — Washington — The White House is preparing for some Republican senators to join Democrats in voting to call witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial, which could get underway in the coming days.

QU Poll:

Release Detail — January 13, 2020 - Voters Divided On Killing Of A Top Iranian General, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 66% Want To See Bolton Testify In Senate Impeachment Trial — Slightly more American voters say that the killing of a top Iranian general was the right action …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Bloomberg and The Hill

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

GOP leadership: There aren't 51 votes to dismiss Trump articles of impeachment — Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Monday that there are not the votes within the Senate Republican caucus to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Trump—who endorsed an “outright dismissal” over the weekend.

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump retweeted Pelosi in Muslim garb. The White House made it worse. — After President Trump retweeted a doctored image of Democratic leaders dressed in Islamic garb, the White House offered a curious justification: Trump retweeted that image to send the message that Democrats are on the side of terrorists.

Discussion: HillReporter.com, IJR and The American Independent

CNN:

White House wants Senate trial rules to include ability to dismiss Trump charges — GOP Sources: Republicans want to fast-track Trump acquittal before State of Union — (CNN)The White House is urging Senate Republicans to preserve the option of moving to swiftly dismiss the charges …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Republicans face reckoning on impeachment witnesses

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill and Breitbart

Associated Press: GOP senators reject plans to dismiss Trump impeachment

Washington Post: Top Senate Republicans reject Trump's renewed call for immediate dismissal of impeachment charges

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
How Schumer might get the last laugh on impeachment trial

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Associated Press, Reuters, The Hill, One America News Network, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, New York Times, KTLA, The Week and SFGATE

NBC News:
McConnell could nix vote on a motion to dismiss to protect vulnerable GOPers

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Law & Crime

Quinta Jurecic / The Atlantic: The Senate Trial Will Be Totally Predictable—With One Potential for Surprise

Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Pelosi accuses Trump of a ‘cover-up’ after president lashes out over impeachment

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Hill and Associated Press

MJ Lee / CNN:

Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in private 2018 meeting that a woman can't win, sources say — (CNN)The stakes were high when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren met at Warren's apartment in Washington, DC, one evening in December 2018. The longtime friends knew that they could soon be running against each other for president.

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

Dem 2020 Race Continues to Shift — Support is firming up, but many still open to changing their support — West Long Branch, NJ - Former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren continue to top …

Discussion: Redstate, Politico, New York Times, The Hill, Bloomberg, Denver Post and Fox News

Washington Post:
Sanders-Warren feud takes a turn onto the dangerous turf of gender

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Fox News

New York Times:
Warren Says Sanders Told Her a Woman Could Not Win the Presidency

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Washington Post, The Nation, NBC News, Townhall, Fox News, Axios and The Week

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
Biden on top in Iowa with 3 weeks until caucuses, latest poll shows

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, Morning Consult, One America News Network, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

New York Times:

Russians Hacked Ukrainian Gas Company at Center of Impeachment — With President Trump facing an impeachment trial over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, Russian military hackers have been boring …

Discussion: CNN, Axios, Raw Story, Twitchy, The Daily Wire, The Week, The Verge, Law & Crime, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Russian spies hacked Ukrainian gas company at heart of Trump impeachment trial — Russian military spies have hacked a Ukrainian gas company that is at the heart of an impeachment trial of President Trump, who sought last year to pressure Ukraine to investigate the company and its links to Joe Biden's son …

The Daily Beast:

Jitters at MSNBC as Brass Eyes Moving Chuck Todd and Talks to Shep Smith — Chuck Todd's daily show could move to mornings, causing angst among the show's staff. Other potential changes could alter weekends and, eventually, the network's primetime roster.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

George Nader, key witness in Mueller probe, pleads guilty to child sex charges — George Nader, a key witness in the special counsel probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, admitted Monday to bringing a 14-year-old boy to the United States for sex and to possessing child pornography.

Discussion: Fox News, Law & Crime, National Review, Big League Politics and Axios

Brandi Buchman / courthousenews.com: Trump Campaign Adviser Pleads Guilty to Child Porn, Sex Trafficking

NBC News:

Trump authorized Soleimani's killing 7 months ago, with conditions — The timing raises new questions about the Trump administration's stated justification for taking out the top Iranian general. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iranian …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
This might be Trump's worst lie ever

Discussion: Raw Story, Al Jazeera and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

‘Four embassies’: The anatomy of Trump's unfounded claim about Iran — The theory was born last Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where President Trump stood before men in hard hats and orange construction vests for an environmental announcement and offered a fresh rationale …

Kylie Atwood / CNN:
State Department security officials weren't notified of ‘imminent’ threats to US embassies

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and Mediaite

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Trump says 'it doesn't really matter' if Iranian general posed an imminent threat

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic

Ellie Hall / BuzzFeed News:

Here Are 10 Headlines Comparing Meghan Markle To Kate Middleton That Might Show Why She And Prince Harry Are Cutting Off Royal Reporters — The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (aka Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) didn't just shockingly “step back” as senior members of the royal family this week …

Discussion: The Royal Family, NPR and Mother Jones

The Daily Beast:

Trump Admin Walks Back Anti-MEK Memo — The State Department ordered employees days ago not to meet with an Iranian dissident outfit close to Rudy Giuliani and other Trumpworld figures. Now, the memo is being overridden. — At whiplash speed, the State Department is walking …

Discussion: Raw Story

Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Judge finds Wisconsin elections commissioners in contempt of court, orders them to quickly remove people from the rolls … (Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) — PORT WASHINGTON - An Ozaukee County judge found the state Elections Commission and three of its members in contempt …

Discussion: Townhall, New York Times, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Fox News and Daily Kos

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Trump planning to divert additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funds for border wall — President Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget …

Discussion: HuffPost and The Hill

Kara Scannell / CNN:

Giuliani associate Lev Parnas turns over thousands of pages of documents to impeachment investigators — (CNN)An attorney for Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, has turned over photos, dozens of text messages and thousands of pages of documents to House impeachment investigators …

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Root, ABC News, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, Associated Press and Raw Story

CNN:
Giuliani has lobbied to join White House impeachment defense

Discussion: HuffPost

American Oversight:

Joint Status Report: American Oversight v. DOE - Perry and Brouillette's Ukraine Records and Communications — Joint Status Report filed by American Oversight and the Department of Energy in American Oversight's lawsuit seeking the release of Secretary Rick Perry's communications …

Discussion: The Hill and Axios

Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press:

US budget deficit running 11.8% higher this year — The U.S. budget deficit through the first three months of this budget year is up 11.8% from the same period a year ago, putting the country on track to record its first $1 trillion deficit in eight years. — In its monthly budget report …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Axios

Jim Tankersley / New York Times: Budget Deficit Topped $1 Trillion in 2019

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Harvard professor sues NYT over Epstein donations story — A Harvard Law professor is suing The New York Times, accusing the paper of publishing “false and defamatory” information and employing “clickbait” in an article about him. — Lawrence Lessig, the legal scholar and political activist …

Discussion: Medium, CourtListener and VICE, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Heath / The Information:

The People With Power at Twitter — For more than four years, Jack Dorsey has held the CEO role at both Twitter and Square, splitting his time between the two companies, whose headquarters are near each other in downtown San Francisco. For Twitter, the lack of a full-time CEO has meant …

Brian Thompson / NBC New York:

Bomb in Van of NJ Shooting Attack Suspects Could've Killed People 5 Football Fields Away: Officials — David Anderson and Francine Graham were found dead inside JC Kosher Supermarket last month after a hate-driven domestic terror attack that killed four innocent people, authorities have said

Discussion: National Review, Law & Crime and New York Post

Ivana Kottasová / CNN:

Oceans are warming at the same rate as if five Hiroshima bombs were dropped in every second — How climate change impacted the world in 2019 — (CNN)The world's oceans are now heating at the same rate as if five Hiroshima atomic bombs were dropped into the water every second, scientists have said.

Katie Benner / New York Times:

Barr Asks Apple to Unlock Pensacola Killer's Phones, Setting Up Clash — We have asked Apple for their help in unlocking the shooter's phones. So far, Apple has not given any substantive assistance. This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that the public be able to get access …

Discussion: The National Interest, Townhall, The Verge and New York Post

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Fox News Host Melissa Francis Offers Theory for Booker's Exit: I Heard 'He's Lazy' — For the claim, Francis cited Booker's unnamed Democratic colleagues who've appeared on her TV show. — Fox News host Melissa Francis on Monday reacted to the news that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) …

Discussion: Raw Story and Contemptor

Robert VerBruggen / National Review:

Unforced Errors on Preexisting Conditions — These Trump tweets have stirred up quite the reaction among lefties. I hate to say it, but the lefties have a point. … Obamacare — enacted under, well, Obama — is the reason it's generally illegal for insurers in the individual market …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Vox and The American Independent

Gene Johnson / Associated Press:

Seattle reels in spending by ‘foreign-influenced’ companies — SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council on Monday unanimously passed a measure to reel in political spending by “foreign-influenced” companies, following city council elections last year that drew unprecedented spending — including a record $1.5 million from Amazon.