memeorandum: Democrats release more Parnas evidence, including voicemails with Trump associates (Politico)

10:20 PM ET, January 15, 2020

Top Items:

Democrats release more Parnas evidence, including voicemails with Trump associates — House impeachment investigators released a new set of evidence that was obtained from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani — including voicemails …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Washington Post

Phil Helsel / NBC News:

Giuliani associate Parnas says Trump ‘knew exactly what was going on’ — The indicted associate of President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in an interview that Trump “knew exactly what was going on.” — Lev Parnas tells Maddow ‘Trump knew exactly what was going on’

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, The Week, Foreign Policy and The Daily Beast

Lee Fang / The Intercept:

Trump Supporter Who Discussed Surveillance of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch Has History of Stalking, Mental Health Issues — The man who relayed information about Marie Yovanovitch's location to Rudy Giuliani's Ukrainian associates was a known stalker with mental health issues.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, CNN, Talking Points Memo and Hartford Courant

MSNBC:

Lev Parnas tells Maddow ‘Trump knew exactly what was going on’ — Lev Parnas is breaking his silence in an exclusive interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. He says, “President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President.

Discussion: ABC News and The Week

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

State Department abruptly cancels briefings on Iran, embassy security — The State Department abruptly canceled two classified congressional briefings Wednesday that were supposed to focus on embassy security and the U.S. relationship with Iran, Capitol Hill aides said …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Beast, One America News Network, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Law & Crime, POLITICUSUSA, The Guardian, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, Slate, Mediaite, Raw Story, Letters from an American and Little Green Footballs

Emily Singer / The American Independent:

Collins rejects new evidence in Trump trial after saying she'd welcome it — Collins said in December that seeing the evidence in the case was necessary to determine whether Trump should be removed from office. — Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said on Wednesday she doesn't think newly released evidence …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Slate and Law & Crime

Melanie Zanona / Politico:

Republicans break with Robert Hyde, latest player in Ukraine drama — Congressional Republicans are distancing themselves from Robert Hyde, a controversial House candidate and GOP donor who has become the latest figure to get wrapped up in the Ukraine saga that led to President Donald Trump's impeachment.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and East Bay Times

Washington Post:
How Giuliani's outreach to Ukrainian gas tycoon wanted in U.S. shows lengths he took in his hunt …

Discussion: Spectator USA, Axios, Mother Jones and NBC News

Washington Post:
Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani have demolished Trump's claims of innocence

Discussion: Raw Story, Slate, Redstate, Daily Kos, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Week, Outside the Beltway and Cmte Intelligence (D) …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Four big takeaways from the explosive Lev Parnas documents

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Vanity Fair and New York Times

Zachary Cohen / CNN: Trump administration abruptly cancels three classified Iran-related briefings

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
I Don't Think the Lev Parnas Texts Are the Last Hound to Be Unleashed

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, HillReporter.com, Balloon Juice and Vox

Talking Points Memo:
House Dems Release New Tranche Of Evidence From Giuliani Pal Lev Parnas

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Digby's Hullabaloo

CNN:

Exclusive: Warren accused Sanders in tense post-debate exchange of calling her a ‘liar’ on national TV — Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar and said they should not talk about it right then. — When the CNN/Des Moines Register debate concluded …

New York Times:

Warren Told Sanders After Debate, ‘I Think You Called Me a Liar on National TV’ — Following a tense debate during which Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders clashed over a disputed remark, the two exchanged words, but did not shake hands.

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic, KTLA, Vox, The Daily Wire, Vanity Fair, Slate, Washington Post, Sputnik News, The Post Millennial, FiveThirtyEight, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, The Hill, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, New York Post and The American Spectator

Washington Post:
Warren accused Sanders of calling ‘me a liar on national TV’ during tense exchange after Tuesday's presidential debate

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN:
Bernie Sanders isn't facing enough scrutiny

Discussion: Fox News and Common Dreams

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
If Sanders is lying, why doesn't Warren say so?

Discussion: Twitchy, The Hill, Mediaite and The Week

Washington Post:
Warren ‘came to raise a concern’ with Sanders after debate, his campaign manager says

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, The Hill, CNN, The Week, Boston Magazine, Breitbart, Politico, Talking Points Memo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
What's on Steyer's hand?

Discussion: Althouse, Fox News and The Hill

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Rand Paul threatens fellow Republicans with explosive witness votes — Sen. Rand Paul is waging a fierce campaign to prevent the Senate from hearing witnesses in Donald Trump's impeachment trial, vowing to force tough votes on his fellow Republicans if they break with the president or back Democrats' demands for new evidence.

Miami Herald:

Pelosi impeachment manager is calling for McConnell's recusal from Trump Senate trial — A Florida congresswoman who on Wednesday became an impeachment manager in President Donald Trump's upcoming Senate trial wants to remove the lead juror: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Discussion: PJ Media Home

Aaron Feis / New York Post: Pelosi quotes ‘Irishman’ before signing impeachment articles against Trump

Washington Post:
Eyeing swift impeachment trial, Trump's legal team aims to block witnesses and cast doubt on charges

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, The Hill and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:
House delivers historic impeachment case against Trump to Senate

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and Breitbart

Alexander Nazaryan / Yahoo News:
Pelosi names impeachment managers, ending House delay

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, Washington Post and Alaska Public Media

Los Angeles Times:
Schiff says new evidence against Trump is likely to emerge during Senate trial

Discussion: New York Times and The Root

Tess Owen / VICE:

Virginia Declares State of Emergency After Armed Militias Threaten to Storm the Capitol — In response to what he described as “credible intelligence” of threats of violence at an upcoming gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency …

Discussion: Big League Politics, Common Dreams and NPR

Aaron Gell / GEN:
Death Threats Are Sending the South's Only Socialist Lawmaker Into Hiding

Discussion: Washington Post

Timothy Johnson / Media Matters for America:
As Virginia gun rally approaches, Alex Jones and his Infowars outlet hype prospect of violence

Discussion: Breitbart, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo and The Hill

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

New book portrays Trump as erratic, ‘at times dangerously uninformed’ — President Trump reveals himself as woefully uniformed about the basics of geography, incorrectly telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “It's not like you've got China on your border.” He toys with awarding himself the Medal of Freedom.

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Digby's Hullabaloo, Vox, Mediaite, The Week and The American Independent

David Smith / The Guardian:
Trump ‘abused’ and ‘harassed’ Kirstjen Nielsen over border, new book reveals

Discussion: The Week, Mediaite and Raw Story

Ali Watkins / New York Times:

Lawsuit Claims Epstein Trafficked Girls in Caribbean Until 2018 — The attorney general of the Virgin Islands says Mr. Epstein and his associates used a database to track victims as young as 11 years old. — New evidence shows Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused and trafficked hundreds …

Discussion: CNBC, The Daily Caller, The Sun, The Guardian, Sputnik News, UPI and New York Post

Daniel Chang / Miami Herald: Virgin Islands allege Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls as young as 11 as recently as 2018

Martin Matishak / Politico:

Intel agencies push to close threats hearing after Trump outburst — The U.S. intelligence community is trying to persuade House and Senate lawmakers to drop the public portion of an annual briefing on the globe's greatest security threats — a move compelled by last year's session that provoked …

Douglas London / Just Security:
The President, His Relationship with Intelligence, and the Soleimani Strike

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, The Week and Mediaite

Aaron Rupar / Vox:

NPR's sanitizing of Trump's Milwaukee rally shows how he's broken the media — Trump at his rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images — In trying to be above taking sides, the mainstream media does Trump a favor by making order out of his chaos.

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Times

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
This media failure really could help Trump politically

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Vox

Doug Palmer / Politico:

Here's what's in the U.S.-China trade deal — The U.S.-China trade deal that President Donald Trump and China's Vice Premier Liu He signed on Wednesday provides an escape clause for either country to withdraw if a dispute cannot be resolved through high-level talks.

Discussion: Associated Press and One America News Network

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Landmark Trade Deal With China; New York Times Hardest Hit

Discussion: New York Times and CNBC

Timothy Williams / New York Times:

Virginia Approves the E.R.A., Becoming the 38th State to Back It — Virginia's move is symbolic, and crosses the threshold of three-quarters of states needed for ratification. Yet the fate of the E.R.A. is far from decided. — RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia on Wednesday became the 38th state …

Discussion: Reason, The Hill, The Atlantic and courthousenews.com

Washington Post:
Virginia lawmakers pass Equal Rights Amendment in historic vote

Discussion: Axios, Common Dreams, Constitution Daily, Daily Kos, The Week, Twitchy and Vox

Andrew Higgins / New York Times:

Russian Premier Abruptly Quits Amid Swirl of Speculation on Putin — The unexpected move by Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev fueled speculation that President Vladimir V. Putin is maneuvering to stay in power when his term ends in 2024. — MOSCOW — Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev …

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, VICE, Defense One, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Althouse

CNN:
Russian government resigns as Putin proposes reforms that could extend his grip on power

Discussion: DailySabah, National Review and The Root

Jon Sharman / The Independent:

Putin and Assad caught on video mocking Trump — Russian president jokingly urges counterpart to invite US leader to Syria — Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad have been caught on video mocking Donald Trump. — At a recent summit in Damascus the leaders were filmed discussing …

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

John Bolton will speak in his book, if not at the Senate trial. — The Senate is still discussing whether it will hear witness testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who has said he would comply with a subpoena during the impeachment trial.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and Mediaite

Allison Donahue / Michigan Advance:

I tried to interview Sen. Peter Lucido. He told me a group of schoolboys ‘could have a lot of fun’ with me. — I waited outside the Michigan Senate chamber to ask Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.) on Tuesday for a comment about the Detroit Metro Times' story reporting that he was a member of a violent …