memeorandum: Lev Parnas tells Maddow ‘Trump knew exactly what was going on’ (MSNBC)

9:00 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: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Raw Story 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: Associated Press, Politico, The Week and Foreign Policy

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: 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, The Week and Political Wire

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

Washington Post:

How Giuliani's outreach to Ukrainian gas tycoon wanted in U.S. shows lengths he took in his hunt for material to bolster Trump — The four men are gathered around a table cluttered with glasses inside an exclusive Parisian cigar bar, beaming as they each offer an ebullient thumbs-up for the camera.

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

Washington Post:

Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani have demolished Trump's claims of innocence — New documents show why the president has been trying to hide evidence from Congress. — Americans who have been wondering why President Trump has taken the extraordinary step of trying to block every document …

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

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: Raw Story

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

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

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

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Slate and VICE

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
How Ukraine's top prosecutor went after Marie Yovanovitch, step by step

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slate and East Bay Times

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

Politico:
Democrats demand probe of claims Yovanovitch was tracked

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, Vanity Fair, Washington Monthly and Law & Crime

New York Times:

Warren Told Sanders After Debate, ‘I Think You Called Me a Liar on National TV’ — Bernie Sanders responded, “You know, let's not do it right now,” during the presidential rivals' tense exchange after Tuesday's Democratic debate.

Discussion: Sputnik News, Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, New York Post, Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications and Twitchy

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 …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, Vox, The Daily Wire, Townhall, Vanity Fair, Slate, FiveThirtyEight, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The American Spectator

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

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

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

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Twitchy and Mediaite

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

Discussion: Althouse, Fox News and The Hill

CNN:
Bernie Sanders isn't facing enough scrutiny

Discussion: Common Dreams

Washington Post:
Bernie Sanders's agenda makes him the definition of unelectable

Discussion: Fox News

New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren Confronts the Issue Dragging Her Down

Discussion: Vox

Aaron Feis / New York Post:

Pelosi quotes ‘Irishman’ before signing impeachment articles against Trump — Leave the articles of impeachment, take the cannoli. — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday likened President Trump's request for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “do us a favor” …

Miami Herald:
Pelosi impeachment manager is calling for McConnell's recusal from Trump Senate trial

Discussion: Slate and PJ Media Home

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

Discussion: New York Times and The Root

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

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico and NBC News

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

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

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, NPR and Common Dreams

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Associated Press and The Hill

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

Discussion: Washington Post

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:
Northam temporarily bans firearms, other weapons on Virginia Capitol grounds

Discussion: Townhall

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, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Vox, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Week, Mediaite 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, UPI, Sputnik News and New York Post

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

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: Vox

Washington Post:

Virginia lawmakers pass Equal Rights Amendment in historic vote — RICHMOND — Both chambers of Virginia's General Assembly passed the Equal Rights Amendment Wednesday, fulfilling a promise that helped Democrats seize control of the legislature and marking a watershed moment …

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

Timothy Williams / New York Times:
Virginia Approves the E.R.A., Becoming the 38th State to Back It

Discussion: The Hill, The Atlantic, Reason and Virginian-Pilot

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, Defense One, VICE, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Althouse

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

Discussion: DailySabah, The Root and National Review

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

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

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC: Trump ‘broke the Chinese Communist Party’ with phase one trade deal, says Steve Bannon

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 …

Discussion: Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, Talking Points Memo, CNN, HuffPost, Detroit Metro Times, The Hill, New York Post, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Politico:

‘Huge mistake’: Senators in both parties rip impeachment press access — The Senate is prepared to enforce strict measures on reporters' access during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, hoping to avoid the spectacle of senators being yelled at in the hallways as they were during …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Roll Call, HuffPost, Raw Story and The American Independent

Washington Post:

Days before Europeans warned Iran of nuclear deal violations, Trump secretly threatened to impose 25% tariff on European autos if they didn't — A week before Germany, France and Britain formally accused Iran of breaching the 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration issued a private threat …

Discussion: New York Times, Sputnik News, CNBC and Redstate

Steve Hayes / The Dispatch:

Justin Amash Has a Decision to Make — ‘Is there any better time to have a president who might be not from either party?’ — Three weeks from the first votes of the 2020 election, the presidential race seems—finally—to be taking shape. Republicans, having blocked any serious attempts …

Discussion: CNN and New York Post