memeorandum: Angela Merkel warns EU: ‘Brexit is a wake-up call’ (Financial Times)

4:50 AM ET, January 16, 2020

Top Items:

Lev Parnas, Key Player in Ukraine Affair, Completes Break With Trump and Giuliani — In an interview, he said the president knew everything about the effort to push Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and the 2016 election. — WASHINGTON — Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played …

Discussion: The Week and Outside the Beltway

Politico:

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, Breitbart, The Hill, Raw Story and The Daily Beast

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: The Week, Associated Press, The US Sun, HuffPost, CNN, Politico, Foreign Policy, Lawyers, Guns & Money and BuzzFeed News

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Devin Nunes Now Remembers Call With Lev Parnas — TOTAL RECALL — House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) told Fox News on Wednesday night that he now remembers speaking on the phone with Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani actively involved …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and The Week

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: UPI, Vanity Fair, ABC News and The Week

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

Washington Post:

GOP figure who said he tracked U.S. ambassador was previously involuntarily committed, records show — A Republican congressional candidate and former Marine who suggested last year that he was tracking a U.S. ambassador who had fallen out of favor with President Trump was once involuntarily committed …

Discussion: Politico, Vanity Fair, Slate and NBC News

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: CNN, Fox News, New York Times, The CT Mirror, Esquire, Daily Kos, East Bay Times, HillReporter.com, Raw Story, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Justine Coleman / The Hill:

Five takeaways from Parnas's Maddow interview — Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas revealed new accusations against President Trump and his administration in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Wednesday night. — A day after the House published evidence provided by Parnas …

Discussion: MSNBC

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Who is Robert Hyde? The latest character in the Trump impeachment saga has a wild backstory

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico and Raw Story

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

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

Washington Post:
Parnas used access to Trump's world to help push shadow Ukraine effort, new documents show

Discussion: Mother Jones and American Oversight

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

Discussion: Florida Politics, Spectator USA, Axios and Mother Jones

Melanie Zanona / Politico:
Republicans break with Robert Hyde, latest player in Ukraine drama

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
State Department abruptly cancels briefings on Iran, embassy security

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

Zachary Cohen / CNN: Trump administration abruptly cancels 4 classified Iran-related briefings

Rachel Maddow / MSNBC:
Lev Parnas: ‘President Trump knew exactly what was going on.’

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Week

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’

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

CNN:
Bernie Sanders isn't facing enough scrutiny

Discussion: Fox News and Washington Post

Associated Press:
Warren-Sanders rift has progressives nervous about fallout

Discussion: Associated Press

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

Discussion: Associated Press, One America News Network, Wall Street Journal and Twitchy

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

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

Discussion: PJ Media Home

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Times

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

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

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

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Landmark Trade Deal With China; New York Times Hardest Hit — President Trump signed the “Phase One” trade agreement with China today at the White House. The agreement is far-ranging; you can read its entire text here. Among other things, it includes “commitments from Beijing …

Discussion: New York Times and CNBC

Doug Palmer / Politico:
Here's what's in the U.S.-China trade deal

Discussion: One America News Network and Associated Press

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 …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

This media failure really could help Trump politically — We constantly talk about the news media's failure to aggressively call out President Trump's serial lies. We talk somewhat less often about the media's failure to adequately convey just how deeply corrupt and absurd Trump's explicitly …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Vox

Aaron Rupar / Vox:
NPR's sanitizing of Trump's Milwaukee rally shows how he's broken the media

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

Rebecca Ingber / Washington Post:

If there was no ‘imminent’ attack from Iran, killing Soleimani was illegal — Soleimani's “horrible past,” as Trump put it, cannot justify the strike. — President Trump and officials in his administration have put forward shifting explanations to justify the strike on Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani …

Discussion: Raw Story

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, Digby's Hullabaloo, Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The American Independent, Mediaite and The Guardian

Andrew Kerr / The Daily Caller:

Dark Money Group Linked To Ocasio-Cortez To Spend $500,000 Attacking Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg — A dark money group with ties to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced Tuesday it will spend over $500,000 on digital ads attacking former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Discussion: Fox News and Common Dreams

Quartz:
Dark-money group backing AOC spent $20,000 on anti-Biden Facebook ads

Discussion: Redstate

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 and Mediaite