memeorandum: Trump legal team launches impeachment defense (The Hill)

2:55 PM ET, January 25, 2020

Top Items:

Sanders Seizes Lead in Volatile Iowa Race, Times Poll Finds — With solid support from liberals, Mr. Sanders appears to be peaking just as the caucuses approach. But many Iowa voters said they could still change their mind. — Which of these Democrats would be your first choice in the Iowa caucuses?

Discussion: Power Line, CNN, Mediaite, Breitbart and circle.tufts.edu

Siena College Research Institute:

NY Times/Siena College Poll of Likely Iowa Democratic Caucus Participants — Sanders Leads Caucus on First Ballot — Buttigieg, Biden Nearly Tied Trail by 7 points, Warren Fourth — Democrat Crosstabs Registered Voter Crosstabs — For more information and analysis on the study, visit The New York Times website.

Discussion: Common Dreams and Politico

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New Yorker:

Joe Biden's Battle with Bernie Sanders for Working-Class Voters — Joe Biden has been the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for President since before he entered the race last year, but he has been an unusual kind of front-runner. He is on the road less than his rivals …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Bill Barrow / Associated Press: Campaigning heats up in Iowa as caucus voting approaches

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Poll: Sanders opens up lead in Iowa

Discussion: NBC News and One America News Network

Arlette Saenz / CNN:
Biden picks up endorsement from key Iowa swing district congresswoman

Discussion: Axios and The Independent

Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register: U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne endorses former Vice President Joe Biden for president

Brie Stimson / Fox News:

Schiff refers to CBS ‘head on pike’ story, infuriating GOP: ‘Every one of us knows it is not true’ — Senate Republicans — including potential swing-voters — expressed outrage Friday after lead House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff, D-Calif., referred in his closing remarks …

Discussion: Vox, PJ Media Home, Associated Press, Politico, Washington Post, Redstate, The Hill, Althouse, Raw Story, Twitchy and NBC News

Anita Kumar / Politico:

Forget impeachment. Republicans fear Ukraine revelations could spill into election. — Republicans are already looking past impeachment, sensing a looming Democratic plot to gradually release more Ukraine bombshells as Donald Trump fights for re-election.

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, The Independent, The Daily Beast, HuffPost and Washington Post

The Hill:

Trump legal team launches impeachment defense — President Trump's lawyers began their opening arguments in the impeachment trial on Saturday, accusing Democrats of asking senators to “tear up” the ballots of the upcoming election while having “no evidence” to support the president's removal from office.

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Caller, UPI and Washington Post

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Republicans Feign Indignation at Schiff ‘Head on Pike’ Speech to Justify Cowardice — “A Trump confidante tells CBS News,” the network reported Friday, “that Republicans senators have been warned, ‘vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.’” That night …

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Examiner and American Greatness

Reuters:

Defense at Senate trial says removing Trump would be ‘very dangerous’ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump told his Senate impeachment trial on Saturday that Democrats' efforts to remove the president from office would set a “very, very dangerous” precedent in an election year.

Associated Press:
Senate floor belongs to Trump team as defense case opens

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, Esquire, The Gateway Pundit and ABC News

Washington Post:
The impeachment evidence will catch up to Republicans and Trump — whether they ignore it or not

Discussion: HuffPost and PBS NewsHour

George Conway / Washington Post:
There's a critical witness impeachment is missing

Discussion: Law & Crime and Raw Story

Sean Ross / Yellowhammer News:
Doug Jones: Schiff speech, impeachment evidence presented by House Dems ‘compelling’

Discussion: Breitbart and Balloon Juice

C-SPAN.org:
Senate Impeachment Trial, Day 5

Discussion: Raw Story

Nik Steinberg / Politico:

Even Before Mike Pompeo's Blowup, State Department Insiders Were Feeling Undermined — On Friday, NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly found out just how sensitive the issue of impeachment has become at the State Department. During an interview, she asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo whether …

Discussion: Associated Press, NPR, One America News Network, The Guardian and Mother Jones

Jason Breslow / NPR:
Pompeo Won't Say Whether He Owes Yovanovitch An Apology. 'I've Done What's Right'

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Washington Post, NBC News, Politico, Mother Jones, Axios, CNBC, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, The Week, MSNBC, Raw Story and Law & Crime, more at Mediagazer »

Deirdre Shesgreen / USA Today:
After interview, Pompeo cursed at reporter, yelled: ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

NPR:
Transcript: NPR's Full Interview With Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Breitbart, Slate, The Guardian, The Hill, CNN, The Week, WHYY, Letters from an American, Vox, HuffPost, Mediaite, Raw Story, Fox News, emptywheel, The Daily Beast and Law & Crime

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Emotional Schiff Speech Goes Viral, Delighting the Left and Enraging the Right — But here, right is supposed to matter. It's what's made us the greatest nation on earth. No constitution can protect us if right doesn't matter any more. And you know, you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Power Line and his vorpal sword

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Schiff — and what's next — DRIVING THE DAY — WRAPPING UP SCHIFF: Rep. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) — who has quickly been vaulted to a position of prominence atop the Democratic Party — wrapped up his prosecution of President DONALD TRUMP last night around 9 p.m. after three days of tight and compelling testimony.

Jason Wilson / The Guardian:

Inside the Base: America's neo-Nazi terror network laid bare — Chats, audio and video obtained by the Guardian give a rare insight into the workings of a disturbing white supremacist group — The Base, a US-based white supremacist “social network” that has recently been targeted by the FBI …

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Anyone but Trump? Not So Fast — Let's not exchange one reckless president for another. — Donald Trump is a lawless president and revolting person who richly deserved his impeachment and, in a better world, would be convicted in the Senate and removed from the White House.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

NBC News:

Who is Dmytro Firtash? The man linked to $1 million loan to Giuliani ally has a shadowy past — The billionaire oligarch is “at the dead center of the greatest corruption operation in Ukraine's history,” said a former senior U.S. diplomat. — In September, one month before Lev Parnas …

Eric Kleefeld / Media Matters for America: Smear merchant John Solomon accidentally reveals role of his lawyers diGenova and Toensing

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Bernie Sanders ‘must reconsider’ Joe Rogan endorsement, says LGBTQ group — Human Rights Campaign says podcast host Rogan has ‘attacked countless marginalised groups at every opportunity’ — Bernie Sanders “must reconsider” his acceptance of an endorsement from Joe Rogan …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and Mediaite

VICE:
Joe Rogan's Endorsement Is One of the Most Influential in America

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast, The Hill and Mediaite

Steven Nelson / New York Post:

Trump impeachment: Half-empty spectator gallery puzzles senators — The Senate spectator gallery was at least half-empty throughout the first week of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial and senators serving as the jury in the marathon sessions are taking notice …

Discussion: Breitbart

VFW:

VFW Expects Apology From POTUS — ‘TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly’ — KANSAS CITY, Mo. - “In light of today's announcement from the defense department that 34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike …

Discussion: The Guardian and CNN