memeorandum: The Future of Democracy — A special series from The New Yorker. (New Yorker)

1:50 PM ET, January 27, 2020

Top Items:

Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says — Drafts of the book outline the potential testimony of the former national security adviser if he were called as a witness in the president's impeachment trial. — WASHINGTON — President Trump told his national security adviser …

Axios:

Republicans fear “floodgates” if Bolton testifies — There may be enough new pressure on Senate Republicans to allow witnesses at President Trump's impeachment trial, after the leak from a forthcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton that contradicts what the White House has been telling the country.

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, The Hill, New York Post, Washington Post, Raw Story, CNN, Politico, Law & Crime, Deadline, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones, The Week, Fox News, Breitbart, NBC News, Florida Politics and Daily Kos

New York Times:

John Roberts Can Call Witnesses to Trump's Trial. Will He? — Democratic House managers should ask the chief justice to issue subpoenas for John Bolton and others. — Mr. Katyal and Mr. Geltzer are law professors at Georgetown. Mr. Edwards is a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Just Security, The Week, The Hill, NPR, New York Post, Balloon Juice and POLITICUSUSA

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Claiming John Bolton is just another ‘deep state’ James Comey is absurd — The idea that John Bolton, a lifelong conservative and loyal Republican, is some sort of deep state James Comey clone out to sell books by making up stories to damage President Trump, is patently absurd.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Raw Story, Fox News and Mediaite

George Conway / Washington Post:

Bolton's testimony would be devastating. Not even Republicans could look away. — Search the transcript of Saturday's impeachment trial, as President Trump's lawyers began their opening arguments, and you'll see there's a name nowhere to be found: John Bolton, the former national security adviser.

Discussion: Politico, Townhall, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Week and Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Four big takeaways from the explosive John Bolton revelations — We have now learned precisely what John Bolton is prepared to tell us about President Trump's Ukraine extortion scheme. This is terribly inconvenient for Republican senators who are frantically searching for ways to vote …

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, New York Post, Fox News and NBC News

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Lindsey Graham abruptly cancels planned press conference in wake of John Bolton bombshell — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) abruptly canceled a planned press conference that had been scheduled for Monday morning after a bombshell report claimed that former national security adviser John Bolton …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Emily Singer / The American Independent:

GOP senators angry new leaked details support case against Trump — A leaked manuscript revealed former national security adviser John Bolton said Trump did demand Ukraine investigate Biden in order to receive critical military aid. — A manuscript of former national security adviser John …

Discussion: NBC News, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Bolton Blows Up Trump Team's Foolhardy Quid Pro Quo Defense — They advanced an argument they didn't need to make, and now it will cost them. — D — on't build your fortress on quicksand. — That's been my unsolicited advice for President Trump and his legal team.

John Bolton / Amazon.com:

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir — Kindle Edition — See the Best Books of the Month — Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill and The Week

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Defense Team to Present Arguments Following Bolton's ‘800-Pound Gorilla’ — Democrats reiterate demand for former national security adviser to testify at impeachment trial, as president's attorneys consider retooling arguments — WASHINGTON—President Trump's defense team will seek …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Times and Talking Points Memo

William Kristol / The Bulwark: Speak for America, John!

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Republican senators privately complain they were blindsided by Bolton.

Discussion: The American Independent, CNN and Fox News

Noah Weiland / New York Times:
5 Takeaways on Trump and Ukraine From John Bolton's Book

Discussion: Washington Post, Financial Times, CNN, National Review, Raw Story, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Hill, The Week and FOX 61

Allan Smith / NBC News:
GOP senators under pressure for witness testimony at Trump trial after Bolton revelations

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Roll Call and Breitbart

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump plots a flashy series finale for impeachment

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Associated Press:
Trump dismisses Bolton book revelations as patently ‘false’

Discussion: KTLA, FOX 61 and Breitbart

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
John Bolton's bombshell gives the GOP a glimpse of its nightmare scenario

Discussion: Slate, The Hill, The American Independent and Breitbart

ABC News:
Trump impeachment trial live updates: Bolton bombshell rocks Senate on witness question

Discussion: Mother Jones, CNN, New York Post, Breitbart and Fox News

Just Security:
Executive Privilege Cannot Block Bolton's Testimony

Discussion: Raw Story

Sanjana Karanth / HuffPost:
Democrats Repeat Demands For Impeachment Trial Witnesses After Bolton Bombshell

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Fox News

Washington Post:
Democrats call for Bolton to testify in Trump impeachment trial after new report on aid to Ukraine

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Raw Story, The Atlantic, National Review, IJR, Mediaite, Axios, The Wrap, Breitbart, HuffPost, CNN, Law & Crime, The Week, UPI, The Daily Caller and New York Times

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Read the Kobe Bryant-Related Tweets That Led Washington Post to Suspend Reporter Felicia Sonmez — Washington Post national political reporter Felicia Sonmez was suspended by the paper over the weekend over tweets she sent out after the news broke of Kobe Bryant's death.

Discussion: CNN, The Root, The Spun, Raw Story, Reason and The Daily Caller

Ariel Zilber / Daily Mail:

Journalist who linked to story about Kobe Bryant rape case suspended — Felicia Sonmez (right), who covers national politics for The Washington Post, posted a link to a story about the Kobe Bryant rape case from 2003 on Sunday - hours after he died.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, PJ Media Home, Althouse, The Outline and TMZ.com, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:
Kobe Bryant and daughter among those killed in chopper crash

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, The Stranger, The Atlantic, KNX 1070, Outsports, VICE, KFOR-TV, Associated Press, KTLA, Florida Politics and WFLA-TV

Brian Flood / Fox News:
Washington Post political reporter suspended over Kobe Bryant tweets

Discussion: Townhall, New York Times and Los Angeles Times

Tom Elliott / Grabien News:
MSNBC Makes Worst Broadcasting Blooper, Anchor Appears to Use Racial Epithet While Covering Kobe Tragedy

Discussion: PJ Media Home, The Wrap, New York Post, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Washington Post reporter suspended following Kobe Bryant tweet backlash

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and Mediaite

New York Times:

Bernie Sanders and His Internet Army — At the start of his 2020 bid, the Vermont senator told his supporters that he condemned bullying. Is it his problem if many don't seem to listen? — The defense from Bernie Sanders was straightforward: It wasn't me.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Bernie Sanders's Trump-like campaign is a disaster for Democrats

Discussion: Washington Examiner

David Frum / The Atlantic:
Bernie Can't Win — “Left but not woke” is the Bernie Sanders brand.

Discussion: Vox, The Nation, New York Post and Hollywood Reporter

Shay Khatiri / The Bulwark:

Mike Pompeo Is The Worst — Mike Pompeo is a disgrace to the office he holds and the department he leads. — On Friday, NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly reported that, during an interview, when asked about the Ukraine scandal, Pompeo began cursing, told her that Americans don't care about Ukraine …

Discussion: Washington Post, HuffPost and VICE, more at Mediagazer »

William B. Taylor / New York Times:
Yes, Secretary Pompeo, Americans Should Care About Ukraine

Discussion: CNN and HuffPost

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Biden's Iowa Problem: Our Poll Suggests His Voters Aren't the Caucusing Type — Why there's a wide split in recent surveys in the state. — With one week to go until the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden finds himself in a seemingly unimaginable position: needing to mobilize older voters who are usually the most consistent voters.

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau and CNN

Lee Davidson / Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Democrats haven't lost their love for Bernie Sanders, who leads the pack in new poll

Politico:
How record-high turnout in Iowa could shuffle the 2020 race

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press and Wall Street Journal

Nicole Hong / New York Times:

Prince Andrew Offers ‘Zero Cooperation’ in Epstein Case, F.B.I. Says — The United States attorney in Manhattan said the prince had not responded to their requests for an interview. — Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. have sought to interview Prince Andrew about Jeffrey Epstein …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Week

David Wildstein / New Jersey Globe:

Richter switches districts, will run against Kim — Christie helped negotiate deal to take Richter out of Van Drew primary — David Richter will drop his GOP primary challenge to Democrat-turned-Republican Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) in the 2nd district and instead seek to run against Rep. Andy Kim (D-Marlton) in the 3rd.

Discussion: Political Wire