memeorandum: Democrats are already bracing for a ‘hostile’ Trump transition (Nahal Toosi/Politico)

10:20 AM ET, January 29, 2020

Top Items:

Feinstein leans toward acquitting Trump as his lawyers end their impeachment defense arguments — Just after President Trump's defense lawyers ended arguments in their Senate trial Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California became the first Democrat to suggest that she could vote to acquit …

Barbara McQuade / NBC News:

Trump's impeachment trial defense hinges on six arguments. They can all be rebutted. — Trump still appears to have the votes for an acquittal in the Senate. But sometimes a prevent defense ends up being an ill-fated strategy. — President Donald Trump's lawyers began their impeachment arguments …

Discussion: Breitbart and The Root

Allan Smith / NBC News:

Trump rages at Bolton, says former adviser would have caused ‘World War Six’ — The president's latest attack on his ex-national security adviser comes as the Senate is weighing calling him as a witness. — President Donald Trump berated his former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico and Axios

Peter Baker / New York Times:

For John Bolton, an ‘Upside-Down World’ After Trump Revelation — Democrats who once derided him now want him to testify at President Trump's impeachment trial while some of his erstwhile Republican friends are throwing him to the curb. — WASHINGTON — Not long ago, they called him …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Week, Raw Story, American Greatness, Washington Post, The National Interest, Disrn, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Vanity Fair

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Trio of Dem senators considering vote to acquit Trump — A trio of moderate Senate Democrats is wrestling with whether to vote to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial — or give the president the bipartisan acquittal he's eagerly seeking. — Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia …

Discussion: Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit and USA Today

Brian Faler / Politico:
Democrats cite Starr in effort to lift stay in Trump tax returns case

Discussion: The Hill

Politico:
Trump team warns: Stand strong or prepare for an endless trial

Discussion: CNN and Vanity Fair

Aamer Madhani / Associated Press:
GOP squirms as Bolton prepares to dish on Trump White House

Discussion: Raw Story

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
McConnell says GOP lacks votes to block impeachment witnesses, as Bolton book disrupts trial script

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Politico, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Occupy Democrats, CNN, CBS News, JONATHAN TURLEY, Daily Kos, The Daily Signal, Breitbart and PJ Media Home

Wall Street Journal:
GOP Leaders Say They Don't Currently Have Enough Votes to Block Witnesses

Discussion: Redstate, New York Magazine, Axios, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Guardian, The Week, Occupy Democrats, New York Post, Washington Post, American Greatness and Washington Times

New York Times:

Biden Aides Weigh Pursuing an Iowa Caucus Alliance With Klobuchar — Amy Klobuchar's campaign signaled no interest in such a plan, under which each candidate would encourage supporters to back the other in certain precincts. — Aides to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are discussing …

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, Washington Times and Slate

QU Poll:

Release Detail — January 28, 2020 - 75% Of Voters Say Allow Witnesses In Senate Impeachment Trial, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 53% Say President Trump Not Telling Truth About Ukraine — On week two of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, registered voters say 75 …

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:

Biden won't commit to backing Sanders if he's the nominee — MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped short Tuesday of saying he'd support Bernie Sanders if the progressive Vermont senator wins the Democratic presidential nomination. — “I'm not going to make judgments now …

Discussion: Redstate, The Hill, The Daily Caller and NBC News

Monmouth University Polling Institute:
Dem Caucuses Could Be a Five-Way Contest

Discussion: NBC News and Politico

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
Democracy 2020 Digest: Tulsi shreds on New Hampshire slopes — WATCH

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press, New York Post and New York Times

New York Times:
Joni Ernst Asks if Impeachment Trial Will Turn Iowa Caucusgoers Against Biden. They Answer.

Discussion: The American Independent, Raw Story, Iowa Starting Line, The Week, The Hill, Mediaite and Washington Post

Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Poll: Warren fares better against Biden than Sanders

Discussion: The Hill

Mary Louise Kelly / New York Times:

Pompeo Called Me a ‘Liar.’ That's Not What Bothers Me. — Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions, then share the answers — or lack thereof — with the world. — Ms. Kelly is a co-host of NPR's “All Things Considered.” — Ask journalists why they do the job they do, and you'll hear a range of answers.

Discussion: NPR, The Hill, The Week, Axios, Talking Points Memo and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

Trump allies are handing out cash to black voters — Allies of Donald Trump have begun holding events in black communities where organizers lavish praise on the president as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees. — The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland …

Discussion: Slate and Facebook Watch

Politico:

The Real Goal of Trump's Middle East Plan — The Trump administration's long awaited and ill-named peace plan has many objectives, but making peace isn't among them. — Neither is jump-starting negotiations, or nudging the parties toward compromise, or even enshrining implicit …

Discussion: Fox News, One America News Network, Axios, Disrn, Associated Press, NBC News, The Daily Beast, Mediaite and Breitbart

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The Trump peace plan is a squeeze play against the Palestinians. It might work.

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:
Trump Plan's First Result: Israel Will Claim Sovereignty Over Part of West Bank

Discussion: The Week

Amir Tibon / Haaretz: Fact Check: Trump Did Not Actually Offer the Palestinians a State

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Democrats are already bracing for a ‘hostile’ Trump transition — Democrats are bracing for the possibility that if President Donald Trump loses the 2020 election, he and his aides will bungle a smooth handover of power - and maybe even try to outright sabotage the transition.

Discussion: Raw Story

Ryan Heath / Politico:

Say hello to invisible Brexit — BRUSSELS — Britain is leaving the European Union this weekend with a whimper. — It took one referendum, two national elections, three prime ministers and four years of continentwide political anguish for the United Kingdom to achieve Brexit …

Discussion: One America News Network

Heiko Maas / ZEIT ONLINE:
Separate, but together — Britain is leaving the EU …

Discussion: Politico

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

The Death of Cable News in One Clip — This video of Don Lemon and co., which is rocketing around the Internet this morning, reflects perfectly what I was getting at when I proposed that the media writ large has failed to live up to the challenge that President Trump presents.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and PJ Media Home

Ryan Saavedra / The Daily Wire:
EXCLUSIVE-WATCH: GOP Launches Campaign Ad, Fundraiser Off CNN's Don Lemon Mocking Trump Supporters

Discussion: Twitchy

Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:

Slashing food stamps hurts the poor. It also hurts their supermarkets — New York (CNN Business)Independent grocery stores and regional supermarket chains already face brutal competition and shrinking profits. Now, they are worried about losing out on a valuable source of sales: food stamp recipients.

Laura McGann / Vox:

Joe Biden is the only candidate with a real shot at getting things done — He is the favorite among Democrats who know how to win in Trump country. … For a Democrat to beat President Donald Trump in 2020 and to have a shot at retaking the Senate, they'll have to win in places Hillary Clinton lost.

NBC News:

Dutch Trump superfan who claimed he surveilled Ambassador Yovanovitch told people he was DEA — Interviews with a half-dozen people who know Anthony de Caluwe and documents obtained by NBC News show that the Trump superfan has a shadowy past. — WASHINGTON — The Dutch man who claimed …

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

Trump's Digital Advantage Is Freaking Out Democratic Strategists — Left and right agree on one point. The president's re-election campaign is way ahead online. — Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality.

Discussion: Eschaton

William Saletan / Slate:

Bernie Is the Opponent Trump Wants — The president has a game plan to win the election. A Sanders nomination is just what he needs. — Bernie Sanders is on the rise. Less than a week before the first contest of the Democratic primary, polls give the Vermont senator, on average …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, VICE and New York Magazine

Nancy A. Youssef / Wall Street Journal:

Pentagon Raises Number of U.S. Troops Injured in Iranian Attack to 50 — Most of troops added to new assessment have returned to work, Pentagon says — An additional 16 U.S. troops suffered concussions or traumatic brain injuries during Iran's ballistic missile strike earlier this month …

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Doug Collins announces US Senate bid, setting up GOP divide in Georgia — Congressman Doug Collins launched a bid Wednesday for U.S. Senate on Fox News, saying he'd center his campaign on support for President Donald Trump as he dismissed concerns about opening a bitter Republican rift in Georgia.

Discussion: UPI, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Wire and CNN

Jessica Contrera / Washington Post:

Anti-human-trafficking groups refuse to attend Ivanka Trump's White House summit — On Friday, President Trump is expected to attend a White House summit organized by his daughter Ivanka on human trafficking, an issue he frequently invokes as a top priority.

Discussion: The Hill

Curtis Ellis / American Greatness:

As China Carries Disease, Elites Carry Their Water — Two dangerous infectious agents are emerging from China. One is the coronavirus. The other is the Chinese Communist Party. — Just as a virus infects the cellular mechanics of healthy organisms to make replicas of itself …

Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:

One year inside Trump's monumental Facebook campaign — A Guardian investigation of 218,100 ads reveals how the campaign's sophisticated social media machine targets conservative voters — As the Democratic candidates for president spent 2019 battling each other in early voting states …

more at Mediagazer »