memeorandum: Sen. Alexander calls Trump's actions ‘inappropriate’ but rejects witnesses in impeachment trial (Washington Post)

9:05 AM ET, January 31, 2020

Top Items:

GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, key impeachment vote, to reveal decision on witnesses tonight — Alexander is one of a handful of Republican senators who may vote to hear from witnesses during the Senate impeachment trial. — Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a key impeachment swing vote …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and CNN

United States Senator Lamar Alexander:

Alexander Statement on Impeachment Witness Vote — “I worked with other senators to make sure that we have the right to ask for more documents and witnesses, but there is no need for more evidence to prove something that has already been proven and that does not meet the United States Constitution's high bar …

Discussion: National Review, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, Slate, Raw Story, NPR, The Week, Washington Post and BuzzFeed News

Senator Susan Collins:

Senator Collins' Statement on Vote on Witnesses and Documents — Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement on the next stage of the impeachment trial process: — “We have heard the cases argued and the questions answered.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Axios, UPI, IJR, Redstate, HuffPost, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, FOX 61, ABC7, Daily Kos, Financial Times and Raw Story

Politico:

Biden argued against witnesses in 1999 impeachment trial memo — In January 1999, then-Sen. Joe Biden argued strongly against the need to depose additional witnesses or seek new evidence in a memo sent to fellow Democrats ahead of President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.

Discussion: Associated Press, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Redstate, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, PJ Media Home and The Hill

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Alexander narrows the path to witnesses — DRIVING THE DAY — “IT WAS INAPPROPRIATE for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold United States aid to encourage that investigation. When elected officials inappropriately interfere …

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

Washington Post:
Sen. Alexander calls Trump's actions ‘inappropriate’ but rejects witnesses in impeachment trial

Discussion: Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Politico:
Republicans set to shut down Democrats' witness demands

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, PBS NewsHour, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Three ways the end of the impeachment trial could play out

Discussion: Politico, Washington Free Beacon and New York Times

Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump headed for fast acquittal

Discussion: Redstate and Disrn

CNN:
Lamar Alexander says he will announce decision on witnesses vote Thursday night

Discussion: The Week and UPI

Washington Post: Trump lawyer Pat Cipollone was a camera-shy Washington Everyman — until impeachment made him a star

John Delaney for President:

John Delaney Announces Decision to Withdraw From 2020 Race — DES MOINES, IA - Today, 2020 Presidential candidate John Delaney announces his decision to withdraw from the 2020 race. This decision is informed by internal analyses indicating John's support is not sufficient to meet …

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Mediaite, FOX 61, PBS NewsHour and CBS Baltimore

Amy Wang / Washington Post:

John Delaney says he's dropping out of presidential race — John Delaney, a businessman and former Maryland congressman who launched a bid for the presidency nearly three years ago, has dropped out of the race, saying in a statement that he doesn't want to take support away from other moderate candidates in Monday's Iowa caucuses.

Discussion: Axios, The Week and One America News Network

Tess Bonn / The Hill:

Bloomberg surges past Warren into third place in new national poll — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg surged past Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the latest nationwide Hill-HarrisX poll, putting him in third place in the field of Democratic presidential candidates.

Discussion: Politico, Spectator USA, The Daily Caller and Townhall

Morgan Phillips / Fox News:
Trump, at Iowa rally, taunts Dems before caucuses: 'We're beating them all'

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, The Daily Beast and Raw Story

NBC News:
Trump slams Democrats in Iowa days before the caucuses

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and Breitbart

Politico:
Iowa Democrats fear losing first-in-the-nation status

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill and Breitbart

Politico: Bloomberg and Biden barrel toward Super Tuesday collision

Phil Prazan / KXAN-TV:

In Austin, John Bolton voices support for officials called in impeachment hearing — AUSTIN (KXAN) — Speaking at a private event in Austin Thursday, Former National Security Advisor John Bolton defended government officials who testified in front of the U.S. House impeachment inquiry.

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Week and Mother Jones

The Daily Beast:

Dems Fed Up With GOP's Refusal to Budge on Impeachment: 'It's More Than Frustrating—It's Pathetic' — To a person, they feel like the case they made was overwhelming. So what does it say if Republicans don't move? — For nearly two weeks, Democrats took to the floor of the Senate …

Discussion: Washington Post

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump insists he isn't worried about impeachment: ‘This is a happy period’

Discussion: Breitbart

Politico:
Pence aide who testified in impeachment inquiry to leave VP's office

Discussion: Raw Story, Wall Street Journal and The Hill

Jamil Smith / Rolling Stone:
The God President — Impeachment is a tool of accountability …

Discussion: Washington Post

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Dershowitz attempts to clarify controversial argument about presidential powers

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, The Hill and Mother Jones

Joseph Simonson / Washington Examiner:

Bernie Sanders praised George Wallace as ‘sensitive’ in 1972 — Seven years after Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to George Wallace as “perhaps the most dangerous racist in America today,” a young Bernie Sanders praised the segregationist Alabama governor.

Discussion: Washington Post and Balloon Juice

James Kirchick / Tablet Magazine: Weekend at Bernie's — “I am very proud to be Jewish …

Leada Gore / al.com: Bernie Sanders praised Alabama segregationist governor George Wallace in 1972 article

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Trump's border wall, vulnerable to flash floods, needs large storm gates left open for months — NACO, Ariz. — President Trump's border wall likely will require the installation of hundreds of storm gates to prevent flash floods from undermining or knocking it over, gates that must be left open …

Discussion: Slate, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Raw Story and VICE

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

Trump: Coronavirus will have ‘a very good ending for us’ — President Donald Trump on Thursday sought to assure Americans about the spread of a new coronavirus, saying it would have “a very good ending for us ... that I can assure you,” hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency.

Discussion: Politico, Balloon Juice, One America News Network and Raw Story

Phil Helsel / NBC News:
State Department warns against travel to China amid coronavirus outbreak

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Paul Manafort and Rudy's Indicted Associate Igor Fruman Go Way, Way Back — The relationship — stretching from New York to London to Kyiv — long predated Rudy Giuliani's attempts to discredit the evidence that played a key role in Manafort's downfall. — The web of connections between …

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Times, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Yamiche Alcindor / PBS NewsHour: Second video demonstrates Lev Parnas' access to Trump

George Conway / Washington Post:

Don't let the defense fool you. This impeachment is all about corruption. — George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC. — The president's lawyers this week floated their catch-all impeachment defense, one tailor-made for President Trump.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story and The Week

CBS News:

Most feel good about the economy but not the state of the country - CBS News poll — Ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address, more Americans feel positive about the state of the economy than they do about the state of the country overall. As Mr. Trump gets record high approval ratings …

Daniel Boffey / The Guardian:

Trump will insist NHS pays more for drugs in trade deal, says ambassador — Exclusive: President will put US firms first in UK trade talks, says Kim Darroch — Donald Trump will put the interests of corporate America first and demand that the NHS pays higher prices for US drugs …

Discussion: Politico

Sam Knight / New Yorker: What Will Brexit Britain Be Like? — At 11 p.m. on Friday …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Republican Cover-up Will Backfire. The House Can Keep Investigating Trump. — Toward the end, the impeachment trial's strategic purpose narrowed into an obsessive quest to produce evidence. Democrats have defined victory not as removal, but as winning a procedural vote to allow more testimony, especially by John Bolton.

Steve Beynon / Stars & Stripes:

64 US troops suffered traumatic brain injuries from Iranian missile attack, as casualty total continues to balloon — WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Thursday that 64 American troops sustained mild traumatic brain injuries as a result of the Iranian missile strikes on two military bases in Iraq …

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Woman who says Trump raped her seeks his DNA — NEW YORK — Lawyers for a woman who accuses President Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post and UPI

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

Sanders, Biden are neck-and-neck in new NBC/WSJ national poll — The two Democratic presidential contenders are statistically tied but Sanders has an edge in loyalty of his supporters. — DES MOINES, Iowa — Just days before the first votes are counted in the Democratic primary …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill and Jacobin

Keith Hennessey:

On the impeachment of President Donald Trump — My layman's approach to the impeachment of President Trump is somewhat simplistic. — We American citizens have the right to choose our leaders by voting in elections. Exercising that right requires that our elections be fair, especially the one for president.