memeorandum: Opera singer danced on an SUV, then crashed through Mar-a-Lago barricades. Cops opened fire (Miami Herald)

10:10 PM ET, January 31, 2020

Top Items:

My Statement On The President's Impeachment Trial — Voting to find the President guilty would not just be a condemnation of his action. If I vote guilty, I will be voting to remove a President from office for the first time in the 243-year history of our Republic.

Discussion: New Republic, Slate, Vanity Fair, Reason, The Independent, Common Dreams, Washington Post, National Review, Mediaite, CNN, Raw Story, The Hill and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Alexander Says Convicting Trump Would ‘Pour Gasoline on Cultural Fires’ — Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, explained why he would cast a pivotal vote against having witnesses at President Trump's impeachment trial, ensuring a quick acquittal.

Discussion: The Hill, Balloon Juice, NPR and Senator Susan Collins

Politico:

Republicans defeat Democratic bids to hear witnesses in Trump trial — Senate votes to defeat Democratic bid to hear witnesses in Trump trial — The Senate on Friday narrowly rejected motions to call new witnesses in Donald Trump's impeachment trial, paving the way for a final vote to acquit …

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, NBC News, The Moderate Voice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill, New York Post, Townhall, BuzzFeed News, Breitbart, Slate, Common Dreams, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones and Disrn

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
What Democrats must do when impeachment is over

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, The Mahablog and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:
The cringing abdication of Senate Republicans

Discussion: ABC News, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

BuzzFeed News:
Republicans Now Say Trump Did What He Was Accused Of — They Just Don't Care

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, HuffPost and The American Independent

Wall Street Journal: How Republicans Scotched the Idea of Witnesses in Trump's Impeachment Trial

Andrew Duehren / Wall Street Journal:
Senators Reject Witnesses in Trump Impeachment Trial

Discussion: Townhall

Leigh Ann Caldwell / NBC News:
McConnell, Schumer reach deal to wrap up trial on Wednesday

Discussion: The Hill

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
The Senate Can Stop Pretending Now

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, alicublog, Mother Jones and HuffPost

CNN:
White House officials not thrilled but resigned to new vote timeline in impeachment trial

Discussion: HuffPost and Mother Jones

Eric Tucker / Associated Press: GOP senators seek to acquit Trump without condoning conduct

Brian Naylor / NPR:
Sen. Alexander Explains Decision Not To Call Witnesses In Trump Impeachment Trial

Discussion: HuffPost, Axios, PJ Media Home, Roll Call, IJR and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

Trump Told Bolton to Help His Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Book Says — The president asked his national security adviser last spring in front of other senior advisers to pave the way for a meeting between Rudolph Giuliani and Ukraine's new leader. — WASHINGTON — More than two months …

Washington Post:
Bolton faces potential legal battles in standoff with White House over his book

Discussion: Raw Story, ABC News and Vanity Fair

David Siders / Politico:

DNC members discuss rules change to stop Sanders at convention — DES MOINES, Iowa — A small group of Democratic National Committee members has privately begun gauging support for a plan to potentially weaken Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and head off a brokered convention.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Common Dreams and Twitchy

Politico:

DNC overhauls debate requirements, opening door for Bloomberg — The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement …

Washington Post:

‘The center of the orbit’: Endangered Republicans go all-in on Trump — Many of the most endangered Republicans have concluded that fully embracing President Trump is their only credible path to victory in November, rallying to his side in the final days of the Senate impeachment fight …

Discussion: One America News Network, The Hill and The Week

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
New DNC debate rules open door for Mike Bloomberg to make stage

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill and The Wrap

Will Weissert / Associated Press:
Candidates brace for frenzied weekend of Iowa campaigning

Discussion: Fox News, ABC News and Washington Post

Michele Kelemen / NPR:

Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch Has Retired From Foreign Service — Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine until last spring when she was ousted following a disinformation campaign by the president's private lawyer, is retiring — not resigning.

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

Vanessa Romo / NPR:

Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Key Figure In Impeachment Trial, Retires — The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who accused the Trump administration of a “smear” campaign against her, has retired from the foreign service, NPR has learned.

Discussion: New York Times, NBC News and UPI

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:
In Kyiv, Pompeo does not dispute allegations in Bolton's book

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
Giuliani discussed interests of a former Ukrainian client during summer meeting with top Zelensky aide

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:
Marie Yovanovitch, diplomat at center of impeachment drama, retires

Discussion: The Hill

Victoria Bekiempis / Vulture:

Weinstein Accuser Says He Has No Testicles — Jessica Mann testified in a Manhattan courtroom Friday that Harvey Weinstein engaged in forced oral sex and raped her in early 2013 and alleged that she was in a twisted relationship with him because of her sexual inexperience.

Discussion: Slate and Consequence of Sound

Page Six:
Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann tells court his genitalia looked ‘like a vagina’

Discussion: New York Times and The Daily Caller

Associated Press: Woman says Weinstein yelled, ‘You owe me!’ before raping her

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:

Trump Administration Adds Six Countries to Travel Ban — President Trump added Africa's biggest country, Nigeria, as well as Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, to his restricted travel list. — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday added six countries to his list …

Discussion: The Week

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Hillary Clinton Slams Bernie Sanders for Not Working to Unite Democrats in 2016 — In a podcast interview on Friday, Mrs. Clinton also described the caucuses in Iowa, where Mr. Sanders leads in some polls, as “undemocratic.” — DES MOINES — Hillary Clinton said on Friday in a podcast interview …

Discussion: VICE, Common Dreams, Financial Times and Real Clear Politics

Apple Podcasts:
Apple Podcasts Preview

Discussion: The Hill

Jonathan D. Salant / New Jersey Online:

Trump's former chief of staff says Senate impeachment trial without witnesses is ‘a job only half done’ — WASHINGTON — A Senate vote to end President Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings without calling witnesses should be considered “half a trial,” the president's former chief of staff John Kelly said Friday.

Discussion: New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, Breitbart, Mediaite, The National Interest, CNN, The Week, The Hill, Axios, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, HuffPost and Politico

Ryan Broderick / BuzzFeed News:

A Pro-Trump Blog Doxed A Chinese Scientist It Falsely Accused Of Creating The Coronavirus As A Bioweapon — A popular pro-Trump website has released the personal information of a scientist from Wuhan, China, falsely accusing them of creating the coronavirus as a bioweapon …

Discussion: The Post Millennial, The Verge and American Greatness, more at Mediagazer »

Miami Herald:

Opera singer danced on an SUV, then crashed through Mar-a-Lago barricades. Cops opened fire — A Connecticut woman chastised for dancing on her car at a Palm Beach hotel late Friday morning ended up driving away and crashing her vehicle through two security barricades outside Mar-a-Lago …

Samantha Branca / WSVN-TV:
Woman in custody after police-involved shooting at Mar-a-Lago

Discussion: NBC Connecticut, WPLG-TV, Breitbart, American Greatness and PJ Media Home

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Delta, United and American Airlines Suspend Flights to China — The suspensions came after the State Department issued a travel advisory on Thursday night telling Americans not to go to China. — RIGHT NOW The United States government has imposed a quarantine …

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, theepochtimes.com, NPR, GOV.UK, The Verge, ABC News, SFist, Lawfare, Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, PJ Media Home, The Daily Caller, ImmigrationProf Blog and VICE

Bloomberg:
For $193, a Flight to New York With a Six-Hour Stopover in Wuhan

Discussion: Common Dreams

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi Statement on Senate Vote to Block Witnesses and Documents — Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi released this statement after Senate Republicans voted against calling witnesses and compelling documents in the impeachment proceedings: — “The Senate Republicans' vote …

Discussion: The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

James B. Comey / Washington Post:

Trump won't be removed. But we'll be fine. — James B. Comey is a former director of the FBI and deputy attorney general. — When I was a little kid, the United States seemed to be coming apart. The president was murdered in public. The first lady had his blood on her pink suit.

Joe Heim / Washington Post:

It wasn't just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women's March photo. — The Library of Congress abandoned plans last year to showcase a mural-size photograph of demonstrators at the 2017 Women's March in Washington because of concerns it would be perceived …

Andrea Bernstein / The New York Review of Books:

Corruption with No Consequences, from Bridgegate to Impeachment — Two days before he was sworn in to preside over the US Senate impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump, the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts conducted a hearing on a different case entirely …