memeorandum: Ukraine wouldn't do Trump's dirty work. So GOP senators are doing it instead. (Washington Post)

10:55 AM ET, February 3, 2020

Top Items:

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg:

Joe Biden Could Be Impeached by GOP Over Ukraine if He Wins, Iowa Senator Says — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst warned Sunday that Republicans would immediately push to impeach Joe Biden over his work in Ukraine as vice president if he win the White House. — “I think this door of impeachable whatever …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, New York Times, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Axios, The Daily Caller, Politico, Washington Post, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, KTLA, NPR and Twitchy

Pew Research Center:

Democrats on Twitter more liberal, less focused on compromise than those not on the platform — The political views and primary candidate preferences of Democrats on Twitter differ from those who are not on the platform, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January.

NBC News:

John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ — That he would even discuss the possibility suggests that prominent members of the Democratic Party remain deeply unsettled by the current field. — DES MOINES, Iowa …

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

2020 Democrats Are Bringing Butter Knives to a Gunfight — CEDAR RAPIDS—Heading into tonight's Iowa caucus, the clock may be ticking faster on the Democratic presidential candidates than they believe. — All of the leading contenders have campaigned energetically and extensively across …

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Biden: Impeachment hasn't ‘shaken my faith’ in working with Republicans

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story

NBC News:
The stakes for Biden tonight in Iowa are enormous

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Raw Story

New York Times:
What Is the Election Needle? And Why Will We Have 4 of Them Tonight?

Discussion: HuffPost

Associated Press:
Democratic race opens in Iowa amid worry over beating Trump

Discussion: Politico

Politico:
Sanders, Warren go separate ways in closing pitches

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, The Hill, KTLA and Outside the Beltway

Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register:
Iowa caucus saga reaches final chapter: 10 questions that will be answered on caucus night

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Washington Post

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump advisers say they're trying to “promote the rise” of Bernie Sanders

Discussion: Fox News, Esquire and PJ Media Home

Daniel Politi / Slate:
Poll: Biden, Sanders Tied for First Place in Iowa

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Smoke Eater, Louder With Crowder and Daily Kos

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Washington Post Threatened Another Star Reporter Over His Tweets — The newspaper's Kobe Bryant tweet mess last week wasn't the first time WaPo bosses got into heated clashes with reporters over social-media policy. — The Washington Post's controversial decision to punish a reporter …

more at Mediagazer »

Jason Wilson / The Guardian:

White nationalist has long worked at conservative outlets under real name — Guardian findings support watchdog's report that ‘Paul Kersey’, a prominent author and activist, is actually Michael J Thompson — A new report has revealed that a prominent white nationalist author …

Blake Hounshell / Politico:

‘Truly bizarre circumstances’: Anonymous book agents refute whisper campaign against Trump official — The literary agents for the senior Trump administration official who penned an anonymous New York Times op-ed and best-selling book are breaking their silence to swat down a whisper campaign pinning …

Discussion: Raw Story

Amy Qin / New York Times:

Virus Pummels Wuhan, a City Short of Supplies and Overwhelmed — It is nearly impossible to get the care they need to treat, or even diagnose, the coronavirus, say residents at the crisis' center. — WUHAN, China — Weak with fever, An Jianhua waited in line for seven hours outside …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Atlantic

Joe Mcdonald / Associated Press: Built in 10 days, China's virus hospital takes 1st patients

Eric Roston / Bloomberg:

Climate Models Are Running Red Hot, and Scientists Don't Know Why — There are dozens of climate models, and for decades they've agreed on what it would take to heat the planet by about 3° Celsius. It's an outcome that would be disastrous—flooded cities, agricultural failures …

Manu Raju / CNN:

Trump and Pelosi haven't spoken in months — Washington (CNN)When he delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump will directly cross paths with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time in months. — According to a Pelosi spokesman …

Discussion: Raw Story

Liz Peek / Fox News: Democrats' impeachment flop sets stage for boffo State of the Union speech by Trump

The Guardian:

Political journalists boycott No 10 briefing after PM's aide tries to ban selected reporters - live news — The day's political developments, including Johnson's speech on EU trade talks, and Barnier publishing EU's draft negotiating guidelines — In response to my colleague Rowena Mason's report …

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

New U.S. Travel Ban Shuts Door on Africa's Biggest Economy, Nigeria — The visa rules will affect nearly a quarter of the people on the African continent, including many hoping to join loved ones already in the U.S. — The newlyweds had already been apart for half their yearlong marriage.

Chris Chavez / Sports Illustrated:

President Trump Congratulates ‘The Great State of Kansas’ After Chiefs Super Bowl Victory — President Trump deleted a tweet congratulating the “Great State of Kansas” after the Chiefs' Super Bowl win. The Chiefs play in Missouri. — President Donald Trump took to Twitter …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Vox, Politico, The Hill, Reason, The Guardian, New York Times and Common Dreams

Michael Kruse / Politico:

'We Don't Want to F— It Up': How Trump Got Inside Iowa's Head — DES MOINES—A woman in a long red winter coat stood up at a town hall the other day in Iowa and asked Pete Buttigieg about Michigan and North Carolina. — There were more than 300 people packed into a brick-walled …

Discussion: Raw Story

JONATHAN TURLEY:

Gerhardt: The Entire White House Defense Team Will Face Bar Charges — There have been suggestions that the White House defense team could be brought up on bar charges for their arguments in the Senate. I have previously written that such statements by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others are vindictive and ill-informed.

Discussion: Power Line and Instapundit

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The Simple Reason Trump Does What He Does — Trump's credo, from ‘Access Hollywood’ to impeachment. — It wasn't the most notorious part of the “Access Hollywood” tape, but it was the most revealing: “And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

Richard L. Hasen / The Atlantic:

The Supreme Court May No Longer Have the Legitimacy to Resolve a Disputed Election — Among the many strange and worrying truths about American elections, one has a tendency to get lost: The path to the presidency can run not just through battleground states but also through the Supreme Court.

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

Leak: Man Who Bankrolled Brexit Boasted of WikiLeaks Backchannel — Hacked Twitter messages raise legal questions over Cambridge Analytica, undeclared foreign lobbying, and links between Julian Assange and the Brexit and Trump campaign teams. — NEW YORK—The man who bankrolled the campaign …

Discussion: Raw Story

Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post:

China accuses US of spreading ‘panic’ over coronavirus outbreak — The Chinese government on Monday accused the US of spreading “panic” over the coronavirus outbreak by pulling its citizens out of the country and restricting travel instead of offering significant assistance.

Discussion: National Review