memeorandum: Trump turns to establishment players to offset his renegade instincts (Gabby Orr/Politico)

4:05 PM ET, June 17, 2020

Top Items:

Bolton Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions — In his new book, John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, describes episodes where the president sought to halt criminal inquiries. He also says President Trump's loyalists mocked him behind his back.

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Political Wire, The Hill, The Guardian and Axios

John Bolton / Wall Street Journal:

The Scandal of Trump's China Policy — The president pleaded with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for domestic political help, subordinated national-security issues to his own reelection prospects and ignored Beijing's human-rights abuses — U.S. strategy toward the People's Republic of China …

Discussion: KEYT-TV and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump asked China's Xi to help him win reelection, according to Bolton book — President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win the 2020 U.S. election, telling Xi during a summit dinner last year that increased agricultural purchases by Beijing from American farmers would aid …

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Mediaite and Fox News

Jennifer Szalai / New York Times:

John Bolton's Tone in ‘The Room Where It Happened’ Swings Between Tedious and Slightly Unhinged — Pity, for just an infinitesimal moment, John Bolton. — There he was last January, commanding an enormous share of the public's attention with news of a forthcoming book that reportedly included an …

Discussion: Daily Kos, IJR, Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Examiner and CNN

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr / Washington Post:

Why Trump's lawsuit against John Bolton will fail — Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and specializes in First Amendment law. — The Trump administration's lawsuit against John Bolton is a paper tiger, designed for a showy roar of outrage but with little prospect of any real bite.

Discussion: New York Times

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
A White House official said John Bolton's book contained no classified info. Then Trump loyalists intervened.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Townhall and Reason

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Biden opens 13-point advantage as Trump popularity drops to seven-month low: Reuters/Ipsos poll — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over President Donald Trump - the widest margin this year - according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll …

Discussion: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart, The Hill and Political Wire

Malachi Barrett / MLive.com:

Michigan pollster: Trump's Bible photo op caused immediate drop in support — President Donald Trump's support among Michigan voters took a sharp dive in polls taken immediately after protesters were forcefully removed so Trump could have his photo taken holding a Bible outside a historic church.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Trump has a point about the polls

Discussion: Washington Post, Progress Pond, Slate and Mediaite

Jon Jankowski / WKMG:

260 workers test positive for COVID-19 at Orlando International Airport — 2,993 people have died from COVID-19 in the state — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis said 260 workers at the Orlando International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus after nearly 500 employees were tested.

Discussion: New Republic, Florida Politics, Twitchy, Raw Story and ABC News

QU Poll:

Release Detail — June 17, 2020 - 68% Say Discrimination Against Black Americans A “Serious Problem,” Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Slight Majority Support Removing Confederate Statues — With the United States at a moment of racial reckoning, voters say 68 …

Discussion: The Hill

Jeff Timmer / The Bulwark:
Michigan May be a Nightmare for the GOP

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Tesler / FiveThirtyEight:
Republicans And Democrats Agree On The Protests But Not Why People Are Protesting

Discussion: The Daily Beast and InsideSources

Politico:

House Republican leaders condemn GOP candidate who made racist videos — The House's highest-ranking Republicans are racing to distance themselves from a leading GOP congressional candidate in Georgia after POLITICO uncovered hours of Facebook videos in which she expresses racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views.

Discussion: Axios and Raw Story

Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:

Cassandra Fairbanks Claims Antifa Attacked Her. Police Reports and Neighbors Say Otherwise — Cassandra Fairbanks and her right-wing media colleagues solicited nearly $25,000 in a fundraiser benefiting Fairbanks after she claimed she was targeted …

Ben Kesslen / NBC News:

Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is ‘based on a racial stereotype’ — The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix will get a new name and image, Quaker Oats announced Wednesday, saying the company recognizes that “Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype.”

Discussion: Townhall, CNN, Mediaite, The Western Journal, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Stranger, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, Breitbart, Louder With Crowder, TheGrio, WRIC-TV and Twitchy

Axios:

Scoop: Republican operatives launch pro-Biden super PAC — A group of prominent Republican operatives that includes former officials from the Trump and George W. Bush administrations are launching a super PAC to turn out GOP voters for Joe Biden in November, organizers tell Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, The Hill, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Disrn, KEYT-TV, Just The News and Fox News

CNBC:

Texas coronavirus hospitalizations surge 11% in a single day — The number of people sickened with Covid-19 across Texas' hospitals hit a new high Wednesday, surging about 11% in a single day. — The total Wednesday marks the eighth new high in the state in less than two weeks.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
Texas Governor Says ‘No Reason Today To Be Alarmed’ As Coronavirus Cases Set Record

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, No More Mister Nice Blog and Eschaton

Wall Street Journal:

How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus — Surface contamination and fleeting encounters are less of a worry than close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods — Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there's a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected?

The Daily Beast:

Fauci: No Need for a Second Lockdown for COVID-19 — The infectious-diseases specialist doesn't think we'll have another New York City. But he's nervous about re-openings and said he personally wouldn't go to Trump's rallies. — With top officials in the Trump White House declaring …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Root, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, National Review, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA and Axios

CNN:

'They're in denial': How Trump's White House is ignoring the pandemic — (CNN)President Donald Trump has largely tuned out the persistent coronavirus contagion — which is causing spikes in new cases across 21 states and daily death tolls that reach into the hundreds …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox and KEYT-TV

Tristan Justice / The Federalist:

Twitter Tried To Ban Tom Cotton For Demanding Rule Of Law During Riots — Twitter tried to give Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton the boot after the senator and combat veteran went on cable television to advocate the use of the federal military to quell violent riots engulfing the nation.

Discussion: Fox News and Washington Times

Kathleen Miller / Bloomberg:
GOP's Tom Cotton Says Twitter Threatened to Lock Account Over Tweet

Discussion: Redstate, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Bob Woodward's new book on Trump administration coming this September — (CNN)President Donald Trump is about to get the Bob Woodward treatment again. — Woodward's second book about the Trump administration is scheduled for release on September 15 in the lead-up to the November presidential election.

Shruti Advani / Financial Times:

The awkward lessons of my luxury lockdown in Kensington — Pandemic shows us we owe the most to the people who surround and support us — All of us have had to put up with restrictions “of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war”, as UK prime minister Boris Johnson put it.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

The Smart Money Is on Val Demings — The congresswoman / grandmother / former police chief is the best bet—literally—for Biden's VP. — I'm going to do something I've never done here before and probably won't do again. So bear with me. — I got a long—crazy long—email from a reader about Biden's VP choice.

The Daily Beast:

Trump Considers Suing His Niece Over Her Tell-All Book, Saying She Signed an NDA — The president has long favored using legal threats to stop people from writing bad books about him. Going after his own family may be next. — This past Sunday, news broke that the president's niece …

Discussion: The Hill, The American Independent, Vanity Fair, CNBC, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Slate and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:

EBay's Former PR Chief Is ‘Executive 2’ in Cyberstalking Indictment — Six employees allegedly cyberstalked newsletter proprietors — Former EBay CEO, ousted last year, is said to be ‘Executive 1’ — EBay Inc.'s former communications chief is “Executive 2” in a federal indictment …

U.S. Department of Justice:

Solicitor General Noel Francisco Announces Departure from Department of Justice — Solicitor General of the United States Noel Francisco announces his departure from the Department of Justice, effective as of July 3, 2020. — “Solicitor General Noel Francisco has represented …

Discussion: Axios and The Hill

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Lankford urges elderly to avoid Tulsa Trump rally — Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Wednesday advised senior citizens and others at higher risk for coronavirus to not attend President Trump's indoor rally Saturday in Tulsa. — “We're advising people if they're coming to the rally …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Tulsa World, Breitbart and Raw Story

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Trump turns to establishment players to offset his renegade instincts — Nearly two years after boasting that his gut tells him “more sometimes than anybody else's brain,” President Donald Trump is ditching his go-it-alone approach — hoping the instincts and experiences of seasoned Republican players …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:

Pelosi asks House committees to require masks, setting up clash with GOP holdouts — Masks have become the norm inside the House of Representatives, where some politicians now embrace the novel coronavirus precaution with colorful odes to their home districts.

Discussion: Vox, Slate, Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and KEYT-TV

Associated Press:

Beijing's new outbreak raises fears for rest of the world — BEIJING (AP) — China raised its emergency warning to its second highest level and canceled more than 60% of the flights to Beijing on Wednesday amid a new coronavirus outbreak in the capital — a sharp pullback for the nation …

Discussion: Politico

Jacob Kornbluh / Jewish Insider:

Schumer endorses Engel in tough primary battle — “I know from being by his side, when it comes to working for the people of his district in the Bronx and Westchester, Eliot Engel gets the job done” — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced his endorsement of Rep. Eliot Engel …

Discussion: New York Times, Common Dreams and American Prospect

HuffPost:

Inside The Dangerous Online Fever Swamps Of American Police — Cops have a far-right media ecosystem of their own, where they post racist memes, spread disinformation and call for violence against antifa. — Around the time news broke on Monday afternoon that the New York City Police Department …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Emissions Are Surging Back as Countries and States Reopen — After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relax their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surges back onto roads.

Financial Times:

US upends global digital tax plans after pulling out of talks with Europe — Decision hits attempts to forge agreement on taxation of multinational technology companies — The US has thrown into disarray plans for a new global tax framework for technology companies after suspending talks …

Discussion: Politico

Emily Wagster Pettus / Associated Press:

Mississippi official: Black people ‘dependent’ since slavery — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After rejecting a proposal to move a Confederate monument, a white elected official in Mississippi said this week that African Americans “became dependent” during slavery and as a result, have had a harder time …

Associated Press:

AP-NORC poll: Sweeping change in US views of police violence — DETROIT (AP) — A dramatic shift has taken place in the nation's opinions on policing and race, as a new poll finds that more Americans today than five years ago believe police brutality is a very serious problem …

Discussion: The Hill

Robby Soave / Reason:

NBC Said Google Is Demonetizing The Federalist for Spreading Fake News; Google Says the NBC Report Is Fake News — On Tuesday, NBC claimed that Google had made the decision to demonetize The Federalist after NBC's own News Verification Unit presented the search engine with evidence …

Discussion: The Federalist, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Daily Caller and The Western Journal, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

GOP senator: Proposal to remove Confederate names from military bases ‘picks on South unfairly’ — (CNN)A Senate amendment to remove the names of Confederate leaders on military property “picks on the South unfairly,” a GOP senator said Tuesday, the latest sign that President Donald Trump's opposition …

Discussion: Morning Consult, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, IJR, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Fox News

Wall Street Journal:

Justice Department to Propose Limiting Internet Firms' Protections — The action follows President Trump's executive order seeking to weaken broad immunity enjoyed by Facebook, Twitter and other platforms — WASHINGTON—The Justice Department is set to propose a roll back of legal protections …

Discussion: Fox News, The Federalist, Axios, KEYT-TV, New York Times, Financial Times, National Review, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, American Compass, Disrn and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Georgia elections chief launches plan to avoid repeated problems — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger introduced proposals Wednesday to avoid another election debacle, calling for more voting locations, technical support and poll worker training.

Discussion: electionlawblog.org