memeorandum: In Stimulus Talks, McConnell Is Outside the Room and in a Tight Spot (Carl Hulse/New York Times)

8:16 AM ET, August 6, 2020

Top Items:

Trump's Bank Was Subpoenaed by N.Y. Prosecutors in Criminal Inquiry — The subpoena, sent to Deutsche Bank, suggests that the inquiry into President Trump's business practices is more wide-ranging than previously known. — The New York prosecutors who are seeking President Trump's tax records …

Discussion: Fox News, The Guardian, The US Sun, Balloon Juice, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Heather Kelly / Washington Post:

For the first time, Facebook removes post by Trump containing coronavirus misinformation — The company is has faced pressure to better moderate its site amid a massive advertiser boycott. — Facebook on Wednesday said it removed President Trump's post of a video clip from a Fox News interview …

Discussion: Raw Story, Bloomberg, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, Contemptor, WAVY-TV, Just The News, The Verge, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze, more at Techmeme »

Shannon Bond / NPR:
Twitter, Facebook Remove Trump Post Over False Claim About Children And COVID-19

Discussion: Breitbart, TechCrunch, Bloomberg and The Wrap

Axios:
Facebook, Twitter take down Trump post saying kids are immune to coronavirus

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Beast

Dylan Byers / NBC News:
Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus misinformation

Discussion: The US Sun, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill and Mediaite

Politico:

‘I want to get an outcome’: McConnell defends strategy as he faces GOP grumbling — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knows where he needs to take his fellow Republicans on coronavirus relief — but he's not sure how many will follow him there. — Facing a deeply divided Senate GOP conference …

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, ABC News, Fox News and Breitbart

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

In Stimulus Talks, McConnell Is Outside the Room and in a Tight Spot — With Republicans divided and President Trump undercutting negotiations on a pandemic relief package, the majority leader is in a difficult bind, partly of his own making. — WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: Denver Post, WTOP and Washington Post

Rashaan Ayesh / Axios:
Rand Paul: Republicans should apologize to Obama for complaining about spending

Discussion: Breitbart and New York Post

Politico: Emboldened Pelosi takes hard line as relief talks drag on

Roy Neel / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Last Gasp Could Be a Supreme Court Justice in January

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, NBC News, Fox News and Political Wire

NBC News:
Contours of coronavirus aid deal between Democrats, White House take shape

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Trevor Hunnicutt / Reuters:

Trump hangs on to financial edge in race against Biden — (Reuters) - President Donald Trump thwarted efforts to cripple his re-election campaign's financial advantage, as Republican donors forked over record cash in July, campaign disclosures showed on Wednesday.

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Associated Press, The Hill and Washington Post

Gary Sheffield, Jr / OutKick:

Joe Rogan Expresses Discomfort Surrounding Joe Biden Campaign — Joe Biden hasn't spent much time in front of cameras the past few months and his absence led Joe Rogan to conclusions on how Americans feel on a potential Biden presidency. … The pandemic led most Americans out of work …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

CNN:
Fact check: Trump ad edits out microphone and trees from Biden photo to make him seem alone in basement

Discussion: Raw Story

Molly Duffy / The Gazette:
Trump campaign uses unauthorized and altered Gazette photo to criticize Biden

Discussion: The Hill, Althouse, POLITICUSUSA, IJR and The Gateway Pundit

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Member of Conservative Think Tank Takes On Reporter Duties on Air Force Two — Instead of a member of the White House press corps, the role of pool reporter was filled by Robert B. Bluey, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation. — WASHINGTON — When Vice President Mike Pence traveled …

Discussion: The Daily Signal and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Democrats and Republicans push back on Trump's desire to deliver convention speech from White House — Local and national leaders pushed back Wednesday against President Trump's desire to deliver his convention acceptance speech from the White House, warning that the event could bring protests …

Megan Henney / Fox News:
Pelosi blasts Trump for saying he may deliver convention speech from White House: 'He can't do that'

Discussion: The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Our nation is in a free fall. But sure, let's talk about Hillary's emails again. — Nearly 5 million covid-19 cases in the United States. One-hundred fifty-seven thousand dead. Thirty-two million out of work. Tens of millions facing eviction, foreclosure and hunger. — What do we do now?

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Redstate and Roll Call

Carrie Johnson / NPR:
Sally Yates, Defending DOJ, Says Michael Flynn Talks Neutered U.S. Russia Policy

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall and Bloomberg

Ken Dilanian / NBC News: Trump administration's probe of the Russia investigation may be nearing conclusion

US Congressman Rodney Davis:

Davis Statement on His Positive COVID-19 Test — f t # e — U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill) released the following statement on his positive COVID-19 test:

Discussion: Reuters, NPR, Decatur, IL Patch, Politico, Axios and The Hill

Caroline Kelly / CNN: Illinois Republican congressman tests positive for coronavirus

CBS News:

Georgia second grader tests positive for coronavirus after first day of school, forcing class to quarantine — Two suburban Atlanta school districts that began in-person classes Monday with mask-optional policies face more questions about COVID-19 safety protocols after on-campus pictures showed students packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Discussion: Raw Story and Eschaton

BuzzFeed News: The Truth Behind A Viral Picture Of A Reopening School Is Worse Than It Looked

New York Post:

Over 80,000 mail-in ballots disqualified in NYC primary mess — The mail-in ballots of more than 84,000 New York City Democrats who sought to vote in the presidential primary were disqualified, according to new figures released by the Board of Elections. — The city BOE received 403,213 mail …

Discussion: Breitbart and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Senate Democrat launches inquiry into Postal Service delays

Discussion: Common Dreams

Washington Post:
Democrats demand Postal Service reverse new rules that have slowed the delivery of absentee ballots

Discussion: Politico, Newsy, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Law & Crime

New York Times:

The Unique U.S. Failure to Control the Virus — Slowing the coronavirus has been especially difficult for the United States because of its tradition of prioritizing individualism and missteps by the Trump administration. — By David LeonhardtGraphics by Lauren Leatherby

CNN:

Kanye West's bizarre ‘campaign’ is designed to help Trump — Kanye West announces he's running for president — John Avlon is a senior political analyst at CNN. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. — (CNN)We need to talk about Kanye.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Breitbart and The Hill

CNN:
Republican operatives are helping Kanye West get on general election ballots

Discussion: The US Sun, The Hill and The Root

Rob Stein / NPR:

Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed — Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he has received death threats and his daughters have been harassed as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic. — “Getting death threats …

Noah Higgins-Dunn / CNBC:
Asked if the U.S. has the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, Dr. Fauci says: 'The numbers don't lie'

Discussion: NBC Chicago, NBC Boston and The Nation

Axios:

Exclusive: Trump campaign seeks early September presidential debate — The Trump campaign is asking the Commission on Presidential Debates to move up the last presidential debate to the first week in September to get ahead of an expected surge in early voting.

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, The US Sun, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Federalist, New York Post and Fox News

New York Times: 2020 Election Live Updates: Trump Campaign Raises $165 Million With Party, Outpacing Biden

Ella Torres / ABC News:

Students at school touted by Pence for reopening must quarantine due to COVID-19 — Vice President Mike Pence said the school was ‘in the forefront’ for reopening. — Fourth graders at a school in North Carolina have been asked to quarantine for 14 days after a student there tested positive for COVID-19.

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Former clients of acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf received millions in department contracts — Several former lobbying clients of Chad Wolf, now the acting secretary of Homeland Security, have received millions of dollars' worth of government contracts while he has held senior positions within the department.

Sarah Dadouch / Washington Post:

'I have no idea how I'm not dead': A Post correspondent recalls doomful night in Beirut — Sarah Dadouch, a Beirut-based correspondent for The Washington Post, shared her experience of Tuesday's explosions with The Post's Siobhán O'Grady. The account was condensed and edited for clarity.

Molly Ball / TIME:

How COVID-19 Changed Everything About the 2020 Election — In the 2020 that might have been, nobody is sick and politics is the center of the universe. — The Democratic Party has just nominated Joe Biden and his running mate at its mid-July convention in Milwaukee, while Republicans …

Anti-Defamation League:

Michelle Malkin is Attempting to Normalize White Supremacy — Conservative pundit and syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin has a long history of divisive rhetoric around a range of issues - particularly immigration. In the past year, however, she has publicly and explicitly allied herself …

Discussion: Big League Politics

Jennifer Smith / Daily Mail:

Cuomo begs wealthy New Yorkers to come back to save the city and pleads 'I'll buy you a drink!' as he fights off calls to raise their taxes - which he fears may scare them away forever — Cuomo said on Tuesday that he speaks to the city's wealthiest residents ‘every day’, begging them to come back

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and LifeZette