memeorandum: United Nations removes survey asking staff if they are ‘yellow’ (Michelle Nichols/Reuters)

6:00 PM ET, August 20, 2020

Top Items:

Leaders Of ‘We Build The Wall’ Online Fundraising Campaign Charged With Defrauding Hundreds Of Thousands Of Donors — Brian Kolfage, Stephen Bannon, and Two Others Alleged to Have Funneled Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars From the Organization to Kolfage; All Four Defendants Allegedly Profited From Their Roles in the Scheme

Edmund H. Mahony / Hartford Courant:

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was on billionaire's yacht off Connecticut shore when federal agents arrested him early Thursday — Stephen K. Bannon, former top advisor to President Donald Trump, was arrested while on a yacht off Westbrook early Thursday, law enforcement sources said.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Vox, New York Post, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in ‘We Build the Wall’ Campaign — Mr. Bannon and three others are accused in a scheme to use funds raised for construction to pay for personal expenses. — Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's former top adviser, was charged on Thursday in New York …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post, The American Independent, Daily Kos, The US Sun, Spectator USA, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, IJR, Task & Purpose, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

The “Narcissism and Ego” That Led to Steve Bannon's Arrest — On Thursday, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Steve Bannon—a top strategist on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and one of his key White House advisers before being fired, in 2017—with fraud.

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
Steve Bannon charged with defrauding donors in private effort to raise money for Trump's border wall

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, BuzzFeed News, Axios, Political Flare, Politico, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Forbes, The Guardian, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and The Week

NBC New York:
Former Trump Campaign Boss Steve Bannon Indicted for Fraud in NY

Discussion: Business Insider, JONATHAN TURLEY, Breitbart, NBC Connecticut, Raw Story and The Post Millennial

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
The ‘We Build The Wall’ Huckster Is Accused of Duping Donors. Turns Out, He Planned To Sell Their Data Too.

Discussion: Fox News and Reuters

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Bannon's indictment confirms that the American right is made up of con artists

Discussion: Raw Story, The Mahablog, Politico and Mother Jones

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon arrested on charges of defrauding donors in fundraising scheme

Discussion: CNN and TheBlaze

Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud charges

Discussion: Reuters, HillReporter.com, Redstate, NPR, The American Independent, National Review and UPI

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Each of the three people who led Trump's 2016 campaign has now faced criminal charges

Discussion: CNBC

Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
Bannon Grifter Indictment: More Steel Bracelets for Team Trump

Discussion: Eschaton

NBC News:
Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon arrested on charges of defrauding donors to ‘Build the Wall’ campaign

Discussion: Rolling Stone and The Cain Gang

Corinne Ramey / Wall Street Journal:
Steve Bannon Charged in Alleged Border Wall Fundraising Scheme

Discussion: Townhall

Aaron Gordon / VICE:

USPS Headquarters Tells Managers Not to Reconnect Mail Sorting Machines, Emails Show — “We are not to reconnect any machines that have previously been disconnected.” — Aaron Gordon — Shortly after USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a public statement saying he wanted to …

Discussion: The Hill, Snopes.com, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Post Millennial, WisconsinWatch.org and TheGrio

Aaron Gordon / VICE:

USPS Warns Employees Not to Speak to Press — Memos obtained by Motherboard warn USPS employees that nosy customers could be sneaky reporters. — Aaron Gordon — Memos are trickling down the United States Postal Service bureaucracy warning employees that they should not speak to the press …

Discussion: Raw Story

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Dems say evidence shows DeJoy was picked to lead Postal Service after ‘highly irregular’ process

Discussion: New York Times and The Hill

Adm. Steve Abbot / Defending Democracy Together:

A STATEMENT BY FORMER REPUBLICAN NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS — We are former national security officials who served during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump, or as Republican Members of Congress.

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Foreign Policy, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

David E. Sanger / New York Times: Top Republican National Security Officials Say They Will Vote for Biden

Tim Reid / Reuters:
Former Republican CIA, FBI heads and national security officials to back Biden

Discussion: Raw Story

Los Angeles Times:

‘Like Armageddon’: Rotting food, dead animals and chaos at postal facilities amid cutbacks — Six weeks ago, U.S. Postal Service workers in the high desert town of Tehachapi, Calif., began to notice crates of mail sitting in the post office in the early morning that should have been shipped out for delivery the night before.

Adam Carlson / People.com:

Stephen and Ayesha Curry Say 'We're Voting for Joe Biden' and Will Appear with Their Kids at DNC — The couple sit down with their daughters, Riley and Ryan, in a pre-taped video that will air on the last night of the Democratic National Convention — The Currys are casting their vote for Biden.

Discussion: Mercury News

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Hunter Biden to talk at Democratic convention

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Reuters, Washington Post, The Hill, Breitbart, Fox News and Daily Kos

Ryan Lizza / Politico:
Obama torches Trump like American democracy depends on it

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Post, New York Magazine, New York Times, The Atlantic, CBS News, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, Breitbart, Political Wire, Axios and NBC News

Washington Post:
Trump says Biden, who was a child when his family left Pennsylvania, ‘abandoned’ the state

Discussion: The Hill

Orion Rummler / Axios:
Hunter Biden slated to speak at final night of DNC

Discussion: The Hill, Twitchy and Politico

New York Times:

The Republican Embrace of QAnon Goes Far Beyond Trump — As the president all but endorses the internet-driven conspiracy theory, it is shifting from the fringes of the internet to become an offline political movement. — Late last month, as the Texas Republican Party was shifting into campaign mode …

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Ben Kesslen / NBC News:

Trump's QAnon embrace draws GOP backlash — President Donald Trump's embrace of QAnon is drawing backlash from some prominent Republicans, who say his comments Wednesday on the group that believes he is saving the world from a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals have “no place” in the party.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Bulwark and HillReporter.com

Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:
Texas QAnon Supporter Used Car to Attack Strangers She Believed Were ‘Pedophiles’

Discussion: New York Times

Victoria McGrane Globe / The Boston Globe:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorses Joe Kennedy in race against Ed Markey — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is endorsing Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III in his primary challenge to incumbent Senator Edward J. Markey, a boost for the challenger in what polls suggest is a neck-and-neck race.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Forbes, Axios, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, Sean Hannity, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Roll Call and Twitchy

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Pelosi endorses Kennedy over Markey in tight Massachusetts Senate primary

Discussion: Fox News and Associated Press

NBC News:

Trump cabinet officials voted in 2018 White House meeting to separate migrant children, say officials — WASHINGTON — In early May 2018, after weeks of phone calls and private meetings, 11 of the president's most senior advisers were called to the White House Situation Room where they were asked …

Discussion: Mediaite

Brian Stelter / Vanity Fair:

“Hannity Has Said to Me More Than Once, 'He's Crazy'”: Fox News Staffers Feel Trapped in the Trump Cult — Inside the network staffers are cringing, and even Trump's “shadow chief of staff” has his doubts. “If you were hearing what I'm hearing, you'd be vaping too,” Sean Hannity told a colleague during Trump's early days.

Discussion: Redstate, Political Flare, HillReporter.com, Raw Story and The Week

New York Times:

Trump Must Turn Over Tax Returns to D.A., Judge Rules — A federal judge rejected the president's argument that a subpoena seeking eight years of his tax returns was ‘wildly overbroad.’ — A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Trump's latest effort to block the Manhattan district attorney …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, TheGrio, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Judge throws out Trump's effort to block subpoena for financial records

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg Law, Associated Press, IJR, ABC News, One America News Network and Reuters

Politico:

Falwell's use of yacht comes under scrutiny — Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has repeatedly used a 164-foot yacht owned by NASCAR mogul Rick Hendrick for family vacations after the university committed to a lucrative sponsorship deal with Hendrick Motorsports …

Discussion: Raw Story

Marisa Fernandez / Axios:

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy tests positive for coronavirus — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Thursday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, and is “strictly following the direction of our medical experts” by quarantining, local ABC affiliate WBRZ reports. — The big picture …

Discussion: Associated Press, WBRZ, Politico, Reuters and The Daily Caller

Laura Olson / Morning Call:

Joe Biden leads Donald Trump narrowly among Pennsylvania voters in new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll — As Democrat Joe Biden formally accepts his party's presidential nomination, a new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll shows him with a narrow lead over Republican President Donald Trump …

Discussion: New York Times and PoliticsPA

Richard Salame / The Intercept:

Trump Comes Up Empty When Pressed for Evidence of Election Fraud in Court — President Donald Trump's campaign, ordered by a federal court judge in Pennsylvania to back up its claims of fraud in the state's vote-by-mail system, has documented only a handful of cases of election fraud in recent years …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Aleksei Navalny Hospitalized in Russia in Suspected Poisoning — The prominent opposition leader was reported to be in “serious condition” in intensive care in Siberia after his flight to Moscow was forced to make an emergency landing. — MOSCOW — Aleksei A. Navalny …

Discussion: NBC News, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, Associated Press, Breitbart and Foreign Policy

Courier-Journal:

US Senate report says Russian investor in Braidy Industries' mill is a proxy for the Kremlin — A Russian company that has invested in Braidy Industries' planned aluminum rolling mill in Eastern Kentucky was identified as a proxy of the Kremlin in a new report the Senate Intelligence Committee released this week.

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron Katersky / ABC News:

Prosecutors looking to reinstate indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for mortgage fraud — The case was initially dismissed due to its similarity to the federal charges — The Manhattan District Attorney's office fought Thursday to reinstate the indictment …

Discussion: Raw Story