Top Items:
New York Times:
Trump Onslaught Against Biden Falls Short of a Breakthrough — President Trump has leveled scathing law-and-order attacks on Joseph Biden for weeks. But a new poll shows Mr. Biden ahead in three states Mr. Trump hopes to pick up, and maintaining a lead in Wisconsin. — THE NEW YORK TIMES / SIENA COLLEGE POLL
Edmund H. Mahony / Hartford Courant:
Nora Dannehy, top aide to John Durham's Trump-Russia investigation, quietly resigns amid concern about pressure from Attorney General William Barr — Federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy, a top aide to U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in his Russia investigation, has quietly resigned …
Discussion:
Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Fox News, CNBC, CANNONFIRE, Reuters, The Daily Caller, Lawfare, NBC News, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Hill, Mediaite, Law & Crime, National Review, Balloon Juice, The Guardian and Raw Story
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New York Times:
Top Aide in Review of Russia Inquiry Resigns From Justice Dept. — The resignation came amid increasing expectations that the department may disclose partial results from the review before it is completed but ahead of the presidential election. — WASHINGTON — A top aide …
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
Prosecutor Quits Trump's Law Enforcement Commission, Saying The Fix Is In — John Choi is worried the group is intent on “providing cover” for a predetermined law-and-order agenda that “will only widen the divisions in our nation.” — An elected prosecutor who took a role …
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Johnson seeks IG probe of wiped Mueller team phones — Senate Homeland Security Chair Ron Johnson is asking a Justice Department watchdog to probe recently revealed documents that suggest members of special counsel Robert Mueller's team wiped records from their official phones.
Discussion:
Fox News, IJR, American Greatness, Chuck Grassley, Breitbart, The Lid, The Hill and National Review
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Durham aide quits amid pressure on Russiagate probe
Durham aide quits amid pressure on Russiagate probe
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos
Dan Diamond / Politico:
Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19 — The health department's politically appointed communications aides have demanded the right to review and seek changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic …
Discussion:
Slate, The Guardian, Mediaite, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Eschaton and Mother Jones
Anita Kumar / Politico:
‘A huge risk’: Trump's allies can't sway him on mail-in voting — For a few weeks, Donald Trump's advisers had seemingly gotten through to him — the president was finally encouraging his supporters to vote by mail, at least some of the time. — On-message Trump didn't last long.
Discussion:
Spectator USA and Raw Story
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Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court Has Already Begun to Sabotage Absentee Voting — A Green Party challenge gave the conservative majority a new way to sow chaos. — On Thursday morning, it looked like Wisconsin was positioned to run a smooth election this fall.
Discussion:
The Nation and CNN
Tara Subramaniam / CNN:
Fact-checking William Barr: Is your vote no longer secret with mail-in ballots?
Fact-checking William Barr: Is your vote no longer secret with mail-in ballots?
Discussion:
Associated Press and The Hill
Dell Cameron / Gizmodo:
Debunked ‘Antifa’ Wildfire Rumors Spread on Facebook Overload 911, Spur Calls to Violence — By Thursday evening, more than 10 percent of Oregon's 4.2 million residents were under an evacuation order, according to state estimates. Uncontained wildfires fueled by sustained global heating …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Dozens missing as firefighters battle two large Oregon fires — SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters battled two large wildfires Friday that threatened to merge near the most populated part of Oregon, including the suburbs of Portland, and the governor said dozens of people are missing in other parts of the state.
Discussion:
Vox, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, myfox8.com, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and KOIN-TV
CNN:
Decision to drop Michael Flynn case was ‘corrupt and politically motivated,’ court-appointed lawyer says — (CNN)The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn was a “corrupt and politically motivated favor,” …
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Matt Margolis / pjmedia.com:
Did Mueller's Team Commit ‘Anticipatory Obstruction of Justice’ with Coordinated Wiping of Phones?
Did Mueller's Team Commit ‘Anticipatory Obstruction of Justice’ with Coordinated Wiping of Phones?
Discussion:
Power Line, Fox News and Judicial Watch
David Sharp / Associated Press:
Collins won't say in debate who she'll vote for in November — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democrat Sara Gideon sought to link Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, with President Donald Trump during their first debate Friday night, and she demanded several times that Collins say whether she'll vote …
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News, Raw Story, Slate and Twitchy
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Simone Pathe / CNN:
Susan Collins: Trump ‘should have been straightforward with the American people’
Susan Collins: Trump ‘should have been straightforward with the American people’
Discussion:
The Hill, IJR, Bangor Daily News, The American Independent and Daily Kos
Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Afghanistan, Taliban launch US-brokered peace talks — Historic peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government kicked off Saturday in Qatar in the hopes of crafting a unity government in Afghanistan and ending years of war that have killed or displaced millions.
Discussion:
Reuters and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
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Mujib Mashal / New York Times:
Afghanistan Peace Talks Open in Qatar, Seeking End to Decades of War
Afghanistan Peace Talks Open in Qatar, Seeking End to Decades of War
Discussion:
Ariana News and Bloomberg
Neal Rothschild / Axios:
Voters have made up their minds — The 2020 presidential election features a pared-back pool of undecided voters after four years of a highly controversial and media-saturated presidency. — Why it matters: Entrenched views mean there's less reason for campaigns to try to change voters' minds …
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News and Washington Post
Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:
Ex-Felons in Florida Must Pay Fines Before Voting, Appeals Court Rules — In a reversal, a court said Floridians who had completed sentences for felonies must pay fines and fees before voting. The State Constitution was amended in 2018 to restore their rights.
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Sam Levine / The Guardian:
Federal court rules Florida felons must pay off debts to state before voting
Federal court rules Florida felons must pay off debts to state before voting
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Fox News, Reason, Politico, Florida Politics, CBS Miami, ABC News, Bloomberg, MyNorthwest.com, Reuters and Mother Jones
Sophie Lewis / CBS News:
College students admitted to police they had COVID-19. They threw a house party anyway. — More than 1,100 students at Miami University in Ohio have tested positive for coronavirus since mid-August. But even after testing positive, a group of students was caught on camera hosting …
Discussion:
Fox News, ABC7, Washington Post, Mediaite and Associated Press
Associated Press:
Trump looks west, eyeing new paths to White House — WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing for new roads to reelection, President Donald Trump will go on offense this weekend in Nevada, a state that hasn't supported a Republican presidential candidate since 2004. — Trump will plunge head-on into a battle …
Discussion:
Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal
Associated Press:
Biden audio first shared by ‘Russian agent’ thrives online — WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaked recordings were hardly a political bombshell: The apparent phone conversations between Joe Biden and Ukraine's then-president largely confirm Biden's account of his dealings in Ukraine.
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Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:
New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Trump falls 10 points behind Biden amid reports he misled Americans about COVID-19 and disparaged U.S. soldiers — Donald Trump has fallen further behind Joe Biden following bombshell reports that the president knowingly misled Americans about the dangers of COVID-19 …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Breitbart
Matt Taibbi / Reporting:
Tape shows: ethically, CNN chief a little shaky — A conversation between Jeff Zucker and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen removes all doubt: our hated president is a beloved commodity to network executives — America this week is obsessing about conversations between Donald Trump and Washington Post legend Bob Woodward.
Discussion:
Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:
“He Had a Twisted Umbilical Cord to Trump”: Michael Cohen's Daughter Reflects On His Time With the President, and Becoming Trumpworld “Collateral Damage” — Samantha Cohen never liked Donald Trump—especially after her dad paid the price for spending years by his side.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Politico:
Biden's transition team, wary of Trump and Covid-19, sets massive fundraising goal — Joe Biden's transition team has expanded its fundraising goal far beyond what Hillary Clinton raised in 2016, anticipating that, should they prevail in November, the Trump administration could actively work …
Rod Dreher:
Pretty Babies — Well, I watched Cuties so you don't have to. I don't like people condemning something without having seen or read it. So I saw it last night. It's almost as bad as you think, and Netflix deserves all the grief it's taking over the thing.
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, Townhall, The Verge, Vanity Fair and Louder With Crowder
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Democratic insiders set up a ‘war room’ to quickly kill the filibuster — WASHINGTON — Democratic insiders are assembling a coalition behind the scenes to wage an all-out war on the Senate filibuster in bullish anticipation of sweeping the 2020 election and passing an ambitious progressive agenda.
Discussion:
Breitbart
Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:
‘Be a Good Boy’: Lawsuit Graphically Accuses Fox News Star Andrew Napolitano of Sexual Assault — Warning: details included in this story are graphic. — Former judge and current Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano was sued for sexual assault, battery and intentional infliction …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, Breitbart and New York Post
Olga Khazan / The Atlantic:
Making Joe Biden Cool — Young people aren't particularly excited about Joe Biden. One strategy to change their mind? Convince them that they're voting for a big, progressive crew. — Ben Wessel was nervous. Joe Biden had just won the Democratic nomination, and the youth-focused …
Discussion:
Washington Post