memeorandum: Nearly a year after sudden exit, Shepard Smith returns to TV (David Bauder/Associated Press)

9:40 PM ET, September 27, 2020

Top Items:

LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP'S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE — The Times obtained Donald Trump's tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records — Times reporters have obtained decades of tax information the president has hidden from public view. Here are some of the key findings. — The New York Times has obtained tax-return data for President Trump and his companies that covers more than two decades.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, The Guardian and Mediaite

Dean Baquet / New York Times:

An Editor's Note on the Trump Tax Investigation — The New York Times has examined decades of President Trump's financial records, assembling the most comprehensive picture yet of his business dealings. — Today we are publishing the results of an examination of decades of personal …

Discussion: Redstate, Breitbart, The Hill, Raw Story, Washington Post and The Guardian

Jennifer Starks / AOL.com:

NY Times: Trump paid $750 in U.S. income taxes in 2016, 2017 — President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times. — Trump, who has fiercely guarded …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Washington Times

Brett Clarkson / Sun-Sentinel:

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale hospitalized after he was armed and threatening to harm himself, Fort Lauderdale police say — FORT LAUDERDALE — A tense situation unfolded at a home owned by Brad Parscale, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump's reelection campaign …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and Mediaite

Michelle Solomon / WPLG-TV:

Former Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale, armed, barricades self in Fort Lauderdale home, police called — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Former campaign manager for Donald Trump, Brad Parscale, who was replaced by the President less than four month until November's vote was reportedly armed …

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Senate Dems ready tactics to muck up Supreme Court confirmation — Senate Democrats can't stop Mitch McConnell from confirming a new Supreme Court justice, but they are already planning to make it as painful as possible. — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has his caucus on board …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Fox News, Redstate, Reuters, TheBlaze, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Vox, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Blue Virginia, Althouse, Breitbart, Slate and Raw Story

Hayley Miller / HuffPost:
Top Democrat: We Can ‘Slow’ Barrett's Confirmation Process But 'Can't Stop' It

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, IJR and ABC News

USA Today:
Amy Coney Barrett was our professor. She'll serve America as well as she served her students.

Discussion: Raw Story

Mike Allen / Axios:
Democrats feel boxed in on strategy for Barrett confirmation fight

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Twitchy, Louder With Crowder and The Week

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Thank God and Chuck Schumer for Amy Coney Barrett: The four Democratic overreaches that got us here

Discussion: NBC News and The Daily Signal

Erika Bachiochi / Politico:
Amy Coney Barrett: A New Feminist Icon

Discussion: Reason, Wall Street Journal, TheBlaze and Mirror of Justice

Melinda Henneberger / USA Today:
Amy Barrett: If Democrats attack her over People of Praise membership, they'll regret it

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Times

Barbara McQuade / New York Magazine:
Amy Coney Barrett Is Even More Extreme Than Antonin Scalia

Discussion: Teen Vogue, Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, Jacobin, New York Times, Washington Post, Informed Comment and National Review

Adam Kelsey / ABC News:
Sen. Mike Lee argues Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation shouldn't hinge on single issue

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Axios and Breitbart

CBS News:

Tight races in Georgia and North Carolina, while Supreme Court is another factor — Battleground Tracker — Voters say the Supreme Court vacancy has added to the already high stakes of the presidential election. — In the battlegrounds of Georgia and North Carolina, most say it makes …

Discussion: Florida Politics, The Hill, The Week, NPR and Mediaite

New York Times:
Voters Believe Winner of Election Should Fill Court Vacancy, Poll Shows

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, CNN, Washington Post, Siena College Research …, Axios, ABC News, Mother Jones, Politico, Forbes, NPR, Raw Story, The Guardian and YouGov

Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Republicans clear the way for a rapid confirmation, while Democrats make their case to voters.

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, OpsLens, POLITICUSUSA, ABC News, Conservative News Today, Newsbusters, The Hill, Morning Consult, Politico and Wall Street Journal

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Majorities in Michigan, Wisconsin say 2020 winner should get to fill Supreme Court seat

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Axios, Washington Post and Politico

Andrew Wolfson / Courier-Journal:

Ballistics don't support AG Cameron's claim Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot officer — | Louisville Courier Journal Show Caption Hide Caption … LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky State Police ballistics report does not support Attorney General Daniel Cameron's assertion that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend …

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill and New York Post

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Biden camp clapback: Trump's best debate case ‘made in urine’ — The 2020 campaign for the White House has reached the bizarre stage where the president wants his opponent drug tested before they debate — and his rival's campaign responds with a potty joke.

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall, The Hill, The Week, IJR, ABC News and OpsLens

New York Times:
By Lowering the Debate Bar for Biden, Has Trump Set a Trap for Himself?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Slate, The Hill, Mother Jones, Raw Story, The National Interest, Axios, Bloomberg, Associated Press and ABC News

Danielle Wallace / Fox News:
Trump calls for Biden to take a drug test before upcoming presidential debate

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Raw Story, CANNONFIRE, OpsLens, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, The Hill, New York Post and Politico

Bloomberg:
Biden Has Upper Hand Over Trump in Debate Expectations Game

Discussion: Vox, Redstate, CNN, Fox News, Mediaite, New York Post, MSNBC and Toledo Blade

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

Donald Trump, facing financial ruin, sought control of his elderly father's estate. The family fight was epic. … Donald Trump was facing financial disaster in 1990 when he came up with an audacious plan to exert control of his father's estate. — His creditors threatened to force …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tom Ridge / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

I was a Republican governor of Pa. I'm voting for Joe Biden. — I will cast my vote for Joe Biden on Nov. 3. It will be my first vote for a Democratic candidate for president of the United States. But it is not the first time I have said “no” to Donald Trump. I urge my fellow Pennsylvanians to join me.

Discussion: CNN, UnHerd, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Fox News, Axios and CBS Pittsburgh

Anita Kumar / Politico:
Trump readies thousands of attorneys for election fight

Discussion: Raw Story and The Guardian

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Contempt of “Notorious ACB” — One thing Justice Ginsburg used to say is how much she hated making a suggestion only to have a man suggest the same thing 10 minutes later and get the credit. It was an act of erasure that affronted her. And as much as she minded being erased herself …

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Trump Wants to Discredit the Election. This Nerd Could Stop Him. — Fox News, the president's favored network, will face enormous pressure to call the election for Mr. Trump. The outcome rests on a little-known 65-year-old wonk who will declare the winner.

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Nearly a year after sudden exit, Shepard Smith returns to TV — NEW YORK (AP) — Two weeks shy of a year after abruptly quitting Fox News Channel with a declaration that “truth will always matter,” Shepard Smith returns to television this week at his unexpected new home.

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times: Shepard Smith, Fox News Apostate, Is Starting Over at CNBC

Washington Post:

U.S. tells Iraq it's planning to pull out of Baghdad embassy — BEIRUT — The United States has told the Iraqi government and its diplomatic partners that it's planning a full withdrawal from its sprawling embassy in Baghdad unless Iraq reins in attacks on personnel linked to the American presence there …

Politico:

Pelosi begins mustering Democrats for possible House decision on presidency — Speaker Nancy Pelosi has begun mobilizing Democrats for the possibility that neither Joe Biden nor President Donald Trump will win an outright Electoral College victory, a once-in-a-century phenomenon that would send …

Discussion: Breitbart and Washington Times

Salena Zito / Washington Examiner: Top Republican in Pennsylvania Senate shoots down ‘false’ theory that legislature would rig Electoral College for Trump

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

‘All in’ for Trump: These White men, the strongest Trump supporters, say they can't be swayed — SANDUSKY, Ohio — The parade of boats was decked out in flags and banners screaming support for President Trump, led by a barge that had been used in previous summers for bikini-tops-optional parties …

Greg Braxton / Los Angeles Times:

A Black reporter recalls racism in the newsroom and finally gets his day of reckoning — An uneasy calm had settled over Los Angeles a few weeks after the 1992 riots sparked by the acquittal of four police officers in the brutal beating of motorist Rodney King, but the Los Angeles Times newsroom was still in full adrenaline mode.