memeorandum: Fittingly, Supreme Court term starts with test of political affiliations for judges (Robert Barnes/Washington Post)

8:20 PM ET, October 5, 2020

Top Items:

White House Is Not Contact Tracing ‘Super-Spreader’ Rose Garden Event — Since President Trump's Covid diagnosis, numerous associates have tested positive, but the White House has not aggressively investigated the outbreak. — Despite almost daily disclosures of new coronavirus infections …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Press Watch, Gothamist, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Vox, GovExec.com, The Atlantic and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic:

The People Trump Came Home To — On any given morning, the White House is a blur of activity. A chef may be whipping up breakfast for the first couple in the second-floor kitchen. A valet might be shining the president's shoes, while the head butler lingers in the West Sitting Hall, awaiting any urgent presidential requests.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Townhall, Politico, CNN, Mother Jones, ABC News and TMZ.com, more at Mediagazer »

Jada Yuan / Washington Post:
Concern rises for White House residence staffers as their workplace emerges as a virus hot spot

Discussion: Forbes, The Hill and Raw Story

Politico:

Plexiglass to separate Harris and Pence at VP debate — Pence's campaign opposed the move. — The Commission on Presidential Debates has approved plans for plexiglass to be used in Wednesday's vice presidential debate amid mounting concerns about coronavirus transmission, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, CNN, Vox, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Slate, IJR, Raw Story, Deadline, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

CBS News:
Live updates: Trump is back at the White House after being discharged from Walter Reed

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, Axios, Reuters, Digital Chosunilbo, The Hill, Twin Cities, Mediaite, National Review, Las Vegas Review-Journal, NPR, Forbes, The Daily Caller, CBS Los Angeles, Public Pool and Politico

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
‘That should never have happened’: Inside Trump's Walter Reed parade

Discussion: The National Interest, The Hill, Raw Story, The Root, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Vanity Fair, Towleroad Gay News and NBC News

Tim Stickings / Daily Mail:
Two Secret Service agents face 14 days of isolation after joining Trump on motorcade stunt: ‘Outrage’ in the agency despite White House claim that medics cleared the photo-op

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Post and Associated Press

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Trump says he will be discharged from Walter Reed, return to White House Monday evening

Discussion: ABC News, UPI, Washington Times, WCDC-TV, Twin Cities, Associated Press, IJR, The Daily Caller, New York Post, TheBlaze and Variety

New York Times:

White House Blocks New Coronavirus Vaccine Guidelines — The F.D.A. proposed stricter guidelines for emergency approval of a coronavirus vaccine, but the White House chief of staff objected to provisions that would push approval past Election Day. — WASHINGTON — Top White House officials …

Discussion: Politico and The American Independent

Axios:
West Wing melts down as aides point fingers at Mark Meadows

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Daily Kos, Forbes, Raw Story, The Guardian, Reuters, Vanity Fair, The Week, New Republic, Politico and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Biden Holds Steady Lead Over Trump in Arizona, Latest Poll Finds — The Democratic nominee leads 49 percent to 41 percent in Arizona, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1996. In the Senate race, Mark Kelly, a Democrat, leads the incumbent, Martha McSally.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Fox News, Raw Story, Breitbart, HillReporter.com, The Hill, Axios and Political Wire

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:
Factors That McSally's Campaign Cited for Her 2018 Loss in Arizona Are Exacerbated This Year, Strategists Say

Discussion: TheBlaze and Fox News

Washington Post:
Republicans face major head winds in final stretch to maintain Senate majority

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, Washington Times, Jacobin, Talking Points Memo and NBC News

Evie Fordham / Fox News:

Cal Cunningham backs out of town hall as new cheating allegation surfaces — Cal Cunningham and Thom Tillis are in a tight state Senate race — Fox News Flash top headlines for October 5 — All eyes are on North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham after he reportedly pulled …

Discussion: National File and Townhall

Public Policy Polling:

North Carolina Senate Race Unaffected By Recent Developments — PPP's new North Carolina poll finds Cal Cunningham leading Thom Tillis 48-42. That represents a slight improvement for Cunningham from PPP's last public poll of the race in late July when Cunningham's advantage was 48-44.

Discussion: The Hill and Political Wire

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
A Sexting Scandal Puts a Politician in the Hot Seat

Discussion: WRAL-TV and National File

U.S. Department of Justice:

John McAfee Indicted for Tax Evasion — Allegedly Hid Cryptocurrency, a Yacht, Real Estate and Other Properties in Nominee Names to Evade Taxes — An indictment was unsealed today charging John David McAfee with tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns, announced Principal …

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Daily Caller and One America News Network, more at Techmeme »

Justice News:

United States Attorney John F. Bash Announces Resignation — SAN ANTONIO, Tex. - U.S. Attorney John F. Bash announced today that he will resign from the Department of Justice on Friday, October 9, 2020, at 11:59pm. U.S. Attorney Bash issued the following statement:

Discussion: Law & Crime

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“Don Jr. Thinks Trump Is Acting Crazy”: The President's COVID Joyride Has the Family Divided — The president's recklessness at Walter Reed has Don Jr. pushing for an intervention, but Ivanka and Jared “keep telling Trump how great he's doing,” a source says.

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Times, Redstate, UPI, CNN, The Mahablog, The Atlantic, CBS Baltimore, HillReporter.com, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, POLITICUSUSA and The Slot

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump may be prematurely declaring victory over the coronavirus. Again.

Discussion: Breitbart

Washington Post:

Trump administration revokes the visa of a Ukrainian political fixer tied to Giuliani — The State Department last month revoked the visa of a Ukrainian political fixer who aided President Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in his gambit last year to dig up information from Ukraine …

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

Republicans gripped by dread as multiple crises swirl — On Sunday evening, Sen. Lindsey Graham, like many Republicans in Washington, was simultaneously monitoring three political crises, all of which were made worse by the spread of coronavirus infections through the upper echelons of the Republican Party.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, The Hill, Breitbart, KSLTV.com, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, New York Post, Daily Kos and The 19th

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Fittingly, Supreme Court term starts with test of political affiliations for judges

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, New York Times and SCOTUSblog

Patricia Zengerle / Reuters:
U.S. Senate committee formally announces October 12 Supreme Court hearing

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, IJR, Washington Times and HillReporter.com

Axios:
The blue money wave in Senate races

Discussion: Washington Post

Benjamin Wermund / Houston Chronicle:

Sen. John Cornyn says Trump ‘let his guard down’ on COVID — WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Monday that President Donald Trump “let his guard down” on the coronavirus and that his rhetoric has created “confusion” as the country has struggled to get the pandemic under control.

Discussion: National Review, Axios, IJR, Forbes, The Hill, Raw Story, Mediaite and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

IRS Investigating NRA's Wayne LaPierre for Possible Tax Fraud — New York attorney general previously sued gun-rights organization over alleged expense abuses — The Internal Revenue Service is investigating longtime National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud related …

Discussion: National Review, Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime and POLITICUSUSA

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:

Trump's touting of ‘racehorse theory’ tied to eugenics and Nazis alarms Jewish leaders — President Trump has alarmed Jewish leaders and others with remarks that appeared to endorse “racehorse theory” — the idea that selective breeding can improve a country's performance …

New York Times:

Trump's Campaign Saw an Opportunity. He Undermined It. — The health crisis was a chance for a political reset, some advisers believed, to show a new, more empathetic stance toward the coronavirus. But the candidate did not stick to the narrative. — On Friday, even as President …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Post Millennial, IJR and 77 WABC Radio

CNN:

Most Americans say Trump acted irresponsibly and distrust White House on his health — (CNN)Two-thirds of Americans say President Donald Trump handled the risk of coronavirus infection to others around him irresponsibly, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS in the days following …

Discussion: Vox, Vanity Fair, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Patterico's Pontifications and The Hill

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

GOP Elites Thought They Could Buy Their Way Out of a Pandemic — These people aren't stupid. Not all of them, anyway. The white men in dark jackets and well-coiffed ladies in prim dresses you've seen hugging in the White House Rose Garden — or hobnobbing maskless inside the Diplomatic Room …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg:

Exxon's Plan for Surging Carbon Emissions Revealed in Leaked Documents — Internal projections from one of world's largest oil producers show an increase in its enormous contribution to global warming — Exxon Mobil Corp. has been planning to increase annual carbon-dioxide emissions …

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

Sean Davis / The Federalist:

Intel Sources: CIA Director Gina Haspel Banking On Trump Loss To Keep Russiagate Documents Hidden — Haspel is hoping Trump loses his re-election bid so she can run out the clock on Russiagate document declassifications, multiple intelligence community officials told The Federalist.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller and The American Spectator

AUM:

AUM Poll: Tommy Tuberville leads Doug Jones by 12 points in closing weeks of Alabama Senate race — A newly released AUM Poll from Auburn University at Montgomery's Department of Political Science and Public Administration shows Republican U.S. Senate nominee Tommy Tuberville leading incumbent Democratic …

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:

‘GLOW’ Canceled By Netflix; Won't Proceed With Fourth & Final Season Due To COVID-19 — EXCLUSIVE: GLOW, Netflix's female wrestling dramedy, will not be returning to the ring for a fourth and final season. The streamer has reversed its renewal decision, made more than a year ago, in August 2019.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Robert Donachie / Representative Chip Roy:

Rep. Chip Roy Released The Following Statement On Texas AG Ken Paxton — Rep. Chip Roy released the following statement Monday: — For the good of the people of Texas and the extraordinary public servants who serve at the Office of the Attorney General, Attorney General Ken Paxton must resign.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KXAN-TV, The Hill, National Review and Political Wire

Emily Holden / The Guardian:

Leader of non-profit labeled ‘hate group’ attended White House Amy Coney Barrett event — Michael Farris leads Alliance Defending Freedom, designated an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — The head of a conservative Christian non-profit organization that has been designated …

Discussion: The 19th

Caitlin O'Kane / CBS News:

102-year-old woman who never missed a vote casts her mail-in ballot in full PPE — Since the elderly are at a higher risk of severe illness from the coronavirus, seniors are being advised to stay home during the pandemic and only go out for essentials. For a 102-year-old woman in Chicago, voting is essential.