memeorandum: Donald Trump's issue with windmills might not be about birds (Emily Stewart/Vox)

4:50 PM ET, October 23, 2020

Top Items:

Hunter Biden's Ex-Business Partner Alleges Father Knew About Venture — Former vice president says he had no involvement; corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden — An ex-business partner of Hunter Biden, in a news conference organized by the Trump campaign …

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

Trump's sideshow fizzles out — The president tried to turn debate day into a trial of the Biden family's allegedly shady business dealings. It didn't go smoothly. — President Donald Trump leaves the podium at the conclusion of a press conference. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, NBC News, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Fox News, Boston Herald, Newsbusters, TheBlaze, ABC News and New York Post

Politico:

GOP prays Trump stopped the bleeding — NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before the debate hall even emptied out, the presidential motorcade was whisking Donald Trump back to Washington for a short layover ahead of his return to the campaign trail on Friday, which some Republicans worry could carry new risks in the final sprint to Election Day.

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, The Last Refuge and Alternet.org

Washington Post:
What was Trump talking about? How the language of Fox News invaded the final debate.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed News, Fox News and New York Times

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
You're Not Supposed to Understand the Rumors About Biden

Discussion: Electronics Ward News, Raw Story and Politico

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump at the Debate Was Like America in 2020: Not Winning

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Florida Politics

Roger Sollenberger / Salon:
Scoop: Rudy Giuliani declined offer of compromising Hunter Biden emails and images in May 2019

Discussion: Fox News, Electronics Ward News, The Dispatch, POLITICUSUSA and Forensic News, more at Mediagazer »

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:
Trump Won the Debate—But Won Bigly the Post-Debate

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Townhall and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Tries to Make ‘Laptop from Hell’ the New Hillary Emails. It Won't Work.

Discussion: Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Townhall, The Guardian and Real Clear Politics

New York Times:

Trump Family Ally Is Arrested on Cyberstalking Charge — Ken Kurson, a close friend of the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was arrested in connection with incidents stemming from his divorce. — Ken Kurson, a close friend of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner …

Discussion: CNBC, ABC News, The Hill, Associated Press, Mediaite, Law & Crime, The Daily Beast and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Andy Mannix / Star Tribune:

Charges: Boogaloo Bois fired on Minneapolis police precinct, shouted ‘Justice for Floyd’ — Feds say Ivan Harrison Hunter helped burn and loot the Third Precinct building as part of a coordinated attack from the far-right group trying to ignite an American civil war. — TEXT SIZE — MORE

Discussion: ABC News, The Week and The Daily Beast

U.S. Department of Justice:
Self-Described Member Of “Boogaloo Bois” Charged With Riot

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Dana Thiede / KARE-TV:
Member of ‘Boogaloo Bois’ charged with riot during George Floyd unrest

Discussion: ABC7, Alternet.org, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and Raw Story

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

Democrats force Senate into unusual but brief closed session to discuss Barrett nomination to Supreme Court — Senate Republicans and Democrats engaged in a bitter feud over the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Friday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) …

Discussion: Fox News, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Politico, Roll Call, Washington Times, Florida Politics, Raw Story, The Hill, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, Al Jazeera, Conservative News Today, WV MetroNews, Tennessee Star and JCN

James Arkin / Politico:
Big GOP donors step up to help fight Democratic Senate tsunami

Discussion: Raw Story and Bangor Daily News

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Susan Collins Hasn't Changed Much, but Maine Has

Discussion: Morning Consult, Bangor Daily News, IJR, The Hill and Electronics Ward News

John McCormack / National Review:
Senator Hirono's Double Standard

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Florida Politics

Alan Fram / Associated Press: Parties' late spending on Senate races shows GOP's jeopardy

Politico:

‘Warning flare’: New swing-state data shows massive Democratic early-vote lead — Democrats have opened up a yawning gap in early voting over Republicans in six of the most crucial battleground states — but that only begins to tell the story of their advantage heading into Election Day.

Discussion: Forbes, Washington Post, Northeastern, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Jacobin, The Week, Florida Politics, Daily Kos and CNN

Jen Kirby / Vox:
Early voting in 2020 has already exceeded all of 2016's early votes

Discussion: The Americano, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NPR and The Other McCain

Carl Zimmer / New York Times:

The Trump Administration Shut a Vaccine Safety Office Last Year. What's the Plan Now? — The office was dedicated to the long-term safety of vaccines. Experts say plans to track coronavirus vaccines are fragmented and “behind the eight ball.” — As the first coronavirus vaccines arrive …

Discussion: Breitbart and Mother Jones

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:

The Supreme Court is giving advocates for voting rights heartburn — With several last-minute decisions, the Supreme Court is shaping how Americans in some states will vote. Even with one big ruling going their way, those who favor making voting easier during the pandemic and in the longer term are worried.

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios, Reuters, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Slate

New York Times:
Trump Campaign Draws Rebuke for Surveilling Philadelphia Voters

Discussion: Vox, Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Hill, Electronics Ward News, Forbes and POLITICUSUSA

Victoria A. Brownworth / Supermajority:
How Pennsylvanians Are Combatting Voter Suppression

Discussion: CBS Philly and Raw Story

NBC News:

Coronavirus case increase sets new U.S. record, rising to over 77K in one day … The U.S. set a record Thursday as the number of new coronavirus cases rose to over 77,000, topping the previous record in July. — Nationwide, 77,640 new cases were reported for the day …

Discussion: Politico, behindtheblack.com, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, Raw Story, Electronics Ward News, New York Post, Slate, The Week and NBC Boston

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wisconsin Republicans have been facing an outbreak among lawmakers and aides. But they don't want to talk about it. — Wisconsin Republican lawmakers and top GOP aides have been facing a coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks following a series of in-person events, including a retirement party …

New York Times:

More Than 50 Million Americans Have Cast Ballots Early — “If we just wore these masks, the president's own advisers have told him, we could save 100,000 lives. And we're in a circumstance where the president, thus far, still has no plan, no comprehensive plan.” “You also said a vaccine will be coming within weeks.”

Discussion: Deadline, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Becker's Hospital Review and WV MetroNews

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump's Plan to Make Biden Look Senile Disappeared Without a Trace — In the cold light of day, the most important development from the final presidential debate may be something that did not happen at all: Joe Biden embarrassing himself in a fit of mental disintegration.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump is drowning in his own lies. Here are the latest signs of it. — It's one of the defining phrases of the Trump era. Stephen K. Bannon, candidly reflecting in early 2018 on President Trump's strategy for effective political communication, noted that the real opposition Trump faces is not Democrats, but the media.

Discussion: Alternet.org, Raw Story, Fox News and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Emily Stewart / Vox:

Donald Trump's issue with windmills might not be about birds — President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump return to the White House after the final presidential debate on October 23. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images — If the president were really worried about birds …

Discussion: Associated Press and Breitbart

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Judge orders Justice Department to verify its filings in Flynn case — The federal judge presiding over the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn has ordered the Justice Department to conduct an unusual review of its filings in the case and certify by Monday whether any have been manipulated.

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Times

Nick Niedzwiadek / Politico:

Trump campaign spokesperson says parents of separated children don't want them back — The Trump campaign's communications director asserted on Friday that the reason some migrant families separated by the administration at the U.S. border have not been reunited is because the parents do not want their children back.

Discussion: Reuters and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Loan payments loom as Trump fights for his political future - and the future of his business — At President Trump's hotel in Chicago, the most recent board meeting began with bad news. This year's numbers were awful. Revenue had plunged. The hotel was just 24 percent occupied.

bellingcat:

Russia's Clandestine Chemical Weapons Programme and the GRU's Unit 29155 — On October 15, 2020, the European Union imposed sanctions on six senior Russian officials and a leading Russian research institute over the alleged use of a nerve agent from the Novichok family in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

Discussion: Meduza.io and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Washington Post:

America is poised to enter into its worst stretch yet of the pandemic — The nation nears a record-breaking daily number of coronavirus cases. — America is poised to enter the worst stretch ever of the coronavirus pandemic, with cases spiking and the country on the precipice of shattering …

Discussion: ABC News

Bloomberg:

Trump Sees Reason for Hope in Voter Signups That Polls May Miss — Republican campaign machine has driven voter signups — Public polls show commanding lead for challenger Biden — President Donald Trump and his campaign have cited increased Republican voter registrations as a sign …

Discussion: Fox News and Political Wire

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

A powerful argument for wearing a mask, in visual form — Real-time pandemic data paints a vivid picture of the relationship between mask-wearing and the prevalence of covid-19 symptoms — Despite the clear opposition to masks within the Trump White House and among its allies …

Discussion: CNN

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

Fact check: Trump says 2.2 million people were projected to die from Covid-19 — Trump, defending his administration's pandemic response, claimed Thursday that “2.2 million people — modeled out — were expected to die” from the coronavirus. — Trump has made this claim previously …

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, New York Times, Raw Story and The Federalist

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Democrat Trails Narrowly in Key Montana Senate Race — Democrats, including Biden, are competitive in a red state, and Bullock is three points behind in the contest the party cares about most. — Republicans hold a narrow lead up and down the ballot in Montana, according …

Discussion: The Hill, Electronics Ward News, KECI and Forbes

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Kristen Welker asked the candidates about The Talk. That moment proved the value of newsroom diversity. — Any debate moderator could have asked the candidates the question about The Talk — the terrible conversation that parents must have with their children of color to warn them about the hazards …

more at Mediagazer »

Monica Alba / NBC News:

Trump hasn't met with coronavirus task force in months, not expected to before election — President Donald Trump has not attended a White House coronavirus task force meeting in months and is not expected to do so in the final days before the election, according to an administration official.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Babylon Bee

Tyler Buchanan / Ohio Capital Journal:

Ohioan reports being recruited for plot targeting Gov. DeWine at his home — Note: This story has been updated with initial reaction from the governor. — A Miami County resident reported to police being recruited to take part in a citizen's arrest of Gov. Mike DeWine at his Cedarville home a week ago …

Discussion: WKBN-TV

Garrett M. Graff / Politico:

A Day-By-Day Guide to What Could Happen If This Election Goes Bad — The coronavirus pandemic was always going to make the 2020 election uniquely complicated, and Donald Trump's norm-busting style was always going to make it tense, but headlines in recent days have started to read like political thriller plot lines.

Discussion: Reuters, National File, Associated Press, American Prospect, The Appeal and New Republic

Matthew Dessem / Slate:

A Shot-by-Shot Analysis of the New Borat's Giuliani Scene — Rudy Giuliani claims he was just “tucking in [his] shirt.” What does the footage say? — Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation …