memeorandum: Biden Aides and Saudis Explore Defense Treaty Modeled After Asian Pacts (New York Times)

4:50 PM ET, September 19, 2023

Top Items:

House GOP in open warfare over doomed spending plan — One Republican summed up the situation neatly as leadership-empowered negotiators faceplanted with days to go before a shutdown: “It's a mess.” — As House Republicans began ripping apart their party's latest spending proposal …

Discussion: PJ Media, The Hill, Raw Story, CNN, Washington Examiner and Florida Politics

Elizabeth Elkind / Fox News:

Chaos and acrimony as House Republicans pull bill to keep government running: ‘multiple games afoot’ — House Speaker McCarthy in a bind as GOP factions, and factions within factions, at loggerheads — An expected procedural vote to advance the stopgap spending bill put together …

Discussion: CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Fox Business, Twitchy, The Hill, American Wire News, CBS News, KTSM-TV, The Daily Caller and Axios

Rachael Bade / Politico:

McCarthy gets tough with the right — Boxed in by conservatives as a shutdown looms, the embattled speaker is punching back. — After months tiptoeing around the conservatives who have made his speakership a constant high-wire act, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears to be fed up — and ready to fight.

Discussion: Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Guardian, The Bulwark, Political Wire, Chicago Tribune, New York Post, New York Times, Washington Examiner, Washington Times and Vanity Fair

The Hill:
House GOP pulls key vote on stopgap spending bill amid conservative opposition

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, CNN, Washington Examiner, Roll Call, New York Post and Daily News

Jason Willick / Washington Post:

Go ahead, gag Donald Trump — Special counsel Jack Smith recently filed for an extraordinary gag order against Donald Trump. The prosecutor wants to limit Trump's ability to criticize the criminal case against him for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Discussion: Raw Story, National Review, NBC News and Washington Examiner

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

A real fact-check of Trump's appearance on Meet the Press — Kristen Welker's tenure as the new host of NBC's Meet the Press began on Sunday with an interview with former President Donald Trump. NBC News promoted Trump's appearance as his “first broadcast network interview since leaving office.”

Discussion: National Review, Raw Story, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Fox News, Twitchy, RedState, HuffPost, Newsbusters and HotAir

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
The Idea That Biden Should Just Give Up Political Power Is Preposterous

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, New Republic, The Floridian and The Messenger

Associated Press:
Biden tells a Broadway theater packed for fundraiser that Trump is determined to destroy the nation

Discussion: New York Post, HotAir, Reuters, Deadline, NBC Chicago, Raw Story, PIX11, CNN, The Hill, The Messenger, Washington Examiner, Daily Kos and Bloomberg

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult Pro:

Biden Impeachment Probe Supported by Almost Half of Voters — Voters are divided over whether the impeachment investigation is largely due to evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or motivation to damage his political career. — Share of voters who said they support or oppose …

Discussion: The Hill, Political Wire and PJ Media

Fox News:
House will hold first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing next Thursday

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, New York Daily News, RedState, Raw Story, NBC News, New York Post, The Messenger and IJR

Arthur Delaney / HuffPost:
House Republicans Downplay Meeting With Key Biden Aide

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Spencer Kimball / CNBC:
House Oversight Committee to hold first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing next week

Discussion: CBS News, NPR, USA Today, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, ABC News and NewsNation

VICE:

‘Sound of Freedom’ Producer Felt the Naked Breasts of Apparently Underage Trafficking Victim — Files from a joint local and federal criminal investigation released to VICE News describe video evidence of the incident, which took place in Mexico on an Operation Underground Railroad mission.

Discussion: New York Post, Metro, The Messenger, Deadline, Raw Story, The Liberty Loft, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

CNN:

Witness testimony disputes IRS whistleblower allegations in Hunter Biden probe as Republicans begin impeachment inquiry — New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials casts doubt on key claims from an IRS whistleblower who alleges there was political interference …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Axios, Just The News, American Greatness, RedState, Fox News, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Politico and National Review

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

Ray Epps, subject of Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 conspiracy theories, charged by DOJ — Epps entered Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 as a supporter of former President Donald Trump. He told the Jan. 6 committee that the conspiracy theories about him ruined his life.

Politico:
Feds charge Jan. 6 protester at center of unproven, hard-right conspiracy theories

Discussion: Raw Story and American Wire News

Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:

West Point sued by group behind Supreme Court affirmative action lawsuit — The group behind the lawsuits that led the Supreme Court to gut affirmative action at higher education institutions sued the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday, seeking to end the school's race-conscious admissions policies.

Discussion: Insider, USA Today, Politico, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

This is what taking on election deniers really looks like — Democrats won a whole lot of elections in 2022, in no small part on their vow to strengthen and defend democracy. But if they hope to turn the issue into a sustained political winner, they have to deliver on that promise …

Gabe Kaminsky / Washington Examiner:

Dr. Anthony Fauci and wife had $11 million net worth before he left government — Dr. Anthony Fauci and his spouse had a net worth of over $11 million when the then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stepped down from his top government role, documents show.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, New York Post and American Wire News

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

Lauren Boebert's sexy adventure: Blame conservatives' push for “traditional marriage” — Bari Weiss and Nicholas Kristof amplify GOP calls to marry young — that's just what the Colorado congresswoman did — It is a cycle as predictable as the sun rising and setting …

Discussion: Raw Story

Kayla Gallagher / The Messenger:

Sen. Susan Collins on the New Senate Dress Code: ‘I Plan to Wear a Bikini’ — Some Republicans are bashing the informal dress code policy change, while other seem to be embracing it — A Facebook icon representing an external link to share the article on Facebook.A Twitter icon representing …

Discussion: New York Post, Insider, American Wire News, Washington Examiner and Fox News

NBC News:
‘I plan to wear a bikini’: Senate Republicans mock changes to dress code

Michelle Cottle / New York Times:

Maybe Matt Gaetz Is Right — The dysfunctional dance taking place in the House between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his right flank has driven me to consider something I never imagined possible: that Matt Gaetz is right. — A House speaker can be successful only with the confidence …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico, Washington Post, Mediaite, Raw Story, HuffPost, Althouse, Daily Kos and Washington Examiner

BBC:

Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Canada accuses India of role in Sikh leader's murder — Canada has accused India of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader, an allegation strongly denied by Delhi. — On Monday PM Justin Trudeau said Canada was looking at “credible allegations potentially linking” …

Politico:

McCarthy scrambles: House punts key vote as rebellion rages - Live Updates — Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to press toward a vote as soon as Thursday, but conservatives are still chafing.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and NBC News

Doha Madani / NBC News:

Danish artist who ignored job and gave museum blank canvases ordered to give back over $70,000 — Jens Haaning was given thousands to recreate two art pieces, which included bank notes attached to canvas. Instead, he delivered empty frames. — A Danish artist who gave a museum …

Discussion: National Review, Fortune, The Messenger, Metro.co.uk, Althouse, CBS News, NPR and New York Post

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:

Alex Murdaugh Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges — He's charged with financial crimes related to bilking his law clients. — Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina former lawyer convicted of murdering his wife and son to distract from massive fraud, has agreed to plead guilty …

Discussion: The Messenger, Raw Story and KTSM-TV

Andrew Zhang / Politico:

Giuliani's former lawyers sue him for $1.36M in unpaid legal fees — The fees stem from the lawyers defending Giuliani's work with Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. — Rudy Giuliani's ex-lawyers are suing the former New York City mayor for failing to pay legal fees amounting …

TMZ.com:

Rep. Lauren Boebert Says Hookup Theater Guy Won't Get Another Date — Rep. Lauren Boebert says it's dunzo between her and the theater groping guy — saying the one-time private moment came and went ... and it sounds like his politics might be at play. — The Colorado congresswoman touched …

Discussion: New York Magazine, USA Today, Advocate, Newsweek, New York Post, The Daily Beast, The Hill, New Republic, New York Daily News, The Daily Caller, WOODTV.com, HuffPost, Insider, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, The Messenger, UPROXX and Mediaite

Michael Stratford / Politico:

Billions pour into Education Department as student loans restart — CASH FLOWS INTO EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AS STUDENT LOANS RESTART: Billions of dollars of payments are flooding into the Education Department as the agency begins turning on the federal student loan system that's largely been frozen since March 2020.

Discussion: The Messenger, Insider, Washington Examiner, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, KARK-TV, doj.state.or.us and Plain Dealer

Bill Mahoney / Politico:

Republicans win a temporary freeze in New York's redistricting fight — Democrats have since argued that they should now be allowed to redraft the maps for 2024 rather than rely on the existing ones for the remainder of the decade. — ALBANY, N.Y. — Republicans won a preliminary round …

Discussion: Plain Dealer, New York Daily News and Political Wire

Reem Nadeem / Pew Research Center:

Americans' Dismal Views of the Nation's Politics — 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics — 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics — How we did this — Americans have long been critical of politicians and skeptical of the federal government.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Axios, The Messenger, CNN and TIME