memeorandum: Virginia Governor's Race Turns Ugly With Ad Depicting Republicans As Racist Predators (Larry O'Connor/Mediaite)

12:45 PM ET, October 31, 2017

Top Items:

Upstairs at home, with the TV on, Trump fumes over Russia indictments — President Trump woke before dawn on Monday and burrowed in at the White House residence to wait for the Russia bombshell he knew was coming. — Separated from most of his West Wing staff — who fretted …

The Daily Beast:

Steve Bannon Tells Trump To Bring In New Lawyers as He Looks For Ways to Kneecap Mueller … Steve Bannon spoke on the phone with his old boss, Donald Trump, on Monday and offered a message: get yourself some new lawyers. — The former White House chief strategist has grown increasingly concerned …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Alvin Chang / Vox:

A week of Fox News transcripts shows how they began questioning Mueller's credibility — The data shows how this storyline developed. — Conservative media's attack on special counsel Robert Mueller was in the works far before Mueller brought indictments against high-level Trump campaign officials.

Discussion: Townhall.com, New York Times, NewsBusters, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Ezra Klein / Vox:

It sure looks like there was collusion between the Trump operation and Russia — Look at the whole story and tell me this isn't suspicious. — Two things are true about the indictments unsealed by special counsel Bob Mueller Monday: — They don't provide a “smoking gun” …

Discussion: The Intercept, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Fast Company, Shareblue Media, Toronto Star, ThinkProgress, CNBC, CNN, The Root, Fox News, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, Mashable and IJR

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

The Plot Against America — On Monday morning, after America learned that Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort's lobbying partner, Rick Gates, had been indicted and turned themselves in to federal authorities, the president tried to distance himself from the unfolding scandal.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Guardian, Mashable, ABC News, Media Matters for America, Weekly Standard, CBS Miami, The Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic, 105.9 FM and AM 630, Lawfare, Slate, CNN, Talking Points Memo, RedState, IJR and ThinkProgress

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Trump Campaign Got Early Word Russia Had Democrats' Emails — WASHINGTON — The indictment of a 30-year-old campaign aide — so green that he listed Model United Nations in his qualifications — shifted the narrative on Monday of the Trump campaign's interactions with Russia …

BuzzFeed:

Washington's Legions Of Lobbyists See Danger In Special Counsel's Indictment Of Manafort — Violations of the federal law that requires US citizens that represent foreign governments to register have long gone unprosecuted. Is that about to change? — Reporting From Washington, DC

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Bannon pushing Trump to take action on Mueller: reports — Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is pressing President Trump to curb special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference, according to a Politico report.

Discussion: RedState and Politico

Bloomberg:
Mueller Raises Pressure on Trump With Papadopoulos-Russia Link

Discussion: Politicus USA and NBC News

NBC News:
Sources: Podesta Group, Mercury Are Companies ‘A’ and ‘B’ in Indictment

Discussion: IJR, Political Wire, The Federalist, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, RedState, National Review and Mediaite

Associated Press:
Trump fumes as Mueller probe enters new phase with charges

Discussion: Vox, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Special counsel's office: Papadopoulos ‘small part’ of ‘large scale investigation’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story, The Hill, Just Security, Business Insider, Politico and Axios

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Robert Mueller Is Just Beginning to Put the Pressure On

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media and New York Times

CNN:
Trump ‘seething’ as Mueller probe reaches former aides

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Both Campaigns Sought Russian Dirt. Clinton's Way Was Legal.

Discussion: CNN, bizpacreview.com, Lawfare, Booman Tribune and Politico

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Republican Judiciary chairman: Trump should let Mueller do his job

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, The Week and Politicus USA

James S. Robbins / USA Today:
If you care about foreign election interference, Manafort indictments miss real threat

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Breitbart, The Hill, National Review and Hit & Run

Harry Litman / New York Times:
Why George Papadopoulos Is More Dangerous Than Paul Manafort

Discussion: Business Insider, Althouse, ThinkProgress, The Mahablog, Political Wire and New York Magazine

New York Times:
Is the White House Scared Yet?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT, Mashable, The Guardian, NPR, The Week, Just Security, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, Washington Post and New York Magazine

Marcy Wheeler / The Intercept:
Monday's Indictment is Very, Very Bad News For Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, miamiherald and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal: The Manafort Indictment — Mueller's charges relate …

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Historians respond to John F. Kelly's Civil War remarks: ‘Strange,’ ‘sad,’ ‘wrong’ — White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly was the guest for the premiere of Laura Ingraham's new show on Fox News Monday night. During the interview, he outlined a view of the history of the Civil War …

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Ta-Nehisi Coates Schools John Kelly On History Of Civil War And ‘Compromise’ — After White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday night said that the Civil War was the result of “the lack of an ability to compromise” and called Confederal Gen. Robert E. Lee an “honorable man,” author Ta-Nehisi Coates tore into Kelly on Twitter.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, NPR, Splinter, The Guardian, Raw Story, Mashable and The Root

Maggie Astor / New York Times:
John Kelly Pins Civil War on ‘Lack of Ability to Compromise’

Discussion: Splinter and The Daily Caller

Dave Lawler / Axios:
Kelly wants investigation into allegations surrounding Clinton

Discussion: Vanity Fair and ABC News

Washington Post:
John Kelly calls Robert E. Lee an ‘honorable man’ and says ‘lack of compromise’ caused the Civil War

Discussion: LifeZette and Talking Points Memo

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

White House releases Trump, Pence official portraits — President Trump is seen smiling broadly in his official portrait that will hang in federal buildings across the country. — The White House released the official photographs of Trump and Vice President Pence on Tuesday.

Discussion: Politico, IJR and The Week

The White House:
The White House Releases the Official Portraits of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence

Discussion: The Daily Caller and IJR

Larry O'Connor / Mediaite:

Virginia Governor's Race Turns Ugly With Ad Depicting Republicans As Racist Predators — It may be the most despicable campaign ad in decades and the Democrat who it is designed to help refuses to denounce it. In fact, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam's Virginia Gubernatorial campaign has embraced it.

Discussion: The Root, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, 105.9 FM and AM 630, TheBlaze, Splinter, LifeZette, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, RedState and Daily Kos

Fenit Nirappil / Washington Post:
Virginia ad features minority kids chased by truck with Gillespie sticker, Confederate flag

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NewsBusters, Fox News, 105.9 FM and AM 630, Bloomberg and IJR

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

America's Most and Least Popular Governors — Republican leaders in blue states continue to shine — Getty Images / Morning Consult illustration — The latest installment of Morning Consult's Governor Approval Rankings — a survey of more than 255,000 registered voters nationwide conducted online …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Week

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:
How Voters View 2018's Most Vulnerable Senators a Year Out

Discussion: IJR

Public Policy Polling:

Support For Impeachment At Record High — PPP's newest national poll finds a record level of support for impeaching Donald Trump. 49% of voters support impeaching him, to 41% who are opposed to doing so. This marks the 6th month in a row we've found a plurality of voters in favor of impeaching Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire and Politicus USA

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Preet Bharara Reads Bob Mueller's Tea Leaves — Subscribe to Off Message on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe via Stitcher here. — NEW YORK—Preet Bharara won't say whether he was investigating President Donald Trump when he was fired in March or whether he's seen anything that's informed …

Discussion: The Week

Chris Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Andy Dick Fired From Movie Over Sexual Harassment Claims — Though the 51-year-old actor denies he groped anyone, he does admit to other inappropriate behavior: “I might have kissed somebody on the cheek to say goodbye and then licked them. That's my thing.”

Discussion: Althouse and Mediaite

Alice Paul Tapper / New York Times:

I'm 10. And I Want Girls to Raise Their Hands. — Last year on a fourth-grade field trip, I noticed that all the boys stood in the front and raised their hands while most of the girls politely stayed in the back and were quiet. It made me upset. — On the car ride home I told my mom about what happened.