memeorandum: Is Landscaping Drama at the Root of Rand Paul's Assault? (New York Times)

9:05 AM ET, November 7, 2017

Top Items:

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies — In the fall of 2016, Harvey Weinstein set out to suppress allegations that he had sexually harassed or assaulted numerous women. He began to hire private security agencies to collect information on the women and the journalists trying to expose the allegations.

Discussion: New Republic, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, TVNewser, Instapundit, The Guardian, RT, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Jezebel, Business Insider, Mashable, Axios and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Roberts / KHBS:

Man who shot Texas church gunman shares his story — HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT — SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — Stephen Willeford shot and chased the man who killed 26 people in a Texas church on Sunday. He spoke to 40/29 News in an exclusive sit-down interview on Monday.

Discussion: The Federalist, NPR, Telegraph, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Unyielding, bizpacreview.com, RedState, twitchy.com, Bearing Arms, The Week, TheBlaze, Mediaite, ABC News and IJR

Rich Lowry / New York Post:

The heroes of Sutherland Springs — MORE FROM: … Before the Texas church shooter encountered any police officers, he was run off a highway and dead. — He had been shot and chased by two private citizens who took it upon themselves to respond to a heinous crime when no one with a badge was anywhere to be found.

Discussion: Power Line, Daily Mail, IJR and Shot in the Dark

Heather Caygle / Politico:
GOP shrugs off gun control after latest mass shooting

Discussion: Political Wire

David Nakamura / Washington Post: Trump says ‘hundreds more’ might have died in Texas shooting if gun laws were tougher

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Texas Gov. Abbot: Gunman was denied gun permit

Discussion: Politico, New York Times and ABC News

Washington Post:

Trump adviser sent email describing ‘private conversation’ with Russian official — Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to President Trump's campaign whose visit to Moscow during the election has drawn scrutiny, sent an email to fellow Trump aides during his trip describing “a private conversation” …

Discussion: The Hill, Political Wire, ABC News and The Week

U.S. House of Representatives Permanent …:

Carter Page hearing transcript released — f t # e — The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released the transcript of the committee's hearing with Carter Page. You can access the transcript here.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Carter Page's testimony is filled with bombshells — and supports key portions of the Steele dossier — The House Intelligence Committee released a transcript of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page's testimony before the panel last week. — Some of the testimony supports details contained …

Discussion: Raw Story, Just Security and Washington Monthly

Dan Alexander / Forbes:

The Case Of Wilbur Ross' Phantom $2 Billion — Fresh off a tour through Thailand, Laos and China, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. picked up the phone on a Sunday afternoon in October to discuss something deeply personal: how much money he has.

Discussion: Raw Story

Bloomberg:
Ross Says He'll ‘Probably’ Sell Stake in Putin-Linked Company

Discussion: APM Reports, New York Times and BBC

New York Times:

What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer — mass — shooters … mass — shooters … 100 — mass — shooters … 80 — 60 — 40 … The New York Times | Source: Adam Lankford, The University of Alabama (shooters); Small Arms Survey (guns).

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
How to Reduce Shootings — It has happened yet again …

Discussion: Mediaite

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The indefensible Republican response to the Texas mass shooting

Discussion: Vox and Bangor Daily News

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Offshore cash helped fund Steve Bannon's attacks on Hillary Clinton — Robert Mercer, whose spending assisted Donald Trump's election win, used tax haven of Bermuda to avoid US taxes — Eighteen months before guiding Donald Trump to election victory, Steve Bannon delivered the opening shot …

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

Alex Yablon / The Trace:

The Military Is Reporting Almost No Domestic Abusers to the Main Gun Background Check Database — A year before committing Sunday's mass shooting at a tight-knit church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Devin Kelley walked into a sporting goods store and bought a Ruger assault-style rifle …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Liberty Unyielding, New York Times, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, MySanAntonio.com, The Week, Business Insider and Task & Purpose

New York Times:

Texas Gunman Broke Child's Skull and Assaulted Wife in Troubled Life — NEW BRAUNFELS, Tex. — He beat his wife, cracked his toddler stepson's skull and was kicked out of the military. He drove away friends, drew attention from the police and abused his dog.

Alex Horton / Washington Post:
The Air Force says it failed to follow procedures, allowing Texas church shooter to obtain firearms

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, San Antonio Current, Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress, Faithwire, The Daily Signal, KTLA, The Week, IJR and The Root

James Bridle:

Something is wrong on the internet — I'm James Bridle. I'm a writer and artist concerned with technology and culture. I usually write on my own blog, but frankly I don't want what I'm talking about here anywhere near my own site. Please be advised: this essay describes disturbing things …

Discussion: Crooked Timber and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

A toned-down Trump prods China, Russia to do more to combat North Korean nuclear threat — SEOUL — President Donald Trump on Tuesday cast the North Korean nuclear threat as a global crisis that requires greater cooperation from every nation, particularly Russia and China.

Discussion: ABC News and CNBC

Associated Press:
In Seoul, Trump calls for North Korea to make a deal

Discussion: The Week and CNN

Associated Press:
The Latest: US-South Korea discuss nuclear submarines

Discussion: ABC News and Axios

Marina Fang / HuffPost:

Russian Lawyer Who Met With Donald Trump Jr. Claims He Offered A Quid Pro Quo — “Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it,” Trump Jr. said during the June 2016 meeting, according to Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Discussion: CNN, AOL, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and emptywheel

CNN:
CNN Poll: Trump approval at new low as Russia concerns grow

Discussion: Washington Times, Politico, Politicus USA and Political Wire

New York Times:

Is Landscaping Drama at the Root of Rand Paul's Assault? — WASHINGTON — The violent altercation last week that left Senator Rand Paul nursing bruised lungs and broken ribs began over a landscaping dispute between the senator and his longtime next-door neighbor, according to neighbors …

John Harwood / CNBC:

GOP tax plan would increase federal deficits substantially, new analysis shows — The Tax Policy Center released an analysis of the House GOP tax bill, but then the think tank pulled its study after it found an error in its analysis. — A second report shows that the House GOP bill …

taxpolicycenter.org:
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/ default/files/publication/147726/ 2001579-preliminary …

Discussion: Tax Policy Center, Vox, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Slot and Balloon Juice

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Anniversary of the Apocalypse — In the terror-struck and vertiginous days after Donald Trump's election a year ago, as I tried to make sense of America's new reality, I called people who lived, or had lived, under authoritarianism to ask what to expect. I wasn't looking for concrete predictions …

Discussion: Esquire

Mará Rose Williams / Kansas City Star:

Racist graffiti painted on car near K-State was a fraud — An incident in which racist slurs were painted on a car near the Kansas State University campus last week was a hoax, and the man who painted the slurs has apologized. — Riley County Police reported Monday afternoon that the owner of the car …

Discussion: bizpacreview.com and The College Fix

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:

Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It's Time to Ask Why. — We need to talk about the tsunami of questionable money crashing into the tech industry. — We should talk about it because that money is suddenly in the news, inconveniently out in the open in an industry that has preferred …

Discussion: Axios

New Yorker:
The Saudi Royal Purge—with Trump's Consent

Discussion: The White House, Washington Post, Vox, Reuters, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, emptywheel, Business Insider, bizpacreview.com, Mother Jones, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and New York Times

WTTG-TV:

Secret Service: Man who reportedly traveled to DC to kill ‘all white police’ at White House arrested — Dallas man arrested near White House after alleged threats — WASHINGTON - A Dallas man who reportedly traveled to the nation's capital for the purpose of killing “all white police” …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Times and IJR

Paul Farrell / Heavy.com:
Michael Arega: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Discussion: bizpacreview.com, The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:

President Is Losing Support in ‘Trump Counties,’ a WSJ/NBC News Poll Finds — New survey shows disapproval for the president in these precincts has inched up to 50%; but Democrats haven't managed to turn gain ground — Nearly one year after Donald Trump's upset election victory …

BBC:

Paradise Papers: Apple's secret tax bolthole revealed — The world's most profitable firm has a secretive new structure that would enable it to continue avoiding billions in taxes, the Paradise Papers show. — They reveal how Apple sidestepped a 2013 crackdown on its controversial Irish tax practices …

Discussion: 9to5Mac and Instapundit, more at Techmeme »