memeorandum: How Mitch McConnell Enables Trump (Adam Jentleson/New York Times)

4:50 PM ET, February 18, 2019

Top Items:

Jussie Smollett — Rehearsed ‘Attack’ with 2 Brothers ... Law Enforcement Says — EXCLUSIVE — Jussie Smollett rehearsed the “attack” against him days before the incident and it was all staged for the camera, this according to what the 2 brothers told cops.

Discussion: RedState, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Breitbart, AOL, The Root and BlackSportsOnline

CBS Chicago:

Jussie Smollett Case: Clues Into Potential Motive Behind The Attack — (CBS) -"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, upset after a racist letter sent to the show's studio didn't get a “bigger reaction,” is suspected of paying two men to attack him a week later, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and TMZ.com

Caleb Howe / Mediaite:
Did the Media Jump the Gun on the Jussie Smollett Story?

Discussion: Breitbart, The Bulwark, National Review, USA Today, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics, NB Blog, Contemptor, The Federalist, Daily Wire and TheBlaze

Lia Eustachewich / Page Six:
Al Sharpton: Hold Jussie Smollett accountable if he staged attack

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Law & Crime and twitchy.com

Nana Efua Mumford / Washington Post:
I doubted Jussie Smollett. It breaks my heart that I might be right.

Discussion: The New Neo, CNN, The Daily Caller, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Althouse, IJR, Instapundit and RedState

Kyle Smith / New York Post:
Don't expect apologies from the left over Jussie Smollett ‘attack’ fraud

Discussion: Hollywood in Toto, The Daily Beast and Daily Wire

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

Autopsy of a Dead Coup — The illegal effort to destroy the 2016 Trump campaign by Hillary Clinton campaign's use of funds to create, disseminate among court media, and then salt among high Obama administration officials, a fabricated, opposition smear dossier failed.

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Politico and Fox News

Carrie Johnson / NPR:
Andrew McCabe, Ex-FBI Deputy, Describes ‘Remarkable’ Number Of Trump-Russia Contacts

Discussion: Law & Crime, USA Today, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Quint Forgey / Politico:
McCabe: ‘I was fired because I opened a case against the president’

Discussion: CBS News, Breitbart, Axios, Splinter and The Daily Beast

Fox News:
Rush Limbaugh on whether Trump is justified in taking executive action to secure funding for his border wall

Discussion: Daily Wire and The Week

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump can't run the Mueller playbook on New York feds — Even as speculation mounts that special counsel Robert Mueller might be winding down his investigation, a parallel threat to President Donald Trump only seems to be growing within his own Justice Department: the Southern District of New York.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill: Five things to watch as Barr takes the reins of Justice, Mueller probe

Jacob Solis / The Nevada Independent:

Warren: If officials believe Trump cannot fulfill duties, they must invoke 25th Amendment — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Sunday in Las Vegas that Trump administration officials have an obligation to invoke the 25th Amendment if they believe the president cannot fulfill his duties.

Discussion: Townhall, RedState, Power Line, Front Page Magazine, Hill Reporter, The Daily Caller, IJR, Washington Times and Daily Wire

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Why allegations of a ‘coup’ against Trump are unfounded

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve

Discussion: NPR, No More Mister Nice Blog and Breitbart

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

Trump Considering Powell, Craft, Grenell, James for UN Job, Sources Say — Ivanka Trump may also be considered, person familiar says — State Department spokeswoman Nauert withdrew nomination — President Donald Trump is considering four people to be his next UN ambassador …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, HuffPost, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, The Week and NPR

Kristine Phillips / Washington Post:

Florida sixth-grader charged with misdemeanor after refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance — A Florida student is facing misdemeanor charges after a confrontation with his teacher that began with his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and escalated into what officials described as disruptive behavior.

Discussion: NBC News, Vox, TheBlaze, Chicago Tribune, BlueDot Daily, Atlanta Black Star, Splinter, Daily Wire, myfox8.com and Orlando Weekly

BBC:

Seven MPs leave Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership — Seven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism. — They are: Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey.

Discussion: NPR, Breitbart, Axios, Mediaite and Mashable

Stephen Castle / New York Times:
7 Labour Lawmakers Resign in U.K., in Rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn

more at Mediagazer »

Adam Jentleson / New York Times:

How Mitch McConnell Enables Trump — He's not an institutionalist. He's the man who surrendered the Senate to the president. — Mr. Jentleson is a former deputy chief of staff to retired Senator Harry Reid. — Among the casualties of President Trump's declaration of a national emergency …

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Obama Quietly Gives Advice to 2020 Democrats, but No Endorsement — A secret meeting of former President Barack Obama's financial backers convened in Washington early this month: Organized by David Jacobson and John Phillips, Mr. Obama's former ambassadors to Canada and Italy …

Darby Beane / WBKO-TV:

Man accused of pulling gun on victim wearing MAGA hat — BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) — A Tennessee man is in jail after being accused of pulling a gun on a Sam's Club customer Saturday. — According to the police report, officers were called to Sam's Club due to a person with a gun.

Discussion: WNKYWNKY, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, Breitbart, Louder With Crowder, The Daily Caller, Big League Politics and twitchy.com

Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:

Hurd says 1,000 Texas farmers could have land seized to build Trump's border wall — Texas Rep. Will Hurd, the sole Republican representing a congressional district along the southern border, said more than 1,000 farmers in his state are at risk of having their land seized by the federal government …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Arizona Republic

FiveThirtyEight:

Could Congress Block Trump's Emergency Declaration? — President Trump has declared a national emergency in order to pay for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, but will Congress block it? That's a long shot — but we can't rule it out either.

Discussion: Law & Liberty, Raw Story and KBZK

Ashraf Khalil / Associated Press:

DC's many prankster activists turn anger into street theater — WASHINGTON (AP) — In the nation's capital, it can be hard for protesters to stand out. A group of 50 people — or even 500 — holding signs and shouting hardly merits a second glance in this city of protests.

Discussion: Axios

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Republicans Already Are Demonizing Democrats as Socialists and Baby Killers — WASHINGTON — In the 116th Congress, if you're a Democrat, you're either a socialist, a baby killer or an anti-Semite. — That, at least, is what Republicans want voters to think, as they seek to demonize Democrats …

Discussion: Power Line, NB Blog, Hullabaloo and Daily Wire

Stacey Stowe / New York Times:

New York City to Ban Discrimination Based on Hair — New guidelines out this week give legal recourse to individuals who have been harassed, punished or fired because of the style of their hair. — Under new guidelines to be released this week by the New York City Commission on Human Rights …

Discussion: The Guardian, CBS New York and Gothamist

Gallup:

Record High Name Government as Most Important Problem — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thirty-five percent of Americans name the government, poor leadership or politicians as the greatest problem facing the U.S. This is the highest percentage Gallup has recorded for this concern …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Leslie Hook / Financial Times:

Surge in US economists' support for carbon tax to tackle emissions — US economists led by former US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen are uniting in record numbers to back the idea of a carbon tax as the most effective and immediate way of tackling climate change.

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:

Election board to decide fate of disputed North Carolina congressional race — North Carolina's board of elections will dig into fraud allegations in the state's disputed 9th Congressional District on Monday, kicking off hearings that could prompt a new election this year.

Discussion: Vox and Washington Post