memeorandum: Chicago poised to elect first African-American female mayor after Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle advance (Bill Ruthhart/Chicago Tribune)

12:35 PM ET, February 27, 2019

Top Items:

Cohen Plans to Call Trump a ‘Con Man’ and a ‘Cheat’ in Congressional Testimony — WASHINGTON — Michael D. Cohen plans to tell Congress on Wednesday that President Trump is a “con man” and a “cheat” who knew a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks — and who implicitly instructed …

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Cohen testimony on Trump: ‘He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.’ — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, will provide documents to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he says prove Trump committed “illicit” acts, according to prepared congressional testimony obtained by POLITICO.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BuzzFeed News, The Week, Al Jazeera, TheBlaze, Breitbart, IJR, Splinter, Raw Story, Washingtonian, The Daily Beast and Unfogged

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Michael Cohen's explosive opening statement about Trump, annotated — Michael Cohen is set to deliver a stemwinder of an opening statement Wednesday morning to the House Oversight Committee in his debut public testimony. Cohen will say his former boss President Trump is “racist” and a “conman.”

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Michael Cohen to testify that Trump knew of WikiLeaks plot. He will also call him ‘a racist’ and ‘a cheat.’ — Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, will tell Congress on Wednesday that Trump knew his longtime adviser Roger Stone was communicating with WikiLeaks about publishing stolen emails …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, theGrio, Contemptor, Shareblue Media, Lawfare, Shakesville and Media Matters for America

Adam Mill / The Federalist:

How Forcing Michael Cohen To Divulge Attorney-Client Communications Damages The Rule Of Law — This cooked-up pretext to invade the president's attorney-client privilege is a stain of shame on the rule of law and tramples on a 500-year-old rule that protects our common law tradition.

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post and Politico

Axios:

Scoop: Check signed by Trump to be displayed at Cohen hearing — A $35,000 check signed by Donald Trump on Aug. 1, 2017 (after he became president) will be displayed during Michael Cohen's testimony to the House Oversight Committee today, a source close to Cohen tells Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Daily Wire, POLITICUSUSA, AOL, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Paste and Raw Story

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Television networks planning special reports for Michael Cohen's testimony — New York (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. — A pivotal moment for the Trump presidency — Michael Cohen will be everywhere on Wednesday.

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Contemptor, The Daily Beast, The Week and Mediaite

Washington Post:
As Trump meets Kim in Vietnam, he's undermined and distracted by Michael Cohen

Discussion: Axios, Politico, One America News Network, Breitbart, Shareblue Media, ABC News, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Week

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
Roger Stone Says Michael Cohen Is Lying, After Stone Was Ordered Not To Comment On The Mueller Investigation

Discussion: Washington Post

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump believes the investigations against him weaken his standing with foreign leaders

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

David Brown / Politico:
How Trump and Kim could succeed in Hanoi

Discussion: Associated Press, Young Conservatives, ABC News, Breitbart and One America News Network

Manu Raju / CNN:
Michael Cohen will testify that Trump knew Roger Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC email dump

Discussion: The Week, Joe.My.God., myfox8.com, Paste and Washington Post

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
A high-profile Trump ally in Congress just straight-up threatened Michael Cohen

Discussion: Raw Story, IJR, Shareblue Media, twitchy.com, No More Mister Nice Blog and Mediaite

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Trump Ally Rep. Matt Gaetz Insists He's Not Threatening Michael Cohen, Just ‘Witness Testing’

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Rep. Matt Gaetz's very witness-tamper-y Michael Cohen tweet

Discussion: Politico, Axios, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Patterico's Pontifications, ABC News and POLITICUSUSA

Tom Winter / NBC News:
Michael Cohen has been disbarred

Discussion: Townhall, Vox, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Daily Wire, Hullabaloo, Washington Press and AOL

CNN:

Pakistan shot down two Indian jets inside its airspace, government claims, as border crisis escalates — New Delhi, India (CNN)India has disputed Pakistan's claims that its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets inside Pakistani airspace on Wednesday amid a potentially dangerous border crisis between the two nuclear-armed powers.

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and Al Jazeera

Maria Abi-Habib / New York Times:

Pakistani Military Says It Downed Two Indian Warplanes, Capturing Pilot — NEW DELHI — Pakistan said Wednesday that it downed two Indian fighter jets and captured a pilot, escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistani territory for the first time in five decades.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Outside the Beltway, The Week and Vox

BBC:

India Pakistan: Kashmir fighting sees Indian aircraft downed — Pakistan says it has shot down two Indian military jets and captured a pilot in a major escalation between the nuclear powers over Kashmir. — India said it had lost one MiG-21 fighter and demanded the immediate and safe return of its pilot.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Associated Press, The Diplomat, The Week, RT, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

Washington Post:

White House bans four journalists from covering Trump-Kim dinner because of shouted questions — HANOI — The White House abruptly banned four U.S. journalists from covering President Trump's dinner here Wednesday with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un after some of them shouted questions at the leaders during their earlier meetings.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox, Committee to Protect …, Mediaite, The Week, NPR, twitchy.com, Public Pool, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Breitbart and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Bast / CBS News:
North Korea finding new ways to evade sanctions, secret U.N. report reveals

Discussion: CNBC and Axios

Susan E. Rice / New York Times: Can Trump Avoid Caving to Kim in Vietnam?

Elizabeth Landers / CNN:

House to vote on guns background check bill with bipartisan support — McBath willing to work across the aisle for gun bill — (CNN)The House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on significant gun control legislation for the first time in more than two decades, a move that Democrats hope …

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:

Mainstream Media Blacks Out The Democrats' Infanticide Vote — There's no good way to spin the Democrats' vote. So many in the MSM simply ignored it. — So I was going to have a little fun at the expense of CNN this morning, contrasting the news site's headline for the Democrats' gun restriction bill …

Heidi Przybyla / NBC News: House poised to pass first major gun bill in a generation

Greg P. / twitchy.com:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is furious at these photos of her and a staffer eating a hamburger and killing the planet — Apparently, when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that Americans will have to eat fewer hamburgers to save the planet from global warming, she meant Americans who don't work for her.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Alana Goodman / Washington Examiner:
AOC ‘living wage’ rules allow her staff to dodge financial disclosure laws

Discussion: IJR and National Legal & …

Gregg Re / Fox News:

9th Circuit gets another Trump-picked judge, after White House bypasses consultation with Dems — Senate confirms President Trump's nominee to be a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 53-46 in a party-line vote — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Trump's nominee to be a judge …

Discussion: Townhall

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
White House sours on Kris Kobach for Senate, Cabinet

Discussion: Raw Story

CNBC: Gary Cohn is writing a memoir of his career, including his tenure in the Trump White House

Bill Ruthhart / Chicago Tribune:

Chicago poised to elect first African-American female mayor after Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle advance — The field of Chicago's mayoral candidates narrows from 14 to two as Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle head to a runoff. — Privacy Policy — Chicago will elect …

Discussion: VICE News, theGrio, NPR and CBS Chicago

Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun-Times: Is Chicago ready for reform? Lightfoot, Preckwinkle poised for mayoral runoff

Alex Shephard / New Republic:

The Overdue Death of Democratic “Pragmatism” — It's an unwritten rule in political journalism today that Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator and Democratic candidate for president, must be described as “pragmatic.” — There isn't much mystery as to what the press means by this.

Discussion: Althouse

Ellen Page / Hollywood Reporter:

Ellen Page on Jussie Smollett Fallout: Hate Violence Is Not a Hoax (Guest Column) — While the media debates the ‘Empire’ star's case, it's critical that we not losesight of the real threats underrepresented communities face every day, writes the actress and activist.

Discussion: Breitbart, twitchy.com and Daily Wire

Tyler Dukes / WRAL-TV:

McCrae Dowless, central figure in 9th District election probe, indicted — RALEIGH, N.C. — McCrae Dowless, the Bladen County political operative who emerged as a central figure in the investigation into irregularities in the 9th Congressional District, was arrested and charged Wednesday …

Discussion: Political Wire

Samantha Harris / New York Daily News:

Harvard attacks a defense attorney for doing his job: Ronald Sullivan could be penalized for daring to represent Harvey Weinstein — Harvard Law Prof. Ronald Sullivan, the university's first African-American faculty dean, is a criminal defense attorney who has devoted his life to the pursuit of justice …

Discussion: Instapundit

Emma Green / The Atlantic:

Conservative Christians Just Retook the United Methodist Church — The United Methodist Church has fractured over the role of LGBTQ people in the denomination. At a special conference in St. Louis this week, convened specifically to address divisions over LGBTQ issues …

Discussion: Juicy Ecumenism, RedState and The American Conservative