memeorandum: William Barr's Mueller cover-up reveals America's delusional dreamland about democracy (Will Bunch/Philly.com)

10:25 AM ET, April 8, 2019

Top Items:

Kirstjen Nielsen Resigns as Trump's Homeland Security Secretary — WASHINGTON — Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, resigned on Sunday after meeting with President Trump, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had made her the target of the president's criticism.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Post, Nextgov, The Week, Splinter, Bipartisan Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, National Review, BuzzFeed News, TalkLeft and Mediaite

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Stephen Miller pressuring Trump officials amid immigration shakeups — As President Donald Trump roils the capital over illegal immigration, his influential aide Stephen Miller is playing a more aggressive behind-the-scenes role in a wider administration shakeup.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Week, Mediaite, Raw Story and CNN

Axios:

Behind the scenes: Kirstjen Nielsen sacked by tweet — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her resignation letter with her when she met President Trump in the White House residence yesterday afternoon, top sources tell Axios. — Inside the room: She wasn't intent on quitting but was prepared to, sources tell us.

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Post and Raw Story

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's ouster exposes Trump's immigration crisis

Discussion: NPR, Wall Street Journal, Fox News and ImmigrationProf Blog

Washington Post:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen leaving Trump administration amid surge of migrants

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Just Security, Raw Story, Axios, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Bloomberg, New York Post, The New Civil Rights Movement and The Daily Caller

Bradford Betz / Fox News:
Trump aides targeted in corporate blacklist effort by immigration, civil rights groups

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and FITSNews

CNN:
Trump says DHS Secretary Nielsen leaving

Discussion: New York Times, Latest from Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, NBC News, Washington Post, IJR, Politico, ABC News, Trending Home, The Sun, Tennessee Star, Deadline and Townhall

Dara Lind / Vox:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigns as Trump rage continues

Discussion: Crooked Timber and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

To Get Trump's Tax Returns, N.Y. Democrats Try a New Strategy — ALBANY — In an attempt to work around the White House, Democratic lawmakers in Albany are trying to do what their federal counterparts have so far failed to accomplish: to obtain President Trump's tax returns.

Discussion: NBC News, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, CANNONFIRE and The Hill

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Trump, Democrats fight over tax returns: What happens now?

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Republicans are Trashing the Law to Keep Trump's Taxes Secret

Discussion: NBC News, Shareblue Media and RedState

Andy Shain / Post and Courier:

Biden still leads but Abrams, Buttigieg join front-runners in new SC 2020 primary poll — Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to hold a large lead in early polling for the 2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, but it's another politician who has not entered the race …

Discussion: Political Wire, Breitbart and FITSNews

Associated Press:

Bernie Sanders finds himself in a new role as front-runner — DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is quieting critics who questioned whether he could recapture the energy of his upstart 2016 campaign, surpassing his rivals in early fundraising and establishing himself …

Discussion: Axios and Washington Post

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Face it: Biden and Bernie are too old to be president

Axios:

Scoop: Former White House counsel Don McGahn off the record — Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides. — Details: “I spent the last couple …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Press, Politico and Fox News

Paula Reid / CBS News:

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigning after clashing with Trump on immigration — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is resigning, President Trump announced in a tweet Sunday. CBS News first reported Nielsen's impending departure, which Mr. Trump announced after a 5 p.m. meeting at the White House.

Maureen Groppe / USA Today:

Buttigieg to Pence: If you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is with my creator — Here are a few facts about ‘Mayor Pete.’ — WASHINGTON - Pete Buttigieg got a hero's welcome as he took the stage Sunday at a fundraising brunch for a group that supports LGBTQ candidates.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Guardian, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Mercury News

Josh Lederman / NBC News:
‘A kind of war’: Buttigieg describes struggle with sexual orientation in emotional speech

Discussion: The Week

Washington Post:

Trump seeks to campaign on problems he promised to fix — President Trump is ratcheting up his attacks on immigration — making and then rescinding a threat to close the nation's southern border in response to a problem that has worsened on his watch. He's reviving his assault …

Jonathan Swan / Axios: A Pelosi-shaped cloud over Trump's NAFTA 2.0 chances

Will Bunch / Philly.com:

William Barr's Mueller cover-up reveals America's delusional dreamland about democracy — Last Thursday night, Americans took to the streets to protest our nation's latest innovation in the world of scandal: The cover-up of a cover-up, which after more than two weeks is pretty …

Discussion: Washington Times

Chris Fox / BBC:

Websites to be fined over ‘online harms’ under new proposals — Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle “online harms” such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse, under government plans. — The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) …

Discussion: Fortune and NB Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Tony Romm / Washington Post: U.K. unveils sweeping plan to penalize Facebook and Google for harmful online content

John Harwood / CNBC:

Few Americans think they're getting a Trump tax cut: NBC/WSJ poll — Just 17% of people believe their own taxes will go down, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll finds. — No wonder the 2017 Republican tax cut remains so unpopular — the vast majority of Americans don't think they got one at all.

Discussion: Political Wire

Lesley Stahl / CBS News:

How the NYU School of Medicine is going tuition-free — One of the top medical schools in the United States is going tuition-free. Lesley Stahl reports on how and why they're doing it — Going to medical school today takes more than ambition, good grades in biology in college, and an appetite for hard work.

Alice Miranda Ollstein / Politico:

Trump's health care brain trust says no thanks — President Donald Trump promised a new plan to replace Obamacare. But the four Senate Republicans he tapped for the job aren't jumping at the opportunity. — Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) says any new plan has to come from the White House …

David Siders / Politico:

Reality bites Beto after high-flying kickoff — DES MOINES, Iowa — Between the prom proposal from a young admirer, the long lines for photographs and the conservative tracker recording his every word, Beto O'Rourke had all the hallmarks of a top-tier candidate during his latest swing through Iowa.

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Trumpism Extols Its Folk Hero — The president's devoted supporters have turned him into a legend of sorts. — My mother is a devout Democrat, but also one of the most socially conservative people I know. This is typical of our home state of Louisiana among black citizens …

Discussion: Althouse

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

Nunes sending eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr — (CNN)California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he was planning to send eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr as soon as this week.

Discussion: Splinter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Mediaite

Rick Moran / Trending Home:
Nunes to Make Eight Criminal Referrals to Justice Department This Week

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit

politicallyshort.com:

Flynn Leaks and Ignatius Hypocrisy — David Ignatius of the Washington Post poses the interesting question of what responsibility, if any, a journalist has to avoid blowing secrets. While this question was once posed by Ignatius in a Washington Post article written back in 2000 …

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

All the Progressive Plotters — Right after the 2016 election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein—cheered on by Hillary Clinton dead-enders—sued in three states to recount votes and thereby overturn Donald Trump's victory in the Electoral College. Before the quixotic effort imploded …

Eliza Collins / USA Today:

How Nancy Pelosi is leading divided Democrats through political turmoil, Trump's administration — Nancy Pelosi is presiding over a vastly different Democratic caucus than the last time she was Speaker of the House. Will she keep it together? — CONNECT — FERGUSON, Mo. — Nancy Pelosi doesn't care what you think of her.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA