memeorandum: Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign Pledged Not to Take Special-Interest Money

4:40 PM ET, May 6, 2019

Top Items:

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Trump would have been charged with obstruction were he not president, hundreds of former federal prosecutors assert — More than 370 former federal prosecutors who worked in Republican and Democratic administrations have signed on to a statement asserting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's findings …

Discussion: Mother Jones, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Mediaite, Rolling Stone, Raw Story and New York Post

DOJ Alumni Statement:

STATEMENT BY FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTORS — We are former federal prosecutors. We served under both Republican and Democratic administrations at different levels of the federal system: as line attorneys, supervisors, special prosecutors, United States Attorneys, and senior officials at the Department of Justice.

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

DOJ moves to fend off Barr contempt vote — The Justice Department on Monday tried to head off a contempt of Congress proceeding against Attorney General William Barr, offering House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) the chance to negotiate about the committee's subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted report.

Discussion: Washington Post, One America News Network, The Week, Breitbart, Daily Wire, The Root, CNN, The Resurgent and Daily Kos

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Over 400 former prosecutors say Trump would be indicted if he weren't president

Discussion: Scripting News

Henry Rodgers / The Daily Caller:
Nadler Schedules Vote To Hold Barr In Contempt Of Congress

Discussion: Fox News

Eric Tucker / Associated Press: Ex-prosecutors: Trump would've been charged if not president

Michael Balsamo / Associated Press: With Mueller on Justice staff, Barr has sway over testimony

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
House Judiciary Committee to Vote Wednesday to Hold Barr in Contempt

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and Jezebel

House Judiciary Dems / House Committee …:
Wednesday: House Judiciary to Markup Contempt Report for AG Barr

Discussion: Townhall, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, The Last Refuge, Shakesville, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post

CNN:
House panel sets Wednesday vote to hold Barr in contempt after DOJ doesn't turn over Mueller report

Discussion: Mediaite

Alex Conant / FIREHOUSE Strategies:

BREAKING: New early state Democratic primary voter survey results — Key Findings: — The Biden Surge: We asked Democratic primary voters who they favored among the eight highest-profile Democrats who have already announced their candidacies. According to our survey …

Discussion: Breitbart, Florida Politics, Axios and Political Wire

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

What happens if Donald Trump refuses to admit he lost in 2020? … Recalling her mindset in advance of the 2018 midterms, Pelosi told the New York Times: … That might sound like exaggeration from Pelosi — an attempt to gin up her base in advance of the 2020 presidential election. It isn't.

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Fortune, Slate and The Rush Limbaugh Show

NBC News:

Democrats lose their enthusiasm advantage in latest NBC News/WSJ poll — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — Democrats had two advantages that fueled their midterm victories …

Discussion: Washington Times, National Review and Washington Post

Gerrard Kaonga / Daily Express:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to choose UNUSUAL name for baby that UNIFIES the US and UK — MEGHAN MARKLE and Prince Harry could be leaning towards a royal baby name that pays tribute to both US and UK history, according to royal expert Victoria Arbiter. — Meghan Markle is expected …

Brad Plumer / New York Times:

Civilization Is Accelerating Extinction and Altering the Natural World at a Pace ‘Unprecedented in Human History’ — WASHINGTON — Humans are transforming Earth's natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction …

Discussion: The Guardian, Commentary, Washington Monthly, Splinter and Financial Times

Darryl Fears / Washington Post: One million species face extinction, U.N. panel says. And humans will suffer as a result.

Chris Joyner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Georgia mayor under fire for alleged remarks about black job candidate — The mayor of Hoschton, a nearly all-white community 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, allegedly withheld a job candidate from consideration for city administrator because he was black, an AJC investigation has found.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Resurgent, Splinter, Talking Points Memo, theGrio and Raw Story

George A. Sorial / Wall Street Journal:

Michael Cohen Was a Bluffer, Not a Fixer — He wasn't involved in the Trump Organization's core business. — Michael Cohen was my friend. I knew his family and he knew mine. But for him to suggest before Congress in February that he was the Trump Organization's top lawyer and deal maker is surreal.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Associated Press:
Michael Cohen heads to prison in Trump hush-money scheme

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Week, Daily Kos, New York Times and Hullabaloo

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
President's former lawyer arrives at prison to serve sentence for tax, campaign finance crimes

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:

U.S. Officials Raise Alarm of Iranian Threat Targeting American Troops in Iraq — WASHINGTON — Senior American officials said on Monday that new threats by Iran against United States troops in Iraq were behind the sudden deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and Air Force bombers to the Persian Gulf.

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Slate and The Guardian

Susan E. Rice / New York Times:
The Real Trump Foreign Policy: Stoking the G.O.P. Base

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Washington Times and Raw Story

New York Times:

In Tiger Woods, Trump Finds a Hero and a Business Opportunity — WASHINGTON — Ever since Tiger Woods arrived on the public stage as a golf phenom at the age of 21, Donald J. Trump has been cultivating him as a celebrity who could add a sheen to his properties around the globe.

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, Fox News, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Talking Points Memo

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Mulvaney aims for ‘more proactive, less reactive’ Trump message

Discussion: Daily Kos, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Will Democrats start playing hardball with Trump?

Discussion: The Seattle Times, courthousenews.com and The Daily Caller

Davis Richardson / Observer:

Mike Pompeo Praises Climate Change in the Arctic as ‘New Opportunities for Trade’ — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Finland to discuss the United States' commitment to the Arctic region. While much of the secretary's speech addressed …

Discussion: Politico, Reuters, VICE News and Pacific Standard

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

The FBI's Trump-Russia Investigation Was Formally Opened on False Pretenses — The State Department and an Australian diplomat grossly exaggerated Papadopoulos's claims — which were probably false anyway. — Chicanery was the force behind the formal opening of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation.

Discussion: American Greatness

Margot Cleveland / The Federalist:
Major Report Omission Shows Mueller Was Either Incompetent Or A Political Hack

Discussion: Daily Wire and Instapundit

Jon Gargis / MDJOnline.com:

New NRA president, Cobb native, aiming for higher membership, reclaiming government offices — Carolyn Meadows, an east Cobb resident and new president of the National Rifle Association. — Buy Now — Carolyn Meadows, an east Cobb native and new president of the National Rifle Association …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, The Root, IJR, Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:

Bernie Sanders Decides to Play Rough This Time — The senator is playing to win, drawing sharp contrasts with his opponents far more quickly and aggressively than he did four years ago. — Gideon Resnick — In just the last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unloaded a blistering attack on a leading Democratic think tank.

Discussion: CNN and ABC News

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
Some Look at Joe Biden's Campaign and See Hillary Clinton's

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

James Reston Jr / New York Times:

Trump's Other Impeachable Offense — As Nixon learned, Congress will not abide a president who defies its subpoenas. — Mr. Reston is the author of “The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews.” — On July 30, 1974, nine days before President Richard Nixon resigned …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Alexis Levinson / BuzzFeed News:

Republicans Think They Know How To Win Back Congress In 2020. Races Like This One Could Screw It Up. — STATEN ISLAND — “I didn't vote for you,” Kevin Smith told Rep. Max Rose, after flagging the freshman Democratic congressman down while walking his dog. “But I gotta give you credit — you worked your ass off.

CNBC:

Chinese delegation will come to the US for trade talks after Trump tariff threat — KEY POINTS — A Chinese delegation will travel to the United States for trade talks this week after President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Axios

CNBC:
Dow drops more than 450 points as China considers skipping trade talks after Trump threat

Discussion: Reason, CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Reuters and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Facebook:

Removing More Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From Russia — Today we removed multiple Pages, Groups and accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. We found two separate, unconnected operations that originated in Russia and used similar tactics …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio … and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Justin Sink / Bloomberg:

Trump May Redefine Poverty, Cutting Americans From Welfare Rolls — OMB says in regulatory filing it may recalculate poverty level — Switch to so-called chained CPI would slow growth of poverty — The Trump administration may alter the way it determines the national poverty threshold …

Associated Press:

Red Sox manager Alex Cora won't visit White House — Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not attend the ceremony at the White House on Thursday honoring the 2018 World Series champions. — Cora cited the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Maria in his native Puerto Rico as the reason for his decision.

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Shareblue Media and The Root

New York Times:

Congress, Give Trump His Border Money — No, it's not for building the wall. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section. — President Trump is right: There is a crisis at the southern border.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and American Greatness