memeorandum: “Pro-choice” Susan Collins has voted to confirm 32 anti-abortion Trump judges (Igor Derysh/Salon)

8:55 AM ET, June 7, 2019

Top Items:

CNN:

Inside Jerry Nadler's private push to open up impeachment inquiry — Nadler: Mueller clearly demonstrated that Trump is lying — (CNN)At a frank meeting this week, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler again lobbied to win Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, New Republic and The Root

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

House Backs Off Holding Barr in Contempt in New Resolution — WASHINGTON — After weeks of pledging to hold Attorney General William P. Barr and the former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II in contempt for defying subpoenas, House Democrats appear poised to pursue an alternative path to try to force them into sharing information.

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Donald Trump Uses D-Day Ceremony Interview To Rant About Nancy Pelosi — Trump called the House Speaker “vindictive” and “nasty” in a sit-down with Fox News' Laura Ingraham. — With the graves of U.S. troops who sacrificed their lives in World War II behind him, President Donald Trump gave …

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast and Contemptor

Zachary Basu / Axios:
The impeachment whip list

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Wire

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Forget impeachment. Tee up prosecution.

Discussion: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Balloon Juice

John Solomon / The Hill:

Key figure that Mueller report linked to Russia was a State Department intel source — In a key finding of the Mueller report, Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked for Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is tied to Russian intelligence. — But hundreds of pages …

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit and Conservative News Today

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:

Joe Biden reverses course on Hyde abortion amendment — ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is reversing course and declaring that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, KTLA and Axios

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Biden reverses long-held position on abortion funding amid criticism

Discussion: The Week, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Wire, Rewire.News, The Daily Caller, Splinter, Washington Post and Vanity Fair

Molly Nagle / ABC News:
Joe Biden reverses stance on Hyde Amendment

Discussion: Yahoo, One America News Network, wabe.org, NPR, Townhall and The Gateway Pundit

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

DOJ, Commerce reject Dem subpoenas for census docs — The Justice and Commerce departments on Thursday rejected House Democratic demands for more documents about the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, likely leading to contempt citations for Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Fox News, Washington Press and Common Dreams

Renato Mariotti / Politico:
How Trump Could Be Prosecuted After the White House

Discussion: CNN and Washington Post

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost: House Democrats To Make It Easier To Find Trump Aides In Contempt, Bring Them To Court

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Why Trump's new attack on Mueller's ‘correction’ makes so little sense

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart and Politico

Igor Derysh / Salon:

“Pro-choice” Susan Collins has voted to confirm 32 anti-abortion Trump judges — Collins still claims Brett Kavanaugh won't vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. She also thinks Maine will re-elect her — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of just two Republican senators who claim to be pro-choice …

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Poll: Majority Want To Keep Abortion Legal, But They Also Want Restrictions

Discussion: Washington Post

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:

Michael Bloomberg Promises $500 Million to Help End Coal — WASHINGTON — Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, will donate $500 million to a new campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States and halt the growth of natural gas, his foundation said Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post and UPI

The Hill:

Trump plans to declare new national emergency to impose tariffs — President Trump is planning to declare a new national emergency in order to implement sweeping tariffs on Mexico over the flow of Central American migrants to the U.S., according to a draft document of the declaration reviewed by The Hill.

Discussion: Breitbart, One America News Network and POLITICUSUSA

Washington Post:
Mexico aims to avoid tariffs with potential deal limiting migrants going north, allowing U.S …

Media Matters for America:

Two of Fox News' most vitriolic hosts just lost a major advertiser: Bayer — The multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer has dropped Tucker Carlson's and Laura Ingraham's Fox News prime-time shows, Judd Legum reported in his Popular Info newsletter. — Bayer's departure is a devastating blow …

Judd Legum / Popular Information:
EXCLUSIVE: Bayer stops advertising on Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, The American Spectator and The Daily Caller

Aiden Pink / The Forward:

DC Dyke March Bans Jewish Pride Flag — A gay pride parade in Washington, D.C. has been criticized by Jewish and LGBTQ groups for banning Jewish and Israeli symbols from its Friday event. — The D.C. Dyke March is designed to include people of diverse races, religions and gender identities …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, Washington Blade, Tablet Magazine, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and AWiderBridge

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:
D.C. Gay Pride March Bans Israeli Flags, Allows Palestinian Ones

Discussion: Washington Post, Jewish Journal and Algemeiner.com

Maggie Severns / Politico:

Koch network floats backing Democrats in revamp of influence operation — The Koch network is shaking up how it tries to influence Washington heading into 2020, starting with plans to spend money to reelect lawmakers from either party who back its issues and are facing primary challenges.

Discussion: Political Wire

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Koch network opens its doors to Democrats as it expands political engagement

Discussion: Axios

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Racial Reckoning Comes — Trump has changed our national narrative. — When I was a boy I was taught a certain story about America. This was the land of opportunity. Immigrants came to this land and found an open field and a fair chance to pursue their dreams.

Discussion: Tablet Magazine

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

New Files From GOP Operative's Hard Drive Suggest N.C. Republicans Lied in Court to Maintain Racial Gerrymander — The latest bombshell from the formerly secret files of the GOP's top gerrymandering guru emerged on Thursday, and it's astounding: Voting rights advocates claim to have evidence …

Discussion: NPR, New York Times, PJ Media Home and Shareblue Media

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Automakers Tell Trump His Pollution Rules Could Mean ‘Untenable’ Instability and Lower Profits — WASHINGTON — The world's largest automakers warned President Trump on Thursday that one of his most sweeping deregulatory efforts — his plan to weaken tailpipe pollution standards …

Discussion: Axios, POLITICUSUSA, Electrek, The Week and The Verge

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Ilhan Omar violated campaign finance rules, investigation finds, as more questions about tax filings arise — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., repeatedly violated state rules when she used campaign funds to pay for personal out-of-state travel as well as help on her tax returns and must reimburse …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Breitbart and PJ Media Home

Patrick Condon / Star Tribune:
Minnesota Campaign Board fines Rep. Ilhan Omar, says she must reimburse campaign

Discussion: Conservative News Today, twitchy.com, Power Line and New York Post

Brady McCombs / HuffPost:

Trump Supporter Arrested After Allegedly Threatening To Kill Members of Congress — Scott Brian Haven of Utah is accused of making over 2,000 phone calls to the U.S. Capitol over a three-year period about Democrats threatening Trump's presidency. — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Are Voter Opinions on Trump as Stable as They Seem? — The great irony of the Trump presidency, one that is built on chaos and drama, is how stable it is. By that, I mean the stability of opinions of this president. Despite all of the twists and turns and tweets over the last three years …

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Republicans Have Become the Except-When-Trump-Does-It Party — Before heading off for a break at his Trump-branded golf course in Ireland, President Trump this week attacked the mayor of London as a “stone cold loser,” called an American-born British princess “nasty” and then denied he said it …

Stacy Perman / Los Angeles Times:

No, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was not misquoted in Nieman Lab — There is the word. And then there is Twitter. — An interview with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and executive editor Adrienne LaFrance in Nieman Lab about the 162-year-old publication's efforts to include …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Mediaite and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:

House Dems Ready to Investigate Giuliani's Ukraine Shenanigans — The president's lawyer says he welcomes the scrutiny and plans to turn it to his advantage. — Top congressional Democrats are actively discussing opening a probe into Rudy Giuliani for his overseas political work …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

New York Times:

Trump's Twists on Confronting Iran Confound Allies in Europe — PARIS — President Trump and his aides have sent a dizzying, seemingly conflicting set of messages to Iran in recent weeks, ordering more troops to the Middle East and a carrier to the Arabian Sea as military threats …

John Whitesides / Reuters:

Democrats to pour into Iowa for biggest event yet in 2020 White House race — (Reuters) - Nineteen Democratic presidential candidates will swarm Iowa this weekend for the biggest political gathering of the 2020 election cycle so far, as the White House race picks up steam ahead of debates …

Discussion: Political Wire

Matt Dixon / Politico:

DeSantis staff shakeup prompts competing narratives — TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis has lost as many as seven aides in the past 24 hours, some of whom have been with him since the start of his campaign, according to a person with direct knowledge of the turnover.

Discussion: Florida Politics and Splinter

Courtney Kube / NBC News:

U.S. commander says American forces face ‘imminent’ threat from Iran — Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie says he believes the Iranians or their proxies may orchestrate an attack at any moment. — BAGHDAD — The top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East says he believes the Iranians …

Discussion: UPI and Sean Hannity

April Doss / The Atlantic:

Bill Barr's Dangerous Claims — Attorney General Bill Barr has repeatedly use the word “spying” to refer to the counterintelligence investigation into Russian contacts with the Trump team in 2016. Barr's loose use of language risks a panoply of harms, undermining public confidence in three vital goods …