memeorandum: How Mueller's Lawyers Spun the OLC Guidance on Indicting a Sitting President (Andrew C. McCarthy/National Review)

5:50 PM ET, July 28, 2019

Top Items:

Dan Coats Expected to Step Down as Intelligence Chief — WASHINGTON — Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, is expected to step down in the coming days after spending his tenure at odds with President Trump over issues including Russia and Mr. Trump's own attacks on the intelligence community …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as DNI — President Trump announced on Twitter Sunday that he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, confirming Axios' earlier reporting that Ratcliffe was favored for the job.

Discussion: CNBC, CNN, Washington Post, KTLA, Vox, Politico, Slate, NPR, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit, Splinter, Hullabaloo, Mediaite and The Guardian

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:

John Ratcliffe: AG William Barr will deliver justice to any Obama officials who committed crimes — A top Republican investigator said accountability is coming for any of those individuals who may have committed crimes during the Trump-Russia investigation.

Baltimore Sun:

Better to have a few rats than to be one — In case anyone missed it, the president of the United States had some choice words to describe Maryland's 7th congressional district on Saturday morning. Here are the key phrases: “no human being would want to live there,” it is a …

Dan Rodricks / Baltimore Sun:

People who refuse to see or hear Trump's racism in attack on Baltimore are beyond reach, but here goes — People who support President Donald Trump, no matter what he says or does, are beyond reach with reason and facts. To continue to support this president, you have to either agree …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
‘Everything that Donald Trump says is offensive to some people,’ Mulvaney says

Discussion: Breitbart, CNN and Slate

Justin Wise / The Hill:
Trump doubles down on attacks against Cummings and Baltimore district

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, The Daily Beast and Axios

Kate Sullivan / CNN:
Bernie Sanders: 'It's unbelievable' Trump ‘attacks American cities’

Discussion: Breitbart, fox8.com and Front Page Magazine

Dom Calicchio / Fox News:
Bernie Sanders blasted Baltimore as ‘Third World country’ and ‘disgrace’ in past comments

Discussion: Townhall, NB Blog, Washington Times, Politico, PJ Media Home, The Daily Caller and RedState

Adia Robinson / ABC News:
‘Important’ that Mueller investigation info get to Americans: Rep. Jerry Nadler

Discussion: Politico, Washington Press, The Week, PJ Media Home, Deadline and Slate

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine: Why Trump Spent His Summer Vacation Sending Racist Tweets

David Zurawik / Baltimore Sun:
Trump's Twitter attack on Cummings and Baltimore: undiluted racism and hate

Discussion: Power Line, The Wrap, Townhall and Daily Wire

New York Times:

Federal Inquiry of Trump Friend Focused on Foreign Lobbying — WASHINGTON — As Donald J. Trump was preparing to deliver an address on energy policy in May 2016, Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman, had a question about the speech's contents for Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a top campaign fund-raiser and close friend of Mr. Trump.

Discussion: Political Wire

Congressman Denny Heck:

STATEMENT: Rep. Denny Heck Supports an Impeachment Inquiry — Congressman Denny Heck (WA-10) released the following statement, announcing his support for a formal impeachment inquiry: — “For many months multiple committees of the House have been engaged in investigations …

U.S. Congresswoman Suzan Delbene:

DelBene Supports Impeachment Inquiry — f t # e — Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) called for an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. — “It gives me no pleasure to announce that I am calling for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into the President of the United States.

Kendall Karson / ABC News:

Partisan differences on impeachment remain after Mueller testimony, as nearly half of Americans show little movement: POLL — Following more than six hours of questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller before two different congressional committees, Democrats and Republicans remain largely splintered …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Washington Times, Politico, IJR, New York Post and Political Wire

Paola Chavez / CNN:
Nadler says Trump should be impeached because 'he's violated the laws six ways from Sunday'

Discussion: Law & Crime and twitchy.com

Gabriela Resto-Montero / Vox:
New polling finds Mueller's testimony didn't change Americans' minds on impeachment

Discussion: twitchy.com, Politico and Washington Times

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Nadler: “We have impeachment resolutions before the committee”

Discussion: Politico

CNN:

Hoping for a Warren-Sanders clash? Their campaigns say don't hold your breath — Sanders and Warren prepare for debate face off — (CNN)Progressives are determined to lift either Sen. Bernie Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren to the Democratic presidential nomination next year.

New York Times: Why Democrats Are So Far From Consensus on 2020

Nataliya Vasilyeva / Associated Press:

Nearly 1,400 detained in Moscow protest; largest in decade — MOSCOW (AP) — Nearly 1,400 people were detained in a violent police crackdown on an opposition protest in Moscow, a Russian monitoring group said Sunday, adding that was the largest number of detentions at a rally in the Russian capital this decade.

Discussion: Splinter, New York Times, BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and The Week

Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:

When Epstein Was Cosmo's Bachelor of the Month — In July 1980, the predatory financier was featured as the magazine's “Bachelor of the Month” seeking a “cute Texas girl.” — Long before Jeffrey Epstein boasted of his billionaires-only client list—and long before his arrests …

New York Times:

Under Brazil's Far Right Leader, Amazon Protections Slashed and Forests Fall — BRASÍLIA — The destruction of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil has increased rapidly since the nation's new far-right president took over and his government scaled back efforts to fight illegal logging, ranching and mining.

Discussion: The Guardian

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

How Mueller's Lawyers Spun the OLC Guidance on Indicting a Sitting President — After Mueller, it is worth another look at its role in the report and its fallout. — This is Part Two of a two-part series. In Part One, we took a look at the OLC guidance that bars the indictment of a sitting president.