memeorandum: Vladimir Putin critic Alexey Navalny hospitalized with suspected poisoning, doctor says (Patrick Reevell/ABC News)

1:10 AM ET, July 29, 2019

Top Items:

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.

Discussion: RedState

New York Times:

Dan Coats to Step Down as Intelligence Chief; Trump Picks Loyalist for Job — WASHINGTON — President Trump announced on Sunday that Dan Coats would step down as director of national intelligence after a fraught tenure marked by tension with the Oval Office, and he tapped one of his staunch defenders …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Post, Fortune, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, ABC News, Rolling Stone, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Fox News, Politico, UPI 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: NPR, KTLA, CNN, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Slate, Washington Post, Vox, New York Post, twitchy.com, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, Splinter and The Guardian

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats is leaving office after clashing with Trump on national security — KEY POINTS — Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, will be stepping down in mid-August, President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday.

Discussion: Axios, The Atlantic and POLITICUSUSA

Associated Press:
Coats out as national intel director, clashed with Trump

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Gregg Re / Fox News:
Dan Coats to leave post as director of national intelligence as Trump selects Rep. John Ratcliffe as replacement

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

With Sunday surge, nearly half of House Democrats back impeachment inquiry — Four more rank-and-file Democrats called for opening an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump on Sunday, inching lawmakers closer to a significant symbolic milestone: a majority of all House Democrats.

Discussion: Mediaite

Laurence H. Tribe / USA Today:

We are finally on the path to Trump impeachment and saving what our Founders gave us — Nancy Pelosi spared moderate Democrats a floor vote on impeachment, but she has unleashed her committee chairs to do exactly what needs to be done. — CONNECT — Don't let anybody fool you …

Discussion: Washington Post

U.S. Congresswoman Suzan Delbene:
DelBene Supports Impeachment Inquiry

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Congressman Denny Heck: STATEMENT: Rep. Denny Heck Supports an Impeachment Inquiry

Rebecca Klar / The Hill: No. 3 Senate Democrat calls for House to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump

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

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

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

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Fox's Chris Wallace Calls Out Mulvaney for Saying Trump's Baltimore Tweets Have ‘Zero to Do With Race’ — White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney insisted this morning that President Donald Trump's tweets going after Baltimore and Congressman Elijah Cummings have “zero to do with race.”

Discussion: Townhall, Daily Wire and Washington Post

Ken Meyer / Mediaite: CNN's Stelter Bashes Fox News Over Trump's Cummings Attacks: Fueling POTUS's Racism With ‘Distorted View of the Country’

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Accuses Black Congressman and Allies of Being Racist, Deepening Feud

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News and Common Dreams

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

Discussion: Townhall, Front Page Magazine, NB Blog, Washington Times, Axios, The Daily Caller, PJ Media Home and Sara A. Carter

Dan Rodricks / Baltimore Sun:
People who refuse to see or hear Trump's racism in attack on Baltimore are beyond reach, but here goes

Discussion: Hullabaloo

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

Discussion: Breitbart, BizPac Review, CNN and Slate

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

Discussion: Breitbart, fox8.com and Front Page Magazine

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

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner and Axios

Patrick Reevell / ABC News:

Vladimir Putin critic Alexey Navalny hospitalized with suspected poisoning, doctor says — A doctor for Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, has suggested the activist has been poisoned after he was hospitalized Sunday after falling mysteriously ill in a Moscow jail.

Discussion: Political Wire and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

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

Hot Air:

Tapper To Rashida Tlaib: Why Do You Only Want To Boycott Israel And Not, Say, Egypt Or Pakistan Or Saudi Arabia? — I would happily boycott Egypt or Saudi Arabia for human rights violations, Tlaib insists, responding to Tapper's question. — Okay, he says. Then why don't you?

Kevin M. Kruse / New York Times:

The Real Problem With Trump's Rallies — There are a lot of similarities between the president and George Wallace of Alabama. But there's also one big difference. — Mr. Kruse is a professor of history at Princeton. — President Trump's political rallies are certainly a spectacle, but a spectacle we've seen before.

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.

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 …

Discussion: Instapundit, Law & Crime and Front Page Magazine

Rebecca Tan / Washington Post:

Kushner owns lots of Baltimore-area apartments. Some are infested with mice. — In a now-viral tweetstorm on Saturday, President Trump characterized Rep. Elijah E. Cummings's Baltimore-based congressional district as a “rodent infested mess” where “no human” would want to live.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Steve Contorno / Tampa Bay Times:

Rick Scott on ‘Meet the Press’ admits he hasn't read new Senate report on Russian election hacking — Maybe ask Marco Rubio for a copy? — A new report from the Senate Intelligence committee on Russian hacking has raised more serious questions about Florida election security in 2016.

Discussion: Florida Politics