memeorandum: ‘What do you girls want to do?’ … (Maria Sacchetti/Washington Post)

11:15 PM ET, August 11, 2019

Top Items:

There's no video of Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide: sources — There's no surveillance video of the incident during which Jeffrey Epstein apparently hanged himself in a federal lockup in Lower Manhattan, law-enforcement officials told The Post on Sunday.

Discussion: Big League Politics, Fox News and RedState

New York Times:

Before Jail Suicide, Jeffrey Epstein Was Left Alone and Not Closely Monitored — The disclosures about apparent failures in Mr. Epstein's detention deepened the questions about his suicide. — Why the Epstein Investigation Is Not Over — Prosecutors will focus on those who may have helped him in a sex-trafficking ring.

Discussion: New York Post, Associated Press, The Hill, The Week, Crooked Timber, The Daily Beast, KTLA, Fox News, Washington Press, Slate, Law & Crime, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Althouse and CBS Miami

Washington Post:

‘It was inevitable’: Officers watching Epstein were on overtime due to jail staffing shortage, union president says — The two correctional officers assigned to watch the special unit in the detention center where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was being housed …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, The Daily Caller, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian and The Week

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Behind the scenes of Trump's Epstein-Clinton conspiracy tweet — On Saturday, the president of the United States retweeted a conspiracy theory video claiming Bill and Hillary Clinton had a hand in the death of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. — The big picture: The news media did not treat …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today and Los Angeles Times

Lindsay M. Hayes / The Atlantic:

Epstein's Death Has a Simpler Explanation — Until the end, their lives were different in countless ways. Jeffrey Epstein, 66, a wealthy white financier with many powerful friends and clients, was a previously convicted sex offender who was facing a new indictment on sex-trafficking charges …

Tom Winter / NBC News:

After autopsy, cause of Jeffrey Epstein's death awaits ‘further information’ — The financier was found unresponsive Saturday in his jail cell in Manhattan, where he was being held on federal sex trafficking charges. — The New York City medical examiner's office said Sunday that it had completed …

Discussion: The Week and The Guardian

New York Times:

Why the Jeffrey Epstein Investigation Is Not Over — Mr. Epstein is dead, but prosecutors will focus on those who may have helped him in a sex-trafficking ring. Accusers still plan to pursue lawsuits. — Jeffrey Epstein is dead. But the criminal investigation that led to the sex-trafficking charges against him is not.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Caller, RedState, The Daily Beast, KTLA, Law & Crime, Mediaite and JustOneMinute

New York Post:
Former MCC inmate: There's ‘no way’ Jeffrey Epstein killed himself

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Big League Politics, BizPac Review, TheBlaze, RedState and Politico

New York Times:
Jeffrey Epstein's Opaque Finances Could Become Focal Point for Investigators

Discussion: Washington Press and Boing Boing

Jesselyn Cook / HuffPost:
Jeffrey Epstein's Death Underlines A Nationwide Problem

Discussion: Inquirer.com, New Republic and The Guardian

New York Times:

How the El Paso Killer Echoed the Incendiary Words of Conservative Media Stars — Tucker Carlson went on his prime-time Fox News show in April last year and told his viewers not to be fooled. The thousands of Central Americans on their way to the United States were “border jumpers,” not refugees, he said.

MSNBC:

Republican family switches support to Democrats at Iowa State Fair — MSNBC's Vaughn Hillyard speaks with a family at the Iowa State Fair who supported Sen. Ted Cruz for president in 2016 that are now planning on voting for Democrats.

Joseph Simonson / Washington Examiner:

Bernie Sanders staffers manhandle press at Iowa State Fair — DES MOINES, Iowa — A campaign staffer for Bernie Sanders was screamed at by a local photojournalist who was repeatedly shoved following the Vermont senator's remarks at the Iowa State Fair. — The confrontation erupted …

Discussion: Breitbart

Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic:
Marianne Williamson Goes for the Gut

Discussion: CNN

Katie Glueck / New York Times:
After El Paso Shooting, Will Voters Revisit Beto O'Rourke?

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Kamala Harris, in a Pivot, Makes Her Play for Iowa

Discussion: twitchy.com, CNN and Des Moines Register

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Inside Trump's strange pen-pal diplomacy with Justin Trudeau — President Trump has sent highly unusual, Sharpie-written notes to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at least twice, Axios has learned. — One missive was so odd, the Canadian ambassador double-checked with the White House to be sure it wasn't a prank.

Discussion: Political Wire

Abby Ohlheiser / Washington Post:

The dangerous cycle that keeps conspiracy theories in the news — and Trump's tweets — Conspiracy theories aren't fueled by facts; they are fueled by attention. On Saturday, a baseless conspiracy theory about the death of Jeffrey Epstein gorged itself on a feast of the stuff …

Discussion: Splinter, BizPac Review, The Atlantic, Axios, Vox and Townhall

HuffPost:
YouTube's Conspiracy Theory Crackdown Has One Big Winner: Fox News

Discussion: New York Times and Rolling Stone

Michael Crowley / New York Times:
Trump Shares Unfounded Fringe Theory About Epstein and Clintons

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, CNN, Vanity Fair, Politico, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Root and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:

The brand label that stokes Trump's fury: ‘Racist, racist, racist.’ — President Trump considers himself a branding wizard, but he is vexed by a branding crisis of his own: how to shed the label of “racist.” — As the campaign takes shape about 15 months before voters render a verdict on his presidency …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Rachel Frazin / The Hill: Steve Bannon: ‘President Trump is not a racist’

Cameron Cawthorne / Washington Free Beacon:
O'Rourke: It's ‘Really Hard’ to See People Voting for Trump If They Aren't Racist

Discussion: PJ Media Home, TheBlaze, Mediaite and The Guardian

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Exclusive: Anthony Scaramucci says Trump may need to be replaced for 2020 — Anthony Scaramucci, who famously served as President Trump's communications director for 11 days, says Republicans may need to pick a different candidate in 2020. — Driving the news: In a phone interview on Sunday afternoon …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, The Week, Political Wire, Washington Press, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Slate and Fox News

Jo Becker / New York Times:

The Global Machine Behind the Rise of Far-Right Nationalism — Sweden was long seen as a progressive utopia. Then came waves of immigrants — and the forces of populism at home and abroad. — RINKEBY, Sweden — Johnny Castillo, a Peruvian-born neighborhood watchman in this district of Stockholm …

Discussion: NB Blog, Progress Pond and Jihad Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Osborne / ABC News:

Florida white supremacist arrested for threatening shooting at Walmart, police say — A Florida white supremacist has been arrested for threatening a shooting at a Walmart just days after 22 people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in one of the worst mass shootings in the country's modern history.

Discussion: New York Post and The Root

Clay LePard / WKMG: Florida man arrested after making threat to Walmart on Facebook

Kanishka Singh / Reuters:

Goldman Sachs economists say fears rise that U.S.-China trade war leading to recession — (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) said on Sunday that fears of the U.S.-China trade war leading to a recession are increasing and that Goldman no longer expects a trade deal between the world's …

Joe Biden / New York Times:

Banning Assault Weapons Works — That's why, as president, I will push to ban them again. — Mr. Biden, a former senator and vice president, is a Democratic candidate for president. — Each time a mass shooting strikes one of our communities we grieve. We gather our loved ones.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA