memeorandum: House passes bill making animal cruelty a federal felony (Matt Zarrell/ABC News)

1:05 PM ET, October 23, 2019

Top Items:

Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze by August, Undermining Trump Defense — Top officials were told in early August about the delay of $391 million in security assistance, undercutting a chief argument President Trump has used to deny any quid pro quo. — KIEV, Ukraine — To Democrats …

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Slate, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Mahablog, Politico, The Week, HuffPost, Hot Air and Mother Jones

Erica Werner / Washington Post:

Trump administration sought billions of dollars in cuts to programs aimed at fighting corruption in Ukraine and abroad — Democrats have slammed White House insistence that Trump was focused on corruption - not Bidens - when he blocked Ukraine aid funds — The Trump administration …

Discussion: News & Guts Media, Raw Story and Political Wire

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Live updates: House Republicans barge into secure room, disrupt planned testimony in Trump impeachment inquiry — A group of House Republicans barged into a secure room at the Capitol on Wednesday where the latest witness in the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry was set to testify, temporarily shutting down the proceedings.

Discussion: Fortune, The Daily Caller, National Review, Raw Story, Vox and Occupy Democrats

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Sean Duffy Gets Repeatedly Owned In Bonkers CNN Segment: 'My Nose Isn't a Heat-Seeking Missile for the President's Backside' — CNN's New Day hosted a duel between Republicans on Wednesday morning as former congressmen Sean Duffy and Charlie Dent squared off on whether Bill Taylor …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Washington Post and New York Times

Peter Baker / New York Times:

An Envoy's Damning Account of Trump's Ukraine Pressure and Its Consequences — William B. Taylor Jr. laid out in visceral terms the potentially life-or-death stakes of what he saw as an illegitimate scheme to pressure Kiev for political help by suspending American security aid.

Discussion: CNN, Liberty Unyielding, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Mediaite

John Podhoretz / Commentary:

Trump Will Be Impeached — Remember when I said last week that October 17 was the worst day of the Trump presidency? Well, October 22 and has now come along to break the record. This is the day that, I think, has ensured Donald Trump's impeachment. Not his removal. But impeachment will be bad enough.

Discussion: New York Times

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
How much more of Donald Trump can Republicans possibly take?

Discussion: The Federalist Papers, Political Wire, Shareblue Media and UPI

Anthony Adragna / Politico:
Rick Perry: I never heard the President say Biden

Discussion: Washington Post and The Guardian

ABC News:
The Note: GOP weariness grows as Trump defenses give way

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Read the Opening Statement by the Top Diplomat in Ukraine

Discussion: The Week, The Guardian, Washington Post, Raw Story, The American Conservative and Breitbart

Washington Post:
Here's the quid pro quo proof, Lindsey Graham

Discussion: Just Security, VICE, Raw Story, Mother Jones, POLITICUSUSA, News & Guts Media and New York Post

QU Poll:

Release Detail — October 23, 2019 - Approval Of Impeachment Inquiry Reaches 55 Percent, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Disapprove Of Trump's Decision On Syria 2-1 — Approval among American voters of the U.S. House impeachment inquiry, an inquiry to determine whether …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Roll Call, Bloomberg, The Hill, Washington Times, Daily Kos, The Week and Axios

Zachary Basu / Axios:

House Republicans storm closed impeachment hearing in protest — More than a dozen House Republicans attempted to force entry Wednesday into the closed-door hearing where Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense, is scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump and Ukraine.

Discussion: Raw Story

Melanie Zanona / Politico: Impeachment deposition delayed after Republicans storm proceedings

Shelby Talcott / The Daily Caller:
Republicans Storm Closed Impeachment Proceeding

Discussion: Washington Times, The Hill, Shareblue Media, Contemptor and The Week

CNN:

CNN Poll: Biden's lead in Democratic primary hits widest margin since April — WASHINGTON (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden's lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for president has rebounded, and now stands at its widest margin since April, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, SSRS, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Times, New York Post, The Week, Bloomberg, Des Moines Register, Mediaite and Political Wire

The Daily Beast:

Trump Whines That Senate Republicans Are Failing Him on Impeachment and Not Owning Nearly Enough Libs — The president and his advisers want Republicans in the Senate to stage their own hearings to counteract what's happening in the House. — President Trump, his advisers …

Discussion: The Hill, UPI, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite and Breitbart

Sarah Longwell / The Atlantic:
Mitt Romney, It's Time

Discussion: The Daily Caller and CNN

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner: GOP senators warn Trump he risks political harm from impeachment with chaotic approach

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

Will Trump shut down the government to fight impeachment? — Analysis: Washington is bracing for the prospect that president may seek to let funding lapse in a bid to blame Democrats. — WASHINGTON — Impeachment, meet government shutdown. — With funding for federal operations set to expire Nov. 21 …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Political Wire and MSNBC

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Pelosi and McConnell are on an impeachment collision course

Discussion: The Hill

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Trump's worst week ever

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Associated Press

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump lawyer: Trump can't be prosecuted for shooting someone — Even if President Donald Trump shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, New York authorities could not punish him while he is in office, the president's lawyers argued Wednesday. — Attorneys for Trump made the claim …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Associated Press:

Zuckerberg appears in Congress as Facebook faces scrutiny — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced bipartisan, hostile questions in a congressional hearing Wednesday focused on the social media company's plans to launch its own cryptocurrency known as Libra. — Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns …

Discussion: RedState

Zachary Warmbrodt / Politico:
Maxine Waters slams Zuckerberg, raises specter of breaking up Facebook

Discussion: The Daily Beast

April Glaser / Slate:
Why Mark Zuckerberg Keeps Saying Facebook Needs to Win Against China

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

Iraq official: US troops from Syria to leave Iraq in 4 weeks — BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S troops withdrawing from northeastern Syria to Iraq are “transiting” and will leave the country within four weeks, Iraq's defense minister said Wednesday. — Najah al-Shammari made the remarks …

Discussion: New York Times, Task & Purpose, Defense One, CNN and Washington Post

Allan Smith / Associated Press:
Trump to make announcement Wednesday on Syria

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, ABC News and One America News Network

Washington Post:

Prosecutors flagged possible ties between Ukrainian gas tycoon and Giuliani associates — When two business associates of Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, were arrested this month on charges that they funneled foreign money into U.S. elections, federal prosecutors working on a different case in Chicago took note.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Week

BuzzFeed News:
Federal Investigators Are Probing Suspicious Financial Transactions By Two Giuliani Associates …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:
“MICHAEL COHEN IS NOW EVEN MORE VALUABLE THAN BEFORE”: THE PRESIDENT'S FORMER ATTORNEY OFFERS DIRT …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, NPR and Raw Story

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Dick's Sporting Goods CEO quietly tests presidential bid — Ed Stack, the CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods and a longtime Republican donor, is testing the waters for a possible third-party presidential bid that could scramble the dynamics of the 2020 general election.

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, IJR, Forbes, The Hill and Press & Sun-Bulletin

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Syria disagreement with Trump used as a pretext for Mattis's departure as Pentagon chief, new book says — “Holding the Line,” by a former staff member, details the retired general losing influence with Trump. — Increasingly embattled and isolated, former defense secretary Jim Mattis used …

Bryan Bender / Politico: ‘The White House is not to be trusted right now’

The Harvard Crimson:

A Note To Readers — To our readers: — Last month, The Crimson covered a rally organized by campus group Act on a Dream that called for the abolition of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During the course of our reporting, Crimson reporters requested comment from ICE …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, The College Fix, The Hill, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Reason and Althouse

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Former Acting Attorney General: ‘Abuse of Power Is Not a Crime’ — Matthew Whitaker also blasted the “global elitists and careerists” who are upset with Trump for “upsetting the apple cart” of the “world establishment.” — Following Tuesday's devastating House testimony by acting U.S. Ambassador …

Discussion: The Week

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
‘Abuse of Power Is Not a Crime’: Trump's Former Attorney General Defines His Credo

Discussion: Vox, The Hill, HuffPost and Political Wire

Nathaniel Rakich / FiveThirtyEight:

We've Already Seen Twice As Many Presidential TV Ads As At This Point In The 2016 Election — Over the course of the entire 2016 presidential election, TV ad spending approached a whopping $761 million, with more than 920,000 spots flickering across the airwaves. But that might be nothing compared to what we see in 2020.

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Rick Wiles: ‘There Is Going to Be Violence in America’ if Trump is Removed From Office — End Times broadcaster, rabid anti-Semite, and ardent conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles warned on his “TruNews” program last night that if President Donald Trump is removed from office, Trump supporters who …

Pew Research Center:

National Politics on Twitter: Small Share of U.S. Adults Produce Majority of Tweets — Those who strongly disapprove of Trump produce majority of tweets from U.S. adults that mention national politics — The social media platform Twitter plays a prominent role in how politicians …

Discussion: Vox

Washington Post:

How a Beltway power couple and a political newcomer learned to thrive in the Trump era — When Brad Parscale was looking for advice about how to navigate Washington after running the digital strategy for Donald Trump's upstart presidential campaign in 2016, the brash political newcomer turned to a Beltway power couple.