memeorandum: As goes his presidency, so goes his impeachment: Trump disrupts and divides (Marc Fisher/Washington Post)

11:15 PM ET, December 18, 2019

Top Items:

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Pelosi threatens to delay Senate impeachment trial — Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to commit Wednesday to delivering articles of impeachment to the Senate, citing concerns about an unfair trial on removing President Donald Trump from office. — Senior Democratic aides said the House was …

Discussion: Townhall, Vox, Raw Story, NBC News, Redstate, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, The Hill, The Boston Globe, Daily Kos, Conservative Christian News, Axios, Joe.My.God., NPR, Washington Post and POLITICUSUSA

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

Pelosi says House may withhold impeachment articles, delaying Senate trial — Moments after a historic vote to impeach President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could at least temporarily withhold the articles from the Senate — a decision, she suggested …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, Politico, The Moderate Voice, Breitbart, National Review and DNyuz

ABC News:

Donald Trump becomes 3rd president in US history to be impeached — A full day of debate is ending with final votes in the Democrat-led House. — LIVE NOW — Donald Trump became only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached when the House on Wednesday approved an article accusing him of abuse of power.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NBC News, The Wrap and Axios

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:

Trump impeached by the House for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress — The votes sets the stage for a trial in the Senate, due to begin in early January. — Watch live: House votes on articles of impeachment against Trump — President Donald J. Trump was impeached on Wednesday.

Robin Givhan / Washington Post:

Nancy Pelosi's pin at the impeachment debate was a declaration: The republic will survive this — The day was sober, no matter what side of the Trump impeachment debate one might be on. It was a sad day, on that there was bipartisan agreement. — And for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi …

Discussion: New York Times and HuffPost

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Impeachment day for Trump: A bruised ego, a Twitter eruption and a winding rally — His chief spokeswoman said he would be “working all day,” but President Donald Trump spent much of Wednesday tweeting and re-tweeting about impeachment. — He holed up in the White House residence …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:
Trump Approval Inches Up, While Support for Impeachment Dips

Washington Post:
Trump is impeached by the House, creating an indelible mark on his presidency

Discussion: Power Line

ABC News:
House debates historic vote on impeaching President Trump: Live updates

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, The Hill, One America News Network, Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, Twitchy, Raw Story, Vox, HotAir, The New Civil Rights Movement and The Guardian

NBC News:
Live Blog / Live updates: House votes on impeachment of President Trump

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Associated Press, One America News Network, Washington Free Beacon and Contemptor

Laura Davison / Bloomberg:
Key Senate Republican Bucks McConnell to Push for Drug Pricing

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:
‘We are all mad’: Trump, White House fume as House debates impeachment

Discussion: Vox, AOL.com, POLITICUSUSA, CNN and Joe.My.God.

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:
McCarthy: Trump will still be president after impeachment

Discussion: Vox, Townhall and The Hill

Mark Murray / NBC News:
NBC/WSJ poll: Public remains split on Trump's impeachment and ouster from office

Discussion: The Hill

Aaron Zitner / Wall Street Journal:
Americans Evenly Divided on Trump Removal, WSJ/NBC News Poll Finds

Discussion: Politico

Axios:

Which Democrats voted against Trump's impeachment — Only two House Democrats crossed party lines to vote to oppose both articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday. Both of them are feeling the pressure of representing swing districts Trump won in 2016.

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:

Tulsi Gabbard Votes ‘Present’ in Impeachment Against Trump — The Democrat has missed nearly 90 percent of the votes held in the House of Representatives over the past two months. On Wednesday, she dodged the biggest vote of her career. — As the House of Representatives debated …

Discussion: Reason, BuzzFeed News, Vox, New York Times and Joe.My.God.

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Tulsi Gabbard votes ‘present’ on Trump impeachment articles

Discussion: Fox News, Politico and New York Times

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Trump Administration Battles New Sanctions on Russia — On Tuesday, President Trump claimed he was tougher on Russia than his predecessor. At the same time, his subordinates strongly opposed a bill imposing new sanctions on Moscow. — The Trump administration is quietly fighting …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Paul Demko / Politico:

Court voids Obamacare mandate — but not the whole law — Lower court must now reconsider fate of the full statute — A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down Obamacare's individual mandate in a decision that immediately thrusts the health care law to the forefront of the 2020 elections.

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story, The Root and TheBlaze

Ian Millhiser / Vox:

The Republican judges who were widely expected to kill Obamacare got cold feet — Sometimes, people who stare into the abyss blink. — When Texas v. United States, a lawsuit over Obamacare, was argued last summer, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit appeared determined to repeal the entire law root and branch.

Discussion: National Review

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post: Appeals court rules ACA's individual mandate unconstitutional; lower court to decide whether rest …

Stephen Rex Brown / New York Daily News:

Surveillance footage outside of Jeffrey Epstein's cell during first suicide attempt is missing — Surveillance footage of the outside of Jeffrey Epstein's cell at the troubled Metropolitan Correctional Center during his first suicide attempt has gone missing, prosecutors revealed Wednesday.

Discussion: CNBC, Axios, DNyuz, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and Big League Politics

Daniel Arkin / NBC News:

Bloomberg says Democratic candidates, including Biden, don't have the right experience — “The presidency shouldn't be a training job,” Bloomberg said. “You need somebody who comes in and knows how to run an organization.” — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and The Hill

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Pete Ain't It — The economic argument against Donald Trump …

Discussion: BizPac Review

Ryan Cooper / The Week:
Democrats are sleepwalking into a Biden disaster

Discussion: New York Post

Associated Press:
2020 Democrats prepare to debate in shadow of impeachment

Discussion: Breitbart

Lara Seligman / Foreign Policy:

Pentagon's Policy Chief Under Fire as Senior Officials Head for the Exits — Current and former officials point to John Rood as a major source of frustration in the U.S. Defense Department policy shop. — Three years into U.S. President Donald Trump's administration …

Discussion: Defense News

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Fourth Pentagon official announces resignation within week

Discussion: Axios and Defense News

Lili Loofbourow / Slate:

Impeachment Is a Permanent Stain on Trump's Presidency — The inevitable acquittal in the Senate won't annul a verdict that's already been rendered. — Who's Really in Charge of the Senate Impeachment Trial? — Mitch McConnell Refuses to Call Key Witnesses

David A. Graham / The Atlantic: The Stain of Impeachment Will Last Forever

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Trump ‘going crazy’ over impeachment legacy

Discussion: New York Times, New Republic, Reuters, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, Axios and Fox News

Christopher Miller / BuzzFeed News:

Rudy Giuliani Flew To Ukraine On A Budget Flight. But He Left On A Private Jet. — Rudy Giuliani flew to Kyiv on a budget airline when he visited earlier this month — but he left in style, on a private jet. — It was the afternoon of December 4 when Giuliani flew to the Ukrainian capital …

Kamala D. Harris / New York Times:

Will McConnell Let the Senate Hold a Fair Impeachment Trial? — Every one of my colleagues has an obligation to pursue the truth, regardless of the politics. — Ms. Harris is a Democratic senator from California. — Today the House of Representatives will vote on whether to impeach President Trump.

Discussion: Axios and The Hill

Dean Obeidallah / The Daily Beast:
If the Senate Won't Hold a Fair Trial, the House Should Refuse to Send Over the Articles

Discussion: Twitchy and Outside the Beltway

Andrew P. Napolitano / Washington Times:

Trump impeachment: Undisputed evidence that he abused his power — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — The rule of law is a cornerstone of American democracy and is integral to the U.S. Constitution. It stands for the principles that no person is beneath the laws' protections. No person is above the laws' requirements.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Raw Story, Hullabaloo and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Envoy to Ukraine Was Asked to Step Aside Ahead of Pompeo Visit — Timing counters earlier suggestions that Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor's precise departure date was predetermined — Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor was instructed by a top aide to Secretary …

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

Nancy Pelosi's stomach-turning impeachment charade damages America — It is said there are two things you should never watch being made: sausage and government budgets. — Now we can add impeachment to the list of stomach-turning sights to avoid. — The arcane rules …

Discussion: DNyuz and The Gateway Pundit

CREW:

Trump Hotel Room Prices Spiked 13x Last Weekend. We Finally Know Why. — In November, we noticed a mysterious spike in the price of available rooms at Trump's DC hotel for a Saturday night in December. The minimum cost was 13 times the average, but we couldn't identify a reason for the spike …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Sarah Quinlan / Arc Digital:

The Plight of #NeverTrump Conservative Women — Not welcome in the Democratic party; don't fit in the Republican party either — “I — can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.

George T. Conway III / The Atlantic:

Donald Trump Made His Own Impeachment Inevitable — The president's narcissism renders him unable to comply with his duties to the nation. — Lawyer practicing in New York City — As rare as impeachments may be, today's impeachment of Donald Trump, president of the United States …

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation, ABC News and THE LIBERTARIAN VINDICATOR

Phil McCausland / NBC News:

USDA tariff tracker removes Wakanda, fictional home of Black Panther, as free trade partner — There were hundreds of U.S. Department of Agriculture data inputs for Wakanda, a nation that first appeared in the July 1966 Marvel comic Fantastic Four #52. — Wakanda's free trade agreement with the United States wasn't forever.

Discussion: The Independent, UPI, New York Post and The Guardian

Terry Spencer / Associated Press:

Chinese national arrested for illegally entering Mar-a-Lago — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Chinese national trespassed at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club Wednesday and was arrested when she refused to leave, police said, the second time this year a woman from that country …

Associated Press:

Among public, a great divide at moment of Trump impeachment — We interrupt the holiday spirit to bring you the impeachment of a president. — In festive haunts, buzzing stores and rush-hour frenzy, Americans absorbed the moment Donald Trump became only the third president branded …