memeorandum: Mark Meadows, top Trump ally, to retire from Congress (Al Weaver/The Hill)

7:10 AM ET, December 19, 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: NBC News, One America News Network, UPI, The Boston Globe, Raw Story, Conservative Christian News, Breitbart, ABC News, DNyuz, Vanity Fair, PJ Media Home, Townhall, Vox, Sputnik News, The Week, BuzzFeed News, The Hill, Daily Kos, Redstate, Axios, Joe.My.God. and CNBC

Anna Palmer / Politico:

First in POLITICO Playbook: Mark Meadows to leave Congress, plus what McConnell will say on impeachment — “OBVIOUSLY, I'VE LOOKED AT THIS AS A TEMPORARY JOB,” Meadows told us in an interview Wednesday, speaking of serving in the House. “Endorsed term limits — never ran on a term-limit pledge.

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Contemptor and Letters from an American

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: The Hill and Axios

Al Weaver / The Hill:

Mark Meadows, top Trump ally, to retire from Congress — Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a top ally of President Trump, announced Thursday morning that he will retire from Congress at the end of his term. — Meadows, a four-term lawmaker who represents part of western North Carolina …

Discussion: DNyuz, NBC News and Townhall

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: The Week, CNN, National Review, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Breitbart and DNyuz

Washington Post:

Inside the decision to impeach Trump: How both parties wrestled with a constitutional crisis — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat quietly at the head of the long table inside her ornate conference room early this month, listening as her deputies debated the last major decision in the impeachment of President Trump.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Trump is impeached and joins the ‘losers’ of presidential history — On an almost entirely party-line vote, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump on two articles of impeachment. He is only the third president to receive that black mark on his record. Understandably, he hates it.

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation, Raw Story, Vox and The Moderate Voice

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: Axios, The Daily Beast, PJ Media Home, Breitbart, The Wrap, The Hill, The Moderate Voice and Sputnik News

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

Discussion: Power Line and The Guardian

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

Robin Givhan / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi's pin at the impeachment debate was a declaration: The republic will survive this

Discussion: New York Times and HuffPost

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

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

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: New York Times

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:
Tulsi Gabbard Votes ‘Present’ in Impeachment Against Trump

Discussion: Reason, Vox, The Daily Caller, BuzzFeed News and Joe.My.God.

Byron York / Washington Examiner: ANALYSIS: In impeachment vote, how Republicans got to zero

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller and DNyuz

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:

Trump makes 'hell'-acious crack about deceased Rep. John Dingell, wife responds — The president spoke about the former lawmaker at a campaign rally in his home state of Michigan. — President Donald Trump made a macabre quip about late Democratic Rep. John Dingell at his rally in Michigan …

Discussion: DNyuz, FOX40, CNN, Breitbart and Associated Press

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
Rep. Debbie Dingell Responds to Trump Suggesting Her Late Husband is in Hell

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Washington Post and FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Senate Republicans pray Trump won't tweet during trial — Senate Republicans can theoretically control President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. But there's one thing they have no power over: Trump's itchy Twitter fingers. — And Senate Republicans, who loathe the president's tweeting …

Discussion: Washington Post

Gabby Orr / Politico:
Impeachment day for Trump: A bruised ego, a Twitter eruption and a winding rally

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal and NBC News

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News: Trump impeached by the House for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress

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

Discussion: Raw Story

George T. Conway III / The Atlantic:

Donald Trump Made His Own Impeachment Inevitable — As rare as impeachments may be, today's impeachment of Donald Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors was pretty much inevitable. — It was inevitable because of Trump himself, his very character …

Discussion: ABC News

New York Times:
Trump Has Been Impeached. Republicans Are Following Him Down.

Discussion: NPR, NBC News and SFist

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

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

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 …

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: The Week and Raw Story

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: Axios, The Hill, NBC News, Raw Story, The Root and TheBlaze

Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The Republican judges who were widely expected to kill Obamacare got cold feet

Discussion: National Review

Associated Press:

Putin: Trump impeachment ‘far-fetched,’ Senate will acquit — MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin called the U.S. impeachment process “far-fetched” Thursday, making a seemingly obvious prediction that Donald Trump will be acquitted in the Senate.

Discussion: Axios

CNN:

CNN Poll: Joe Biden holds lead heading into December debate — (CNN)Joe Biden continues to hold a lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for president and remains the candidate potential Democratic voters think has the best shot to defeat Donald Trump, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

Vandana Rambaran / Fox News:
2020 Dem candidates react to impeachment votes: ‘A sad moment’

Discussion: One America News Network and Associated Press

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

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 …

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: The Gateway Pundit and DNyuz

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

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.

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

India's Citizenship Emergency — Last week, India adopted new legislation called the Citizenship Amendment Act, which gives undocumented immigrants of several faiths a path to citizenship but excludes Muslims, who make up about fifteen per cent of the country's population.

Discussion: DNyuz, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and New York Times