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HOW REALITY-TV FAME HANDED TRUMP A $427 MILLION LIFELINE — Tax records show that “The Apprentice” rescued Donald J. Trump, bringing him new sources of cash and a myth that would propel him to the White House. — From the back seat of a stretch limousine heading to meet the first contestants …
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Twitchy, Bloomberg and Salon
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Analysis: Question of how Donald Trump's Scottish resorts are financed even more urgent — The revelatory reporting by the New York Times into Donald Trump's taxes shines a light on an area of the US president's finances that has long been shrouded in mystery, and with mere weeks to go until …
Discussion:
Vox, National Review, Raw Story, Law & Crime and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

The art of diversion — On Sunday, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax returns, which revealed that he paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. But wait, look over there! — Project Veritas, an organization run by right-wing polemicist James O'Keefe, claims it has …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Post, Minnesota Reformer and National File

Ten Quick Takeaways from the New York Times' Bombshell Article on Trump's Tax Returns — Sunday night's New York Times article on Donald Trump's taxes has a great deal of content that will take time (and additional supporting detail) to digest fully. What's more, this article is apparently …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Week, Washington Post, Politico, POLITICUSUSA, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, National Memo, The Hill and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Forbes adds it up: Trump has $1.1 billion in debt
Discussion:
The Week, POLITICUSUSA, The Sun, The Hill and The Intercept
Tina Sfondeles / Business Insider:
$750. Again. And again. The amount Trump twice paid in taxes will be Biden's magic number during the first presidential debate, insiders say
$750. Again. And again. The amount Trump twice paid in taxes will be Biden's magic number during the first presidential debate, insiders say
Discussion:
American Greatness, Vox, CNN, Washington Post, WTOP, The American Spectator, The Guardian, Redstate, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Times, OpsLens and One America News Network

Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters — One day in 2015, Donald Trump beckoned Michael Cohen, his longtime confidant and personal attorney, into his office. Trump was brandishing a printout of an article about an Atlanta-based megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million from his flock to buy a private jet.
Discussion:
Morning Shots, The Week, Mediaite and Raw Story

In Pennsylvania, advantage Biden with a big boost from women: POLL — The result includes a more than 2-1 Biden lead in the Philadelphia suburbs. — What to expect from the first presidential debate — “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos joins us to discuss President Trump's Supreme …
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Post-ABC poll: Biden leads Trump in battleground state of Pennsylvania — Biden runs strong in Philadelphia suburbs and is competitive in western Pennsylvania. Trump leads in central and northeastern parts of the state. — Former vice president Joe Biden leads President Trump …
Discussion:
Sabato's Crystal Ball, ABC News, NBC News and American Greatness

Behind the White House Effort to Pressure the C.D.C. on School Openings — Documents and interviews show how senior officials sought to play down the risks of sending children back to the classroom, alarming public health experts. — WASHINGTON — Top White House officials pressured …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Hill, The Week, Political Wire and Raw Story

Electoral College Rating Changes: Ohio and Iowa Move to Toss Up — In mid-June, we moved both Iowa and Ohio from Likely Republican to Lean Republican. At the time, we noted that while the polls were looking shaky for Pres. Trump, they were also catching him at what could be his lowest point of the cycle.

Trump, Biden first debate: Everything you need to know — President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden come face-to-face for their first debate on Tuesday night amid increasingly nasty attacks on each other. — Trump has called Biden a socialist puppet who wants to destroy the suburbs and “hurt God.”
Discussion:
Vox, Politico, Axios, BuzzFeed News, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, The Hill, CNBC, The Guardian and MSNBC
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Ohio could be Biden's best shot at keeping Trump from contesting the 2020 election
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal
Annie Linskey / Washington Post:
Inside Joe Biden's whistle-stop tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania
Inside Joe Biden's whistle-stop tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania
Discussion:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Fox News, Twitchy and Politico

Trump — not Biden — is being underestimated going into the debate — In 2016, during one of her first prep sessions for the presidential debates with Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton listened to a litany of attacks from Philippe Reines, a longtime aide who was playing the role of Trump …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Spectator USA, CNN, Reuters and The Week

Schumer Refuses to Meet With Amy Coney Barrett, Calls Process ‘Illegitimate’ — BARRETT, SPURNED — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he doesn't plan to meet with Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Supreme Court nominee officially announced Saturday.
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Senate Democrats want to avoid Kavanaugh 2.0
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal

Grand Jury Deliberations in Breonna Taylor Case Will Be Released — The Kentucky attorney general's office said it would release the recordings of the deliberations after a grand juror complained about how they were publicly represented. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A juror in the Breonna Taylor case contends …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Slate, Mediaite, OpsLens and The Week
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Postal Service workers quietly resist DeJoy's changes with eye on election — Many USPS employees see recent cost-cutting changes that have slowed mail delivery as violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. — This summer, as controversial new procedures at the U.S. Postal Service snarled …

Immigrants Say They Were Pressured Into Unneeded Surgeries — Immigrants detained at an ICE-contracted center in Georgia said they had invasive gynecology procedures that they later learned might have been unnecessary. — Wendy Dowe was startled awake early one morning in January 2019 …

The Weak Leading the Woke — What We Ask About When We Ask About Joe — How old is Joe Biden? — As this issue goes to press, 77. America's median age is 38, which means that more than half the country is less than half Biden's age. If inaugurated on January 20, 2021 …
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Julie Pace / Associated Press:
Analysis: In debate, a last chance for Trump to define Biden
Analysis: In debate, a last chance for Trump to define Biden
Discussion:
Florida Politics and Real Clear Politics

Barr's Justice Department serves up talking points for Trump — The prosecution of Michael Flynn. A Senate investigation into the provenance of the Steele Dossier. The nascent federal probe of discarded absentee ballots in Pennsylvania. — In recent days, the Justice Department …

Meet a Secret Trump Voter — 'Being a lesbian who's voting for Trump is like coming out of the closet again.' — Chris is a registered Democrat in her 50s who lives in Manhattan. She's well-educated, well-traveled and well-informed. She has voted for candidates of both parties …
Discussion:
Raw Story

‘Deeply unpatriotic’: Mary Trump slams the president for not paying taxes for years … WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump, say the topic of her uncle not paying income taxes for 10 of the last 15 years must be “hammered on” during the first general election debate Tuesday night.
Discussion:
MSNBC, Political Wire and The American Independent

Biden's Texas Political Director Accused of Illegal Ballot Harvesting At Texas Supreme Court — Major Scandal Has Implications for the Biden Campaign — The Joe Biden campaign's Texas Political Director has been formally accused of helping to run an illegal ballot harvesting operation …
Discussion:
American Greatness and The Gateway Pundit
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Emma Platoff / The Texas Tribune:
Houston Republicans sue to limit in-person and absentee voting options in Harris County
Houston Republicans sue to limit in-person and absentee voting options in Harris County
Discussion:
Redstate, Off the Kuff and Law & Crime

‘He just lies’: Florida's senior voters suddenly are in play — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida seniors, long an unflinching bloc of reliable GOP votes, are suddenly in play as President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus has his reelection campaign on the defensive.
Discussion:
The Hill, Florida Politics and Raw Story

Barrett tied to faith group ex-members say subjugates women — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and faith.
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News
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Fox News Lobotomizes Its ‘Brain Room,’ Cuts Fact-Based Journalism — ‘NOT INTERESTED IN FACTS’ … Staffers said the recent layoffs gutting Fox News' fact-checking team were a victory for the network's right-wing opinion shows and further cemented its status as “state media.”
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Brooklyn Voters Receive Absentee Ballot Envelopes With Wrong Voter Names And Addresses — The New York City Board of Elections has mailed out nearly half a million absentee ballots ahead of Election Day this November, as many New Yorkers are opting to vote by mail during the pandemic.
Discussion:
Fox News, THE CITY, NBC New York, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Townhall, Axios, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and New York Post

‘To Represent All Mississippians’: Hyde-Smith Ad Uses Russian, Canadian Footage — Canadian, Russian, South African and Ukrainian models appear in U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's first 2020 campaign ad for her Mississippi campaigns—but no Mississippians. Instead, the ad uses stock footage …

Media Gunning For Scott Atlas Because He Keeps Exposing Coronavirus Lies — ‘Everything he says is false,’ NBC News quoted CDC Director Robert Redfield as saying of Atlas. That's just not true, top epidemiologists told The Federalist. — Centers for Disease Control Director …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Power Line, CNN and Fox News