Rachel Maddow joins as guest co-host to talk about the White House announcement that they intend to obstruct the impeachment inquiry, Trump’s decision to abandon our Kurdish allies, and Facebook’s refusal to pull down false ads about Joe Biden. Then we talk to Rachel about her new book, Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth.

Show notes

Trump Obstructs Impeachment

• NYT: White House Declares War on Impeachment Inquiry, Claiming Effort to Undo Trump’s Election 
• NYT: The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates
• NYT: On Ukraine Aid, ‘Nothing to See Here’: Diplomats Urged to Play Down Funds’ Release
• NYT: Read the White House Letter in Response to the Impeachment Inquiry   
• The Atlantic: Trump’s Obstruction Letter 
• NYT: Trump’s Ukraine Call Was ‘Crazy’ and ‘Frightening,’ Official Told Whistle-Blower
• Vox: Are we in a constitutional crisis yet?
• WaPo: Trump’s refusal to comply with House subpoenas depends on an absolutist view of executive power
• Empty Wheel: THE PRESS GETS UTTERLY SNOOKERED ON THE WHITE HOUSE REBRANDING OF THE SAME OLD UNRELENTING OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESSIONAL PREROGATIVES
• FiveThirtyEight: It Took A Long Time For Republicans To Abandon Nixon
• WaPo: This article is for congressmen who think Captain Kangaroo presided over kangaroo courts
• AP: White House and Democrats clash over rules for impeachment 
• Politico: The GOP’s impeachment strategy gets sharper
• NY Mag: In Deranged, Quasi-legal Rant, Trump Calls Impeachment Unconstitutional 
• WaPo: Plum Line – Five facts that blow up the latest White House defense of Trump 
• WaPo: The revealing splits in GOP senators’ reactions to impeachment
• Vanity Fair: WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS NEW IMPEACHMENT STRATEGY: TOTAL WAR
• Axios: 1 big thing: Trump’s burn-down-the-House plan
• Axios: Trump spends $700,000 on impeachment ads in one week 
• Politico: Impeachment threat is helping GOP recruit new candidates 
• CNN: Trump’s focus on his base may not help him with impeachment inquiry 
• NBC News Op-Ed: Trump’s impeachment strategy plays to his base. But he needs independents in 2020. 
• CNN: First on CNN: Trump told Perry and State Department officials as early as May to talk to Giuliani about Ukraine
• NY Mag: Democrats Accused of ‘Regicide’ Against King Trump on Fox News
• Daily Beast: Fox News Cuts Ties With Trey Gowdy as He Joins Trump Legal Team
• Axios: Trey Gowdy agrees to serve as outside counsel for Trump  
• Talking Points Memo: Gowdy Poised To Join White House Legal Team Combatting Impeachment Inquiry 
• The Hill: Trey Gowdy out at Fox News amid talks to join Trump defense team
• Politico: Graham: GOP senators won’t kick out Trump based on Ukraine call 
• Talking Points Memo: Graham Intends To Rally Senate GOP To Formally Condemn Impeachment Effort
• WaPo: Why Republicans are demanding a House vote to start an impeachment inquiry – Analysis 
• Politico: Trump’s Hill cheerleaders take center stage in impeachment defense 
• NBC News: Graham says he’ll invite Giuliani to testify about corruption in Ukraine 
• LA Times: Why Republicans may want a House vote on impeachment inquiry and Pelosi doesn’t
• Politico: ‘Render to God and Trump’: Ralph Reed calls for 2020 obedience to Trump 
• Politico: Trump’s all-out blockade threatens Democrats’ impeachment drive 
• Wapo: This will get worse for Trump. Adam Schiff signals what’s next. 
• WaPo: Trump calls for ending impeachment inquiry; House Democrats plan Friday conference call
• WaPo: How the House could impeach Trump for obstructing its probe
• Politico: Judge signals Dems may get to see Mueller’s secrets 
• Politico: Dems raise fresh quid-pro-quo questions about Ukraine missile sale 
• The Atlantic: So What If the Whistle-Blower Has a Political Motive? 
• WaPo: Former national security officials fight back as Trump attacks impeachment as ‘deep state’ conspiracy 
• Politico: Poll: Half of voters support impeaching and removing Trump 
• FiveThirtyEight: Two Weeks In, Impeachment Is Becoming More Popular 
• WaPo: Biden says Trump has ‘indicted himself by obstructing justice,’ in most direct call for president’s impeachment
• NYT: Turkey Launches Syria Offensive, Targeting U.S.-Backed Kurds 
• WaPo: Turkey launches offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria
• NYT: In Trump, Turkey’s Erdogan Keeps Finding a Sympathetic Ear 
• NYT: For Once, Republicans Break With Trump, but Not on Impeachment 
• Axios: Lindsey Graham on Trump: “He’s putting the nation at risk”
• Wapo: Furor over pulling troops from northeast Syria began with troubling Trump phone call and White House statement 
• Politico Magazine: The Humiliation of Lindsey Graham 
• New Yorker: Trump’s Muddled Syria Policy Opens the Way for More War in the Middle East
• The Atlantic: The Forever War Fought by America’s Allies

2020

• NYT: Facebook’s Hands-Off Approach to Political Speech Gets Impeachment Test 
• WaPo: CNN won’t run two Trump campaign ads, citing ‘demonstrably false’ claims
• NYT: CNN Rejects 2 Trump Campaign Ads, Citing Inaccuracies 
• CNN: Facebook denies Biden campaign’s request to remove false Ukraine ad by Trump campaign
• Telegraph: Facebook won’t fact-check politicians, Nick Clegg announces
• The Guardian: Facebook exempts political ads from ban on making false claims
• Politico: YouTube CEO: Politicians can break our content rules
• Columbia Journalism Review: Facebook’s fact-checking program falls short
• NYT: Even Fox News Stops Running Trump Caravan Ad Criticized as Racist
• CNBC: Warren attacks Facebook for ‘quietly’ changing its political ad policy after Zuckerberg’s meeting with Trump
• Recode: Elizabeth Warren suggests, without evidence, that Facebook changed its political ad rules only after a Trump meeting
• Axios: Zuckerberg talks Warren’s “existential” breakup threat in leaked audio
• The Verge: All Hands on Deck- In two hours of leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook employees against critics, competitors, and the US government
• WSJ: Zuckerberg Meets With Trump, Faces Tough Questions From Senators
• NBC News: Trump, Mark Zuckerberg hold surprise White House meeting
• NYT: G.O.P.-Led Senate Panel Affirms Russia Attacked Election, and Urges Action
• CNN: Democratic National Committee slams Facebook for letting Trump ‘mislead’ Americans ‘unimpeded’
• WaPo: Are Democrats ready for the coming disinformation tsunami?
• Politico: Democrats face internal rancor over deep fakes, disinformation
• Reuters: Democrat O’Rourke presses U.S. social media companies to combat disinformation
• Axios: Elizabeth Warren’s campaign says it raised $24.6 million in Q3
• NYT: Warren and Sanders, and Their Messages of Change, Dominate the Money Race
• Vox: Warren and Sanders raised significantly more money than Biden in the third quarter
• LA Times: Small donors don’t cut it for many Democratic candidates. Back to the rich