The House prepares for the public phase of impeachment, Republicans move towards a defense of foreign interference, and the Democratic candidates make their best case to Iowa voters as the race gets incredibly close. Then Brian Beutler talks to Jon F. about Crooked Media’s new podcast on the impeachment process, Rubicon.

Show notes

Impeachment update 

• FiveThirtyEight: Do Americans Support Impeaching Trump?
• NBC News: NBC/WSJ poll: 49 percent now back Trump’s impeachment and removal 
• WaPo: Americans sharply divided over whether to impeach and remove Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds
• Vox: Trump claims the impeachment inquiry will “backfire.” Polling indicates he’s wrong. 
• AP: AP-NORC poll: More support than oppose impeachment probe
• The Hill: Polls show support for impeachment weaker in key battleground states
• The Hill: Engel promises public impeachment hearings ‘very soon’
• Politico: Top Democrats vow to release details from closed-door impeachment probe 
• NBC News: Dem Rep. says impeachment transcripts likely coming ‘within the next five days’
• NYT: Adam Schiff, a Trump Punching Bag, Takes His Case to a Bigger Ring 
• Bloomberg: Pelosi Expects Public Impeachment Hearings to Begin This Month 
• Politico: Rick Perry won’t testify at impeachment inquiry hearing
• WaPo: Adam Schiff once wanted to be a screenwriter. Can he give the Trump presidency a Hollywood ending?
• Politico: ‘We think we’re ready’: Democrats near end of closed-door impeachment testimony
• WaPo: Democrats pivot from private inquiry of Trump to public case for impeachment
• Reuters: Democrats’ decision to televise Trump impeachment hearings could prove politically perilous
• FiveThirtyEight: GOP Voters Are More Split On The Substance Of The Ukraine Scandal Than On Penalizing Trump For It
• CNN: Vulnerable Democrats face new challenge following impeachment vote
• The New Yorker: What Can We Expect from Televised Impeachment Hearings?
• The Nation: Impeachment Polls Show Democrats Are Wooing the Wrong White People 
• CNN: Democrats consider what articles of impeachment actually look like
• The Atlantic: Democrats Are Already Arguing Over Trump’s Impeachment Articles
• NBC News: House Democrats zero in on ‘abuse of power’ in Trump impeachment inquiry
• NBC News: Trump impeachment inquiry: Live updates and the latest news
• Politico: ‘There’s no model for this’: Impeachment timeline crashes into Democratic primary
• Politico: House could act on impeachment before suit over former Trump aide’s subpoena is resolved
• NY Mag: The Impeachment Process Explained: What Happens to Trump Now?
• FiveThirtyEight: Why Democrats Are Moving Quickly With Impeachment
• The Hill: Dem senator on impeachment proceedings: ‘The sooner the better’
• WaPo: It’s looking as if the impeachment inquiry could extend into 2020
• NYT: Democrats Slow Impeachment Timeline to Sharpen Their Public Case
• CNN: Democrats see impeachment proceedings taking longer than some initially expected
• CNN: Kellyanne Conway says ‘I don’t know’ if Trump held up Ukraine military aid
• WaPo: Growing number of GOP senators consider acknowledging Trump’s quid pro quo on Ukraine
• Axios: Senate Republicans prepared to acknowledge Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo
• Daily Beast: Inside the Republican Plan to Deep-Six the Trump Impeachment Hearings
• NBC News: GOP Rep. defends Trump: ‘If there was a quid pro quo, it certainly wasn’t a very effective one’
• Politico: ‘Slings and arrows’: Impeachment bears down on Susan Collins
• Politico: Trump to Mississippi rally crowd: Impeachment is an affront to you
• Politico: Trump lures GOP senators on impeachment with cold cash
• Politico: After McConnell advice, Trump lays off GOP senators on impeachment
• Politico: Republicans eye shift in impeachment strategy as Trump demands new attacks
• NYT: Vulnerable Senate Republicans Shrink From Defending Trump
• Politico: Vow of impeachment silence spreads in Senate
• Axios: Former acting AG Matt Whitaker: “Abuse of power is not a crime”
• Slate: Democratic Rep. Himes Says Watergate is “Child’s Play” Next to Trump’s Abuses of Power
• Quartz: Why Trump’s “state of mind” will be key in impeachment
• USA Today: More than 80% of Republicans say seeking foreign help in elections is not OK, poll finds
• Vox: “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” explained 

2020

• WaPo: Iowa Democratic dinner is raucous, rowdy and minus O’Rourke
• Vox: 2020 Democrats enter the final phase of their Iowa campaigns at the state’s largest political event 
• NYT: Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds 
• NYT: 5 Takeaways From the Latest Iowa Poll 
• CNN: Iowa is anyone’s game in a historically messy field 
• NYT: Warren Laces Into Rivals as Iowa Campaign Grows Combative 
• Politico: In Iowa, Biden confronts a growing threat: Pete Buttigieg 
• WSJ: The Moments That Mattered at Iowa’s Democratic Dinner 
• WSJ: Joe Biden Is Tested in Iowa as Rivals Gain Ground 
• Mediaite: Pete Buttigieg: The 2020 Race is Coming Down to Me and Elizabeth Warren 
• WaPo: At Iowa’s Democratic dinner, Warren and Buttigieg take aim at one another 
• WaPo: The Trailer: What Democrats are saying in front of Iowans 
• FiveThirtyEight: Biden Up 15. Warren Up 7. Are Primary Polls Too Far Apart? 
• Politico: Biden, Warren and Sanders top 3 national polls 
• WaPo: As Warren and Buttigieg rise, the Democratic presidential race is competitive and fluid, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 
• NBC News: NBC/WSJ poll: 49 percent now back Trump’s impeachment and removal  
• Fox News: Fox News Poll: Biden leads nomination race, tops Trump by 12 points in matchup
• Politico: 100 days out, the battle for New Hampshire isn’t what you think
• Medium: Ending the Stranglehold of Health Care Costs on American Families 
• Vox: Elizabeth Warren’s plan to pay for Medicare-for-all, explained 
• The Intercept: Ady Barkan: Elizabeth Warren’s Plan Is a Massive Win for the Medicare for All Movement
• The Atlantic: Can Warren Actually Avoid Taxing the Middle Class? 
• NYT: Elizabeth Warren Proposes $20.5 Trillion Health Care Plan
• WaPo: How Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare-for-all plan would work 
• New Yorker: Elizabeth Warren Doubles Down on Medicare for All 
• NYT: Billionaires Only? Warren Errs in Saying Whom Her Health Plan Would Tax 
• WaPo: Warren wants to be a revolutionary — and electable. Her embrace of new taxes for health care shows the dilemma.
• NYT: Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Medicare for All’ Math 
• The Atlantic: Warren Won’t Soak the Middle Class After All 
• Politico: ‘This is going to cause down-ballot damage’: Warren’s $20 trillion health plan fails to quiet critics 
• Politico: The issue that Obama alums think could doom Elizabeth Warren 
• NYT: Joe Biden, Echoing Obama, Pledges to Shore Up the Affordable Care Act
• Bloomberg: Nancy Pelosi Is Worried 2020 Candidates Are on Wrong Track 
• Medium: Thank you.
• NYT: Beto O’Rourke Drops Out of the Presidential Race 
• WaPo: Beto O’Rourke quits presidential race amid financial strains and lagging popularity
• Vox: Beto O’Rourke drops out of the 2020 Democratic primary
• NYT: The End of Betomania 
• Politico: Inside Beto O’Rourke’s collapse 
• FiveThirtyEight: Why Beto O’Rourke’s Campaign Failed 
• Texas Tribune: Beto O’Rourke drops out of presidential race 
• Texas Tribune: With financial challenges and frustrating polls, Beto O’Rourke’s campaign reaches an abrupt end 
• Dallas Morning News: What went wrong for Beto O’Rourke in his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination 
• Slate: Beto O’Rourke, Going Nowhere in a Hurry, Ends His Presidential Campaign
• CNN: Why ‘Betomania’ didn’t translate to the national stage
• Esquire: I Was Never Sure If Beto O’Rourke Was Running as a Real Person or a Bobby Kennedy Replicant.