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The President sides with a murderous tyrant over advisors and allies, the Attorney General targets Trump’s political enemies, and the Democratic candidates fight for media attention in a crowded field. Then ACLU attorney Chase Strangio talks to Jon L. about the Trump administration’s most recent attempt to roll back civil rights for transgender Americans. Also – Pod Save America is going on tour! Get your tickets now: crooked.com/events.

Show Notes

Trump and Kim

• WaPo: Still angling for a deal, Trump backs Kim Jong Un over Biden, Bolton and Japan – TOKYO
• NYT: Trump and Abe’s ‘Unshakable Bond’ Shows Some Cracks in Tokyo
• NYT: Trump Opens Tokyo Visit With a Tweet Sure to Unnerve the Japanese
• CNN: Fact-checking North Korea’s missiles and the UN Resolution
• WaPo: Trump appears to contradict Bolton on North Korea, expresses ‘confidence’ in Kim
• Bloomberg: Trump Downplays Missile, Revels in Pyongyang’s Biden Insult
• The Guardian – Trump brushes off North Korea’s launch of ‘some small weapons’
• Vox: Why North Korea called Joe Biden an “imbecile” and “a fool of low IQ”
• WaPo: North Korea has been testing ballistic missiles. So why won’t Trump use the B word?
• NYT: Sarah Sanders Says Trump and Kim ‘Agree in Their Assessment’ of Biden
• Vox:  Sarah Sanders says Trump and Kim Jong Un “agree” on Biden – The press secretary also defended an investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation.
• Politico: Trump finds himself increasingly alone on North Korea
• Vanity Fair – WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS TRUMP’S BIZARRE TWEET ABOUT “BIDAN” AND NORTH KOREA
• WaPo: Members of both parties criticize Trump’s ‘confidence’ in Kim Jong Un
• AP: North Korea calls Bolton a ‘defective human product’
• WaPo: Trump says he is not seeking ‘regime change’ in Iran
• NBC News – Trump’s facing crises around the world. So why aren’t Democratic candidates talking about foreign policy? – By Alex Seitz-Wald (May 19)
• Mother Jones – Democratic Presidential Candidates Didn’t Talk Much About Foreign Policy. The Last 2 Weeks Changed That. (May 20) – By Dan Spinelli
• Foreign Policy – The 2020 Candidates Aren’t Talking About Foreign Policy. They Need to Start. – By Jonathan Tepperman
• WaPo: Op-Ed by Josh Rogin – 2020 Democrats must run on foreign policy, not away from it (May 23)
• The Atlantic – Democrats Need to Place China at the Center of Their Foreign Policy – By Thomas Wright
• NYT: Iran Slams U.S. After Middle East Troop Buildup Is Announced
• WaPo: Democrats are playing down foreign policy. It’s shrewd — and it may be a mistake. – Op-Ed by EJ Dionne (May 5)
• NYT: Trump Circumvents Congress to Sell Weapons to Middle East Allies (May 24)
• WaPo: The Trailer: Why the world is missing from the Democratic primary

Trump’s enemies list

• NYT: Trump Gives Attorney General Sweeping Power in Review of 2016 Campaign Inquiry
• NYT: Barr Got More Power to Review the Russia Inquiry. Here’s What We Know About Its Origins.
• WaPo: Trump gives Barr power to declassify intelligence related to Russia probe
• NYT: Potential Clash Over Secrets Looms Between Justice Dept. and C.I.A. –
• Crooked – By Brian Beutler – THE GUARDRAILS HAVE FAILED
• Politico: Trump puts DOJ on crash course with intelligence agencies – by Natasha Bertrand
• Lawfare – Presidential Memorandum on Barr Review
• Politico: Intel chief warns Barr could imperil national security by declassifying documents
• NYT: Trump’s Targeting of Intelligence Agencies Gains a Harder Edge – By Michael Schmidt and Julian Barnes – The president has long waged that war by tweet, but his new attorney general is poised to professionalize the fight.
• Washington Monthly – Barr’s Protection of Trump Can’t Be Normalized
• WaPo: The Russia-probe theories that Trump has empowered Barr to investigate
• WaPo: Trump just gave William Barr carte blanche to declassify information. What could go wrong?
• LA Times – White House claims without proof that FBI has ‘outrageous’ corruption Barr will uncover
• Media Matters – On Fox Business, Corey Lewandowski claims “in March or April of next year, James Comey, Andy McCabe, Strzok and Paige will be on trial for the crimes they committed”
• Rolling Stone – Rep. Liz Cheney Says FBI Agents May Have Committed ‘Treason,’ Plotted ‘Coup’
• Daily Beast – You Think It’s Bad Now? Wait for Next Year’s Show Trials – By Michael Tomasky
• NBC News – Trump talks ‘Crazy Nancy’ Pelosi and treason at wild press conference
• Fox News – Sen. Graham: No Democrat ‘will give a damn’ about Barr declassifying documents on Trump campaign surveillance
• WaPo: Op-Ed by Jennifer Rubin – The press must do better
• Daily Beast– Trump’s Public Enemies List Is an Impeachable Offense – By David Lurie – What he and William Barr are doing is potentially worse than anything in the Mueller Report.
• The Atlantic – Tom Steyer on Impeachment: ‘We Have Won the Argument. Period.’
• WaPo: For Pelosi, the biggest test awaits: Impeach or not impeach? – By Dan Balz
• WaPo: Outside Washington, Pelosi neither says nor hears much about Trump or impeachment
• New Yorker – How Nancy Pelosi’s Tactics Affirm the Trumpian Style of Politics – By Masha Gessen
• WaPo: Let’s be honest: Nobody knows how impeachment would turn out – Plum Line – By Paul Waldman
• Politico: Tlaib: House Democrats are ‘moving toward’ impeachment
• NYT: Trump Jumps Into Impeachment Fray With Both Feet – By Peter Baker
• Philadephia Inquirer Column by Will Bunch
• WaPo: Trump shifts stance on Mueller testimony, questions why Democrats want to hear from him
• WaPo: 20 questions Mueller will actually be able to answer – Op-Ed by Robert Litt and Benjamin Wittes
• NYT: Hope Hicks Left the White House. Now She Must Decide Whether to Talk to Congress – By Maggie Haberman (May 23)
• WaPo: ‘He always brings them up’: Trump tries to steer border wall deal to North Dakota firm

2020

• WaPo: Joe Biden’s campaign of limited exposure: How long can he keep it up? – By Annie Linskey and Chelsea Janes
• WaPo: The Trailer: After this weekend, the real primary begins – By David Weigel
• Vox: Poll: Biden would beat every other Democratic candidate in a one-on-one race
• Politico: Trump slams Biden for role in 1994 crime bill
• Daily Beast – Trump Hits Biden for Crime Bill Rudy Giuliani Just Praised
• Mother Jones – 2020 Candidates Aren’t Sure What To Do About Misinformation – Democratic leaders increase aid to campaigns, but they’re largely on their own.
• NYT Op-Ed by Charlie Warzel – The Fake Nancy Pelosi Video Hijacked Our Attention. Just as Intended. – Social media is working as designed. That’s the problem.
• NYT Op-Ed by Kara Swisher – Nancy Pelosi and Fakebook’s Dirty Tricks – This latest doctored video proves that Facebook as we knew it is over.
• WaPo: Republican lawmaker criticizes Trump for sharing heavily edited video of Pelosi
• The Atlantic – For Nancy Pelosi, This Is All Just Déjà Vu
• NYT:  The Insults Trump Has Hurled at 2020 Democrats
• NYT: In the Democratic Primary, the Media Hits Are the Message – By James Poniewozik –
• New Yorker: Beto O’Rourke Stays on the Road – By William Finnegan
• CNN: Who’s up and who’s down in the 2020 Democratic primary? Basically no one. – By Harry Enten.
• CNN: The 10 Democrats most likely to be the 2020 nominee, ranked – By Harry Enten and Chris Cillizza
• NYT: With the 2020 Democratic Field Set, Candidates Begin the Races Within the Race – By Jonathan Martin and Reid Epstein
• WaPo: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaign problem: A crowded niche
• NYT Magazine – How ‘The View’ Became the Most Important Political TV Show in America – By Amanda FitzSimons
• NYT Upshot: How Democrats Are, and Aren’t, Challenging the Trump Economic Record – By Neil Irwin – Acknowledging the boom, and then a quick pivot to other issues or a nuanced argument on what personal economic well-being means.
• CNN: The Democratic Party is being transformed. These House votes show how. –  By Ron Brownstein
• NYT: Cory Booker Says Beating Trump Should Be ‘the Floor, Not the Ceiling’
• NYT: Bernie Sanders, No Longer the Front-Runner, Brings Campaign Home to Vermont

Interview

• ACLU video: The president is not alone in his efforts to block health care for trans and non-binary people. We have clients nationwide who have been denied care because of who they are.
• Vox: The House just passed a sweeping LGBTQ rights bill
• Uproxx – Elizabeth Warren Wrote About Her Plan For LGBTQ Rights — Here’s What’s In It
• NewNowNext – Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren Delves Deeper Into Her LGBTQ Agenda
• NYT: Trump Administration Proposes Rollback of Transgender Protections – WASHINGTON
• WaPo: New Trump administration rule would weaken protections for transgender people in health care
• Politico: Trump administration rolls back health care protections for LGBTQ patients
• Vox: Trump campaigned on being an LGBTQ ally. He hasn’t governed like one.
• Time: Donald Trump Campaigned as a President for LGBTQ Americans. But He Keeps Rolling Back Protections for Them
• ACLU: Black Trans Women Are Being Murdered in the Streets. Now the Trump Administration Wants to Turn Us Away From Shelters and Health Care. – By Lala B Holston Zannell
• Reuters: Protesters demand end to killings of transgender women, Trump rollbacks
• Think Progress – Trump just dismantled one of the last major protections keeping transgender people safe (May 24)
• The Intercept: THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE TO ACCESS HOMELESS SHELTERS (May 23)
• The Atlantic – Why Trump Is Rolling Back LGBTQ Health-Care Protections – By Emma Green
• Teen Vogue (October 2018) – Transgender ACLU Attorney Chase Strangio Explains How to Fight for Trans Rights in Voting Booths and the Streets – By Chase Strangio
• The Nation – Trump’s War on Trans Rights: A Q&A With Chase Strangio (November 2018) Mother Jones – Chelsea Manning’s Lawyer Knows How to Fight Transgender Discrimination—He’s Lived It (November 2017)
• ACLU blog post by Chase Strangio (November 2018)