Morning Must Reads: August 11

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tonight in a foreign policy speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library, blaming his Democratic rival for the destabilization in Iraq. “Like the president himself, she had opposed the surge … then joined in claiming credit for its success … then stood by as that hard-won victory by American and allied forces was thrown away,” Bush will say. Bush had come under fire from some in the GOP for not firing back at Clinton after she attacked him moments before his speech to the Urban League two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Clinton is stepping up her own rhetoric against Republican candidates, criticizing Donald Trump and the rest of the GOP field for their comments about women.

Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig is announcing today he is exploring a bid for the White House on the Democratic ticket. Vehemently opposed to super PACs and the explosion of money in politics, Lessig said in his announcement video he would run if none of the Democratic candidates embraced his calls to make campaign finance reform their top priority in the White House.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s campaign is in a financial whole and has stopped paying staff at least in South Carolina amid meager fundraising and his failure to make the GOP debate main stage last week. Perry’s super PAC has pledged to fill in the gaps, but there is only so much an uncoordinated group can do. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul‘s campaign faces an Aug. 22 deadline to transfer about $500,000 to his state Republican Party to fund a caucus that would allow him to run both for president and re-election next year. If he can’t come up with the cash, Paul may be forced to make a painful decision in the coming months.

Here are your must-reads:

Must Reads

Rand Paul’s New Mission: Take Down Trump
Needing attention, he goes on offense [TIME]

Hillary Clinton Swears: I Turned Over All My Required E-mails
Under oath, Clinton claims she followed all federal laws [Washington Post]

Rand Paul Faces Emerging Doubts at Home
A key Aug. 22 deadline [Politico]

How Fox Anchor Bret Baier Prepared for the GOP Debate
A killer one-liner that never needed to be used [Los Angeles Times]

Hillary Clinton Starts Taking Some Risks — And Landing Some Punches
On offense, Clinton strikes at GOP rivals [Washington Post]

Sound Off

“I think the guy went way overboard, offensive, outrageous—pick your adjective.” — Hillary Clinton on Donald Trump’s criticism of Fox News host Megyn Kelly

“Mr. Trump has decided not to apologize. And I certainly won’t apologize for doing good journalism.” — Megyn Kelly in response to Trump on her show Monday night

Bits and Bites

Rick Perry Stops Paying South Carolina Staff [National Journal]

State by State, Democratic Party Is Erasing Ties to Jefferson and Jackson [New York Times]

Group Backing Clinton Gets $1M From Untraceable Donors [Associated Press]

Club for Growth PAC Blesses Five GOP Candidates [Wall Street Journal]

Rand Paul: No ‘Pertinent’ Remarks About Indictments [Des Moines Register]

Trump’s Bogus Claim That He Never Said ‘Some of the Things’ cCaimed by Megyn Kelly [Washington Post]

Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump’s ‘Outrageous’ Comments Are Part of a Republican Theme [New York Times]