memeorandum: Cochran Asking Blacks to Rescue Him in Republican Primary (New York Times)

4:15 PM ET, June 20, 2014

Top Items:

Exclusive: ‘Hillary Clinton Took Me Through Hell,’ Rape Victim Says — The woman at the center of the scandal over Hillary Clinton's defense of an alleged child rapist speaks out in depth for the first time. — Hillary Clinton is known as a champion of women and girls …

David S. Joachim / New York Times:

I.R.S. Head and Lawmakers Clash Over Missing Email — WASHINGTON — A Congressional hearing examining how the Internal Revenue Service lost thousands of emails sought by investigators turned into a shouting match on Friday, with Republicans on the panel accusing the I.R.S. commissioner of lying.

Discussion: Power Line

Fox News:

IRS boss refuses to apologize over ‘cover-up’ claims ahead of Hill hearing on missing emails — June 10, 2014: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen speaks at IRS headquarters in Washington.AP — IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Friday there is no need for his agency …

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Business Insider, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Susan Jones / CNSNews:

White House Learned of Lerner's Crashed Hard Drive 6 Weeks Before Congress — (CNSNews.com) - In sworn testimony Friday, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen admitted that the IRS told the Obama administration about Lois Lerner's missing emails in April, six weeks before telling Congress …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Economist:

A dog ate my e-mails — IF YOUR taxes are being audited and you tell the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that you just so happen to have lost the records relating to the period in question, you cannot expect much sympathy. The taxman has heard it all before, and “the dog ate my accounts” gets you nowhere.

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
IRS commissioner: You know, e-mail isn't necessarily an “official record”; Update: IRS Manual says it is

Discussion: Power Line, The Daily Caller, Ed Driscoll, Weekly Standard, The PJ Tatler, Politico and Twitchy

Gabriel Malor / The Federalist:

A Basic Primer On The Scott Walker Case For Ignorant Reporters — I'm going to tell you a true story, and then tell you how the news media is covering it. — This is a true story: in 2012, Democratic district attorneys in Wisconsin launched a secret probe known as a John Doe investigation …

Discussion: JSOnline, Daily Kos, Hot Air, ThinkProgress and Angry Bear

Washington Post:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suspected of coordinating with outside groups

Discussion: New York Magazine, Prairie Weather, Power Line and The Moderate Voice

Simon Maloy / Salon:
GOP's sudden scandal-mania: Why criminal probes and infighting are taking over the party

Discussion: Washington Post

Tim Alberta / NationalJournal.com:
Jeb Hensarling Sees ‘Green Light’ to Run for Leadership in November

Discussion: The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Wisconsin Governor at Center of a Vast Fund-Raising Case

Discussion: NewsBusters, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, Commentary Magazine, Althouse and JSOnline

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:

President Obama took credit in 2012 for withdrawing all troops from Iraq. Today he said something different. — President Obama surprised a few people during a news conference Thursday by claiming that the 2011 decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, a politically popular move …

Discussion: Fox News, Hot Air, Questions and Observations, The PJ Tatler, Patterico's Pontifications and Ed Driscoll

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
An enclave strategy for Iraq

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Times and Lawfare

Washington Post:
Rebels seize former chemical weapons plant; Sistani urges formation of new government

Discussion: Hot Air, Lawfare, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler and New York Times

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post: Abdication has a price — Yes, it is true that there was no al-Qaeda …

John B. Judis / The New Republic:
Obama Has Two Options on Iraq. Both Are Terrible.

Discussion: Informed Comment, The Dish, News Desk and American Power

Parade:

The President and Michelle Obama on Work, Family, and Juggling It All — This week, America's foreign policy is dominating the headlines, but it's the White House's second-term domestic agenda that's the focus of our Parade cover story. On Monday, June 23, the President and Mrs. Obama …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC News, Politico, PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, National Review, The Week and The Huffington Post

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Shadowy Obama Megadonor Indicted On Fraud And Manslaughter Charges — A California grand jury has indicted Kareem Ahmed, a major donor to President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, and 15 of Ahmed's associates in an alleged multimillion-dollar insurance kickback scheme.

Discussion: scpr.org, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Dave Boyer / Washington Times:

Obama talks tough to Mexico: Illegal-immigrant children won't get to stay — Tells Peña Nieto their countries must work to halt child surge — President Obama told his Mexican counterpart in a phone call Thursday that immigrants crossing into the U.S. illegally won't qualify …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications, The PJ Tatler, American Thinker and The Gateway Pundit

James Oliphant / NationalJournal.com:
Welcome to the White House's Nightmare

Discussion: Washington Post and National Review

New York Times:

Cochran Asking Blacks to Rescue Him in Republican Primary — JACKSON, Miss. — Bishop Ronnie C. Crudup stood before roughly a dozen of his colleagues at a weekly Baptist fellowship meeting last week and asked for their help in a fight that, until now, would have been unthinkable for a black pastor …

Discussion: Daily Kos, BREITBART.COM, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

The New Map of the Middle East — So as I was saying.... First, a bit of housekeeping. I'm back at The Atlantic full-time. I'm going to be working mainly on stories for the magazine (I'm thinking of writing something on the case for reparations, for instance), but I'll …

Discussion: The Dish

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Virginia Governor Bucks GOP On Medicaid Expansion (UPDATED) — Gov. Terry McAuliffe delivering his inaugural address. — CREDIT: AP Images/Patrick Semansky — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) plans to move forward with Medicaid expansion even without lawmakers' support, the governor announced on Friday.

Discussion: Virginian-Pilot, Associated Press, The Dixie Pig and The Huffington Post

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

5 Exonerated in Central Park Jogger Case Will Settle Suit for $40 Million — The five men whose convictions in the brutal 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned have agreed to a settlement of about $40 million from New York City to resolve …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Guardian, The Week, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, Washington Post and Shakesville

Andrew Moseman / Popular Mechanics:

Harley—Yes, Harley—is Making an Electric Motorcycle — Electric motorcycles have been a niche space for California startups building mean, low-volume machines for buyers who want to save the world on two wheels. That is about to change. Today, Harley-Davidson (yes, that Harley-Davidson …

Kurtis Lee / Denver Post:

HICKENLOOPER SILENT ON GUN LAW COMMENTS; SUPPORTERS AND FOES BAFFLED — After several days of fallout over his comments on gun control laws to a recent gathering of county sheriffs, Gov. John Hickenlooper has managed to baffle both victims-rights advocates and Second Amendment supporters.

Discussion: The Spot, Clayton Cramer and RedState

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Why Obamacare ‘good news’ applies only to the poor — BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE HHS — To hear administration officials and their supporters in the press tell it, this is a great time for Obamacare. People who signed up for coverage are actually paying for it …

Discussion: The Dish