memeorandum: Rick Perry indicted, backers cry witch-hunt (Nahal Toosi/Politico)

10:20 PM ET, August 15, 2014

Top Items:

The Day Ferguson Cops Were Caught in a Bloody Lie — The officers got the wrong man, but charged him anyway—with getting his blood on their uniforms. How the Ferguson PD ran the town where Michael Brown was gunned down. — Police in Ferguson, Missouri, once charged a man with destruction …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Federalist, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Liberaland, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

The Ferguson Police Chief's Statement Is Only Making Things Worse — Five days after a police officer fired multiple rounds at and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, we now know that the officer's name is Darren Wilson. Thanks to Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson …

Discussion: Mashable, Vox, Colorlines, Hot Air, NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, emptywheel, Shakesville, Washington Monthly, The Dish and Democracy in America

Julia Ioffe / The New Republic:

White St. Louis Has Some Awful Things to Say About Ferguson — About a 15-minute drive from the Ferguson protest that, by now, feels more like a block party, in the more upscale St. Louis suburb of Olivette, there's a new strip mall with a barbecue joint and a Starbucks and an e-cigarette store.

Discussion: RedState, Colorlines, Washington Post, USA Today, Eschaton, Business Insider and msnbc.com

Danaradio / The Dana Show:

Alleged Friend Of Officer Darren Wilson Offers His Side — A woman claiming to be a friend of the officer involved in the shooting of Ferguson's Mike Brown called into my program offering Darren Wilson's side of the story. Video via my show's flagship station, KFTK in St. Louis:

Discussion: The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit and The Jawa Report

New York Times:
Officer Stopped Teenager for Blocking Street, Police Say

Discussion: Colorlines, Medium, Sunlight Foundation Blog, USA Today, CNN, BillMoyers.com, CANNONFIRE, Blazing Cat Fur, Prairie Weather and The Huffington Post

CNN:
Michael Brown was a robbery suspect before he was shot to death, police say

Discussion: Hot Air, protein wisdom, BREITBART.COM and Washington Post

Patrick Tolbert / KXAN-TV:

Texas Governor Rick Perry indicted by grand jury — AUSTIN (KXAN) - A grand jury has handed up an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in connection with the investigation into an effort to force Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign. — Read the Indictment

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power — AUSTIN, Tex. — A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts on Friday, charging that he abused his power last year when he attempted to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to cut off state financing to her office.

Discussion: Power Line, RedState and CANNONFIRE

Associated Press:

TEXAS' PERRY CHARGED WITH COERCION FOR VETO THREAT — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A grand jury indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday for allegedly abusing the powers of his office by carrying out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, Towleroad News #gay, Mediaite, Washington Post and Brains and Eggs

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

What You Need To Know About The Indictment Naming Texas Governor Rick Perry — Rick Perry, Texas' longstanding Republican governor and a 2012 presidential candidate, is now under indictment. The indictment lays out two counts against the Texas governor, one for “Abuse of Official Capacity” …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Ed Driscoll

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Rick Perry indicted, backers cry witch-hunt — A grand jury in Texas indicted Gov. Rick Perry on Friday alleging abuse of power in office. — The Republican's conservative allies fired right back with their own accusation: This is a witch hunt. — Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Tony Plohetski / Austin American-Statesman:
Rick Perry indicted for Lehmberg veto threat

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller

Andy Abrahams / Parade:

Paul Ryan on His Father's Private Battle, Family, and ‘House of Cards’ — More by Andy — When Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan to be his running mate in 2012, the most dramatic detail in the potential veep's biography was the tragic loss of his father when Ryan was just 16.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, OnPolitics, Wall Street Journal, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:

President of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Great Britain discussed international efforts on the settlement of the conflict in the Donbas — President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation with Prime Minister of Great Britain David Cameron. — The parties coordinated …

Discussion: RIA Novosti, Guardian, Mashable, Hit & Run, Business Insider, RT, New York Times, Telegraph and Spectator

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Al Gore sues Al Jazeera for fraud — Former Vice President Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt have filed a lawsuit against Al Jazeera on charges of fraud and material breaches in their acquisition of Current Media, POLITICO has learned. — Gore and Hyatt, the co-founders of Current Media …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Blazing Cat Fur

Bloomberg:
Al Gore Sues Al Jazeera Over $500 Million Current TV Deal

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, TVNewser, Bloomberg and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:

Ernst Says She Was Sexually Harassed in the Military — Breaks with party, Pentagon on stance — Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst, who is running for Senate and served more than 20 years in the military, said Friday that she was sexually harassed in the military and, given her experience …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Des Moines Register, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics and Roll Call

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Twitter User Appears To Provide Eyewitness Account Of Teen Shooting — A Twitter user appears to have provided a contemporaneous account from the scene of the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, on Saturday, Aug. 9. — The account of the incident was found and curated …

Discussion: UPROXX and National Review

Lizzie Dearden / The Independent:

Huge asteroid that ‘could end human life’ defying gravity as it moves towards Earth, scientists say — Scientists have moved closer to being able to stop a huge asteroid colliding with the Earth and potentially wiping out human life. — Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered …

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Candidate Can't Explain His Position On Women's Health, Forgets What Birth Control Is — Rep. Mike Coffman,, left, and Democratic challenger Andrew Romanoff smile at the start of a their first debate — At a political debate on Thursday night, a GOP candidate for the U.S. House …

Discussion: The Spot, Jezebel, Shakesville, Towleroad News #gay and Denver Post

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

Why Is Dem Nunn Touting Endorsement From Zell Miller? — Georgia Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn's campaign has been strongly touting a new, major endorsement: former Georgia governor and Sen. Zell Miller (D). — Miller supported segregationist candidates early in his career and then became …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jim Galloway / Political Insider blog:
Zell Miller endorses Michelle Nunn for Senate, but Nathan Deal for governor

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and OnPolitics

Melissapamerktla / KTLA:

MMA Fighter ‘War Machine’ Arrested in Simi Valley, Was Sought in Las Vegas Beating of Ex-Girlfriend — A mixed martial-arts fighter from California who was sought in connection with the beating of his adult film star ex-girlfriend was arrested Friday in Simi Valley.

Discussion: The Daily Banter, FOX6Now.com, myfox8.com, Jezebel, UPROXX, The Raw Story and Reuters

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Libertarians make their voices heard on police in Ferguson, Mo. — The killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., has produced a rare and surprisingly unified response across the ideological spectrum, with Republicans and Democrats joining to decry the tactics …