memeorandum: “Witness 40”: Exposing A Fraud In Ferguson (Agoldberg/The Smoking Gun)

4:50 PM ET, December 16, 2014

Top Items:

Jeb Bush / Facebook:

A Note from Jeb Bush — Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! — Like many of you, our family was blessed with the opportunity to gather together over the recent Thanksgiving holiday. — Columba and I are so proud of the wonderful adults our children have become, and we loved spending time with our three precious grandchildren.

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
Jeb Bush Is Running for President, But Obama Has Already Destroyed His Candidacy

Discussion: Washington Post

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Rand Paul On Jeb Bush Exploring 2016 Bid: ‘The More The Merrier’

Discussion: OnPolitics

John McCormick / Bloomberg Politics:
Jeb Bush Says He Will ‘Actively Explore’ Presidential Run

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Bloomberg View, Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Naked Politics, Mashable, New York Magazine and Althouse

David McCabe / The Hill:
Rubio: Jeb move won't affect 2016 decision

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, New York Times and CNN

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
For Jeb, Bush name not such a burden

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, New York Times, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

'Oh God It's Mom': Brother Operatives Get Surprise C-SPAN Caller — C-SPAN guests usually go on prepared for the occasional offensive question from a caller but when Dallas and Brad Woodhouse went on to Washington Journal Tuesday they got something different: a call from their mother.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Outside the Beltway

Abby Ohlheiser / Washington Post:

Hero mom calls into CSPAN to berate her arguing pundit sons — Democrat Brad Woodhouse and Republican Dallas Woodhouse received a surprise during their joint appearance on C-SPAN when their mother called into scold them for fighting over the holidays. (C-SPAN)

Discussion: Tech Times, New York Magazine, New York Times, Jezebel, Washington Free Beacon and UPROXX

Jonathan H. Adler / Washington Post:

District court declares Obama immigration action unconstitutional — Earlier Tuesday, a federal court in Pennsylvania declared aspects of President Obama's executive actions on immigration policy unconstitutional. — According to the opinion by Judge Arthur Schwab, the president's policy goes …

Discussion: Power Line, American Spectator, Hinterland Gazette, Hot Air, Reason, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Republican Judge Strikes Down Obama's Immigration Order — In an extraordinary opinion that transforms a routine sentencing matter into a vehicle to strike down a politically controversial policy, a George W. Bush-appointed judge in Pennsylvania declared President Obama's recently …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo: Federal Judge Declares Obama's Immigration Action Unconstitutional

New York Times:

Pakistani Taliban Attack on Peshawar School Leaves 145 Dead — Aftermath of School Attack in Pakistan Aftermath of School Attack in Pakistan — The scene on Tuesday in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan after more than 100 people were killed in a Taliban attack on a school. — Video by Quynhanh Do on

Discussion: emptywheel, Reuters, The Daily Beast, Informed Comment, Lawfare, Pakistan Today, The Dish, Booman Tribune, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Outside the Beltway, NPR and Balloon Juice

Lianna Brinded / International Business Times:
Peshawar school attack: Taliban ‘burn teacher alive in front of pupils and behead children’

Discussion: Creeping Sharia, Daily Mail and The PJ Tatler

Fox News:
Taliban-led attack on Pakistan school leaves 141 dead

Discussion: protein wisdom, BARE NAKED ISLAM and Fox News Insider

Jibran Ahmad / Reuters:
Over 120 Pakistanis, mostly children, killed in Taliban high school attack

Discussion: The Long War Journal, Mediaite, Gawker, Shakesville and Scared Monkeys

Tim Craig / Washington Post:
Pakistani forces reclaim school after ‘horrific’ Taliban attack kills at least 141

Discussion: Power Line, Weekly Standard and The Jawa Report

Matt O'Brien / Washington Post:

Sorry, Putin. Russia's economy is doomed — (Alexey Druzhinin/Ria Novosti/Kremin pool) — A funny thing happened on the way to Vladimir Putin running strategic laps around the West. Russia's economy imploded. — The latest news is that Russia's central bank raised interest rates …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Tim Duy's Fed Watch, Financial Times, New York Times, Reuters, Quartz, The Dish and MarketWatch

Bloomberg:

Russian Rate Jump Fails to Stop Ruble Crash — The ruble plummeted into a freefall, losing as much as 19 percent as panic swept across Russian financial markets after a surprise interest-rate increase failed to stem the run on the currency. — The ruble plunged to as weak as 80.10 per dollar …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Vox, New York Times, New York Magazine, Gigaom, Booman Tribune, NPR and Bloomberg View

BBC:
Russian rouble in free-fall despite shock 17% rate rise

Discussion: Breakingviews, Bloomberg View, Slate and National Review

Anna Smolchenko / Agence France-Presse:
Russia grapples with shock ruble fall

Discussion: Slantpoint

Ken Kurson / The New York Observer:

EXCLUSIVE: New York Mag's Boy Genius Investor Made It All Up — In an exclusive Observer interview, Mohammed Islam, said to have investment returns of $72 million as a hs senior, admits he invented the whole story — Damir Tulemaganbetov and Mohammed Islam (r) in the office of 5WPR …

New York Magazine:

An Apology to Our Readers — A story in <em>New York</em>'s most recent issue was false. — In the most recent edition of New York, its annual Reasons to Love New York issue, the magazine published a story about a Stuyvesant High School senior named Mohammed Islam, who was rumored to have made $72 million trading stocks.

Discussion: Politico, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Gawker, UPROXX, Twitchy, The PJ Tatler and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Terrence McCoy / Washington Post:
New York Magazine's $72 million teenage stock trader says he made it all up

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Twitchy, KFOR-TV and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Ted Cruz reignites GOP civil war — Republican senators pounded Ted Cruz over the weekend, lashing him for his procedural tactics and ultimately voting in large numbers against his immigration gambit. — Now, Cruz's allies off Capitol Hill are looking for revenge. — Story Continued Below

Discussion: NewsMax.com, National Journal, Trail Blazers Blog, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Manu Raju / Politico:
Ted Cruz apologizes to colleagues over antics

Discussion: Political Wire

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times:

Congress quietly ends federal government's ban on medical marijuana — Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.

Discussion: Liberal Values

Tony Newman / The Huffington Post:
More Nails in the Drug War Coffin: Top Stories of 2014

Discussion: KTLA

Agoldberg / The Smoking Gun:

“Witness 40”: Exposing A Fraud In Ferguson — TSG probe unmasks grand jury witness who spun fabricated tale — The grand jury witness who testified that she saw Michael Brown pummel a cop before charging at him “like a football player, head down,” is a troubled, bipolar Missouri woman …

Discussion: Liberaland, The Huffington Post, Hit & Run, Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, Mediaite and Raw Story

Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Hit & Run:

No Exam Delay for Oberlin Students ‘Traumatized’ By Grand Jury Decisions — Last week, Robby wrote here about how “students are so coddled by the feelings-protection regime at university campuses that they now believe disheartening national news developments—such as the grand jury decisions …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Ed Driscoll and The PJ Tatler

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: 'I was only 18 when Bill Cosby drugged me. I woke up naked; he was licking my toes.' Comedian faces new claim he committed sex attack at the Playboy Mansion just SIX years ago on woman who has contacted police — Chloe Goins, 24, has told MailOnline she was introduced …

Discussion: Gawker, Jezebel, Slantpoint, TMZ.com and The Huffington Post

Lauren Feiner / thedp.com:

Phi Delta Theta holiday photo sparks controversy — THIS — Following national conversations on race relations, Penn students were confronted with the issue on campus in the form of a holiday card. — On Sunday night, a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity posted what became a controversial Christmas photo on Facebook.

Discussion: Raw Story, UPROXX, theGrio, Gawker and The College Fix

Maxim Lott / Fox News:

Campus turns on Muslim conservative who penned satire — Of all the notes Omar Mahmoud said were affixed to his campus apartment, the one on the right is one of the tamest. — A Muslim conservative who took on political correctness at his college campus found out just how angry the very folks he was lampooning can get.

Discussion: The College Fix

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

John Yoo: If the Torture Report Is True, CIA Officers Are at Legal Risk — A surprising admission by an attorney who was instrumental in enabling the Bush Administration's brutal interrogation practices — The debate over the CIA interrogation program pits critics who insist illegal torture took place …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh