memeorandum: Lois Lerner won't face contempt charges (Bernie Becker/The Hill)

3:06 AM ET, April 2, 2015

Top Items:

Indiana Pizza Place — Forced to Close Doors After Refusing to Cater Gay Weddings — INDIANA PIZZA PLACE — Forced to Close Doors — AFTER REFUSING TO CATER GAY WEDDING — EXCLUSIVE — Memories Pizza — the first Indiana business to declare it would refuse LGBT business …

Discussion: The Hill and Business Insider

Alyssa Marino / ABC57 News:

RFRA: First Michiana business to publicly deny same-sex service — A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. — The O'Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals.

Michelle Sokol / The Elkhart Truth:

Concord coach invites Twitter to ‘burn down’ RFRA-supporting pizzeria — Jess Dooley, a Concord High School golf, softball and basketball coach, was suspended hours after responding to Religious Freedom Restoration Act news story with Tweet about arson. — Michelle Sokol

Discussion: National Review and SOOPERMEXICAN

Indianapolis Star:

Exclusive: ‘Religious freedom’ proposal with limited LGBT protections taken to Pence — Indiana Republican leaders are vetting the language with business leaders. — Indiana Republican leaders are vetting a deal with key business leaders that grants protection for gay and lesbian residents …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Politico, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Monthly

Rich Juzwiak / Gawker:

Indiana Pizzeria Takes Brave Stand of Denying Gays Pizza for Weddings — Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, has her finger on the pulse of what gays want at their weddings: pizza. But thanks to her home state's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Banter, Right Wing Watch, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Liberaland, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, National Review and New York Magazine

Adam Wren / Politico:

The week Mike Pence's 2016 dreams crumbled — The Indiana governor, a potential GOP presidential candidate, is caught in a surprise culture war. — Lead image by AP Photo. — With the black marble of the Indiana House of Representatives behind him, Gov. Mike Pence in January trumpeted …

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Washington Post and Bloomberg Business

New York Times:
Arkansas Governor Asks Lawmakers to Recall Religious Freedom Bill

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The American Conservative, Good As You, Washington Monthly, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine and Althouse

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Arkansas governor sends religious freedom bill back to legislators

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
February Poll: Majority Support Religious Right to Refuse Gay-Wedding Services

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air and National Review

Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Arkansas governor says he won't sign religious liberty bill, asks lawmakers to change it

Discussion: USA Today, New York Times, Balkinization, Mediaite and The Daily Banter

Team Coco:
Indiana's Religious Freedom Czar Defends Its Anti-Gay Law

Discussion: Advocate and Raw Story

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:

Senator Robert Menendez Indicted on Corruption Charges — WASHINGTON — Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was indicted on bribery charges on Wednesday in what prosecutors said was a scheme to trade political favors for luxury vacations, golf outings, campaign donations and expensive flights.

Discussion: National Journal, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Wall Street Journal:

Justice Department Indicts Sen. Robert Menendez on Corruption Charges — New Jersey Democrat charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud — WASHINGTON—The Justice Department indicted Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey on corruption charges Wednesday …

Discussion: Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, New York Magazine, NPR and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

The Hill:

Sen. Bob Menendez indicted on 14 counts of corruption — Federal authorities have indicted Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on corruption charges. — Menendez has been charged with 14 counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services fraud, in connection with his relationship …

Discussion: The Right Scoop

David Knowles / Bloomberg Business:
Take Heart, Robert Menendez: These 6 Senators Were Indicted But Later Acquitted

Discussion: Politico and TIME

CNN: Sen. Robert Menendez indicted on corruption charges

Politico:

DOJ: No contempt charges for former IRS official Lois Lerner — The Justice Department will not seek criminal contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner, the central figure in a scandal that erupted over whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative political groups.

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, NPR, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Right Scoop, neo-neocon and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Lois Lerner won't face contempt charges

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

MSNBC ‘Debate’ on Indiana Law: ‘Cut His Mic Off!’ — The Heritage Foundation's Ryan Anderson (with whom I happen to disagree on same-sex marriage) appeared on Ed Schultz's MSNBC program (cough) last night to discuss Indiana's religious freedom law, and the resulting conversation culminated …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Daily Signal, Josh Blackman's Blog and National Review

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

California Imposes First Mandatory Water Restrictions to Deal With Drought — PHILLIPS, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered mandatory water use reductions for the first time in California's history, saying the state's four-year drought had reached near-crisis proportions after a winter of record-low snowfalls.

Jon Ralston / Ralston Reports:

Where does Harry Reid draw the line? My column about Reid and his Mitt Romney tax attack that was killed — Now that CNN's Dana Bash has found Harry Reid to be unrepentant about his Mitt Romney tax lies, it's finally time to publish a column I wrote contemporaneously with the Nevada senator's McCarthy …

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico, Washington Post, National Review, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News and Washington Free Beacon

Ashe Schow / Washington Examiner:
Harry Reid is proud he lied about Mitt Romney's taxes

Discussion: Moe Lane

Michele Bachmann / Facebook:

With his Iran deal, Barack Obama is for the 300 million souls of the United States what Andreas Lubitz was for the 150 souls on the German Wings flight - a deranged pilot flying his entire nation into the rocks. After the fact, among the smoldering remains of American cities, the shocked survivors will ask, why did he do it?

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Mashable, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Talking Dog and The Daily Caller

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Two Years Later, You'll Still Be Made to Care — In the last twenty-four hours, much of the mainstream media has shown itself perfectly willing to serve as agents of Satan (or should I use Moloch to make you feel better?). Most of the news anchors, reporters, and opinion writers of the press …

Discussion: Political Insider blog, BizPac Review, The Right Scoop and Booman Tribune

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

MSNBC ratings crater as NBC looks for new direction — Yes, yes, it's easy to laugh at the travails of MSNBC, but there are some important lessons from its audience collapse. Deadline Hollywood detailed the destruction yesterday, using a Dickensian motif in comparing MSNBC to Fox.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and BizPac Review

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Cruz enters top tier of GOP hopefuls — PPP's newest Republican national poll finds that Ted Cruz has the big momentum following the official announcement of his candidacy last week. His support has increased from 5% to 16% in just over a month, enough to make him one of three candidates …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

Andy Sullivan / Reuters:
Exclusive: Republican White House hopefuls attack Obamacare but take money

Discussion: Daily Kos

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

Agency Announces First Whistleblower Protection Case Involving Restrictive Language — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 2015-54 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced its first enforcement action against a company for using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements …

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Post