memeorandum: Death of U.S. Soldiers in Niger Sparks FBI Probe, Criticism (Wall Street Journal)

6:00 PM ET, October 20, 2017

Top Items:

Larry Barszewski / Sun-Sentinel:

Full video of Frederica Wilson's 2015 FBI speech shows John Kelly got it wrong — A South Florida Sun Sentinel video from 2015 shows the full speech of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson at the dedication ceremony of a new FBI building in Miramar, Florida, named for two slain FBI agents.

Masha Gessen / New Yorker:

John Kelly and the Language of the Military Coup — Consider this nightmare scenario: a military coup. You don't have to strain your imagination—all you have to do is watch Thursday's White House press briefing, in which the chief of staff, John Kelly, defended President Trump's phone call to a military widow, Myeshia Johnson.

Discussion: The Atlantic, IJR, Just Security, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, US News, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com and Talking Points Memo

miamiherald:

In attack on Frederica Wilson over Trump's call to widow, John Kelly gets facts wrong — WASHINGTON — When White House Chief of Staff John Kelly condemned a Miami congresswoman on Thursday for sneering at President Donald Trump's condolence call to a soldier's widow …

New York Times:

After Video Refutes Kelly's Charges, Congresswoman Raises Issue of Race — WASHINGTON — Video of a 2015 speech delivered by Representative Frederica S. Wilson revealed Friday that John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, misrepresented her remarks when he accused her of bragging …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Fox News, Raw Story, Fox News Insider, IJR, Associated Press, CBS Miami, Talking Points Memo, Last Men and OverMen and Politicus USA

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

There is a transcript of Trump's controversial call to Sgt. Johnson's widow, Lara Trump reveals — The president's daughter-in-law has read it, for some reason, while the general public has not. — Is Congresswoman Frederica Wilson lying about the President Trump's call to Sgt. La David T. Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson?

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Washington Times, Daily Kos, Washington Post, IJR, twitchy.com, USA Today, Joe.My.God. and Business Insider

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Trump attacks on generals resurface after White House says it's ‘inappropriate’ to question generals — Old tweets posted by President Trump in which he attacked generals resurfaced Friday after the White House said it was “inappropriate” to criticize them.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

MSNBC:

Lawrence: ‘Stunned’ by John Kelly's attack on Rep. Wilson — While defending President Donald Trump's “brave” condolence call to a Gold Star family, Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly attacked Rep. Frederica Wilson, calling her an “empty barrel.” Lawrence O'Donnell explains why Kelly was noble and cruel all at once. ...

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, bizpacreview.com, IJR and Shakesville

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Kelly erroneously claimed congresswoman took credit for building funding, video shows

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Outside the Beltway, American Greatness, Raw Story, The Guardian, RedState, Shareblue Media, IJR, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and The Federalist

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Rep. Frederica Wilson: Kelly lied about FBI ceremony

Discussion: Washington Post, IJR, The Root, Business Insider, Shareblue Media, NewsBusters, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Atlantic and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Dara Lind / Vox: John Kelly has become a field commander in Trump's culture war

Joy-Ann Reid / The Daily Beast:
Frederica Wilson vs. Trump and Now John Kelly? Easy—Go With Wilson

Discussion: Raw Story and American Prospect

Deborah Strange / Gainesville Sun:

Three charged in shooting after Spencer talk — Three supporters of white nationalist Richard Spencer were arrested Thursday in connection with an incident in which a shot was fired. — Three supporters of white nationalist Richard Spencer were arrested Thursday in connection with an incident …

Discussion: miamiherald, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo and KTLA

Jessica Chia / New York Daily News:

Protester hugs Nazi outside Richard Spencer talk, asks ‘Why do you hate me?’ — The man who hugged a Nazi outside Richard Spencer's speech at the University of Florida on Thursday said, “I could have hit him, I could have hurt him ... but something in me said, ‘You know what? He just needs love.’”

Discussion: WGN-TV, Raw Story, Althouse, The Root, TheBlaze, IJR and Daily Wire

Facebook:

3 ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING AFTER RICHARD SPENCER SPEECH — Friday, October 20, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — GAINESVILLE, FLA - Gainesville area law enforcement located and arrested three men about 20 miles north of Gainesville late Thursday for their role in a shooting that followed the afternoon speech by Richard Spencer.

Discussion: Slate, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Deadspin and WTVR-TV

Washington Post:
‘Kill them’: Three men charged in shooting after Richard Spencer speech

Discussion: Snopes.com

Geoff Ziezulewicz / Military Times:

FAKER! Man admits he lied to Fox News about Navy SEAL service … Navy veteran John Garofalo appeared on a Fox News segment this month, showing off a massive presidential seal he carved for President Trump while receiving praise for his service in Vietnam as a SEAL.

Discussion: RedState, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, The Root, Task & Purpose, Mashable, Raw Story and Mediaite

Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
Retired ‘Navy SEAL’ praising Trump on Fox News was a fake

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Talking Points Memo

Fox News:
Correction: Veteran, glass artist falsified his military record

Discussion: Deadline, Business Insider, AOL and Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

Death of U.S. Soldiers in Niger Sparks FBI Probe, Criticism — Agency's role comes as lawmakers criticize White House and Pentagon over incident early this month — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the investigation into how a group of militants thought to be Islamists killed …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, TheBlaze, Politico, CBS Miami, Defense One, The Daily Caller, Just Security, Business Insider and CNN

Los Angeles Times:
Pentagon investigating troubling questions after deadly Niger ambush

Discussion: NBC News, Shareblue Media and Business Insider

Dan Merica / CNN:
A timeline of the White House after the Niger raid

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, KTLA, The American Conservative and Daily Wire

Emily Smith / Page Six:

Harvey Weinstein doesn't seem to be taking sex rehab seriously — MORE FROM: … Harvey Weinstein is already being belligerent at sex addiction rehab — barking into his banned mobile phone and remaining in denial about his alleged sex attacks, insisting each and every one was consensual, Page Six has exclusively learned.

Discussion: East Bay Times, Althouse, The Daily Caller, IJR and Daily Wire

New York Times:
Asia Argento flees Italy after public condemns her for speaking out about Harvey Weinstein

Discussion: CW39 NewsFix, IndieWire and twitchy.com

Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:
There's an Awakening Against Sexual Assault, So Why Is No One Talking About Bill Clinton?

Discussion: Axios

Sarah Karlin-Smith / Politico:

Blindsided Trump officials scrambling to develop opioid plan — President Donald Trump overrode his own advisers when he promised to deliver an emergency declaration next week to combat the nation's worsening opioid crisis. — “That is a very, very big statement,” he said Monday.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, ABC News, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, The Crime Report, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Mediaite and Political Wire

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Many Trump voters who got hurricane relief in Texas aren't sure Puerto Ricans should — HOUSTON — Sitting on Mary Maddox's back porch, which flooded with 22 inches of water when Hurricane Harvey hit nearly two months ago, is a Lady of the Evening plant from Puerto Rico that a friend gave her.

New York Times:
Puerto Ricans Ask: When Will the Lights Come Back On?

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Max Blau / STAT:

Georgia lawmaker, wife of Tom Price, suggests people with HIV could be quarantined — TLANTA — A Georgia state lawmaker — the wife of former Trump health secretary Tom Price — is drawing condemnation for suggesting that people with HIV might be quarantined to curb the spread of the infectious disease.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

How the GOP Tax Bill Could Squeeze Your 401(k) — Talk of limiting the amount of retirement money that people can save before taxes is worrying the financial industry — Proposals floating around Washington to cap the amount that Americans can contribute before taxes to 401(k) …

Discussion: RedState, The First Street Journal, Business Insider and National Review

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

The White-Minstrel Show — ‘Acting white’ for white people — Ice-T never received an Academy Award, which makes sense inasmuch as his movies have been for the most part crap. But as an actor, you have to give the man credit: Along with other gangster rappers such as Ice Cube …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and The American Conservative

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

CIA director distorts intelligence community's findings on Russian interference — (REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS) (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) — CIA Director Mike Pompeo declared Thursday that U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Russia's interference in the 2016 American presidential election …

Discussion: The Hill, Hullabaloo, Last Men and OverMen, RedState, Axios and Balloon Juice

Maya Salam / New York Times:

Playboy to Feature Its First Transgender Playmate — For the first time in its 64-year history, Playboy magazine will feature a transgender Playmate, a decision that Cooper Hefner, a top executive at the magazine, said on Thursday was in keeping with its founding mission of embracing changing attitudes about sex.

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, LAist, bizpacreview.com, CBS Baltimore, Full Feed, ABC News, FOX6Now.com, Washington Blade, Althouse, NewsBusters and Playboy

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

How People Inside Facebook Are Reacting To The Company's Election Crisis — In the summer of 2015, a Facebook engineer was combing through the company's internal data when he noticed something unusual. He was searching to determine which websites received the most referral traffic from its billion-plus users.

more at Mediagazer »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Scoop: Benny Johnson out at Independent Journal Review — Benny Johnson, the viral blogger who's gotten himself in trouble numerous times for plagiarism, is out at Independent Journal Review. In an all-staff email obtained by Axios, IJR CEO Alex Skatell writes, “After over two years …

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Key Senate Republican warns GOP to change course on ObamaCare — Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander — (R-Tenn.) on Thursday told GOP colleagues bluntly that their efforts to repeal ObamaCare have failed and urged them to change course. — Alexander said Republicans need …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, taxpolicycenter.org and RedState

Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times:

Steve Bannon's speech to the California GOP tonight has some Republicans nervous — Former White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon takes part in an interview with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity on Oct. 9. (Craig Ruttle / Associated Press) — The California Republican Party's decision …

Nick Green / Daily Breeze:

Congressional candidate Omar Navarro on probation for illegal use of tracking device — Omar Navarro, a fringe GOP activist in the South Bay making his second bid to unseat entrenched Rep. Maxine Waters, is on probation until March for a criminal conviction stemming from his use …

Kyle Swenson / Washington Post:

Federal judge refuses to erase Joe Arpaio's conviction despite Trump pardon — A federal judge on Thursday shot down former sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to sweep his criminal record clean. — Arpaio, the controversial former lawman in Arizona's Maricopa County, was granted a pardon by President Trump on Aug. 25.

Discussion: NPR, Just Security, RedState, New York Magazine and Political Wire

John Bowden / The Hill:

Putin calls on Americans to respect Trump — Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Americans to show more respect for their president in response to a question posed to him at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday. — In his remarks, Putin called …

Discussion: IJR and Joe.My.God.