memeorandum: The Charging Mystery in the Russia Indictments—And Its Indication of What Comes Next in the Mueller Investigation (Bob Bauer/Just Security)

7:20 PM ET, February 17, 2018

Top Items:

Trump's Conspicuous Silence Leaves a Struggle Against Russia Without a Leader — WASHINGTON — After more than a dozen Russians and three companies were indicted on Friday for interfering in the 2016 elections, President Trump's first reaction was to claim personal vindication …

Bob Bauer / Just Security:

The Charging Mystery in the Russia Indictments—And Its Indication of What Comes Next in the Mueller Investigation — The special counsel's indictment of Russian individuals and organizations brought campaign finance law for the first time into formal charges in the case. But this development came with a mystery.

Sophie Tatum / CNN:

McMaster: Evidence of Russian meddling is ‘now really incontrovertible’ — McMaster responds to Russian indictments — Washington (CNN)Evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election is “now really incontrovertible,” White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said Saturday.

emptywheel:

What Did Mueller Achieve with the Internet Research Agency Indictment? — Back during Nunes Week, Trey Gowdy described the importance of Robert Mueller's investigation by stating that we were only seeing half of what he was doing. The other half of his work, Gowdy said, was the counterintelligence side …

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Atlantic, Vox, The Daily Signal, U.S. Embassy & Consulates …, The Last Refuge, The Verge and The Federalist, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

To Stir Discord in 2016, Russians Turned Most Often to Facebook — SAN FRANCISCO — In 2014, Russians working for a shadowy firm called the Internet Research Agency started gathering American followers in online groups focused on issues like religion and immigration.

Discussion: Gizmodo, NPR, BuzzFeed, Joe.My.God., The Atlantic and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Barnes / Law & Crime:

Does Mueller Indictment Mean Clinton Campaign Can Be Indicted for Chris Steele? — Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted foreign citizens for trying to influence the American public about an election because those citizens did not register as a foreign agent nor record their financial expenditures to the Federal Elections Commission.

Discussion: Power Line

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
Russian indictments prove Trump won fair and square

Discussion: Mediaite, The Last Refuge and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:
The Latest: Ex-Russian diplomat calls US charges ‘fantasies’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, IJR, ABC News and Bloomberg

Dustin Volz / Reuters:
Facebook plans to use U.S. mail to verify IDs of election ad buyers

Discussion: Engadget and The Verge

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Mueller's new indictments put the pressure on Trump to act

Discussion: Breitbart, The Stranger … and Little Green Footballs

Politico:
‘Something was weird’: Inside the Russian effort to bamboozle Florida

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, WBBH-TV and Political Wire

Marwa Eltagouri / Washington Post:
The rise of 'Putin's chef,' the Russian oligarch accused of manipulating the U.S. election

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Business Insider, Power Line, VICE News, Woke Sloth, DFRLab, The Atlantic and Vox

Fiona Maxwell / Politico:
McMaster: ‘Incontrovertible’ evidence of Russian interference in election

Discussion: New York Magazine

Lawfare:
Russian Influence Campaign: What's in the Latest Mueller Indictment

Discussion: Reuters, IJR, Washington Monthly and The Last Refuge

David Remnick / New Yorker:
Mueller's Indictment Ends Trump's Myth of the Russia “Hoax”

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Prominent Republican Donor Issues Ultimatum on Assault Weapons — A prominent Republican political donor demanded on Saturday that the party pass legislation to restrict access to guns, and vowed not to contribute to any candidates or electioneering groups that did not support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians.

Discussion: Business Insider, Political Wire, TheBlaze, Politicus USA, Raw Story and Mediaite

CNN:

CNN announces town hall with students, parents affected by Florida school shooting — Parkland student makes demand to lawmakers — “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action” will air live on Wednesday, February 21 at 9 p.m., ET. — (CNN)The school shooting in Florida …

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

The NRA donated $10,000 to help train the Parkland shooting suspect to use a rifle — Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who charged with murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, honed his marksmanship skills in a school program supported by the NRA.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Task & Purpose, RedState, Associated Press, Law & Crime, Vox and Mother Jones

David Ferguson / Raw Story:
Trumps went straight from Parkland to Studio 54- themed ‘disco party’ at Mar-a-Lago: report

Discussion: Mediaite and Politicus USA

Caleb Parke / Fox News:
Florida Teacher of the Year's gun violence post goes viral after school shooting

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Right Scoop and DEARLY

New York Times:
Florida Agency Investigated Nikolas Cruz After Violent Social Media Posts

Discussion: RedState, The Capitolist, WHNT-TV and The Last Refuge

ABC News:
Florida teen who survived shooting massacre rallies passionate crowd, 'It's time for victims' to change gun laws

Discussion: twitchy.com

Mary Ellen Klas / miamiherald:
Lawmakers agree to destroy site of school carnage: ‘This building has to come down’

Discussion: Your News Wire, IJR, Florida Politics and Daily Wire

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The students at Florida's Douglas High are amazing communicators. That could save lives.

Discussion: Politico, New Yorker, ThinkProgress and CNN

Paula McMahon / Sun-Sentinel:
Nikolas Cruz was investigated after cutting himself on Snapchat, state report shows

Discussion: WREG-TV, Business Insider and New York Times

Dakin Andone / CNN:
These young survivors of the Parkland shooting give voice to a nation's outrage

Discussion: Shareblue Media, TMZ.com, fox13now.com and The Moderate Voice

Fox News Insider:
Florida School Shooting: Sheriff Judd Says Teachers Should Carry Guns to Prevent Violence

Discussion: IJR and The Right Scoop

Los Angeles Times: Horrified Florida students beg the adults: Please, do something about guns

New York Daily News:
Florida high school shooter was on school rifle team funded by the NRA: ‘He was a very good shot’

Discussion: TheBlaze, RedState and twitchy.com

Jerome Hudson / Breitbart:
Reporter Becky Griffin: Fewer Mass Shootings if More Babies Were Aborted

Discussion: Your News Wire, TheBlaze and LifeNews.com

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Kushner requests more intel info than almost all White House staff: report — 's son-in-law and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner — has reportedly requested more intelligence information than almost every other White House official. — The Washington Post reports that Kushner …

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Magazine, Axios, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, Vox, Joe.My.God. and Eschaton

Mike Allen / Axios:
We know nothing; Mueller knows all

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New York Times

Remy Smidt / BuzzFeed:

The Florida School Shooting Suspect Snapped Into A Jealous Rage When Another Student Began Dating His Ex-Girlfriend — Former friends and classmates of suspected Florida high school shooter Nikolas Cruz said they received threats from him shortly after a breakup. — Reporting From Parkland, Florida

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, thecut, IJR and Washington Post

Paul P. Murphy / CNN:
Exclusive: Group chat messages show school shooter obsessed with race, violence and guns

Discussion: Business Insider, FOX6Now.com, Mediaite, Washington Press, IJR, theGrio, Joe.My.God., Dispatches From the …, WHNT-TV and RedState

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

No Country for Young Men With AR-15s — Four years ago the essayist Helen Andrews wrote a critique, for the religious journal First Things, of what she described as “bloodless moralism” — meaning the decay of public moral arguments into a kind of a vulgar empiricism, a mode of debate …

Bret Stephens / New York Times: To Repeat: Repeal the Second Amendment

Alex Harris / miamiherald:

‘No more guns’: Protesters escorted out of Paul Ryan fundraiser in Key Biscayne — Two protesters chanting “no more guns” were removed from a Republican fundraiser in Key Biscayne Friday night after confronting Speaker of the House Paul Ryan about the mass shooting that happened days earlier and miles up the road.

Discussion: Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Politico, Florida Politics and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Joe Trinacria / Pushback:

Larry Krasner Sues Big Pharma, Drops All Marijuana Possession Charges — With a little over a month in office, Philly's new DA is already further reforming the city's drug policy. — On the same day a Philly.com op-ed was published in which Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner …

Discussion: Balloon Juice