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

6:30 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 …

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.

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.

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

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, The Daily Signal, Vox, U.S. Embassy & Consulates …, The Last Refuge and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

Russian indictments prove Trump won fair and square — After 18 months of Russia, Russia, Russia, we finally meet a cast of real Russians. But par for the convoluted course, they were pretending to be Americans. — The indictments obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Last Refuge and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

The Latest: Ex-Russian diplomat calls US charges ‘fantasies’ — MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the Russian response to U.S. indictments (all times local): — Russia's former ambassador to the United States is dismissing detailed allegations of attempted Russian interference …

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: The Verge

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

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

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

Discussion: Breitbart, The Stranger …, Little Green Footballs and Politico

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, CNBC, IJR, Washington Monthly, The Last Refuge, Washington Press and The Gateway Pundit

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

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

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Slate 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: Political Wire, Politicus USA, Raw Story, Mediaite and CNN

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 …

New York Times:

Florida Agency Investigated Nikolas Cruz After Violent Social Media Posts — PARKLAND, Fla. — A Florida social services agency conducted an in-home investigation of Nikolas Cruz after he exhibited troubling behavior nearly a year and a half before he shot and killed 17 people at his former high school in Florida, a state report shows.

Discussion: RedState and WHNT-TV

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
The NRA donated $10,000 to help train the Parkland shooting suspect to use a rifle

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

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

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

Discussion: twitchy.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: IJR, Florida Politics and Daily Wire

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

Discussion: IJR and The Right Scoop

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

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze and twitchy.com

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

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: Axios, New York Magazine, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, Vox, Joe.My.God. and Eschaton

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, 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, theGrio, Mediaite, Washington Press, IJR, Joe.My.God., Dispatches From the …, WHNT-TV and RedState

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

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.