memeorandum: Putin ally said to be in touch with Kremlin, Assad before his mercenaries attacked U.S. troops (Washington Post)

9:25 AM ET, February 23, 2018

Top Items:

Parkland school cop ‘never went in’ during the shooting. There were other failures, too. — Eight days after mass shooter Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Broward's top cop on Thursday revealed a stunning series of failures by the sheriff's department.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Florida Politics, Daily Wire, The Last Refuge, twitchy.com, Washington Press, TheBlaze, Mediaite and BBC

New York Times:

Armed Sheriff's Deputy ‘Never Went In’ During Florida Shooting — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The only armed security guard on campus during a deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school last week “never went in” to a building to try to take down the shooting suspect, Sheriff Scott Israel …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Week, The Daily Caller, Forward Progressives and IJR

Luke Barnes / ThinkProgress:

Three major car rental companies dump the NRA — A major car rental conglomerate which operates three prominent national brands is ending its corporate relationship with the National Rifle Association, as backlash grows in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting.

Discussion: Business Insider, Dallas Morning News, bizpacreview.com, Washington Press, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., Breitbart, The Atlantic, Mediaite and CNN

Washington Post:

Armed sheriff's deputy stayed outside Florida school while mass killing took place … FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The armed school resource officer assigned to protect students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took a defensive position outside the school and did not enter the building …

Discussion: The Federalist, Shot in the Dark, Betsy's Page, Instapundit, Hit & Run, CNN and East Bay Times

Stephen Hobbs / Sun-Sentinel:
Stoneman Douglas cop resigns; sheriff says he should have ‘killed the killer’

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, The Root, Splinter, The Week, Joe.My.God., Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Orlando Sentinel and Outside the Beltway

Todd Tongen / WPLG-TV:
Stoneman Douglas BSO resource officer did not enter school during shootings

Discussion: RedState, Instapundit, The Last Refuge, IJR, twitchy.com, New York Magazine, Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

David Choi / Business Insider:
Armed police are guarding the home of the deputy who resigned over his lack of action in the Parkland school shooting

Discussion: Sun-Sentinel and AOL

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

What Do Jotted Talking Points Say About Trump's Empathy? — WASHINGTON — For more than an hour on Wednesday, President Trump listened quietly to entreaties for action, personal stories of grief and loss, and expressions of raw anger, clutching a white notecard with talking points written on it.

Discussion: Splinter, thecut, Politicus USA, Washington Press, Business Insider, The Week, Woke Sloth and Mediaite

CNN:

Sources: Mueller probe stymies Kushner security clearance — Washington (CNN)Jared Kushner has been unable to obtain a full security clearance in part because of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

The Daily Beast:

Sources: Ex-Trump Staffer Rick Gates to Drop His Lawyer in Russia Probe … Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates has fired his lawyer, The Daily Beast has learned. And, contrary to recent media reports, Gates is not about to make a deal with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Politico, Raw Story, Law & Crime, ABC News, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, New Republic, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTLA, WTVR-TV, VICE News, Hullabaloo, Axios, Salon and Daily Wire

John Walcott / Reuters:
Two top White House advisers may leave over tensions with Trump: sources

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Washington Press and Hullabaloo

Washington Post:
Special counsel Mueller files new charges in Manafort, Gates case

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hit & Run, IJR, The Week, Shakesville, The Atlantic and Axios

CNN:
Mueller files new charges against Manafort and Gates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Root, Media Matters for America, Washington Press, TheBlaze, Law & Crime and Splinter

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Mueller's team has leveled over 100 criminal charges against 19 people

Discussion: National Review, New York Magazine and Vox

Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune:

In rare move, national Democrats come out against primary candidate Laura Moser in bid for Culberson's seat — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday posted negative research on Democratic congressional hopeful Laura Moser, one of seven Democrats vying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson.

Discussion: Political Wire and Off the Kuff

DCCC:

Laura Moser — Democratic voters need to hear that Laura Moser is not going to change Washington. She is a Washington insider, who begrudgingly moved to Houston to run for Congress. In fact, she wrote in the Washingtonian magazine, “I'd rather have my teeth pulled out without anesthesia” than live in Texas.

Emma Platoff / The Texas Tribune:
Jury finds state Sen. Carlos Uresti guilty of 11 felonies, leading to calls from Democratic colleagues to resign

Discussion: Off the Kuff, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Beast

Kansas City Star:

Gov. Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy stemming from affair — Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted Thursday afternoon by a St. Louis grand jury on a felony charge of invasion of privacy. — The charge stems from a 2015 affair and allegations that he threatened to release …

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens's sexual blackmail scandal, explained

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, Washington Post, Associated Press, News Blog, Riverfront Times, ABC News, KFOR-TV, New York Magazine, KTLA, AOL, The Right Scoop, ThinkProgress, Jezebel, Daily Kos and Politico

CBS News:

Poll: Support for stricter gun laws rises; divisions on arming teachers — Nearly two-thirds of Americans support stricter laws on gun sales, including an increasing number of Republicans, but the public divides on the idea of allowing more teachers and school officials to carry guns.

Discussion: Washington Times, CBS Miami, Politico and The Week

Washington Post:

Putin ally said to be in touch with Kremlin, Assad before his mercenaries attacked U.S. troops … A Russian oligarch believed to control the Russian mercenaries who attacked U.S. troops and their allies in Syria this month was in close touch with Kremlin and Syrian officials in the days …

Discussion: VICE News, Just Security, Axios and Mother Jones

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

An Epidemic of Dishonesty on the Right — Enough with the rancid conspiracy theories — First it was the Holocaust, now Parkland — is there any act of depravity to which the less respectable right-wing media cannot imagine a connection for George Soros?

Steve Holland / Reuters:

Trump administration to target North Korea with new sanctions on Friday — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration plans to announce on Friday what is being billed as the largest package of sanctions yet against North Korea to increase pressure on Pyongyang for its nuclear …

Discussion: FOX6Now.com

Associated Press:
AP EXPLAINS: What's N. Korea up to with provocative visit?

Discussion: One America News Network

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

Trump Hotel paid millions in fines shortly after the inauguration for stiffing contractors: report — Just prior to his inauguration, President Donald Trump personally intervened to resolve over $3 million in construction liens against his Washington D.C. hotel property, the Daily Beast is reporting.

Zach Everson / The Daily Beast: Trump Hotel Paid Millions in Fines for Unpaid Work

David French / National Review:

The Gun-Control Debate Could Break America — A rage more personal than political exists on both sides, and poses real danger to the ties that bind us as a nation. — Last night, the nation witnessed what looked a lot like an extended version of the famous “two minutes hate” from George Orwell's novel 1984.

Discussion: Mediaite, Vox and No More Mister Nice Blog

New Yorker:
CNN's Town Hall on Guns and the Unmaking of Marco Rubio

Discussion: New Republic

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

AP sources: Adelson offers to help pay for Jerusalem embassy — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

GQ:

What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser? — GQ's Zach Baron reports on the stupendous rise and surprising disappearance of the once ubiquitous movie star. — Brendan Fraser wants me to meet his horse. “I got this horse because it's a big horse,” he says, standing in a barn in Bedford, New York.

Discussion: PinkNews, Fox News, Breitbart, WGN-TV, East Bay Times, Daily Wire, RedState, Vox, AOL, IndieWire and Mashable

Margaret Carlson / The Daily Beast:

This Is the Law That Could Take Down Trump … It's all well and good for Paul Manafort to spend 15 years in prison for money laundering, and Rick Gates to plead guilty to cut a deal, and Alex Van Der Zwaan to miss the birth of his first child because he lied to the FBI.

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Kasich's team gears up for possible 2020 bid — John Kasich's inner circle is gearing up for a possible presidential run in 2020 — actively weighing the prospect of a Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump against the feasibility of a long-shot general election campaign as an independent.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Week and Mediaite

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

It's Not All About the NRA — In the aftermath of an unspeakable tragedy, like the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida last week, anguish needs to find an outlet. Students have taken to the streets and the halls of political power demanding an end to the violence.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Sarah Larimer / Washington Post:

‘They have had it’: West Virginia teachers strike, closing all public schools … Teachers across West Virginia walked off the job Thursday amid a dispute over pay and benefits, causing more than 277,000 public school students to miss classes even as educators swarmed the state Capitol in Charleston to protest.

Discussion: USA Today, NPR and Splinter

Brad Davis / Omaha World-Herald:

First National Bank of Omaha ends relationship with NRA — In the midst of the fallout from last week's deadly school shooting, First National Bank of Omaha found itself in the middle of a social media backlash: Some people were calling out the bank's relationship with the National Rifle Association.

Discussion: Gizmodo, ThinkProgress, Washington Press, Woke Sloth and Law & Crime

Mike Spies / New Yorker:

The N.R.A. Lobbyist Behind Florida's Pro-Gun Policies — Marion Hammer's unique influence over legislators has produced laws that dramatically alter long-held American norms. — Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, was debating tax policy on the chamber floor …

Barkha Dutt / Washington Post:

Trudeau's India trip is a total disaster — and he has only himself to blame … How did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the world's favorite liberal mascot — a feminist man, with movie-star good looks, a 50 percent female cabinet and a political lexicon that has replaced “mankind” …

Kim Janssen / Chicago Tribune:

Gov. Rauner drinks chocolate milk to demonstrate his commitment to diversity — In an awkward onstage appearance this week, Gov. Bruce Rauner drank a glass of chocolate milk to demonstrate his belief in diversity. — “It's really, really good,” Rauner said after taking a sip of the sugary drink.