memeorandum: 2/23: Widespread Support Exists for Stricter Gun Laws... Gun Reform Major Factor for Midterms (Marist Poll)

10:35 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: National Review, CNN, Townhall.com, Shakesville, Daily Wire, Scared Monkeys, Florida Politics, The Last Refuge, twitchy.com, Washington Press, Mediaite, TheBlaze 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: Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, The Week, The Daily Caller, Forward Progressives and IJR

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

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

Brad Davis / Omaha World-Herald:
First National Bank of Omaha ends relationship with NRA

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

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

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, The Root, Joanne Jacobs, Splinter, The Week, Joe.My.God., Balloon Juice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Orlando Sentinel and USA Today

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:
FL Shooting Survivor Colton Haab: CNN Told Me I Needed To “Stick To The Script”; Entire Town Hall Scripted

Discussion: Power Line, Raw Story, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Instapundit

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

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

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

Hans Morgenstern / WSVN-TV:
Sheriff: Armed officer at Stoneman Douglas ‘never went in’ during shooting

Discussion: Raw Story, The Truth About Guns and bizpacreview.com

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
It's Not All About the NRA

Discussion: Bloomberg

Ali Rogin / ABC News:
Trump slams deputy who waited outside Florida high school during shooting

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Bryan Logan / Business Insider:
One of the world's largest rental-car companies is ending a partnership with the NRA

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress and Daily Wire

Brian Naylor / NPR:
Trump Appears To Read From The NRA's Script Hours After The Gun Lobby Chief's Speech

Discussion: Shareblue Media, The Atlantic, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, to Plead Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Cooperate — WASHINGTON — A former top adviser to Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign indicted by the special counsel was expected to plead guilty as soon as Friday afternoon, according to two people familiar …

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, Axios, Law & Crime, Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

John Santucci / ABC News:

Former Trump aide Richard Gates poised to plead guilty, cooperate with special counsel, sources say — President Trump's one-time campaign aide Richard Gates is expected to plead guilty in the special counsel's criminal case against him, setting up the potential for Gates to become the latest …

Discussion: Associated Press

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.

The Daily Beast:
Sources: Ex-Trump Staffer Rick Gates to Drop His Lawyer in Russia Probe

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

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

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: The Hill, RedState, Politico, Washington Post, IJR, Splinter, thecut, Politicus USA, Washington Press, AOL, Breitbart, The Week, Woke Sloth, bizpacreview.com and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
'We're going to take action': Inside Trump's shifting stance on gun rights

Discussion: CNN, Splinter, Althouse and Democrats.com

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

Discussion: New Republic

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 Post, Washington Times, CBS Miami, Politico and The Week

Marist Poll: 2/23: Widespread Support Exists for Stricter Gun Laws... Gun Reform Major Factor for Midterms

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 …

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy

Discussion: FOX2now.com, The Atlantic, Daily Kos, News Blog, Riverfront Times, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider

Kansas City Star:
Greitens didn't shoot straight with Missourians, can't govern under indictment

Discussion: CNN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KMOV-TV, KFOR-TV, KTLA, ThinkProgress, The Gateway Pundit and Mother Jones

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.

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: Bloomberg, Marginal REVOLUTION, VICE News, Just Security, Axios and Mother Jones

John Walcott / Reuters:

Two top White House advisers may leave over tensions with Trump: sources — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Longstanding friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and two top aides, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff, has grown to a point that either or both might quit soon, four senior administration officials said.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Washington Press and Hullabaloo

CNN:
Sources: Mueller probe stymies Kushner security clearance

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

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?

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

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” …

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

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:
Trump to announce new NKorea sanctions

Discussion: One America News Network

Liz Hoffman / Wall Street Journal:

Dina Powell, Former Trump Adviser, Weighs Return to Goldman Sachs — Powell spent a decade at Goldman before joining the Trump administration last year — Dina Powell, who until recently served as a top national-security adviser in the White House, is talking to Goldman Sachs GS .99% Group Inc …

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