memeorandum: NYT's Sarah Jeong Also Sent Anti-Cop, Anti-Men Tweets (Amber Athey/The Daily Caller)

7:10 PM ET, August 3, 2018

Top Items:

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

The NRA Says It's in Deep Financial Trouble, May Be ‘Unable to Exist’ — A legal filing against the state of New York paints a grim picture of the powerful gun group — The National Rifle Association warns that it is in grave financial jeopardy, according to a recent court filing obtained …

Discussion: Vox, The Independent, Breitbart, Sputnik International, MSNBC, Mother Jones, IJR, New Republic, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Splinter, Second Nexus, Instapundit, The Week, Hill Reporter, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:
NRA Says Money Problems May Render It ‘Unable to Exist’

Discussion: Mother Jones

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

When Racism Is Fit to Print — Is the newest member of the New York Times editorial board, Sarah Jeong, a racist? — From one perspective — that commonly held by people outside the confines of the political left — she obviously is. A series of tweets from 2013 to 2015 reveal …

Amber Athey / The Daily Caller:

NYT's Sarah Jeong Also Sent Anti-Cop, Anti-Men Tweets — Sarah Jeong, the newest editorial board member of The New York Times, is also responsible for extensive anti-cop and anti-men tweets. — The New York Times stood by Jeong on Thursday after the internet surfaced her old racist tweets …

Discussion: Power Line, ThinkProgress, Conservative News Today and Coffee House

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

In defense of Sarah Jeong — Why Andrew Sullivan and the conservative media are wrong to call the New York Times's latest hire “racist” for attacking white people. — Conservatives are up in arms over the New York Times's latest hire: a tech writer named Sarah Jeong whom they allege to be racist against white people.

Discussion: The American Spectator, Breitbart and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
Why Racism Begets More Racism — People are contorting themselves …

Discussion: Washington Post, twitchy.com and Daily Wire

Washington Post:
An Asian American woman's tweets ignite a debate: Is it okay to make fun of white people online?

Discussion: BBC, Slate, Daily Wire, RedState, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Sputnik International and alicublog

Robert Stacy McCain / The American Spectator:
It Wasn't Just a Few Tweets — In the uproar over Sarah Jeong's hiring …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, BloombergQuint and Daily Wire

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

O'Rourke Puts Race into Lean Republican Column — This race in a state that isn't usually competitive for Democrats in statewide races has generated an unusual amount of attention. Most of it is thanks to U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic nominee, who is running an unconventional yet …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, Axios, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, America's Voice, El Paso Times, New Republic and MSNBC

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Senate Democrats to end boycott, plan to meet with Kavanaugh later this month

Discussion: Politico, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Political Wire, Daily Kos and The Week

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
What August Ratings Can Tell Us About November Results

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
After investigating Clinton White House and Vincent Foster's death, Brett Kavanaugh had a change of heart

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

The Newseum is selling MAGA hats and ‘fake news’ T-shirts — If you're looking to stock up on the famous red hats that bear Donald Trump's favorite slogan, look no further than the Newseum's gift shop. — On its website, the interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., sells $14.99 …

Discussion: New York Times, Washingtonian, NTK Network, DCist, HuffPost and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

It's True: Trump Is Lying More, and He's Doing It on Purpose. — On Thursday, the Washington Post published a remarkable story on its front page revealing a recent spike in the number of “false and misleading claims” made by President Trump. In his first year as President, Trump made 2,140 false claims, according to the Post.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Outside the Beltway and Raw Story

CNN:

‘Manhattan Madam’ met with Mueller's team — (CNN)Kristin Davis, the woman famously known as the “Manhattan Madam,” met with special counsel Robert Mueller's team for a voluntary interview on Wednesday, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

Discussion: New York Daily News, Political Wire, NY State of Politics, Law & Crime, Raw Story, AOL, Hill Reporter and The Hill

Washington Post:

Accountants testify Manafort inflated loans, failed to disclose foreign accounts — One of Paul Manafort's accountants testified Friday that she went along with falsifying his tax records because she was afraid to confront a longtime client. — Cindy Laporta said that in 2015 …

Discussion: VICE News

Politico:
Manafort trial day 4: Accountant concedes possible wrongdoing, Manafort's double life

Discussion: Axios, The Atlantic and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Judge upholds ruling that DACA must be restored — Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for MoveOn.org) — (CNN)A federal judge on Friday upheld his order …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Heather Long / Washington Post:

Under Trump's watch, the U.S. is on track for the highest trade deficit in 10 years — The United States trade deficit widened in June and is on track to be the biggest in a decade despite President Trump's efforts to slash it. — For the first half of 2018, the trade deficit in goods …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Political Wire

Jeffry Bartash / MarketWatch:
U.S. trade deficit remains on track for 10-year high after climbing 7% in June

Discussion: U.S. Bureau …

Martin Chulov / The Guardian:

My son, Osama: the al-Qaida leader's mother speaks for the first time — Nearly 17 years since 9/11, Osama bin Laden's family remains an influential part of Saudi society - as well as a reminder of the darkest moment in the kingdom's history. Can they escape his legacy?

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Business Insider, Jihad Watch, AOL, The Express Tribune, The Daily Caller and Jezebel

Sherman Smith / Topeka Capital-Journal:

GOP consultants say Kobach campaign has white nationalists on payroll — Sherman Smith sherman_news — Kris Kobach's gubernatorial campaign employs three men identified as members of a white nationalist group by two political consultants who have worked with Republicans in Kansas.

Discussion: Political Wire

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

Melania's policy director leaves the White House — After just six months on the job, first lady Melania Trump's top policy aide has left the White House, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. — Reagan Hedlund, a 28-year-old former executive assistant at the National Security Council …

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Stef W. Kight / Axios:

Voter commission member says White House voter fraud statements were false — Matthew Dunlap, Maine's Secretary of State who served on President Trump's voter fraud commission, says the statements by the vice chairman and the White House alleging wide-spread voter fraud “were, in fact, false.”

Discussion: Politico

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star:
Emails related to Kobach-led voting commission show ‘pre-ordained outcome,’ Dem says

Discussion: CNN, BuzzFeed News and Mother Jones

Washington Post:

At President Trump's hotel in New York, revenue went up this spring — thanks to a visit from big-spending Saudis — The general manager of the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan had a rare bit of good news to report to investors this spring: After two years of decline …

Discussion: New Republic, Washington Monthly, Shareblue Media, CNBC and Observer

Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

DNC warns candidates: Don't use ZTE or Huawei phones — Democrats running in November's midterms were warned Friday not to use devices produced by Chinese manufacturers ZTE and Huawei. The warning, which came from the Democratic National Committee, was sent out after the DNC learned …

Discussion: Axios and The Verge

Foreign Policy:

Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians — In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.'s relief agency for Palestinians. — Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor …

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:

The tender, terrifying truth about what happened inside the Trader Joe's hostage siege — About halfway through the three-hour siege at Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, the wounded gunman, Gene Atkins, looked at one of his hostages, MaryLinda Moss, and told her it was all over for him.

Discussion: Mashable

Alan Gomez / USA Today:

Judge says Trump team ‘100 percent’ responsible for finding deported immigrant parents — Ivanka Trump on Thursday cited the separation of migrant children from their parents as a low point of her White House tenure. She also said she does not believe the media is an enemy of the people. (Aug. 3) AP

Discussion: The Week and Axios

Peter Grant / Wall Street Journal:

Kushner Family Close to Deal to Unload 666 Fifth Avenue — The record $1.8 billion real-estate investment became controversial when Jared Kushner joined the Trump White House — The Kushner family is on the verge of a deal to unload the office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue …

Discussion: Washington Post and The Real Deal New York

The Hill:

Trump blindsided staff with promise to halt elephant trophy imports — sent in November promising to halt imports of elephant trophies blindsided staffers in his own administration and cut off months of planning to ease the import process, newly released emails show.

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:

The Clinton campaign sought dirt on Trump from Russian officials. Where's the outrage? — All of Washington is waiting with bated breath to find out whether the Mueller investigation will provide evidence proving that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Discussion: emptywheel

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Republican congressman is still touting fake pro-Israel award from Sacha Baron Cohen — As part of his effort to trick conservative activists and lawmakers into embarrassing themselves on his Showtime series Who is America?, Sacha Baron Cohen presented a fake pro-Israel award to an array of political figures called “70 at 70.”

Discussion: IJR, Mediaite, Political Wire, Roll Call and New York Post

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Journalists are playing into Trump's hand — A question to my colleagues in the media: Why do we play President Trump's foil? — The scene in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Thursday night was familiar: journalists on an elevated platform in the middle of the arena, penned in, filming the proceedings …

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Washington Times and Daily Wire

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

‘Be brave’: Russian firm urges judge to nix Mueller indictment — Lawyers for a Russian company accused of financing a massive political influence operation in the United States urged a federal judge Friday to “be brave” and declare special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment invalid.

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

12 times Christopher Steele fed Trump-Russia allegations to FBI after the election — Congressional investigators know that Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the Trump dossier on behalf of the Clinton campaign, kept supplying allegations to the FBI after the 2016 election …

Lukas Mikelionis / Fox News:

Socialist candidate Ocasio-Cortez once saw herself as Smithian capitalist, viewed feminism as ‘relic’ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the socialist congressional candidate from New York who touts honesty and authenticity as her greatest strengths, used to describe herself as a follower of Adam Smith …

Discussion: Daily Wire, NTK Network, Front Page Magazine and The Daily Caller

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

“The Conservative Movement . . . Has Become a Racket”: Steve Schmidt Is Starting a Pod Save America for Never Trumpers — Co-hosted by NBC News star Elise Jordan, the new venture is called Words Matter, and the podcast's inaugural installment debuts on August 6. — BY - JOE POMPEOAugust 3, 2018,

Theo Francis / Wall Street Journal:

AT&T Overpaid Some Pensioners. Now It Wants the Money Back. — The telecom giant has enlisted a collection agency, a step other companies in similar situations have declined to take — When James Mizelle retired in 2001, he started drawing a pension from his 27-year career with AT&T T 1.04% and other phone companies.

Daniel Horowitz / Conservative Review:

Republicans don't think government is big enough. Now they want ‘Ivankacare’ — While Jared Kushner is promoting the Koch agenda for Willie-Horton-style jailbreak bills, his wife and co-president, Ivanka, is successfully getting one Republican after another to promote a new massive entitlement for paid family leave.

Discussion: CNN

Mindy Finn / USA Today:

Trump has built a pyramid scheme of public fraud. It's a taxpayer-backed cash grab. — Donald Trump is pulling off a taxpayer-backed cash grab. It's an orchestrated, unprecedented scheme to enrich a president, his family and his friends. — Even after warnings that tariffs would wreak havoc …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Saritha Prabhu / The Federalist:

How Spygate Is Turning Democrats Like Me Against Our Party — I was a long-time Democrat who ‘walked away’ from the party because I couldn't stomach the Democrats' anti-democratic antics. — I don't much like Donald Trump and didn't vote for him (or Hillary) in 2016, but I've been feeling sorry for him for about 18 months now.

KTFT:

New kids on the block: 118 hungry goats descend on Boise neighborhood — “They kind of just like took over this neighborhood this morning.” — BOISE — A herd of goats caused a stir Friday morning after they escaped their enclosure and went on a snacking tour through a West Boise neighborhood.

Discussion: NPR, Boing Boing, WREG-TV, KTLA and myfox8.com

Nick Martin / Deadspin:

How ESPN Ended Up Paying Brett McMurphy To Post The Year's Biggest College Football Story On Facebook — Brett McMurphy, who is about as plugged in as any college football reporter can be, was always going to scoop ESPN on the Urban Meyer-Zach Smith story. But that the Worldwide Leader paid …

Discussion: CNN, ESPN and TheBlaze