memeorandum: Did the Media Jump the Gun on the Jussie Smollett Story? (Caleb Howe/Mediaite)

6:00 PM ET, February 18, 2019

Top Items:

Jussie Smollett — Rehearsed ‘Attack’ with 2 Brothers ... Law Enforcement Says — EXCLUSIVE — Jussie Smollett rehearsed the “attack” against him days before the incident and it was all staged for the camera, this according to what the 2 brothers told cops.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Breitbart, RedState, The Root, BlackSportsOnline, Page Six and Daily Wire

CBS Chicago:

Jussie Smollett Case: Clues Into Potential Motive Behind The Attack — (CBS) -"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, upset after a racist letter sent to the show's studio didn't get a “bigger reaction,” is suspected of paying two men to attack him a week later, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

Discussion: CBS Los Angeles, The Daily Beast, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire

Lindsey Bahr / Associated Press:
Smollett developments leave some baffled, others outraged

Discussion: Breitbart, The Guardian, twitchy.com, KBZK and The Week

Caleb Howe / Mediaite:
Did the Media Jump the Gun on the Jussie Smollett Story?

Discussion: Breitbart, USA Today, Daily Wire, The Bulwark, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, NB Blog, Real Clear Politics, National Review, Contemptor, The Federalist, TheBlaze and twitchy.com

Lia Eustachewich / Page Six:
Al Sharpton: Hold Jussie Smollett accountable if he staged attack

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Nana Efua Mumford / Washington Post:
I doubted Jussie Smollett. It breaks my heart that I might be right.

Discussion: RedState, CNN, The New Neo, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, AOL, Althouse, IJR and Instapundit

Kyle Smith / New York Post:
Don't expect apologies from the left over Jussie Smollett ‘attack’ fraud

Discussion: Hollywood in Toto, The Daily Beast and NB Blog

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

Autopsy of a Dead Coup — The illegal effort to destroy the 2016 Trump campaign by Hillary Clinton campaign's use of funds to create, disseminate among court media, and then salt among high Obama administration officials, a fabricated, opposition smear dossier failed.

Discussion: RedState, Chicago Boyz, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Politico and Fox News

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump can't run the Mueller playbook on New York feds — Even as speculation mounts that special counsel Robert Mueller might be winding down his investigation, a parallel threat to President Donald Trump only seems to be growing within his own Justice Department: the Southern District of New York.

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Monthly

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill: Five things to watch as Barr takes the reins of Justice, Mueller probe

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

Trump Considering Powell, Craft, Grenell, James for UN Job, Sources Say — Ivanka Trump may also be considered, person familiar says — State Department spokeswoman Nauert withdrew nomination — President Donald Trump is considering four people to be his next UN ambassador …

Discussion: HuffPost, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Political Wire and The Week

Jacob Solis / The Nevada Independent:

Warren: If officials believe Trump cannot fulfill duties, they must invoke 25th Amendment — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Sunday in Las Vegas that Trump administration officials have an obligation to invoke the 25th Amendment if they believe the president cannot fulfill his duties.

Discussion: Townhall, RedState, Power Line, Hill Reporter, The Daily Caller, Front Page Magazine, IJR, Washington Times and Daily Wire

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Why allegations of a ‘coup’ against Trump are unfounded

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

Kristine Phillips / Washington Post:

Florida sixth-grader charged with misdemeanor after refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance — A Florida student is facing misdemeanor charges after a confrontation with his teacher that began with his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and escalated into what officials described as disruptive behavior.

Discussion: NBC News, KBZK, BlackSportsOnline, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TheBlaze, Chicago Tribune, BlueDot Daily, Vox, Atlanta Black Star, Splinter, Daily Wire and myfox8.com

BBC:

Seven MPs leave Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership — Seven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism. — They are: Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey.

Discussion: NPR, Breitbart, Axios, Mediaite and Mashable

Stephen Castle / New York Times:
7 Labour Lawmakers Resign in U.K., in Rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn

more at Mediagazer »

FiveThirtyEight:

Could Congress Block Trump's Emergency Declaration? — President Trump has declared a national emergency in order to pay for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, but will Congress block it? That's a long shot — but we can't rule it out either.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Law & Liberty, Raw Story and KBZK

Adam Jentleson / New York Times:

How Mitch McConnell Enables Trump — He's not an institutionalist. He's the man who surrendered the Senate to the president. — Mr. Jentleson is a former deputy chief of staff to retired Senator Harry Reid. — Among the casualties of President Trump's declaration of a national emergency …

Brennan Weiss / Business Insider:

RANKED: The greatest US presidents, according to political scientists — Nearly 200 political scientists ranked the presidents by order of greatness in a survey, and President Donald Trump came in last. — President Abraham Lincoln was first. — Members of the American Political …

Hans von der Burchard / Politico:
Juncker: Trump ‘gave me his word’ not to impose car tariffs

Discussion: One America News Network

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

California AG: At least 13 states suing over Trump's national emergency — “The president does have broad authority. But he does not have authority to violate the Constitution,” Xavier Becerra said on Monday. — California and a dozen other states are filing a lawsuit challenging Donald …

Priscilla Alvarez / CNN:
California AG Becerra says states to sue over Trump's national emergency declaration

Discussion: Axios, Vox and POLITICUSUSA

Meredith Watson / Washington Post:

I'm willing to testify in public. Justin Fairfax should, too. — Meredith Watson lives in Maryland. — When I came forward to report that Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax raped me when we were both Duke University students in 2000, I did so to support another victim of sexual assault …

Discussion: Mediaite

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Obama Quietly Gives Advice to 2020 Democrats, but No Endorsement — A secret meeting of former President Barack Obama's financial backers convened in Washington early this month: Organized by David Jacobson and John Phillips, Mr. Obama's former ambassadors to Canada and Italy …

Darby Beane / WBKO-TV:

Man accused of pulling gun on victim wearing MAGA hat — BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) — A Tennessee man is in jail after being accused of pulling a gun on a Sam's Club customer Saturday. — According to the police report, officers were called to Sam's Club due to a person with a gun.

Discussion: WNKYWNKY, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Daily Wire, Louder With Crowder, The Daily Caller, Big League Politics and twitchy.com

Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:

Hurd says 1,000 Texas farmers could have land seized to build Trump's border wall — Texas Rep. Will Hurd, the sole Republican representing a congressional district along the southern border, said more than 1,000 farmers in his state are at risk of having their land seized by the federal government …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Arizona Republic

Dennis Wagner / Arizona Republic:

Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in museum building, safety manager says — For nearly two decades at the Grand Canyon, tourists, employees, and children on tours passed by three paint buckets stored in the National Park's museum collection building, unaware that they were being exposed to radiation.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Republicans Already Are Demonizing Democrats as Socialists and Baby Killers — WASHINGTON — In the 116th Congress, if you're a Democrat, you're either a socialist, a baby killer or an anti-Semite. — That, at least, is what Republicans want voters to think, as they seek to demonize Democrats …

Discussion: Power Line, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, Daily Wire and NB Blog

David French / National Review:

Stephen Miller's Own Words Show the Weakness of the Trump Legal Argument on the Wall — One of the first rules of effective litigation is that you don't want your client to make statements out loud that reveal the weakness of your legal case. On Sunday morning, Trump adviser Stephen Miller violated that rule.

Discussion: Raw Story

Ashraf Khalil / Associated Press:

DC's many prankster activists turn anger into street theater — WASHINGTON (AP) — In the nation's capital, it can be hard for protesters to stand out. A group of 50 people — or even 500 — holding signs and shouting hardly merits a second glance in this city of protests.

Discussion: Axios