memeorandum: Andrew McCabe claims Trump wanted war in Venezuela because “they have all that oil” (Alex Ward/Vox)

5:20 AM ET, February 21, 2019

Top Items:

Self-proclaimed white nationalist planned mass terror attack, government says. ‘I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on earth.’ — A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-identified white nationalist has been arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons …

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, The Resurgent, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, TheBlaze and Hullabaloo

Dave Philipps / New York Times: Coast Guard Officer Plotted to Kill Democrats and Journalists, Prosecutors Say

CNN:

Justice Department preparing for Mueller report as early as next week — Washington (CNN)Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary …

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

7 Scenarios for How the Mueller Probe Might ‘Wrap Up’ — THE BREAKING NEWS hit a snowy Washington on Wednesday: Newly installed attorney general William Barr appears to be preparing to announce the end of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. — But what would “Mueller wrapping up” actually mean?

Discussion: DCReport.org, RedState, Breitbart and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Justice Department preparing for Mueller report in coming days — Justice Department officials are preparing for the end of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and believe a confidential report could be issued in coming days …

Discussion: Raw Story

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump butters up Barr amid signs of Mueller conclusion — Facing the possible completion of a special counsel investigation that could upend his presidency, Donald Trump is lashing out at everything and everybody — except his new attorney general, Bill Barr.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Spectator USA, Daily Kos and Breitbart

emptywheel:
Questions to Ask before Reporting a BREAKING Mueller Report

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Politico

CNN:

Actor Jussie Smollett now a suspect in criminal investigation — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been “officially classified” as a suspect in a criminal investigation for allegedly filling a false police report, according to a tweet from Chicago police communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi.

Discussion: abc7chicago.com, KBZK, CBS Chicago, Page Six, American Greatness, Washington Free Beacon, Louder With Crowder, WPIX 11 New York, fox5sandiego.com, Daily Wire, Townhall, The Atlantic, myfox8.com and TheBlaze

Sopan Deb / New York Times:
Jussie Smollett Faces Felony Charge, Accused of Faking Own Assault

Discussion: Washington Post, The Resurgent, Townhall, TalkLeft, Gay Star News, The New Civil Rights Movement and Mediaite

CBS Chicago:
Video Shows Brothers Linked To Jussie Smollett Attack Buying Items Allegedly Worn In Assault

Discussion: Deadline, TMZ.com, The Daily Beast, NBC News, PinkNews, RedState, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Last Refuge, Okayplayer, The Source, The FADER, CBS Los Angeles, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

John Kass / Chicago Tribune:
Column: Politicians use Jussie Smollett, while a 1-year-old boy shot in the head is set aside

Discussion: The American Conservative

Tina Nguyen / Vanity Fair:
“Activists Masquerading as Journalists”: Why the Right-Wing Media Is So Furious About the Jussie Smollett Affair

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Signal, Page Six, Coffee House and Breitbart

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

“She Was Pitching Her Intimate Knowledge of the Mueller Probe”: Sarah Isgur Flores, Former Trumper, Talked to MSNBC Before Signing with CNN — The former Jeff Sessions spokesperson is now a power player at a network she once called the “Clinton News Network.” How'd she close the deal?

Discussion: New York Times, emptywheel, Washington Post, Vox, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Media Matters for America, The Intercept, ThinkProgress and Big League Politics, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:
CNN in Damage-Control Mode With Dems Over GOP Operative Hire

more at Mediagazer »

Brett Murphy / USA Today:

Blackface, KKK hoods and mock lynchings: Review of 900 yearbooks finds blatant racism — In one of the most extensive searches of college yearbooks ever, we found blackface and Ku Klux Klan photos like Ralph Northam's far beyond Virginia. — The old yearbook photos capture the lighthearted moments …

Discussion: Splinter

Nicole Carroll / USA Today:

I became part of our story on racist images in college yearbooks. I'm here to apologize for publishing that photo — The news is full of blackface pictures. — There can be no debate about whether or not such images are racist and hurtful. They are. — It was recently brought …

Discussion: Raw Story

Sarah Ferris / Politico:

Pelosi: House moving ‘swiftly’ to block Trump's emergency declaration — Speaker Nancy Pelosi is throwing her muscle behind a legislative effort to block President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration, the first formal step to counter Trump and squeeze Republicans on the border wall.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Week, Raw Story and Axios

Rachael Bade / Washington Post: Pelosi says House will vote on resolution opposing Trump's emergency declaration

Richard Cowan / Reuters:
U.S. House Democrats move to block Trump's emergency declaration on border

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, ThinkProgress, Splinter and TheBlaze

BuzzFeed News:

Trump Said He Ordered His Administration To Withhold Wildfire Aid To California. FEMA Says He Never Did. — The president tweeted that he was cutting off disaster assistance to wildfire survivors to punish California officials. But no record of such an order exists.

Shannon Young / Union-News:

UMass poll gives Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders edge in 2020 New Hampshire Democratic primary — Although former Vice President Joe Biden has yet to enter the 2020 White House race, he continues to lead declared Democratic candidates among expected New Hampshire voters with less than one year …

Discussion: NBC News, Breitbart, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Political Wire

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Why Sanders's money haul doesn't mean very much

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

CNN:
Bernie Sanders to sign ‘affirmation’ he will run as a Democrat in 2020

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:

Candidate's son warned father of N.C. political operative's alleged tactics — RALEIGH, N.C. — The son of Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris testified Wednesday that he warned his father repeatedly that he believed a political operative now at the center of an election-fraud investigation …

Discussion: Politico and Splinter

Raleigh News & Observer:
John Harris warned his father about legal red flags involving Bladen operative

Discussion: The Charlotte Observer, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call and The Daily Caller

NBC News:

Pentagon chief briefing irks lawmakers, draws expletives from Sen. Lindsey Graham — The episode highlighted Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan's increasingly strained relationship with Capitol Hill two months after he replaced Jim Mattis. — Acting Defense Secretary and Sen. Graham spar over Syria policy

Discussion: Raw Story

Kristina Wong / Breitbart:
Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan's Rocky Meeting in Munich: 'You've Just Lost the Senate'

Discussion: Vox

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Inside Patrick Shanahan's clash with Congress in Munich over Syria

Discussion: Roll Call, Daily Kos, Task & Purpose and Politico

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Dutch professor exposes Tucker Carlson's fraud — “Tucker Carlson Tonight” is a binary production. Here's how it breaks down: The host, Tucker Carlson, either welcomes a guest with whom he agrees, in which case the segment is a facile lovefest, or he welcomes a guest with whom he disagrees …

Discussion: The Guardian, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hill Reporter, IJR, AOL, The Week, Contemptor and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

John Solomon / The Hill:

FBI's top lawyer believed Hillary Clinton should face charges, but was talked out of it — For most of the past three years, the FBI has tried to portray its top leadership as united behind ex-Director James Comey's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton …

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

The Classicist Who Sees Donald Trump as a Tragic Hero — Many of the books written in support of Donald Trump's Presidency have been authored by Trump family hangers-on or charlatans looking to make a buck. (Examples include “Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:

A Former Trump Staffer Filed A Class Action To Invalidate All Of The Campaign's Nondisclosure Agreements — WASHINGTON — A former Trump campaign staffer filed a class action Wednesday seeking to invalidate all of the nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements that the Trump campaign required all staffers to sign.

Discussion: Washington Post, Splinter, VICE News and Axios

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Kamala Harris shamed by Jamaican father over pot-smoking joke — Kamala Harris made headlines last week when she joked in a radio interview that of course she smoked marijuana in her younger years: “Half my family's from Jamaica, are you kidding me?” — But the crack didn't go over well with at least …

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CBS Mulls Changes to ‘CBS Evening News,’ Eyes Norah O'Donnell for Anchor Slot (EXCLUSIVE) — CBS News is considering making significant changes to its flagship “CBS Evening News,” according to four people with knowledge of the talks, part of a top-down look at the news division by incoming president Susan Zirinsky.

Discussion: KBZK, NB Blog, Page Six, TVNewser and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Aaron Rupar / Vox:

Trump's pick to chair new climate panel once said CO2 has been maligned like “Jews under Hitler” — William Happer has bizarre, backward views about climate science. — The Pentagon and several federal agencies have repeatedly warned over the years that climate change is a threat to national security.

Discussion: Nature, Splinter, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Axios and Shareblue Media

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
White House Panel Will Study Whether Climate Change Is a National Security Threat. It Includes a Climate Denialist.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, CNN, IJR, Task & Purpose and The Guardian

Sean Hannity:

MANUFACTURED CRISIS? Border Agents Seize $13 MILLION of Meth Hidden in Frozen Strawberries — Border and Customs agents in south Texas seized $13 million worth of methamphetamines concealed in a frozen strawberry delivery truck over the weekend; discovering the illicit drugs …

Discussion: CNN

Jennifer Schuessler / New York Times:

The Obama Presidential Library That Isn't — The Obama Presidential Center promises to be a presidential library like no other. — The three-building, 19-acre “working center for citizenship,” set to be built in a public park on the South Side of Chicago, will include a 235-foot-high …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, AOTUS and Associated Press