memeorandum: Flynn business partner facing prosecution complains he was singled out (Josh Gerstein/Politico)

8:55 PM ET, March 15, 2019

Top Items:

Robert Evans / bellingcat:

Shitposting, Inspirational Terrorism, and the Christchurch Mosque Massacre — On Friday, March 15th, one or more gunmen opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. As I write this, three men and one woman have been taken into custody by local law enforcement.

New Zealand Herald:

Christchurch mosque massacre: 49 confirmed dead in shootings; four arrested - three men, one woman … Forty-nine people have been killed and 48 more hurt after mass shootings at two Christchurch mosques in the worst terror attack on New Zealand soil. — Nour Tavis said he was in the front row …

Gohmert:

Gohmert's Statement on the Horrific Shootings at New Zealand Mosques — f t # e — Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement this morning regarding the horrific shootings at two mosques in New Zealand: — ""The shootings at the New Zealand mosques are egregiously reprehensible.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, HuffPost, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., ThinkProgress, Roll Call, twitchy.com and Daily Kos

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

The Daily Mail Let Readers Download The New Zealand Mosque Attacker's Manifesto Directly From Its Website — Other British news outlets, The Sun and The Mirror, featured the attacker's first-person video, including in GIF form on the homepages of their websites.

Discussion: The Guardian, ABC News, NBC News, UPROXX, Talking Points Memo, Herald Sun, Outside the Beltway, Macleans.ca and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

Wajahat Ali / New York Times:

The Roots of the Christchurch Massacre — All those who have helped to spread the worldwide myth that Muslims are a threat have blood on their hands. — For Muslims, Friday Prayer is like Sunday Mass for Christians. It's the day of community prayer. We travel to our local mosques, our religious sanctuary.

Discussion: Breitbart, Vox, Slate, Stuff.co.nz, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump says white nationalism is not a rising threat after New Zealand attacks: 'It's a small group of people' — BREAKING NEWS: When asked if white nationalism was a rising threat in the wake of the attacks on mosques in New Zealand that left 49 people dead, President Trump on Friday said: “I don't really.

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Politico, Political Wire, Raw Story, The Week, Variety, RedState, Joe.My.God. and Althouse

Alex Ward / Vox:

The New Zealand shooter called immigrants “invaders.” Hours later, so did Trump. — The alleged shooter rambled about immigrants in his manifesto. Trump mentioned it during a veto ceremony. — President Donald Trump just used similar language to describe immigrants coming …

Discussion: Recode

Andy Campbell / HuffPost:

A Suspect In New Zealand Mass Shootings Appears To Be A White Supremacist — In a manifesto, the alleged gunman said he was motivated by American extremism. — A man accused of opening fire Friday at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing dozens of worshippers …

Discussion: NBC News, ABC News, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, SFist and Splinter

Katie Galioto / Politico:
Trump issues first veto of his presidency

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Townhall

Mehdi Hasan / The Intercept:
Don't Just Condemn the New Zealand Attacks — Politicians and Pundits Must Stop Their Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Splinter and Gothamist

Brian Klaas / Washington Post:
A short history of President Trump's anti-Muslim bigotry

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Shannon Vavra / Axios:
Trump claims white nationalists are “a small group of people”

Discussion: The American Spectator

Joseph Menn / Reuters:

Beto O'Rourke's secret membership in America's oldest hacking group — Illustration REUTERS/Mike Segar/Troy Dunkley — As the Texas Democrat enters the race for president, members of a group famous for “hactivism” come forward for the first time to claim him as one of their own.

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

‘Not one woman got that kind of coverage’: Beto backlash begins — Since announcing her 2020 run, Elizabeth Warren has dispensed three major policy proposals, held 30 campaign events and visited nearly a dozen states. — Since announcing his 2020 run, Beto O'Rourke has made one visit to Iowa …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and The Daily Caller

Alexi McCammond / Axios:
2020 Democrats tried fundraising on Beto O'Rourke's presidential bid

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Mike Fleming Jr / Deadline:

Disney Reinstates Director James Gunn For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 3’ — EXCLUSIVE: Redemption and second chances have long been superhero movie staples, and today it looks like life has imitated art. I've learned that Disney has reinstated James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 …

NBC News:

New Zealand shooting leaves online extremism researchers ‘hopeless and furious’ — Researchers told NBC News that they had raised concerns about online extremism but said their warnings and ideas have been largely ignored. — Researchers have warned tech companies for years that online extremism …

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet

Discussion: Mother Jones, TechCrunch, Breitbart, New York Post, Motherboard, The Wrap, Bounding Into Comics, Hullabaloo and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Warzel / New York Times:
The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral

Discussion: Brookings, CNN, The Atlantic, Roll Call, Vanity Fair, Variety, The Mahablog, TechCrunch, The Trace, The Wrap, Gothamist, 1A and Right Wing Watch

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Better Known, but Image Skews Negative — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two months into her new job on Capitol Hill, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a much more recognizable figure to Americans. Half of U.S. adults were unfamiliar with or had no opinion of her in September …

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Front Page Magazine, The Week, National Review, IJR, Politico, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Paul Waldman / Washington Post: Republicans really hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There's a lesson there for 2020.

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

How Trump's Brand of Grievance Politics Roiled a Pennsylvania Campaign — OLD FORGE, Pa. — The news came at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday: Frank Scavo III had lost. Again. — Mr. Scavo, a perennial candidate running for the Pennsylvania Legislature on a platform of ending property taxes …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Raw Story

Brent D. Griffiths / Politico:

Bernie Sanders' staffers unionize in first for presidential campaign — Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign announced Friday it will be the first major presidential campaign to have a unionized workforce, as party activists push Democratic candidates to mirror their progressive platforms within their own campaigns.

Discussion: Breitbart

Owen Daugherty / The Hill:
Bernie Sanders gets 7 stitches after cutting head on shower door

Discussion: Power Line, Politico and The Gateway Pundit

John Hudson / Washington Post:

A shadowy group trying to overthrow Kim Jong Un raided a North Korean embassy in broad daylight — Days before President Trump was set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, a mysterious incident in Spain threatened to derail the entire high-stakes nuclear summit.

Discussion: New York Post and The American Conservative

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Trump administration struggles for path forward on nuclear talks as tensions with North Korea mount

Discussion: One America News Network

Carlos Sanchez / Texas Monthly:

Joaquin Castro “All But Certain” to Challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate, Source Says — A Joaquin Castro candidacy instantly makes next year's Senate race competitive, observers say. — Joaquin Castro, the Democratic congressman from San Antonio, “is all but certain” …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune and Political Wire

Stacey Ritzen / UPROXX:

Lori Loughlin's Husband Is Apparently A Vocal Trump Supporter Who Frequently Complains About People Not ‘Carrying Their Own Weight’ — The fallout of Operation Varsity Blues, as it's now being called, has been full of schadenfreude, to say the least. Actress Lori Loughlin …

Discussion: Page Six

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:

Rush Limbaugh Baselessly Suggests NZ Mosque Attacks Could Be False Flag Carried Out by a ‘Leftist’ — Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh promoted a fringe conspiracy that suggests the Christchurch, New Zealand Mosque massacre may have been a false flag attack carried out by a “leftist” to “to smear” right-wingers.

Media Matters for America:
Rush Limbaugh suggests New Zealand shootings might be a false flag attack committed by a leftist to smear conservatives

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo and Joe.My.God.

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

One year in, Facebook's big algorithm change has spurred an angry, Fox News-dominated — and very engaged! — News Feed — It's been a little over a year since Facebook announced major algorithm changes that would decrease the amount of news in News Feed, instead prioritizing non-publisher content …

Discussion: Fox News and Mashable

Gabriel Debenedetti / New York Magazine:

Howard Schultz and His Team Think the Backlash Means They're ‘Onto Something’ — Anyone who thought, or hoped, that the flood of horror in response to Howard Schultz's independent presidential exploration would deter him might want to sit down for this. Because the former Starbucks chairman …

Discussion: Vanity Fair

New York Times:

Russian Oligarch Sues the U.S. Over Sanctions — WASHINGTON — Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin, sued the United States government on Friday, demanding it lift sanctions that he claimed have cost him billions of dollars, made him “radioactive” …

Discussion: News Agency UNIAN

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

‘The Conveyor Belt’: U.S. officials say massive smuggling effort is speeding immigrants to — and across — the southern border — Criminal organizations in Mexico have mounted a lucrative new smuggling operation that uses express buses to deliver Guatemalan migrant families to the U.S. border …

Discussion: Breitbart, Axios, rbc.ru, ACLU of Tennessee and ThinkProgress

miamiherald:

Spa operator brought head of Chinese Communist Party's Florida group to mingle with Trump aides — South Florida day spa entrepreneur Li “Cindy” Yang — now famous for her Super Bowl party selfie with the president — used her burgeoning political access to bring Xianqin Qu …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Washington Post

CNN:

White House and House Democrats battle over John Kelly, ex-officials in Trump probes — (CNN)House Democrats, eager to investigate all aspects of the Trump White House, have identified former administration officials they need to carry out their probes. But the White House isn't making it an easy task.

Discussion: Raw Story

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Lindsey Graham wants record of 25th Amendment discussions — The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the attorney general in a Friday letter to hand over the complete record of documents, conversations and other communication records pertaining to discussions …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Fewer Than 1 In 5 FBI Terror Cases Target White Supremacists, Stats Show — Law enforcement veterans say the slaughter in Christchurch highlights the discrepancy between how the west treats violence committed by Muslims and violence committed by whites. — In the face of a global increase …

Discussion: Just Security