memeorandum: Joe Biden readies major endorsements and message of strength ahead of likely 2020 run (CNN)

10:00 AM ET, March 19, 2019

Top Items:

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Nunes sues Twitter, some users, seeks over $250M alleging anti-conservative ‘shadow bans,’ smears — California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes filed a major lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against Twitter and a handful of its users on Monday …

The Daily Beast:

Rep. Devin Nunes Files $250M Defamation Lawsuit Against Twitter, Two Anonymous Twitter Accounts — Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sued Twitter, two anonymous Twitter accounts, and political consultant Liz Mair for more than $250 million, alleging that the defendants engaged in “negligence …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Wire, Joe.My.God., Politico, Mediaite, Engadget, Washington Times and Contemptor

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Devin Nunes Files Bonkers $250 Million Lawsuit Over Mean Tweets — Rep. Devin Nunes, who is bringing a $250 million suit against Twitter because he has been the subject of mean tweets, is not an obscure kook. He is a famous and highly influential kook who chairs the House Intelligence Committee.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and RedState

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
‘Devin Nunes’ Cow' reacts to lawsuit: 'I'm not quitting my day job'

Discussion: New York Times, The Federalist and Daily Kos

David Enrich / New York Times:

A Mar-a-Lago Weekend and an Act of God: Trump's History With Deutsche Bank — As President Trump delivered his inaugural address in 2017, a slight woman with feathered gray hair sat listening, bundled in a hooded white parka in a fenced-off V.I.P. section. Her name was Rosemary T. Vrablic.

Discussion: NBC News, New York Post, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC, The Week, Raw Story and VICE News

Associated Press:

Records show FBI was probing Michael Cohen long before raid — NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI was investigating President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and fixer for nearly a year before agents raided his home and office, documents released Tuesday show.

New York Times:

Michael Cohen's Emails Were Sought by Special Counsel in July 2017, Documents Show — Federal authorities began investigating the email accounts of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, as early as July 2017, only months after Mr. Trump took office, according to documents unsealed on Tuesday.

Discussion: Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Blake Hounshell / Politico:

Preet Bharara Expects a ‘Lengthy, Detailed’ Mueller Report — Preet Bharara decided not to do the easy thing and write a made-for-TV book about the sprawling legal inquiries into Donald Trump's campaign and presidency. — But that's all anyone wants to ask the former U.S. attorney …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and New York Post

Anita Kumar / Politico:

Trump officials prepared to stonewall Democratic oversight demands — House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler wrote to the White House last month demanding information about President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to fund the construction of a southern border wall.

Discussion: Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Trump's Lawyers on House Judiciary Dems' Document Request: You Get Nothing — The House Judiciary Committee set a Monday deadline for 81 people, government agencies, and private organizations to submit material. — President Trump's personal legal team is telling a crucial House committee seeking documents …

Discussion: Raw Story

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Mulvaney on cusp of permanent status upgrade

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Wall Street Journal:

How the National Enquirer Got Bezos' Texts: It Paid $200,000 to His Lover's Brother — Michael Sanchez sold the billionaire's secrets to American Media, the Enquirer's publisher, said people familiar with the matter — Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and his allies have publicly speculated …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Fortune, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Political Wire, Joe.My.God., The Week, Fox News, GeekWire and Page Six, more at Mediagazer »

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Andrew Yang, Upstart Democratic Presidential Candidate, Comes Out Against Circumcision — A candidate known for putting out position statements on virtually every policy adds a rather intimate one to the list. — Outsider presidential hopeful Andrew Yang's latest idea is both literally …

Discussion: Axios and Power Line

New York Times:

‘Be Weak & Die!’ Seeking Clues Behind Trump's Weekend Twitter Barrage — WASHINGTON — There was no golf. There were no meetings. There were no activities, other than a rare visit to church. So President Trump did what he could do: He tweeted. — Since his election …

Discussion: CNN, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Bloomberg, Cincinnati.com, Vox, Washington Times and fox8.com

John Harwood / CNBC:

George Conway, husband of Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, has an urgent warning about the president's mental health — Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, was once seemingly on his way to a top role in the Trump administration. — Now he has become one of the president's most outspoken critics …

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, UPROXX and RedState

CNN:

White House expects to see Mueller findings before they go to Congress — Washington (CNN)White House lawyers expect to have an opportunity to review whatever version of Robert Mueller's report Attorney General Bill Barr submits to Congress before it reaches lawmakers and the public …

Discussion: Raw Story

Luppe B. Luppen / Yahoo News:
Last prosecutor on Michael Flynn case departs Mueller's office

Discussion: Fox News, Conservative News Today and Axios

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Another prosecutor leaving Mueller's team

Discussion: Townhall

Washington Post:

How social media's business model helped the New Zealand massacre go viral — The ability of Internet users to spread a video of Friday's slaughter in New Zealand marked a triumph — however appalling — of human ingenuity over computerized systems designed to block troubling images of violence and hate.

Discussion: New York Times, SFist, Engadget and Fox News, more at Techmeme »

Chris Sonderby / Facebook:
Update on New Zealand

Discussion: Fox News, KTLA, NPR, Fortune, Engadget, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Verge, Mashable, New York Post and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed News:
Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Is Absolutely Relentless On Social Media Even As Platforms Crack Down On Other Extremist Groups

Discussion: The Conversation, The Moderate Voice and MIT Technology Review, more at Mediagazer »

Andrea Drusch / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

This is Sen. Cornyn's attack plan if Joaquin Castro challenges him for Senate — Texas Sen. John Cornyn is readying fire for a potential race against Rep. Joaquin Castro, according to a game plan laid out to the Star-Telegram by Cornyn's campaign Monday. — Though Cornyn already faces …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Politico

Reveal:

US government uses several clandestine shelters to detain immigrant children — The federal government is relying on secret shelters to hold unaccompanied minors, in possible violation of the long-standing rules for the care of immigrant children, a Reveal investigation has found.

Discussion: Splinter

Jia Tolentino / New Yorker:

Stepping Into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun — Does the ubiquitous dance troupe really present five thousand years of civilization reborn? — Just as it is impossible for me to articulate with any certainty the moment I entered adulthood or began to believe that human life …

Kansas City Star:

Blunt disinvited to GOP event in backlash over vote to block Trump's emergency powers — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt has been disinvited from a local GOP gathering in Christian County, Missouri, next month amid a backlash over his vote to block President Donald Trump's use of emergency powers to build a border wall.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Raw Story and Big League Politics

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Trump's campaign secret weapon: Facebook — Data: Adapted from a Bully Pulpit interactive chart; Chart: Axios Visuals — While Democrats' campaign launches have sucked up national attention, President Trump's re-election campaign has quietly spent nearly twice as much as the entire …

Discussion: Raw Story

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

Cambridge Analytica Secrets Allegedly Covered Up by Trump Campaign Veterans — The High Court in London heard that former insiders, including Rebekah Mercer, were pulling the strings of “biased” officials responsible for the fate of the company. — Nico Hines

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:

The March of White Supremacy, From Oklahoma City to Christchurch — As we struggle against the forces behind decades of violence, we must remember that we aren't fighting with strangers. — The Oklahoma City National Memorial consists of two stark structures connected by a reflecting pool …

Discussion: Raw Story, Splinter and WHNT-TV

Washington Post:
Trump response to New Zealand massacre highlights his combative history with Muslims

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Vox, twitchy.com, Hullabaloo, Salon, Mercury News and Breitbart

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Google VP Stepped In After Employees Offended By Christian Video On Marriage — Google barred a Christian video on same-sex marriage from advertising on YouTube after backlash from employees, internal communications show. — The video said gay people are welcome as Christians …

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times:

A political awakening: How Howard University shaped Kamala Harris' identity … The war on drugs had erupted, apartheid was raging, Jesse Jackson would soon make the campus a staging ground for his inaugural presidential bid. Running for student office in 1982 at Howard University …

Variety:

New-Model Murdochs: Fox Corporation to Emerge Tuesday — UPDATED: 21st Century Fox said Tuesday it has completed the distribution of shares to birth the Fox Corporation. “21CF and FOX are now each a standalone, publicly traded company,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement issued at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Experts push back on Trump-touted poll that shows 50% of Americans calling Mueller probe a ‘witch hunt’ — President Donald Trump on Monday touts poll results that appeared to show more Americans than ever siding with his oft-repeated accusation that special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe is nothing more than a “witch hunt.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Washington Times and Sara A. Carter

CNN:

Joe Biden readies major endorsements and message of strength ahead of likely 2020 run — Joe Biden's slip hints at a presidential run — (CNN)Joe Biden didn't clear the field, so he's poised to join it. — The former vice president's anticipated entry into the 2020 race …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABC News, The Hill, The Daily Beast and Big League Politics

Brad Kutner / courthousenews.com:

All Eyes on Fourth Circuit Hearing in Emoluments Case — RICHMOND, Va. (CN) - Of the many legal challenges President Donald Trump is facing, few have forced legal experts and historians to dig deep quite like claims that his private business dealings with foreign governments violate the Constitution.

Discussion: Above the Law

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Indicted Oligarch Dmytro Firtash Praises Paul Manafort, Says Trump Has Third-Grade Smarts — The Ukrainian mogul, a background presence in the story of Russian influence in U.S. elections, praised Manafort's savvy but dismissed Trump in an interview with The Daily Beast. — Betsy Woodruff

Discussion: Raw Story

Caroline Orr / Byline Times:

Robert Mercer is Fueling A Multimillion Dollar Anti-Muslim Propaganda Industry — Trump's top donor, Robert Mercer, is at the centre of a multimillion-dollar anti-Muslim propaganda industry responsible for creating and spreading the same Islamophobic rhetoric found in the New Zealand shooter's manifesto.